New purchase need help getting things going in the right direction

[mishmael]

Hi,

I bought Bome MIDI Translator Pro to map the knobs of Akai MPK Mimi Mk2 to Akai Ring the Alarm VST in Standalone mode. I use CME H4MIDI WC to map the default midi channel from Default MIFDI Channel 1 to midi channel 4. Then I send that to UA Volt 276 5 pin port on the back of the interface. From there I output to Bome Virtual Port 1> BomeMIDI Translator Virtual Out. My goal is to control the knobs on the Ring the Alarm VST in Standalone mode.

Please help me with this project.

Thank you,

Mikey Dub

mishmael254@gmail.com

+14435198059

issues: Akai Ring the Alarm VST in Standalone Mode
Unable to find data on midi data to turn knobs
Keys enabled automatically but no knobs or info about what will make the knobs turn.

          Akai MIDI Editor for MPK Mini MKII only 32 bit crashes immediately-Worthless.
          
            BOME is my only hope !!!

[SteveC (Steve)]

Hi, is there a reason you are passing this through the Volt 276? I see you also have a MPK MIDI MK2 input (probably USB). Why not just use Bome MIDI Translator Pro pass the signal directly to your plugin? Maybe you are also controlling something on the Volt 276 with your MPK?

The attached file will convert convert any CC on MIDI Channel 4 coming in to the same CC on MIDI Channel 1. I

I don’t understand all of your router MIDI through paths and things are likely crashing because you have a MIDI loop somewhere. Maybe this path.

In the attached configuration, anything other than a MIDI CC will be passed through to the virtual port untouched. I only have one MIDI thru path set and the preset is set to only read from H4-MIDI-WC Port3 and send only to Bome MIDI Translator 1 virtual port.

I only have on MIDI thru path (for any other CC messages)

I am not looking at input from other ports.

H4-MIDI-WC-Port on CC 4 to BMT1 Port 1.bmtp (1.8 KB)

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

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Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz

[mishmael]

Thank you for your help. I am completely new to to this so I greatly appreciate your help. Please bear with my inexperience. I am eager to learn. Should I just copy what you did here?
The keys of the MIDI Controller came already mapped to the Virtual Instrument in Standalone Mode. I’m having an incredibly hard time with the difficulty in getting the knobs to map. I have spent weeks trying everything you can imagine to accomplish this with no success. I was about to give up on it because I have many other pressing matters but in a last ditch effort I tried the Bome translator trial and psychologically couldn’t handle the 20 minute limit because it messed me up really badly too many times. I bought it. Now I feel less stress while working in Bome MIDI Translator Pro. I’m sorry but it’s extremely hard to tackle this project alone. I really need guidance so it doesn’t take me a month to something that should only take a few minutes.

I have many questions but I am particularly worried about the Virtual Instrument in Standalone Mode that I am trying to control. It couild possibly be a deal breaker and destroy my dream of completing this project at all and destroy the project entirely. I am now focused on a particular aspect of this software that scares me. I’m terrified of the fact that because it is designed to work with Akai Hardware, an Akai MPC, that I do not own and cannot afford to purchase. I’m in a terrible mess with no workaround.
The software instrument is not reponding to CC messages coming from the midi controller when I turn the knobs on the controller. The reason may or may not be related to anything I can do. Even with Bome MIDI Translator Pro. My Controller is impossible to reset, update firmware, or edit in any way. I have literally tried everything. It is what it is and that’s it. ON default channel 1 and I have no idea what the knobs are doing. They are sending something but apparently it is unrecognizable to the knobs of the Virtual instrument Akai Ring the Alarm (Standalone Mode). Ring the Alarm has zero documentation available anywhere concerning the midi messages (CC) that the knobs will respond to or even understand. What can I do to find this crucial information thatt will make these knobs turn.?

