Changing eventide H9 source instrument via midi

[Tomtama]

Is it possible to change the H9 source instrument via Midi? I switch back and forth from guitar to bass and I’d like to setup my Boss ES-8 to switch the H9 source instrument when I change presets. 

[nickrose]

In the new year I will document a Sysex that will allow you to do this.

Most pedalboards will not send Sysex, so this will not benefit everyone.

 

[brock]

nickrose wrote:

In the new year I will document a Sysex that will allow you to do this.

Most pedalboards will not send Sysex, so this will not benefit everyone.

Tomtama wrote:

Are there any plans to update the software to be able to do this with a CC? I can’t imagine I’m the only one who wants to do something like this.

I’m very interested in this upcoming Sysex documentation, myself.  One potential (MIDI) Solution is an Event Processor / Event Processor Plus.  I have one mounted comfortably under my ‘board, along with two power supplies and a Quadra-Thru box.  Powered by the MIDI stream (not from the H9, without modification).

Convert – for example – a single CC value to trigger the Sysex message.  But I believe that the EPP will only send 32 bytes – including the leading / trailing F0 and F7.  Not sure yet what the H9 string length requirements are.

[nickrose]

brock wrote:

Not sure yet what the H9 string length requirements are.

This sort of message is typically about 10-12 bytes, so you should be fine.

No plans at present to support CC for this, partly because there are so many that it would be an issue to assign them and store the associations, and some of these values are 8 or 16 bit, which presents problems for CC.

 

[Tomtama]

brock wrote:

nickrose wrote:

In the new year I will document a Sysex that will allow you to do this.

Most pedalboards will not send Sysex, so this will not benefit everyone.

Tomtama wrote:

Are there any plans to update the software to be able to do this with a CC? I can’t imagine I’m the only one who wants to do something like this.

I’m very interested in this upcoming Sysex documentation, myself.  One potential (MIDI) Solution is an Event Processor / Event Processor Plus.  I have one mounted comfortably under my ‘board, along with two power supplies and a Quadra-Thru box.  Powered by the MIDI stream (not from the H9, without modification).

Convert – for example – a single CC value to trigger the Sysex message.  But I believe that the EPP will only send 32 bytes – including the leading / trailing F0 and F7.  Not sure yet what the H9 string length requirements are.

 

I’ve looked into the Midi Solutions Event Processor myself. It looks like it would work in this situation. It’s an expensive solution considering I only need to change the H9 instrument source, but it may be the only option I have. My Boss ES-8 cannot send Sysex messages.

[Tomtama]

nickrose wrote:

In the new year I will document a Sysex that will allow you to do this.

Most pedalboards will not send Sysex, so this will not benefit everyone.

 

 

Nick, any feedback on when the documentation on the Sysex messages will be available?

 

Thanks!!

[Tomtama]

nickrose wrote:

In the new year I will document a Sysex that will allow you to do this.

Most pedalboards will not send Sysex, so this will not benefit everyone.

 

Eagerly awaiting this. I really appreciate your willingness to do this for us!!!

[Tomtama]

Are there any plans to update the software to be able to do this with a CC? I can’t imagine I’m the only one who wants to do something like this.

[Tomtama]

I was able to find a used Midi Solutions Event Processor for $60. I just need the Sysex messages to switch the source instruments. Come on Nick!!!

[Tomtama]

Bump……………..

[Tomtama]

Nick,

 

I saw that you posted the Sysex guide. Thank you!!! Could you help an inexperienced Midi guy out by posting the Sysex messages needed to switch to bass and to guitar?

 

Thank you very much!!

[Tomtama]

Assuming the H9 I’m sending the Sysex message to is on Midi channel 2, would the following message change the instrument source to bass?

 

F0 1C 70 02 3C 02 68 01 F7

[Tomtama]

I realized I had not converted the ACSII command codes to hex. After doing that this is the Sysex message I calculated to change the instrument to bass. The H9 is on midi channel 2.

 

F0 1C 70 02 3C 32 36 38 20 31 F7

 

Is this correct?

[nickrose]

Tomtama wrote:

I realized I had not converted the ACSII command codes to hex. After doing that this is the Sysex message I calculated to change the instrument to bass. The H9 is on midi channel 2.

F0 1C 70 02 3C 32 36 38 20 31 F7

Is this correct?

You will note that this document is for experts only and little or no support is available.

But, I'll break the habits of a lifetime, and JUST THIS ONCE, try and do the decent thing.

