Send pitch bend midi commands

[p8guitar]

Is it possible to send pitch bend midi command with the expression pedal? I thought it might be CC02, but that doesn't work.

[rd2rk]

The Expression pedal will send values of 0 to 127 on whatever CC# you assign it to.

What are you trying to control?

[p8guitar]

I want to control pitch while I'm playing a software synth.

Actually I'm playing the synth with my guitar via a Fishman tripleplay. As I don't have a whammy bar on the guitar, I usually use the  Pitch Wham block of the Helix with the expression pedal. But Pitch Wham is an audio effect, I need to change pitch with midi pitch bend command now.

Maybe converting the CC commands of the expression pedal to pitch bend commands can be done with something like midi pipe, but I would prefer a solution which is not so complicated...

[phil_m]

2 hours ago, p8guitar said:

I want to control pitch while I'm playing a software synth.

Actually I'm playing the synth with my guitar via a Fishman tripleplay. As I don't have a whammy bar on the guitar, I usually use the  Pitch Wham block of the Helix with the expression pedal. But Pitch Wham is an audio effect, I need to change pitch with midi pitch bend command now.

Maybe converting the CC commands of the expression pedal to pitch bend commands can be done with something like midi pipe, but I would prefer a solution which is not so complicated...

 

I’m still confused as to what you’re wanting to do. Are you trying to control the pitch parameter of the Pitch Wham effect, or are you trying to control the pitch in the software synth?

[rd2rk]

4 hours ago, p8guitar said:

I want to control pitch while I'm playing a software synth.

Actually I'm playing the synth with my guitar via a Fishman tripleplay. As I don't have a whammy bar on the guitar, I usually use the  Pitch Wham block of the Helix with the expression pedal. But Pitch Wham is an audio effect, I need to change pitch with midi pitch bend command now.

Maybe converting the CC commands of the expression pedal to pitch bend commands can be done with something like midi pipe, but I would prefer a solution which is not so complicated...

 

I understand that the name of the actual SoftSynth that you're trying to use is a highly guarded state secret, so the manual is encrypted so that no one can read it.

;-)

Your synth is going to expect a CC (Continuous Controller) # with a value that varies between 0-127. There's only 128 CC#s in the current MIDI spec, so you could just try them all, but then, you'd still have to know where in the synth to assign that CC#. If you're using a FREE synth from some free VST website, there's probably no manual. Look through the menu choices and if there's a visual "MOD wheel" or some other visual clue, try right clicking on it.

 

If, however, your local Commissar of Digital Doo-Dads gives you permission to name the actual synth, I MAY be able to be more specific.

 

[p8guitar]

I often use Massive, Serum and Omnisphere. If you know a workaround for for one of them, I'd be very happy! Serum doesn't provide midi learn for the pitch wheel. And Massive and Omnisphere don't even have a pitch wheel at their GUI I think.

 

Somewhere I read now that Pitch bend is not one of the standard 127 Midi CC messages, it is a separate control. Helix cannot send pitch bend commands, do I understand this correctly?

 

[rd2rk]

25 minutes ago, p8guitar said:

I often use Massive, Serum and Omnisphere. If you know a workaround for for one of them, I'd be very happy! Serum doesn't provide midi learn for the pitch wheel. And Massive and Omnisphere don't even have a pitch wheel at their GUI I think.

 

Somewhere I read now that Pitch bend is not one of the standard 127 Midi CC messages, it is a separate control. Helix cannot send pitch bend commands, do I understand this correctly?

 

 

Expression pedals send a CC# with Values. They don't send Pitch Bend. The synth does the translation work.

If Serum doesn't provide LEARN, then there's probably a fixed CC#. What does the Manual say in the MIDI section (usually an appendix)?

If they're capable, the others should do likewise.

[rd2rk]

The Massive Manual starting on Page 34 addresses this. There's more I'm sure.

[rd2rk]

Omnisphere has MIDI LEARN. See MIDI CC here: https://support.spectrasonics.net/manual/Omnisphere2/25/en/topic/glossary-index

The Serum manual, as far as I can see, is only available from within Serum.

[p8guitar]

Serum support just told me that Pitch bend is it's own dedicated MIDI message (14-bit).  7 bit (standard

cc) isn't enough resolution for bends without hearing granularity.

so mapping CC to pitch bend is not a good idea. Maybe an expression pedal together with the midi solitions pedal converter

http://www.midisolutions.com/prodped.htm

can give good results.

[rd2rk]

8 minutes ago, p8guitar said:

Serum support just told me that Pitch bend is it's own dedicated MIDI message (14-bit).  7 bit (standard

 

cc) isn't enough resolution for bends without hearing granularity.

 

 

so mapping CC to pitch bend is not a good idea. Maybe an expression pedal together with the midi solitions pedal converter

http://www.midisolutions.com/prodped.htm

can give good results.

 

At $150US/$190CDN, and differeing programming/configuration requirements for every plugin, at what point does it become more practical to just buy a proper Whammy Pedal and control it with MIDI from the Helix?