PitchFactor MIDI BND Source Assignment

[brock]

I'm running 3.0.0beta[0] now, but I don't recall ever having much luck in Version 2.3.0[2], either.  I've been unable to use pitchbend messages as a source for PF's parameters.  This time around, though, I'm verifying with a MIDI monitor, double-checking all of the global MIDI settings, aligning MIDI channels, performing A/B checks against other MIDI devices, etc.  I can switch among any other (pre-routed) CC assignment and get immediate results,  but not when changed to a BND assignment.

I want to say that I have seen this reported to these forums before, but I did not find anything in my search results.  It's not a huge deal, and there are easy enough workarounds, but there are a few instances that come to mind where a pitchbend source could come in quite handy:

The 'centered' parameters (with positive and negative values around a mid-point value) are prime examples.  A pitch wheel's return-to-center spring action matches up to them nicely.  Intervals, 'shapes', detuning, … while something like the Wet parameter with a non-linear spread of values might not be a good candidate.  Pitch wheels often transmit 'double-precision' values, and I'm curious as to whether the PitchFactor can take advantage of the higher resolution.

Lastly, I've been mapping out CC source values against all of the destination parameter values in the Pitchfactor.  I'd like to post a complete and accurate document here.  So I'll welcome any input from those users / Eventide staff who have tried using pitchbend messages in the 'Factor boxes (or any other unique / problematic experiences with the MIDI implementation).

[spburns]

I just bought a new Pitchfactor and am having this same problem.

I recently sent this message to support@eventide.com.

I recently purchased a new Eventide Pitchfactor and am having a problem controlling its
parameters using MIDI. I have updated the firmware on the
Pitchfactor to the latest OS (Update V3) from the Eventide
website.

Specifically, I am trying to control the Pitchfactor using
MIDI signals sent from an Elektron Monomachine. I have
successfully been able to change the parameters on the
Pitchfactor using MIDI CCs from the Monomachine but the
Pitchfactor does not respond to MIDI Pitch Bend (Wheel)
signals from the Monomachine.

I have the Pitchfactor's MIDI Receive Channel and MIDI Sysex
Channel both set to MIDI Channel 4 and the Monomachine also
set to output on MIDI Channel 4. As I said, the Pitchfactor
does successfully respond to regular MIDI CCs from the
Monomachine in this configuration.

When I switch the Pitchfactor into Utility mode and navigate
to the MIDI settings for Receive MIDI Control the MIDI Learn
function on the Pitchfactor correctly identifies incoming
MIDI CCs from the Monomachine but does respond to incoming
MIDI Pitch Bend.

I have monitored the MIDI signals output by the Monomachine
using the software program 'MIDI Monitor' under OSX and have
confirmed that the Monomachine is correctly sending MIDI Pitch
Bend on the correct channel (MIDI Channel 4), so it is not a
problem with the MIDI signal generated by the Monomachine.

I have looked through the posting on the Knowledge Base page
of the Eventide website and have not seen any posts concerning
this problem.

Please let me know what I need to do so that I can get the
Pitchfactor to respond to incoming MIDI Pitch Bend signals.

[nickrose]

This would seem to be a bug. We'll look into it, and, if so, the fix will be in a future update.

[brock]

Thank you for looking into this one, Nick.    Let me take this opportunity to say that all of the extensive documentation (electronic and hard copy), support, and depth of implementation in these units doesn't go by unappreciated.  This may be an obscure MIDI issue, but it's this kind of attention to detail that heavily influences my own purchasing decisions.

[nickrose]

Thanks for your kind words …

The fix will be in the next iteration of V3.0, probably due in March. We want to encourage keyboard people ..

[brock]

Just a followup, using 3.0.0[19] now.  First off, I appreciate the fact that the PF responds so smoothly to double-precision pitchbend messages.  I can nail nearly every discrete parameter value with the right pitch wheel (probably 12-bit; not the full 14-bit message).

I am finding some little quirks in the implementation, though.  Algorithms like the 910/949 don't return-to-center at exactly the expected value.  Pitch values in Micro land on 1:001, 1.003 in Normal mode, or Chromatc at 0.707.  The Crystal algo: 1c.  Most of the other algorithms are either coarse enough (diatonic modes), or really don't have an appropriate 'centered' value.

I got these numbers from sending a E0 00 40.  It seems like the 'sweet spot' for an exact unison in many cases turned out to be E0 47 3F.  With a 7-bit PB control, I can't hit "center" on these parameters at all.  Not a huge deal in any case, but a little odd for those fine-resolution parameters to land on as a center value.

No doubt that it'd be a nightmare to curve a MIDI pitchbend message to meet logical values for all parameters across all of the stompboxes.  Most parameter values seem to follow a non-linear path.   Pitch parameters … that might be a bit more appropriate.  I mention all of this here in case someone else had been getting the unusual results that I had.

[Author]

Posts