Helix midi questions

[Rbrmfld]

I'm most likely going to be buying a Helix next month and I was curious about a couple of things (that I haven't seen answered before. Since the Helix has midi, would I be able to control/use my Chase Bliss pedals (saving and scrolling presets)? And I'm also kind of torn between the floor and rack models.. I have a rack with some recording gear and I'm tempted to get the rack version for that fact, but it isn't a portable rack. Although I'm not playing anywhere currently, it's not a big deal. So, I could just get a portable rack in the future.. so thoughts/opinions/advice?

 

Thanks for the help in advance and sorry for rambling! Lol

[phil_m]

Yes, you can easily control external pedals with MIDI. I'm not sure what Chase Bliss pedal(s) you're talking about, but it looks like they allow pretty extensive MIDI control. You can assign MIDI messages to a footswitch on the Helix or you can assign instant commands that will be sent out with preset and/or snapshot changes. I suggest you take a look at the "Command Center" and "Snapshots" section of the Helix manual.

 

As far as the rack/floor thing, I guess I can't really help that much there. It really depends on what you like. Personally, I use the floor unit, and I've never been a rack guy, so it was an easy choice for me. For others, that rack is a no-brainer. The one thing I will say is that if you go the rack route, you really do need to plan on getting the Helix Control board to go with it.

[HonestOpinion]

... The one thing I will say is that if you go the rack route, you really do need to plan on getting the Helix Control board to go with it.

 

... and an expression pedal.

[soundog]

Another consideration for me was used marketability. I only use mine in the studio, but figured the market would be a lot larger for the floor model if I ever want to sell it.

[Rbrmfld]

After talking it over with my wife (guitarist as well), we decided to jump on the floor model. FedEx says it'll be there sometime today

[PeterHamm]

I have the rack and control...

and imho, the Floor is the right choice for nearly everyone. HAve fun!

[alexhelix87]

Hey guys, I just had a question for anyone here who is a midi guru... I want to run my helix with Ableton... but the way I wanna run it is  that each patch triggers a song ( 1A=Song 1, 1B=Song 2, 1C=Song 3, etc) and then when I hit the mode button I have access to my effects with a few options for Ableton (Stop, Bridge, Forward etc )... can you guys let me know if I'm swinging for the stars or if this is actually achievable 

[ramirezdan]

Hey guys, I just had a question for anyone here who is a midi guru... I want to run my helix with Ableton... but the way I wanna run it is  that each patch triggers a song ( 1A=Song 1, 1B=Song 2, 1C=Song 3, etc) and then when I hit the mode button I have access to my effects with a few options for Ableton (Stop, Bridge, Forward etc )... can you guys let me know if I'm swinging for the stars or if this is actually achievable 

 

Knowing the flexibility of both Ableton and the Helix, you should find something that works, but expect to work around some stuff, possibly on both ends. 

 

I have a SUPER complex Ableton Live set that I control with the Helix. The Helix is randomly going silent on me, so I can't trust it live, but I'm hoping I can figure that out. 

 

When you initialize a patch, that can send a midi message to Live. That gets your song going. This gives you access to all the stomps. They can control Live or the Helix. If you press the MODE button, you get into snapshots. These can't control Live(I don't think), but you can control the ON/OFF states of the Helix's effects. 

[datacommando]

The Helix is randomly going silent on me, so I can't trust it live, but I'm hoping I can figure that out.

 

Hi,

 

Just a thought - but is your Helix going "silent" issue anything to do with the expression pedal bug which people are complaining about on this forum. It seems there is a problem where the block for the EXP 1 volume pedal will simply drop to a 1% output for no apparent reason.

 

See this (and others):

http://line6.com/support/topic/22076-exp-1-position-randomly-jumps-to-1/?hl=volume+drops&do=findComment&comment=176377

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/24342-arg-volume-pedal-bug-not-fixed-in-210/

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/24357-its-back-the-exp1exp2-problem-in-210/

 

There is workaround for this - maybe worth a try?

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/24048-fw-210-expression-pedal-question/

 

Rumour has it that Line 6 are working on a software patch to fix this.

[iamgeorge]

Floor unit all the way.  One of my mates has the rack control and he loves it, but he barely uses the foot-controller that it comes with.  Whereas I'm constantly using mine, PLUS, the floor unit has the exp pedal. 

 

As far as midi goes as well, should you down the track buy an actual amp that has midi, it'll be able to change channels on your amp whilst changing FX etc etc. It's awesome. 

 

Good luck

[Tcamponovo]

I have only used a simple piano keyboard for midi control with Helix, but it works great. I currently have a home recording setup with Helix rack as my interface. Having so many amp and effects options in an interface along with convenient midi capability is really fun and easy to work with. I also am using the floor controller with it which is pretty much mandatory to me in terms of switching options for presets, FX, etc.