MIDI Tap Tempo Control for Eclipse

[Scoodva]

Hello, Everyone,

 

I am trying to get external control over the tap tempo of an Eclipse from a Midas HD96. I can change the program from a MIDI configured button. I have gone through the EXT configuration and setup EXT#1 using the capture function for both the Source and Channel. The TAP SRC is set to ext#1. When I tap the MIDI programmed button on the console, I can see the MIDI activity light blink on the Eclipse, but the tempo does not change. I have exhausted the useful information that I could find. Please advise.

 

Thanks!

 

Paul

[tbskoglund]

Hi Paul,

What exactly do you have mapped to EXT1?

For example, I just mapped Source: mod wheel (CC1) to EXT1, and now when I send  MIDI CC1 with value a of 127 as the tap source, I can tap in the tempo correctly and the LED on the front of the unit updates and flashes in time.

You should also confirm the exact MIDI message that is being sent from your controller. You want every press of the button to send a value of 64 or higher to trigger the tap.

[Scoodva]

I have a console event set to MIDI channel 1 (Eclipse), CC#4 (I have tried several different ones) but I had the value set randomly set to 43. I changed this to 127 but still the tempo isn’t changing even though the MIDI input light is blinking.

 

One fun thing I discovered is when I was changing all of the EXT#1 settings again with the value from the console set to 127, when I tried recapturing the info on the Eclipse to make sure I had the right settings, the Eclipse completely locks up. The light on the tempo button stops flashing and the display is stuck on CAPTURE. At this point nothing works and I have to restart the Eclipse.

 

That was one of things that was not clear in the manual was the value to use for CC messages. And I know this is an older unit and most everyone is using plugins, but hardware units most always sound better. It is a shame that Eventide has moved it’s focus to pedals and plugins. This unit sounds really good and it’s shame to not be able to more easily integrate it with modern live consoles and DAWs.

 

I will keep poking around. I am determined to get this tap tempo issue resolved. I have 2 more days of rehearsals to figure this out.

 

Thanks!

 

Paul

[tbskoglund]

If you’d like to use MIDI CC4, you need to go to SETUP > EXTERNAL > EXT#1 > SOURCE and set that to “foot con”. The MIDI CCs are listed on page 45 here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/com.eventide.downloads/Product+Manuals/EclipseUserManual.pdf

Once you’e confirmed that is setup correctly, you’ll need your MIDI controller to send CC4 with a value of 64 or higher, only when it is pressed. The CC should toggle from 0, to 127, back to 0 when you press the switch. This is standard behavior for MIDI toggle switches.  I’d suggest using a MIDI monitor with your controller to confirm it is sending the message correctly.

If you are looking for a modern Eventide rackmount processor with great integration for DAWs and consoles, I have good news for you: https://www.eventideaudio.com/rackmount/h9000/

 

[Scoodva]

I have read the manual. I found that the CCs list is absolutely useless and irrelevant because any CC number can supposedly be assigned to any parameter, rendering the labels on page 45, which I have read over several times, meaningless. For example, when I assign the CC# of the button I am programming to 3 and then use the Capture function on the EXT setup, it says the source is MIDI Double, which it is not, it’s just CC# 3.

 

My button on the console only sends one value. It does not send the value of 0 when depressing. I did program a second button to send 0 so I manually toggle between the two buttons just to see if anything changes and nothing so far.

 

The H9000 is not good news. It’s $7k and the digital I/O does not operate at 192kHz which is what I use in the studio. My Bricasti can…

 

I realize that this is a long discontinued piece of gear and that Eventide has no interest in further developing controller software/plug in control for the Eclipse. But it is such a great sounding effects unit, far superior to plugins. An updated version of the Eclipse would be great.

 

Thanks!

 

Paul

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