Helix Rack + Hologram Electronics Microcosm. MIDI Settings. Answers to Questions Nobody Had.

[jameshoy]

Hey all,

 

I'm relatively new to MIDI and wanted to share some settings and menu dives that I've encountered in my research that got Helix Rack and the Hologram Electronics Microcosm talking to one another seamlessly and behaving the way that I intend it too. Looking over the internet, it's pretty easy to find direction on how to get everything set up but there isn't anything Helix Rack/Microcosm specific so I thought it would be handy to have all the information I've uncovered in one place to save on time for other Helix/Microcosm users. While this may be intuitive for more seasoned MIDI users, this took a moment for me to wrap my mind around. I'm by no means a MIDI expert and am only scratching the surface here. YMMV and if anyone wants to plug any holes, correct any mistakes and expand; I'm game..

 

You'll want a copy of your user manual for both Helix Rack and Microcosm.

 

User Manuals

Helix Rack: https://line6.com/data/6/0a020a3f63bf5fb6a4a7df95a/application/pdf/Helix Rack and Control 3.0 Owner's Manual - Rev D - English .pdf

Hologram Electronics Microcosm: https://b82316c2-7eca-4286-9569-a4da8097c930.filesusr.com/ugd/74428b_c4e6e20555914198bdb59c12f9a9e4d4.pdf

 

What I found easier for me is, rather than using HX Edit on a computer connected to Rack, use the Human Machine Interface (HMI, ie the front panel of Helix Rack) to navigate all the settings and save when you are finished.

 

Let's dive right in.

 

Connections I/O: The first thing you'll want to do is fairly obvious. Get everything hooked up. For my purposes I use 5 Pin MIDI Cable going directly from my audio interface to Helix Rack's MIDI input. I then connect another 5 Pin MIDI cable from Helix Rack's Out/Thru to the MIDI input on Microcosm. My understanding is that you can also accomplish some of these connections via USB but I've not explored these settings or connections. Beyond that I have Microcosm's audio routed into one of the effects loops on Helix Rack and have been experimenting with wet/dry (etc) signal flows.

 

Global Settings: The first thing I wanted to do was be able to control tempo on Helix Rack via Ableton and then send that MIDI clock to Microcosm via Helix Rack. The thinking is that while recording, I'll be using a click and can have delays and other time based effects both internally on Rack as well as the delays and loops on Microcosm sync to click. This will also help when my guitarist (also a Rack user) is using delays or other time based effects and we will be more in lockstep with one another. Everything is slaved off of one master MIDI Clock. The hope is that this will have utility further down the road as we will be using Ableton to control clicks, backing tracks and samples for live performances.

 

These settings are relatively straight forward. To control Helix Rack via an external Midi Clock, you'll want to navigate Menu > Global Settings > MIDI/Tempo and set "Receive MIDI Clock" to "MIDI". This allows Helix Rack to sense the click coming from the DAW (you'll have to play with the MIDI sync settings in whatever DAW you use to get Helix Rack and the DAW to "see" one another). You will know when Helix Rack syncs with an external clock as the Tap Tempo Switch on your Helix Foot Controller (if available) will switch from Red to Blue. My experiences is that Helix Rack only receives the clock from Ableton when you select Play or Record in Session or Arrangement mode of Ableton.

 

To Send MIDI Clock to Microcosm via Helix Rack you'll want to navigate Menu > Global Settings > MIDI/Tempo and change "Send MIDI Clock" to "MIDI". "When [Microcosm] receives a MIDI Start Message, the pedal [Microcosm] will switch from its internal clock to the external clock signal. Upon receiving a MIDI Stop message, the pedal [Microcosm] will revert back to its internal clock" (Microcosm User Manual .pdf, p. 21 or p. 41 of the physical manual). My experience is that if you aren't syncing Helix Rack from an external clock such as a DAW,  Microcosm will still Clock sync with Helix Rack via Tap Tempo (controlled either on the HMI or on the Foot Controller) provided you have "MIDI" selected on the "Send MIDI Clock" setting.

 

While you are in Global Settings you will want to make a crucial change. This was the biggest bottleneck I was running into when setting up MIDI to behave in the way I intended it too. Helix Rack has a default set of Program Change messages that it sends upon preset selection and in order to defeat this default you will want to set "MIDI PC Send" to "Off" (on page two of "MIDI/Tempo" settings if memory serves). Doing this will allow you to customize; within Command Center, which Program Change messages you want to send without interference from Helix Rack's default PC messages. Big Ups to forum user rd2rk for cluing me into this setting here: https://line6.com/support/topic/52777-helix-program-change-midi-out/

 

Command Center Settings: The other behavior I wanted to effect was selecting which of 44 presets Microcosm loads when I load different presets in Helix Rack. Hologram Electronics conveniently includes a list of Control Change and Program Change messages in Microcosm's user manual. To change presets we will be interested in Program Change (PC) messages which you will find on page 21 of Microcosm's .pdf manual or on page 40 of the physical manual. We will use Helix Command Center to assign which PC messages we want to send upon Preset or Snapshot Selection. 

