I ran into a situation where I need to translate midi based on a variable (different sets of virtual pedals), then loop those messages back to BomeBox and translate them again with different rules.
I’ve done this before with BMT Pro using virtual ports and looping those back with a midi router software. (MidiPipe)
I was hoping it would be possible to do this inside BomeBox using virtual ports and BomeBox’s midi router, but it looks like it’s not possible to route ports that are not assigned to any physical / network midi port.
I assume this will be possible when you introduce multiple midi streams to BomeBox?
I think it would be useful to be able to do this also without sacrificing any physical ports.
I’m not sure I can explain this in a very simple way, or as a simplified project, but just as an example:
I have an FCB1010 foot controller sending midi out commands to BomeBox midi input (Note on on press and note off on release)
BomeBox is sending clip launch commands to ableton + launching a timer with a variable on foot switch press.
Switch release / Note off kills the timer, so unless I hold the button long enough, the timer is stopped with switch release.
If note off is not received when the timer is completed, BomeBox is sending forward a midi command +mouse / keyboard macros on BMT to clear that very same clip slot. (mouse position, click, delete, back to track 1 etc.)
I have these mappings on each ableton clip, so a couple of hundred translators just for clips. Also I have a ”clear all” footswitch on my FCB1010 looper footswitch that sends commands to clear all clips and reset all faders and effects send levels to 0 via midi. Hundreds of translators on that button too.
I want to be able to keep these mappings , but still be able to change the behaviour of two extra foot switches that I have connected to FCB1010, so I’m using TouchOSC pager to simultaneously change and show me layouts for those switches, and send Control Change commands to BomeBox to change a variable that I then use to remap those two switches to same midi notes that my original FCB1010 mappings use. However for my mappings to work, I’d have to be able to send those commands to BomeBox’s input as translations happen there.
Another way would be to copy those mappings to other presets with different midi inputs for the extra pedals, and then turn those presets on / off using CCs sent from TouchOSC, but I’d rather not build multiple copies of hundreds of triggers. Also I want to be able to change the layout / bank of my FCB1010 independently of those extra pedals, so this would make the project unnecessarily large and confusing, when a simple midi translation along with routing to input would allow me to use all my current mappings.
This is definitely not the first time I’ve been missing this feature and I still have some hard- (software-) wired midi virtual out to in routings on BMT Pro for some tasks too. And as always, if there’s a feature that would make things easier and setups more versatile, then I’m all for it! Hopefully this would be easy enough to implement too.
I’m trying to move more of my mappings to BomeBox, (especially when OSC and multiple midi streams become available) because from time to time my Mac has trouble keeping up with my mappings alongside running all the audio, plugins and software instruments etc.
Hi, this confuses me because you cannot hook extra footswitch to an FCB1010. It has relays that you can use to trigger other analog functions.
So your touch OSC send to BomeBox via USB?
BomeBox does have multiple streams if you use Remote Direct MIDI on your computer. You can have your computer monitor the attached FCB (MIDI DIN) port and any attached USB ports separately on your computer.
For instance, on Bome Network on my computer I can turn the ports on individually like this.
And you can see in Bome MIDI Translator we have 3 ports.
From BomeBox (only if you have things routed to and from that main Bomebox Network Port ‘BomeBox 2’
BomeBox DIN ‘BomeBox2:BomeBox DIN’
BomeBox Xkey 37 that I have attached as a USB device ‘BomeBox2: Xkey37’
Since Remote Direct MIDI was introduced, I almost never use the main network port.
The other thing you say is you want to change the behavior of your pedals. With an incoming MIDI message. I usually do this by switch presets within the project file (in this case running on the BomeBox).
You could send a MIDI message from your Touch OSC to the BomeBox Project and then switch a preset or change a variable in the project running on BomeBox to change the behavior of the pedals of your FCB1010 that goes back out through a different Remote Direct MIDI Port to your computer (and Ableton Live).
Maybe I’m still missing the point.
This tutorial shows you how to add a shift layer by changing presets.
This one shows you how to do similar by changing a global variable.
In both cases, you have a main controller that sends messages and then an alternate controller that switches the output functionality of the main controller.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
Yeah, sorry. I was trying to leave out any irrelevant details.
I have a modded FCB1010 with Gordius Tinybox + Jackbox Extension that allow me to attach two extra foot switches and expression pedals to FCB1010, and they extend the FCB’s banks with extra midi pedals.
Currently via network routing (TouchOSC bridge to BBox)
Sorry I wasn’t clear on this one. I meant this like I asked for earlier here:
Also, it would be cool to be able to route the virtual ports from virtual out to virtual in, within BomeBox, without extra routing software or physical cables.
I want to do as much of the translating inside BomeBox as possible, that’s why I wish to have multiple BomeBox net-streams available.
That’s basically how I have it set up, but as I already have a whole lot of translating going on inside the BomeBox for these specific FCB1010 midi messages, I’d have to go the extra loop, to get the translated messages from the extra pedals show up on the BomeBox’s input for the ’original’ translations.
There are many ways of achieving what I’m after, Im sure, and I think I’ll get there one way or another.
I only realized this could be very easily done with this possibility to route virtual ports freely (from out to in too) within BomeBox, and I remembered thinking about this earlier too, so I thought I should mention the idea here. Also, it would bring a new set of possibilities when running BomeBox ”standalone” / without a computer or Midi Translator Pro.
I’m probably too tired to explain this properly too, even to myself at this point. (It’s 4am here)
Hard, of course to summarize my setup too…
I’m quite familiar with the shift layer and global variable options, but I’ll still watch the videos.
