Midi Controller tutorial for newbie

[LVC]

I should be receiving my Eclipse in a couple of days. I have not purchased a foot controller yet.

I plan to run it in the effects loop of my Fuchs ODS.

I know NOTHING about midi.

What the heck do I do?

I have downloaded the Eclipse manual — cannot make heads or tails on midi section — I have downloaded manuals for All Access, FX1, Ground Control and Midi Mate — and I am more confused than ever.

this is what I want to do

1) Turn Effects on/off (chorus, delay etc)

2) Tap button for delay

3) create a back of presets that I want to use

4) add/subtract new presets or create other banks/songs

5) run OD and mid boost from amp (two button pedal) from midi board

6) Maybe add expression pedal for wah/delay/tremolo

Ideal situation would be if midi pedal had a "learn mode" so I can set the Eclipse to a preset — and press on a button on the pedal board and it will learn that preset.

I run on a mac— soooo if there was an editor that worked with a MAC — that would be ideal.

any help in this area would be great.

PS I currently own a G-Minor — do not know if that will work with Eclipse. Excited about getting unit — but some support or tutorial to walk a newbie user on how to setup a pedal board would really be great.

[IDeangelis]

 Hi LVC

congratulations on your Eventide Eclipse ! ! !  

The first thing you should do is get to know MIDI. From an average musician level of use MIDI is quite simple. PROGRAM CHANGES recall presets and CONTROL CHANGES can be assigned to parameters for real time control. MIDI is an exadecimal system so numbers ranges will vary from 0>127 or 1>128, depending on how a hardware manufacturer chooses. Some devices even offer the user to select any of the 2 systems.

I would search the internet as it's really rich in MIDI resources information. 

These are just some useful links, but you may well find others or better ones:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Balcony/7837/midtutrl1.html
http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/doc.html
http://www.midiworld.com/basics.htm
http://www.sfu.ca/sca/Manuals/247/midi/Midi.html
http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/
http://server.ats.com.au/~jonescnt/sysexman.htm
http://www.synthzone.com/ctrlr.htm
http://www.midi.org/

Once you have a grasp of this, manuals won't confuse you anymore.

Eclipse has a LEARN mode to patch CC messages to parameters.

Once the Eventide and your pedalboard will be there, in your place, you will need to go thru the manuals. Eclipse manual has a walkthru tutorial on how to recall presets, organize MIDI Maps and patch MIDI CC messages to parameters.

Regarding your amp, you'll need to refer to their manufacturer, not to us.

All MIDI pedalboards are compatible as MIDI is a standard. The choice is based on what you need to do (I know….you don't have a complete picture yet). A MIDI MATE or a Ground Control Pro are excellent starting points. In time you may or may not need a deeper unit, who knows today. 

No editor is available for Eclipse nor it is planned at the moment.

You may also want to chek our knowledge area, here:

http://www.eventide.com/Home/Eventide/AudioDivision/Support/Knowledgebase.aspx

all the best

I 

[LVC]

thanks — is there a walk through tutorial available anywhere for a basic pedal board setup? —

Really do not care which board — I am open to purchase anyone of them at this point.

Ideally I would like to purchase one that is the easiest to program that will allow me to do the things I want per my initial post.

Regarding amp — its channel switching pedal cable is has a Stereo jack….but that is the least of my problems or concerns.

I already searched support and all I got back was the type of gibberish that I just do not understand.

I will go to sites you suggested — but I got to tell you a simple walk through tutorial will go a long way in helping a guy like me out — and I am sure there are many folks like me out there that would jump on products like the Eclipse but are scared off with all the midi stuff.

[IDeangelis]

 Hi

there is no tutorial available as there is really no way we could describe how a pedalboard is programmed. Everyone uses its way and user interface. This is a subject relevant to pedalboards manufacturers actually and their manuals (most of them) have tutorials on this. Our tutorial is in the manual. Just don't skip the books.

Don't be scared. MIDI is simple and can easily be learned on the units and their manuals.

all the best

I 

[megamind]

Hi!

I am in the process of programing my new eclipse and have a question concerning the "turning an effect on an off" way of using.

I have managed to turn an effect ON on the eclipse when pressing a button on my all access, but if I press the button again, the eclipse won?t turn the effect off. (If  the effect is set as "On" then I can turn it off, but not on again. So it works in both ways.)

I guess this probem is very simple but somehow I don?t see the solution after trying and looking many times. So I want to be able to turn an effect on and off with the repeated use of one button, or the repeated receiption of one MIDI message to be precise.

help would be greatly appreciated!

Best regards

[IDeangelis]

 Hi

turning FX on and off is mostly achieved by patching a MIDI CC message to the level parameter of the fx. For example, using a 4 v Moddelay algorithm you could have 2 voices set for chorus and the other 2 for stereo modulated delays. Patching MIDI CC#x to voice 1 & 2 levels will on/off the chorus and patching a different CC to 3 & 4 levels will do the same for delays.

Unfortunately you don't describe what and how you are trying to control and the settings you have choosen. Please provide further details about this.

Thanks

I

[megamind]

Hi!
Thanks a lot for the fast reply. It always takes me some time to think about how I describe such problems as English is not my mother toungue.

That?s the way I tried it and partly succeeded:

I had changed the factory preset ?reverb 8? a tiny bit and saved it as 001 and made my all access load this preset when pressing switch 2. I set switch 11 on my All Access to send CN16 and then I let the eclipse learn that my controller works as ?general 1? as source in ?setup ? externals?. I assigned it to external 3. The next step was that I tried to turn on/off the reverb on a preset featuring just the reverb effect.

