Switching from Mackie Control to general Midi CC for motorised fader control surface

Hi! I have been reading this post and decide to acquire a MCU +extender, with the aim of using the extender in this way to drive CCs. This post seems archived, is there any way to get the final project @gollogls posted?

Hi, Hopefully, he will come back on this forum. If not, you can certainly grab the project file from the last post here and then pick up the discussion with me on a new thread for your project.
You can also do a search on this board for ”Mackie” or ”MCU”. You will probably find other projects similar where we convert Mackie to CC.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Q and A Moderator and
Independent Bome Consultant/Specialist
bome@sniz.biz

Thanks Steve! Will do and post any improvements on it. I’m trying to set up a hybrid workstation where the MCU stays Mackie, while the Ext can switch to cc, with dynamic assignment from Lemur and (wishful thinking) scribble strip feedback via sysex. It’ll take ages but better late than never!

Thanks, Sean! Let me know if you get stuck.

@marcovalerio1,
Send me email and I will respond with latest updated project file. I assume since Sean sent via email rather than posting, he doesn’t want his project file in public domain.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Q and A Moderator and
Independent Bome Consultant/Specialist
bome@sniz.biz

Forwarded from Sean,

Hi Steve and Marco (steve you may need to onforward this email to Marco)

I have just got my music rig out of storage after a year as I have moved from Australia to Germany for work. Believe it or not I started looking again at my BOME cc fader project about 3 weeks ago. Had some problems getting it to work with cubase and my asparion mixer (mackie protocol fader banks). Anyway I have problem solved my way through and will document full signal flow from asparion -> bome -> bome conversion from pitchbend to cc -> cubase devices and ports -> back to BOM -> conversion back to PB from CC -> back to asparion.

In the mean time here is the last project I did which covers what you’re trying to achieve. I am spending time next weekend to redocument because I had some issues setting up again – worked out last weekend the way I was getting midi out of cubase and back to Bome and Asparion was the problem.

My dynamic allocation of cc’s uses note data from my ipad over the metagrid port – something that can be done using lemur I would think.

If Marco is using cubase let me know and i can send him the documentation on how I precisely solved the problem. Otherwise the general approach should work for what he’s trying to do if he’s clear on signal flows in and out of his DAW.

In my case i had a false positive. In my original setup I thought a
– cubase generic midi device i set up
– was sending midi cc into a selected cubase track and
– then out to Bome to
– reconvert to pitchbend info
– back to the asparion deck.

What i realised is that i had a midi send on the cubase track which was actually sending the data back to bome and the asparion
– and the cubase generic midi device wasn’t doing anything!

Let me know how you go.

Regards
sean

 


Attachments:
1549988237412_D400-CC-v11-16-F.bmtp
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Hi Sean,
apologies for the disappearance, it’s been a busy year with no time to take care of this. In case you are still available to forward the project, I’d also appreciate Sean’s offer to send the documentation on how to solve the hiccup.
Thanks!

Hi Marco,

I’ve been doing extensive work with another user on getting generic controller to work in Mackie Mode with Cubase with good results. Open a new thread if there is a specific question you have (for free), or send me email if you want me to customize a complete solution for you (fee).

Steve Caldwell
Bome Q and A Moderator and
Independent Bome Consultant/Specialist
bome@sniz.biz

Hi Steve, thanks for the answer! I will start from scratch with my own design and make this a learning experience, and I will chime in with any problems I stumble upon! Thanks!

Hi Steve - I saw an email last week regarding using my files as a "jump start". I'm happy for you to share them with users. I work long hours as a Project Manager and don't tend to my music muse for long periods so I'm afraid I can't offer support though.

Hope you're keeping well!

Kind Regards

Sean

 

Hi Sean! Thanks for coming back, in the meantime, I found your docx from below which I had downloaded about an year ago, and I actually managed to get everything I needed up and running, I particularly benefited from your documentation of the expressions to convert Pitchbend values to CCs. Bome is really powerful, and goes beyond what many commercial midi controllers can do!

good to hear Marco. Bome’s a great product with a great team! Have fun watching those faders fly!

Thanks Sean! I see Marco got your updates!

Steve Caldwell
Bome Q and A Moderator and
Independent Bome Consultant/Specialist
bome@sniz.biz

Hi Loïc,

I've done lots of similar solutions. Converting from Mackie MCU to CC mode is pretty straight forward. If you want to keep the settings (faders, V-Pots etc) as you switch between modes, then it requires a bit more planning because you will want to store the values of these for both native and emulated controller types. That way you can snap back to their original values as you switch mode. Going through all of this on the forum is way beyond the scope of support here but a few tips could be provided. If you want a full functional solution, I offer paid services and you can reach out to me via email.

I have a Behringer X-Touch Compact which emulates Mackie MCU mode, and I have done things to be able to switch modes on it. If I remember, I even have it running Mackie HUI which isn't natively supported by that device. I also run multi-mode with my cheap Behringer X-touch Mini. I typically use double tap gestures to switch between operation modes.

I'm pretty sure you can get your MCU working in CC mode as well. Just remember, your MCU will always be in MCU mode and you will be using Bome MIDI Translator Pro to either translate or pass through messages and use global variables to monitor the state of all of your controls in both modes.

 

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care


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

Hi guys,

I'm hugely interested in a similar solution, and might buy BMT for this sole purpose.

My setup is based on MCU + Logic Pro X

I'd like to be able to switch MCU to "midi cc" on the fly (shame Mackie doesn't support this !) to control VIs (CC1, CC11, CC21, and all usual suspects).

Of course, I'd like to see motorized control move with the automation once I play the project (and benefit from Touch mode to correct a running automation).

I guess that the hardware used & the DAW is of little concern since the protocols are quite the same across DAWs.

Did you manage to get a solution working ?

Regards,

Loïc

Hi @gollogls and @stevec,

I have the same setup as yours (Cubase; Metagrid), except the D400 control surface (i’m using Qcon Pro G2).

Do you mind to share more explanation on the Cubase’s routing (Mackie Control(s) routing; Generic Remote, etc); and the Metagrid button/command…

Much thanks guys

7 posts were split to a new topic: Presonus FaderPort 16 MIDI Feedback with Cubase

Hi
I am looking for the document you wrote on Cubase and converting CC to pitch bend and back
Can kindly share the same
My email is rbache2@gmail.com
Advance thanks
Ram

Mackie Fader to CC example for the firs fader

Incoming Raw MIDI E0 pp qq
Outgoing Control Change CC 1 on MIDI CH 1 value pp

For CC to Mackie just switch incoming and outgoing. and make outgoing E0 pp pp

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care


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

Thank you Steve.