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The Wonderful World of MIDI CCs
One thing I love about today’s MIDI controllers is that almost all of them come with extra knobs, buttons, and faders in addition to your basic keyboard layout. Unfortunately I have found that many people leave these extra controls untouched without any idea of how to integrate them into the Pro Tools environment, so I thought that I would dedicate this week’s column to MIDI CC integration in Pro Tools. By mapping these unused knobs and faders to parameters inside your virtual instruments, you can breath new life into stale performances and open up a whole new world of creative possibilities with tactile controls.
Continuous Controllers
Besides just note pitch and velocity, the MIDI protocol allows for many event messages to be transmitted simultaneously down a basic 5-pin DIN cable. Continuous controllers, often referred to as CCs, can be used to transmit instrument control information such as modulation, sustain and other various performance related controllers using knobs, faders and pedals. While the official MIDI standard lists specific implementations of which CC values relate to certain functions, most of today’s virtual instruments allow the user to map nearly any parameter to any incoming MIDI CC event, empowering the creative mind with limitless possibilities in tactile tweaking and automation.
Getting Started
To start, you will need a MIDI controller with some form of CC capabilities, like the M-audio O2 or the Axiom 49. Many of today’s USB MIDI controllers offer these features but some of the more basic ones may lack the ability to custom map controllers or save user “scenes.” Some very basic, bargain priced MIDI controllers may not have assignable controls at all, so you may want to consider how much real time tweaking you are going to do when purchasing a new MIDI controller.
If you are using an existing synthesizer or workstation (like a Korg Triton,Yamaha Motif, etc) as a MIDI controller, most will allow you to remap knobs and faders to send specific MIDI CC messages but may not be set up by default to do so. Be sure to check out the manual of your specific model to learn how to use these features.
Controller “learning”
Many virtual instruments on the market these days have the ability to “learn” and automatically map knob/fader assignments by detecting incoming MIDI CC data. Many times you can click on a parameter, activate the learn function and the instrument will listen for the next incoming controller message. By moving the knob or fader you wish to assign, the instrument detects its unique CC number and automatically assigns all future events from that CC to a specific parameter.
I have found that a lot of the newer virtual instruments respond to right-clicks (or control-click if you are on a older Mac with a single mouse button), including all of Digidesign’s AIR plug-ins. Simply right click the parameter you wish to map and choose “learn.” Twist or move the knob or fader you want to assign on your MIDI controller and your done. Some virtual instruments may be a bit different but once you figure out how to “learn” one parameter all the others will map the same way. I am not a big fan of having to read plug-in manuals to figure something out but this is one of those areas where it might be necessary.
Example using Xpand
Even though it comes free with Pro Tools, Xpand has great MIDI CC implementation and controller learning capabilities. To start, create a new instrument track and insert the Xpand instrument plug-in.
I have record enabled the Xpand track and loaded up a nice synth pad called “Mother of all Pads” from the Xpand patch librarian. It sounds pretty good as is, but I want to add a little movement by automating some filter and resonance sweeps using the knobs on my MIDI controller.
Right-click (control-click if you are on a single mouse button Mac) on the “Cutoff” control and choose “Learn” from the pop-up menu. Now twist the knob on your MIDI controller that you wish to assign to cutoff. After a second or two, the parameter should automatically map itself and the knob will now be controlling the cutoff parameter. Repeat these steps for the “Resonance” parameter using a different knob on your MIDI controller. Remember if you don’t have any free knobs or faders on your MIDI controller you can at least map the cutoff parameter to your mod wheel.
Now record in your cutoff and resonance automation just as you would record MIDI note data. Sometimes it is nice to record the notes and parameter automation in separate passes. To do this make sure you enable MIDI Merge mode on your transport to ensure that existing midi data is merged with the new record pass, instead of replaced.
You can continue to “learn” as many new parameters as you wish. Most of Xpand’s parameters can be mapped. For a cool effect try loading up two patches in Xpand and map the volume level of each part to a fader on your MIDI controller. Now you can morph between the two patches dynamically using your MIDI keyboard.
MIDI CC Tips:
Here are some tips if you are having trouble:
- Make sure the instrument track you are working on is record enabled, this will ensure the controller data will be passed to the correct plug-in. You can use the same knob to control many different virtual instruments, however only the track that is record enabled will receive the controller message and pass it to the instrument plug-in.
- To record controller data, do so as if you were recording note data. Using MIDI CC to automate parameters is completely different then Pro Tools track automation, you do not need to enable an automation mode to record CC messages. Be sure to use MIDI Merge mode if you are adding additional controller data to an existing MIDI performance.
- CC Data is stored and recorded within the MIDI region itself and is not part of the track’s automation playlists. When the region moves, the controller data moves with it. When you export the MIDI data, the controller messages go with it.
- Make sure your MIDI controller is set up and working. If you can’t trigger notes from the instrument then the plug-in is not receiving MIDI data. Check your instrument tracks MIDI input and output routing and make sure your computer is recognizing your MIDI keyboard.
- Assigning another parameter to the same knob that an existing parameter is assigned to will overwrite that mapping and update the knob to control the new parameter.
- Some Virtual Instruments may have limited or no support for CC data, while some do not support controller learning and must be mapped manually to a specific CC number from your MIDI controller (check back next week for some advanced CC tutorials).
- If you are using rewire applications like reason or live, make sure your MIDI controllers are disabled within those program’s preferences as CC data may be mistakenly routed into elements within the rewire slave and cause weird things to happen.
More CC fun coming up:
Be sure to come back next week when I dive deep into some of the finer points of MIDI CC mapping and editing in Pro Tools. We will take a look at manually mapping a controller to an instrument parameter and I will show you how to graphically edit your CC data to fine-tune your performance.
Pro Tools Tidbits
• Spectrasonic’s Stylus RMX is now Intel Mac compatible
• Sony announced AU support for their Oxford suite of plug-ins
If you have a Pro Tools related question that you would like me to take a shot at answering or have any feedback, please send it to brian@audioMIDI.com. I will do my best to select the questions that seem to stump the most people.
As always, stay tuned to the audioMIDI.com eNews for the latest reviews and new product info.
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