To do this I pressed parameter on the eclipse and did a long hold on the first hotbutton ?FXA:ON? or ?FXA:OFF, depends on how it is set. Then I assigned external 3 so the connection with the All Access is established. Now when I press switch 11 I can turn it on when it is set ?FXA:off? or I can turn it off when it is set ?FXA:ON? My problem is that I want to be able to turn it on/off more than once. It doesn?t comprehend the second press of the switch 11 with CN16, although it does receive the massage like it did at the first press.

(Sidenote: I can?t get into the assigning- menu anymore by doing a hold on the hotbutton as I described above. ("To do this I pressed parameter on the eclipse and did a long hold on the first hotbutton ?FXA:ON? or ?FXA:OFF")So after assinging it once, I can?t get into the menu again.)

Thanks and kind regards!

[IDeangelis]

Hi Megamind

 Ok…so it's about remoting the FX BLOCK (A or B) Bypass…rather then a single fx in a block. Clear now.

What operative system version are you running on your Eclipse? This is very important for us!

I see the same problem you are having. More about it later…

Eclipse needs to see a MIDI CC value of 64 or higher, to trigger the Bypass function. So the best way is to configureyour pedalboard switchas unlatch, that is when you press it a value 128 is sent out and it's being reset to 0. At next press Eclipse will change the Bypass status from the one set from the previous switch press.

Latched switches will need 2 presses to work….annoying!

I see the problem here of not being able to get back to the modulation assignment menu after having done it once. Rebooting the unit fixes this. In the worst case a CLEAR SETUP (described in the User Manual Start-Up options) should fix it, resetting Bypass to no MIDI CC being patched to it.

I believe you are on a beta OS version so please understand it may not work perfectly at this time. We will change the way FX Blocks Bypass will work and very likely move the assignment functions in the SETUP menus.

Thanks for your report! 

All the best

Italo 

[megamind]

Hi Italo!
Yes, I?m using V. 3.5b4.
I will try what you said and give you feedback.
Thanks again and kind regards,
megamind

[Les Paul]

I was in the same boat as you when I got my Eclipse, first of all get a good grip on MIDI and what is does and is capable of. I bought a MIDI pedal from access electronics the MC5 and it works great with the Eclipse, I am still leaning alot of this myself but that is a great foopedal, easy to use…..

[starstring]

Is there a recommended MIDI pedal board to use with the Eclipse?

Please, please, please make an on screen editor for the H-8000 (editing via computer) one for the Eclipse wouldn't be bad either.

Drag and drop functionality, ease of understanding how modules are connected together, visible expression controls with two or three expression pedals if possible.

[Doug Wellington]

I've got a foot pedal board prototype I made that works with the Looperlative LP1.  Two rows of nine buttons, two expression pedals.  I'm modifying the firmware to work specifically with Harmonizers.

I've got an H8000 remote control app in alpha test stage.

I've got an Eclipse remote control app almost in alpha test stage.

I've got vSigX 2.0 to finish.

Which one should I be working on? 

[starstring]

Hi Doug,

How are you doing?

Are you working for Eventide now?

First thing I need is a pedal board so I can switch programs while playing guitar live.

Then I need an on screen editor to help speed up editing sounds, the single most crucial thing is to be able to see what is routed to what and which algorithm I'm working with.

When you say prototype of the pedal board, how can I get my hands on one? Does it have a simple bypass switch so I can bypass the eclipse if needed?

Hopefully you are developing a version of the on screen editor for PC???

[Doug Wellington]

starstring:

How are you doing?

Life is full!  🙂  Just got a couple new toys:

My son and I are going to compete in some vintage races…

Quote:

Are you working for Eventide now?

Nope.  I'm just some obsessed guy…  I'm a big Ensoniq fan and have a huge PARIS rig that I've been hacking on for years, but I decided I wanted to devote some efforts to something that is still in production!

Quote:

Then I need an on screen editor to help speed up editing sounds, the single most crucial thing is to be able to see what is routed to what and which algorithm I'm working with.

Yes, that was part of the inspiration for my remote control app.  When I've worked with other Harmonizer users, the biggest hurdle to overcome has been to understand routing…

Quote:

When you say prototype of the pedal board, how can I get my hands on one? Does it have a simple bypass switch so I can bypass the eclipse if needed?

I'll let you know when I finish the firmware updates.  The buttons are all programmable.  For example, in LP1 mode, the top row chooses which tracks to select and the bottom row selects function (record, play, overdub, reverse, etc).  I'm trying to come up with a good programming setup to match the Harmonizer…

Quote:

Hopefully you are developing a version of the on screen editor for PC???

All my new programming work is cross-platform.  I love my Macbook, but I'm too cheap to buy a new Mac when PCs out perform for a lot less money…!  LOL

[scottkahn]

LVC:

I should be receiving my Eclipse in a couple of days. I have not purchased a foot controller yet.

I plan to run it in the effects loop of my Fuchs ODS.

I know NOTHING about midi.

What the heck do I do?

Here's a good tutorial on using MIDI foot controllers:

http://www.musicplayers.com/tutorials/guitars/2006/0306_MIDIFootControllers.php

Scott

[moravanskyj]

Hello Doug,

I have 3 Eclipse's and would seriously LOVE  a software interface to edit them.

Please let me know if you do finish it and if I can contribute to the software development with a little cash for your efforts.

Jim

[Doug Wellington]

That's great that you have three Eclipses!

I'm on a business trip until the 15th, then I'll finish up the MB-808 project. After that, it'll be time to get back to the Harmonizer editor!

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