Two issues"

1) The number 2 is the MIDI SYSEX ID – this is not the same as the MIDI channel. I would suggest that you keep this at zero, as many things do not work with different values.

2) You have the number wrong – it should be 200 (hex) plus 68 (decimal) expressed as hex. This would be 244 (32 34 34).

That should do it.

 

 

[Tomtama]

nickrose wrote:

Tomtama wrote:

I realized I had not converted the ACSII command codes to hex. After doing that this is the Sysex message I calculated to change the instrument to bass. The H9 is on midi channel 2.

F0 1C 70 02 3C 32 36 38 20 31 F7

Is this correct?

You will note that this document is for experts only and little or no support is available.

But, I’ll break the habits of a lifetime, and JUST THIS ONCE, try and do the decent thing.

Two issues”

1) The number 2 is the MIDI SYSEX ID – this is not the same as the MIDI channel. I would suggest that you keep this at zero, as many things do not work with different values.

2) You have the number wrong – it should be 200 (hex) plus 68 (decimal) expressed as hex. This would be 244 (32 34 34).

That should do it.

 

Nick,

 

Thank you!!! I figure out the hex conversion problem. I’ll change the Midi Sysex ID to 0 and give it another try.

[Tomtama]

I still don’t think I’m building the correct Sysex message to change the source instrument. 

The root key for the parameter I’m trying to set is 0x200, the type key value is 68 (this appears to be decimal). Should I convert 68 to hex, which is 44 and add it to 0x200 to get 0x244?

If this assumption is correct then the Sysex message to change the source instrument to bass would be;

F0 – Sysex start

1C – Eventide

70 – H4000

02 – midi channel 2

3C – SYSEXC_USEROBJECT_SHORT

32 – ASCII 2

34 – ASCII 4

34 – ASCII 4

20 – ASCII space

F7 – Sysex end

 

F0 1C 70 02 3C 32 34 34 20 31 F7

 

Byte Parameters:

type key value is tj_sysvars_byte_key (TJ_ROOT_KEY+0x200)

 

68: sp_instrument 0: guitar, 1:bass

[Tomtama]

Nick,

I just want to thank you again! Everything is working great!

[Tomtama]

For the benefit of others who want to be able to switch the source instrument on their H9 on the fly via midi, I’ve documented my configuration and the appropriate SysEx messages to change the source instrument between guitar and bass.

 

My midi controller/pedal looper is a Boss ES-8. The ES-8 is not capable of sending SysEx messages. However, it can send Control Changes. In order to send the SysEx messages to change the instrument source, I inserted a Midi Solutions Event Processor between the midi out of the ES-8 and the midi in of the H9. The Event Processor monitors all midi traffic through it and can be used for many functions one being mapping a Control Change (CC) to a SysEx message. To change the source instrument to guitar I have the ES-8 send a CC 20 with a value of 0 and to change to bass a CC 20 with a value of 1. The Event Processor changes these CCs to the appropriate SysEx messages I’ve documented below.

 

SysEx to set the source instrument to guitar – F0 1C 70 00 3C 32 34 34 20 30 F7

SysEx to set the source instrument to bass – F0 1C 70 00 3C 32 34 34 20 31 F7

 

I hope this information helps someone figure this out much more quickly than I did.

[supportwallirec]

Why not tie the selection of the input tool to the presets like this is done in BOSS SY-300

I play with a looper and it’s inconvenient to switch every time you need to record a bass line.

[Tomtama]

If you’re referring to saving the instrument source in an H9 preset, it’s not possible. As far as I know, instrument source is a system level setting an isn’t stored on a preset by preset basis. It would be a nice enhancement though!

[nickrose]

Tomtama wrote:

If you're referring to saving the instrument source in an H9 preset, it's not possible. As far as I know, instrument source is a system level setting an isn't stored on a preset by preset basis.

Mr T. is correct. Note that this setting is mainly used by pitch shift presets – the majority of others do not refer to it, so this may not be as important as some think.

 

 

[Tomtama]

I use presets with pitch shift for both guitar and bass, that’s why I wanted to be able to switch on the fly without having to remember to manually change the setting 🙂

 

[supportwallirec]

Tomtama wrote:

I use presets with pitch shift for both guitar and bass, that’s why I wanted to be able to switch on the fly without having to remember to manually change the setting 🙂

 

I also do not mind

[Author]

Posts