[mishmael]

The event begins with MIDI Channel 1. Inside the H4MIDI WC I change it to MIDI Channel 4 because I’m trying to avoid channel 1 if possible because, including this controller, I have three controllers on MIDI channel 1. The controller is already ‘stuck’ on MIDI Channel 1. The CME H4MIDI WC maps it to channel 4 Globally. Is it possible for me keep it this way or should I do it the way you did and go back to MIDI Channel 1?

[mishmael]

I loaded your file into Bome just now. What should I do next ?

[SteveC (Steve)]

Hi,

I downloaded a trial version of “Ring the Alarm” and indeed it does not have any capability of doing “MIDI Learn” that I can see of. It seems that only notes will be seen as input but your knobs will likely be CC messages. Consequently it probably will not work with your MIDI controller in stand alone mode. You will probably need to use the plug-in version of “Ring the Alarm” within a VST host for the knobs to work.

I tested it with Gig Performer which is a plugin host and was able to get it to work by mapping MIDI to a plugin parameter.

My recommendation would be to.

1. Ask Akai Pro to update the stand alone version to include a “MIDI learn” capability
   or
2. Find a good VST host to run the plugin under that can translate MIDI to VST parameters. Then use the plugin host to learn the MIDI you need for each knob.
   or
3. Find a similar plugin that allows for MIDI learn.

Gig Performer is a good plug-in host but is not free. I haven’t tested this plugin with Cantabile but it might work. There is a free version of that but I think it is only for Windows PC and it looks like you are on a Mac. You may need to search google for “free plugin host for mac” or similar.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

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Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz

[mishmael]

How unfortunate. I purchased the CME H4MIDI WC $69 and Bome MIDI Translator $69. Just to accomplish this. I was under the impression that with these two I would be successful in completing this project. This is a perfect example of why I shouldn’t throw money at something when in actuality, I am an unemployed, starving musician. I have been down this road before and should have known better. I bought Bome MIDI Translator last year to remap my other three MIDI Controllers in Ableton Live and could not get it to work so I ended up buying Remotify to write Python scripts for Ableton Live 11 and it worked so I begged for a refund from Bome and they reluctantly refunded my purchase which was very nice of them to say the least. I doubt that Bome will refund my purchase again unfortunately. I guess I should try to return the CME H4MIDI WC also. I am devastated. Thank you for your assistance. Your help has quickly stopped me wasting even more time on this. If there is anything else you can think of or discover, even in the future, that shows promise in terms of my issue, can you please pass the info on to me? You are quick, helpful, and knowlegable. That’s extremely rare.
If I can find somewhere to rate you. I will give you the highest complements and service stars.

Sincerely,
Mikey Dub(aka Michael Malley)
mishmael254@gmail.com (personal email)
mishmael@me.com (booking email)
+14435198059

Instagram @mikeydub_i
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YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mishmael1]

[mishmael]

I went over what you wrote again and thought of some ideas that could possibly solve this dilemma I have put myself in. What if I were to map it in some other program just to get the data I need to make the knobs turn then delete and uninstall that program and use just the data to make it work using Bome? Is that or anything like that possible?

[SteveC (Steve)]

No, as just sending CC’s from Bome MIDI Translator Pro also does nothing.
The plugin is essentiall broken for MIDI CC’s.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

---

Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz

[SteveC (Steve)]

Just to let you know, I wrote a project that sends all CC’s on all channels to see if I could get any of the knobs to moe with no luck, so I suspect MIDI IN on the pluging is only seeing notes.

[SteveC (Steve)]

I guess you could have outgoing mouse movements to move the knobs, but you would have to have the knobs on absolute positions on the screen to know where to move and drag the mouse pointer.

[SteveC (Steve)]

Hi, since “Ring the Alarm” apparently does not allow MIDI CC’s, I’ve create the following project that will take CC in put (CC0-3 on MIDI CH 1) and convert it to click and drag operations that should be able to move the knobs.

Translator 1.0 monitors for CC on MIDI CH 1. Then based on the CC number and value, the rules will handle other operations.

