Terrified of updating to 2.11- MIDI user

[steveheroan]

Apologies for a long post in advance, but it may help anyone out there who is considering using the Helix as a " virtual guitar tech".

 

If anyone is using Helix to receive MIDI CC for preset and/or snapshot changes and have updated to 2.11 already, have you had any trouble?

 

Are Command Center values saved when backing up setlists?

 

Has anyone ever had an update change/corrupt their Command Center settings? This would cause me a world of pain if it were to happen, but I really want to do the update if possible.

 

I recently started using Ableton to control my Helix, and it has been amazing to leave behind the old "tap dance" routine, to say the least. For a little background, I am playing in a band which uses a click and tracks for practically our entire show, and Ableton is changing my preset/snapshots via MIDI at the appropriate times, so I can simply roam around the stage wirelessly.

 

It took forever to get my patches dialed in for each tune, and just as long to figure out how to get Helix to transmit MIDI CC in order to have Ableton record my switching automations. The thing I'm most terrified of is losing all of the MIDI CC send/rec settings for every patch. If you've never used Helix to send/rec MIDI CC before, this may not make sense, but I'll try to explain.

 

When recording my automation into Ableton, I have to go to Helix command center and "find" a footswitch to send notes to Ableton to record. The settings are MIDI CC, MIDI CH 1, CC#69(pedal hold), and footswitch values 0-7 for snapshots 1-8. For whatever reason, this information is sent via different switches for different presets, and this seems to be at random. At any rate I just have to trial-and-error the process for each footswitch until I figure out which one Ableton is "seeing" for that preset. I then save the preset to retain my command center setting and record my automation into Ableton by playing in real time along with the track we use for that song, simply changing snapshots whenever I normally would while Ableton records the changes to a midi automation track.

 

Of course, then all I have to do is switch my send/receive settings for Ableton and Helix and presto, automatic switching!

 

Automation has allowed me to do much more complicated switching for each song, including complex intelligent harmony, etc. The problem is if this system fails, I am left having to do all of this switching manually, which means I will never be able to stray from the Helix, and I will likely have more tap dancing than I can keep up with.

 

Sorry again for such a long post, but I wanted to thoroughly explain the process that I use, so anybody who may be doing something similar could chime in. Especially if one of you guys knows an easier way to do this type of automation. The whole "random switch" thing for sending CC is still bugging me, and is a huge part of the reason that I'm so scared to update. Thanks for any help!