 

On Helix Rack; from the preset you wish to assign MIDI messages to, navigate Menu > Command Center. This will bring up a display of Lightning Bolts, footswitches, knobs and expression pedals. Select one of the Lightning Bolts as this will be your "Instant" location. From here change "Command" to "Bank/Program" and on "Program" select the numerical value you want Helix to send to Microcosm. My experience is that Helix Rack sends PC messages starting at the value of Zero while Microcosm receives commands starting at a value of One, so you will want to send a value from Helix that is one subtracted from the PC value listed in Microcosm's manual. For instance, if you wished for the Microcosm preset, "Mosaic C" to load when selecting a Helix preset you'll have to assign a preset value of 22 even though the manual lists 23 as the program change value for "Mosaic C". Essentially you are fooling Microcosm into thinking that Zero is One, One is Two, so on and so forth. I discovered this on this HX Effects user's Youtube Video here. The user goes over it at around the 2:12 Mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZN5hl8QPo&t=202s

 

My experience is that you have to change these values in Command Center for each of your Snapshots as well although there may be a way of not having to do this (in other words the Helix preset selects the Microcosm preset that's consistent for each Snapshot automatically) that I have yet to uncover. The utility of this is using Snapshots to select different Microcosm presets within a Helix preset.

 

Make sure to Save your presets frequently. I find it helpful to save after every little change I make.

 

Bonus points for figuring out how to assign CC messages to control certain parameters on Microcosm such as "Mix" and "Activity" via Expression Pedals. You can assign CC and PC commands to control Microcosm's parameters to the Foot Controller's footswitches within Command Center but this hasn't proved useful to me just yet. This process is way more straight forward and has been covered ad nauseam on YouTube, at least with other MIDI capable devices. 

 

This is by no means exhaustive, I just wish this information was a little more easily searchable for Microcosm specific questions. No doubt this can apply to other MIDI Capable pedals and devices. Learning how to program and use Helix Rack as a MIDI controller in addition to controlling Helix Rack with external MIDI is a total game changer for me. Hopefully someone out there finds this scratching at the surface useful.

[DunedinDragon]

Great job at describing a lot of the details involved in taming and integrating pieces using MIDI.  I've been doing much the same with my Helix Floor, Beat Buddy and Ableton Live over the last year.  The biggest evolutionary change came when I decided to move away from the Helix as the center of control to a dedicated MIDI controller which may be the path you eventually end up at as well.

It's very enticing to think of using the Helix to control everything, but unfortunately the MIDI capabilities of the Helix can be very limiting when compared to dedicated controllers such as a Morningstar MC8 or other various models they, and other manufactures have.  Helix can handle very simple interactions but I quickly discovered it can be quite limiting when you need to coordinate multiple MIDI interactions amongst a set of other devices.  Ableton Live is perfectly capable of sending multiple simultaneous MIDI commands, but has a fairly tedious implementation to work with.  By inserting a MIDI controller such as a Morningstar MC8 I have a very robust MIDI "traffic cop" that can be triggered by a single MIDI command from Ableton and can initiate multiple simultaneous interactions between all sorts of MIDI and even non-MIDI devices.  I suspect you may end up finding yourself in the same situation eventually.

For example,  I normally have a different preset for each song.  When  I change songs I need to change the preset on the Helix, select the matching drum song on the Beat Buddy and prepare my setup so when I initiate the playback of the song the correct track (scene) plays on Ableton and it will trigger all subsequent interactions that need to be accomplished during the course of the song such as changing snapshots on the Helix as well as initiating a drum fill or song ending on the Beat Buddy. The way I handle this is when I change banks on the MC8 it sets the correct preset on the Helix, selects the appropriate drum track and the new bank on the MC8 has all the footswitches defined with all of the subsequent commands that will be needed to be triggered during the course of that song.  I trigger the playback of the Ableton scene from the MC8 and from that point on during the song when something needs to change Ableton send a single command to the appropriate MC8 footswitch which will trigger any and all MIDI commands that might be needed at that point in the song.  In effect, once I start a song there's no more toe dancing until the song ends and I need to select the next song, and the next song is a single footswitch.  This model can be easily expanded to incorporate any number of other interactions with external effects or even stage lighting or running overheads or videos.