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Using Helix to switch amp channels with Instant Commands not working!


raskolnikov38
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Hey guys, my issue is this: I need to get my Helix to tell my Voodoo Lab control switcher to switch channels on my mesa boogie Roadster. I'm currently using the Helix with the four cable method. What i'd like to be able to do is change channels per snapshot within a preset. For example, snapshot 1 is clean on channel 1, snapshot 2 is grit on channel 2, etc. 

What I'm doing is going into the command center and using the instant messages to try to accomplish this. If I select the 1st lightning bolt and set the CC# to 80 it should turn on channel 1 via the control switcher. I've had limited success in doing this. Next, I go into snapshot 2 and then click command center and select the next lightning bolt and set a new CC# for that and save. I do the same thing for the next two snapshots (I've got the top switches set to stompbox mode). What I cannot understand is why the Helix doesn't allow you to select the first lightning bolt only for snapshot 1, the second lightning bolt only for snapshot 2, etc., just as you would do for effects and other parameters. It appears as though the Helix is sending all 4 messages at once no matter what snapshot I'm in. The result is that I cannot get it to work with the Voodoo Lab Control Switcher and it's absolutely essential that I figure out how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm beyond frustrated.

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With MIDI CCs, you can send out different values for each respective Instant Command per snapshot, but you can't change the CC# itself. So, if you set CC#80 with a value of 0 for Snapshot 1, you can set CC#80 with a value of 1 (or whatever) for Snapshot 2, 2 for Snapshot 3, etc. The values are only shot out when you're coming from a snapshot that has a different value selected than the one in the new snapshot.

 

What exactly is the Voodoo Lab switcher looking for in terms of CCs and values?

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CC stands for "continuous controller". Typing CCs are used to control a parameter with a range of values. It gives you a way to control that parameter remotely. A very typical scenario would be a MIDI volume pedal for a keyboard. The pedal is sending a stream of values for the volume, depending on its position. There's always a specific value associate with a CC command. The reason the Helix limits you to not changing the CC#, and just the value, per snapshot is that is kind of the typical architecture with CCs. When you select a CC# for an instant command, you're typically controlling one parameter in an external effect or whatever you're controlling, and the Helix lets you send a different value for that parameter with each snapshot change.

 

Looking at the manual for the Control Switcher, I'd say you be much better off setting it up to respond to PCs. You can select a different PC for each snapshot. So you could what you want to do while only using one of the Instant Command locations. PC means "program change", and that really is more analogous to what you're wanting to do here.

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