The first operatation is to see if the application is in focus and if it is not, it will focus the application with Perform ‘focus’ (translator 1.6). Then it will perform ‘click’ (translator 1.2) which will click down at the last known location of the knob in question. Then it will perform ‘drag’ which will move the pointer up or down depending on the direction you are moving the knob (translator 1.3). Finally it will set a timer to automatically do a click up (translator 1.1) after 250ms of inactivity.

Here are the rules of translator 1.0. Note that the CC’s can either be relative or absolute but I set them to absolute with the global variable gc because your controller cannot do relative. I use the global variable g0-g7 to determine the last value of each knob.

// focused?
if gb==0 then Perform "focus"
if gb==0 then Log "Log Ring the Alarm is not focusd"
if gb==0 then exit rules, skip Outgoing Action
if ga==0 then Perform "Click", oo
ga=1
if gc==1 then Goto "absolute"
Label "relative"
if ga==1 then Perform "Drag", qq

Goto "done"

Label "absolute"
if oo==0 then tt=g0
if oo==1 then tt=g1
if oo==2 then tt=g2
if oo==3 then tt=g3
if oo==4 then tt=g4
if oo==5 then tt=g5
if oo==6 then tt=g6
if oo==7 then tt=g7

// convert absolute to relative for drag operation
if qq>tt then rr=1
if qq<tt then rr=127

if tt!=0 then Perform "drag",rr

if oo==0 then g0=qq
if oo==1 then g1=qq
if oo==2 then g2=qq
if oo==3 then g3=qq
if oo==4 then g4=qq
if oo==5 then g5=qq
if oo==6 then g6=qq
if oo==7 then g7=qq

Label "done"

Translator 1.4 and 1.5 tell Bome MIDI Translator Pro when the application if focused by setting or resetting the global variable gb.

The global variable ga is used to determine if the mouse is clicked down (1) for a drag operation or release (0).

The rules of translator 1.2 determine the click down location for each knob. You will need to set up the locations based on where on your screen your knobs are. I’ve only programmed 4 knobs (for my screen) but you can follow the pattern I used for the other four. I then use the value pp for the screen X location and qq for the screen Y location.

Here are the rules:

// knob locations need to be manually entered here
// and then the location on the screen for the knobs
// should NOT move

// knob 1 location
if oo==0 then pp=381
if oo==0 then qq=481
if oo==0 then exit rules, execute Outgoing Action

//knob 2
if oo==1 then pp=381
if oo==1 then qq=765
if oo==1 then exit rules, execute Outgoing Action
// knob 3
if oo==2 then pp=572
if oo==2 then qq=481
if oo==2 then exit rules, execute Outgoing Action

// knob 4
if oo==3 then pp=697
if oo==3 then qq=481
if oo==3 then exit rules, execute Outgoing Action

exit rules, skip Outgoing Action

So the main thing you will need to do to get it working on your system is to set the proper mouse locations for click in the above rules.

Ring-The-Alarm-with mouse.bmtp (4.3 KB)

I hope this helps and it is a shame that the developer didn’t take the time to allow MIDI control of the knobs as a stand alone program.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

---

Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz

[Michael.Malley]

Thank you for writing this for me. It’s the final workaround.

[Michael.Malley]

I am about to start the program that you wrote for me. I am not sure exactly what to do so I will have some questions as I proceed. There is one thing I wanted to ask first. You changed it back to MIdi channel 1 at the end. Is it possible to keep it on MIDI channel 4 instead or does it have to change to MiDI channel 1? I’m asking because another two controllers are in Default Channel 1. I’m trying to avoid channel 1 if at all possible.

[Michael.Malley]

In fact the MPKmini MKII is in default (Channel 1)and I map it to channel 4 with a mapping feature in the H4MIDI WCV early in the event.

[SteveC (Steve)]

Just change the incoming trigger of translator 1.0 to MIDI CH 4 instead of MIDI CH 1.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

---

Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz

[Michael.Malley]

ok great

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