Using Bome to control PaulStretch plugin sliders

Bome Products
1

Hi everyone,

I am working on a project where I am trying to use Bome MIDI Translator Pro to control the sliders in PaulStretch (a standalone sound design application for extreme time stretching and sound manipulation) using the knobs on my MIDI controller (Akai MPK). My goal is to map the knobs on my MIDI controller to control the Octave Mixer sliders in PaulStretch in real-time, as this is part of my sound design workflow.

However, while the incoming MIDI signals are being detected, the outgoing mouse movements or keystrokes aren’t being executed as expected. I’ve tried various troubleshooting steps but haven’t been able to get any outgoing actions to work. Below is a detailed breakdown of my setup, the steps I’ve taken, and the issues I am encountering.

Setup Overview:

  • Operating System: macOS
  • MIDI Controller: Akai MPK Mini
  • Software Setup:
    • Bome MIDI Translator Pro (Trial version)
    • PaulStretch (standalone sound design application)

What I’m Attempting to Do:

  • I want to use the knobs on my MIDI controller to control the sliders in the Octave Mixer module of PaulStretch.
  • Specifically, I am trying to map MIDI Control Change (CC) messages to mouse movement, which will simulate dragging the sliders up and down in the PaulStretch interface.
  • I’ve configured the Incoming MIDI message to detect knob turns from my controller, and Bome correctly detects these inputs in the Event Monitor (MIDI In is blinking). However, the mouse output or any outgoing action isn’t being triggered.

Current Bome Configuration:

  1. Incoming Settings:

    • MIDI Message: Control Change (CC)
    • Channel: 1
    • CC Number: The corresponding CC numbers for each knob on my MIDI controller are detected correctly when I turn the knobs.
    • The incoming MIDI signal is detected in the Event Monitor (MIDI In blinks when turning the knobs).

  2. Outgoing Settings:

    • Outgoing Action: Mouse Movement (I’ve also tried keystroke for testing purposes).
    • Mouse Movement Settings:
      • Right/Left: 0 pixels
      • Down/Up: I started with 20 pixels and increased this to 100 pixels for testing.
    • I’ve also tried using Mouse Position to move the mouse to a specific location on the screen, but that didn’t work either.

  3. Other Settings:

    • Swallow MIDI Message: I’ve tried both checked and unchecked.
    • I have Accessibility permissions enabled for Bome MIDI Translator Pro in macOS.
    • I’ve tried adding a delay to the outgoing action to see if it helps (50ms), but it didn’t change anything.
    • I have Stop Processing After Executing This Translator unchecked.

Troubleshooting Steps I’ve Tried:

  1. I made sure PaulStretch is the active window while trying to control the sliders.
  2. I checked and ensured that Bome MIDI Translator Pro has the necessary Accessibility permissions to control the mouse in macOS.
  3. I increased the mouse movement pixel values (from 20 to 100) in the Outgoing action to test if the issue was small pixel movements.
  4. I tried testing with Keystroke Output (sending spacebar or arrow keys) instead of mouse movement to see if any outgoing action would work, but this didn’t trigger anything either.
  5. I tried starting a fresh Bome project and reconfiguring everything from scratch, but I still couldn’t get the outgoing actions to trigger.
  6. I verified the MIDI routing settings in MIDI Ports to ensure the input/output routing is correct.

Now, please note that:

  • The MIDI input is clearly being recognized, as I see the MIDI In dots blinking in the Event Monitor when I turn the knobs on my MIDI controller.
  • However, no outgoing actions (whether mouse movement, keystrokes, or mouse positioning) seem to be triggered, as there is no activity on Mouse Out or Keystroke Out in the Event Monitor.
  • I suspect that there’s something wrong with how the outgoing actions are set up or some missing step I haven’t accounted for.

Is there something I’m missing in the way I’ve set up the Outgoing actions? Why aren’t any mouse movements or keystrokes being triggered despite the incoming MIDI signals being recognized?
Are there any specific settings or steps needed for MIDI-to-mouse movement to work on macOS?
Could there be any conflicts or macOS-specific issues that are preventing mouse emulation from functioning properly?

Any advice or suggestions on how to fix this issue would be greatly appreciated!

2

Hi and welcome to the Bome community!

You can try the below attached project file.

  1. Set you CC numbers on your MPK to CC0-7 MIDI Channel 1
  2. In the rules of translator 1.0 set the desired click locations where rr=horizontal and ss=vertical

For example the below rules will set the first CC to 100x 500y and the second CC to 200x 00y. I have allowed for up to 16 CCs in the template. They need to be consecutive.

// 1st CC
if pp!=0 then skip next 2 rules
rr=100
ss=500
// 2nd CC
if pp!=1 then skip next 2 rules
rr=200
ss=500
  1. Make sure you set your alias to point to your MPC-MINI. I set mine to the controller I used in testing.

image

You can learn more about aliases from this tutorial.

I have it set so that a watchdog is set when you start moving the slider and will stop after 250ms, so you have to wait 250ms before moving on the the next slider and if you pause on a given slider, the timer will trip and you will have to start moving on that slider again.

I also set it that if you press and hold Note 0 on MIDI CH1, then you can re-center the sliders without movement. When your release it (Note-Off), normal operation continues. This is done with Translators 1.4 and 1.5.

As a note, the Event manager only shows activity but no detail on what is happening. It is probably best to use the log window to actually view the MIDI messages.

image
image1255×712 66.6 KB

Mouse-Click-Drag-2024-09-25.bmtp (6.4 KB)

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
3

Hi Steve – that’s terrific, thank you very much!

Best regards,

Victor

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