I'm desperate for this feature. It already ruined a couple of gigs

[vinny199]

Love my Helix but there is one thing that really makes me wonder if I can keep using it as my main rig.

 

I'm a singer / guitarist. Sometimes, changing patches while singing / in between lines is a bit tricky, and it is so easy to hit the bank button instead of the first snapshot button.

 

If you do that, you're quickly in noman's land trying to get back to your patch, or worse, finding yourself in another song's patch etc.

 

You have to react very quickly and press the cancel button to save yourself and that's not really easy done if you sing, you have to drop out of the song for a bit while you reset yourself where you need to be.

 If I only played guitar, this would never happen, but having to sing / perform (which means looking forward as much as possible instead of your feet) and change patches, i messed up a few times already and it is driving me nuts.

 

I'm sure it wouldn't be a big thing to update the firmware to add a feature where you have an option to set the bank selectors to "press and hold" for a couple of seconds before they become active, instead of "as soon as you hit them". I'm not saying this setting should be by default, but it would be extremely useful to some of us as an option.

 

There is plenty of time between songs to hold a button 2 seconds.

 

For me, I'd take this feature over any new ampo, effect, goodies they may bring out., Such a small thing, such a big impact.

 

I hope someone at line 6 takes notice of that suggestion

 

Cheers,

 

Vinny

[rd2rk]

Wrong forum. This is where you go if you're serious about suggestions for changes and improvements:

https://line6.ideascale.com/a/index

Before posting a new idea, please search to see if it's already been proposed. If 100 people vote on the same idea presented 20 different ways, it looks like only 5 people care about it!

[silverhead]

First, the official place to make a feature suggestion to Line 6 is Ideascale.com

 

 

Second, something that might alleviate your issue a bit is to set the Up/Down switches to 'Snapshot' rather than Bank or Preset (see Global Settings). This will mean that when you mistakenly hit the Up/Down switch the display will blink while showing all Snapshots in the current preset, allowing you to select the one you want. This seems to be at least less potentially disruptive for your purposes.

[vinny199]

OK, sorry about posting this in the wrong place and thanks for the link.

 

@silverhead If I set it this way, how do I then change banks? Can I still do so?

 

Thank you

[vinny199]

That wouldn't work for me it seems as 10 switches option is not available in footswitch mode)

 

From the manual:

When set to "10 switches," FS1 (BANK

) and FS7 (BANK

) are re-purposed as additional Stomp switches. This is only for Stomp footswitch mode;

while in Preset

, Snapshot,

or Looper footswitch modes, BANK

and BANK

are retained.

[rvroberts]

I don't agree this is the wrong place to post this!

It would be if the only solution were a change in software/firmware - but have you considered a physical change??

There are risers and extenders for foot switches.

If you were to make all the footswitches that you want to hit easier to hit than the patch up down switches - might that fix your problem?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbgJOVDGmhY

[rvroberts]

and another - https://barefootbuttons.com/product-category/version-1/

[Thurston9]

14 hours ago, rvroberts said:

I don't agree this is the wrong place to post this!

It would be if the only solution were a change in software/firmware - but have you considered a physical change??

There are risers and extenders for foot switches.

If you were to make all the footswitches that you want to hit easier to hit than the patch up down switches - might that fix your problem?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbgJOVDGmhY

 

I agree, do you guys really think he'd get more traction posting a new ideascale topic than asking the community for help?  

[silverhead]

14 hours ago, vinny199 said:

OK, sorry about posting this in the wrong place and thanks for the link.

 

@silverhead If I set it this way, how do I then change banks? Can I still do so?

 

Thank you

 

From the manual page 55:

 

When set to "Presets" or "Snapshots," FS1 (BANK ) and FS7 (BANK ) change to PRESET / or SNAPSHOT / , where pressing either switch instantly selects the next/previous preset or snapshot, without a bank queue. This is useful if you've programmed a xed set list for your show, and just want to increment through all your presets or snapshots. You can also cycle through all three switch types by pressing and holding both the FS1 and FS7 switches for two seconds. At any time, press and hold both FS1 and FS7 to cycle through BANK / , PRESET / , and SNAPSHOT / . 

[soundog]

This may or may not work for you, but thought I'd mention it. I perform solo (guitar/vocal) and have to switch things easily on the fly, so prefer to use MIDI to change Helix presets for songs (using one preset per song). The app SetListMaker can run on iPhone or Android, and will send any MIDI (such as Helix preset change) when you select a song from your song list (with a simple tap). If you keep your Helix in Snapshot mode, then you can use MIDI to select any song/preset, and use Helix buttons to change Snapshots.

[rd2rk]

17 hours ago, rvroberts said:

I don't agree this is the wrong place to post this!

It would be if the only solution were a change in software/firmware - but have you considered a physical change??

There are risers and extenders for foot switches.

If you were to make all the footswitches that you want to hit easier to hit than the patch up down switches - might that fix your problem?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbgJOVDGmhY

 

3 hours ago, Thurston9 said:

 

I agree, do you guys really think he'd get more traction posting a new ideascale topic than asking the community for help?  

 

If OP had asked "Can anyone think of a workaround" then this WOULD be (along with Gearpage) the right place to post. But he didn't!

 

17 hours ago, vinny199 said:

I'm sure it wouldn't be a big thing to update the firmware to add a feature where you have an option to set the bank selectors to "press and hold" for a couple of seconds before they become active, instead of "as soon as you hit them". I'm not saying this setting should be by default, but it would be extremely useful to some of us as an option.

 

There is plenty of time between songs to hold a button 2 seconds.

 

For me, I'd take this feature over any new ampo, effect, goodies they may bring out., Such a small thing, such a big impact.

 

I hope someone at line 6 takes notice of that suggestion

 

And this is NOT where the L6 guys take notice, nor is it a bug. It's a feature request, and THAT"S what Ideascale is for.

 

EDIT: I'm not saying there's anything wrong with suggesting workarounds! That might, in fact, be more effective than Ideascale!

[cfhmonkey]

If you have an iPad, checkout OnSong:

 

https://onsongapp.com/devices/ipad/

 

I use it to change my entire setup by just tapping or swiping the iPad screen. Works great - for all the same reason soundog mentions above. Same idea, different app.

 

Helix / iPad / Variax integration really is something that sets the Helix apart from all others...

[SheldonF]

Following this thread... How does the iPad send Midi signals? Is there a midi cable hooked up to the iPad? Wireless? What solutions are you running. This seems super interesting to me as I'm in a similar situation (not mistepping , but rather would love to control presets with my song lyrics)

[soundog]

Get an Apple CCK (Camera Connection Kit); the one that also supplies power to the iPad via Lightning (I thinks its called the USB 3 CCK). Its USB out, so you would use USB MIDI. Works with any iPad app that sends MIDI. If you need legacy 5-pin MIDI, you'll need a simple converter. You can go wireless with an iPad, but would need a separate wireless setup. The apps mentioned work great for controlling presets and providing lyrics at the same time. The SetListMaker iPad app is a vital part of my live gig setup, and controls all my MIDI stuff, setlist, and lyrics.

[SheldonF]

Thanks! I found a video on youtube of someone using that exactly. 

 

Also, after some research I believe I'll be using the Yamaha MD-BT01. It's bluetooth wireless midi with upgrade able firmware. And I can send the CC/PC Midi messages from either app (setlist or onsong) to the helix. Pretty excited. Can post results if anyone's interested when I do this.