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Controllers and modifiers

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Modifier menu.png Lfo.png 200px

Controllers and modifiers: in the owner's manual

  • Axe-Fx II: 4.3.1 Quick Control ABCD
  • Axe-Fx II: 7 Modifiers and Controllers
  • Axe-Fx II: 7.2.3 Damping
  • Axe-Fx II: 7.2.4 Auto-Engage
  • Axe-Fx II: 7.2.5 Program Change Reset
  • Axe-Fx II: 7.3 Control Sources
  • Axe-Fx II: 7.3.7 Scene Controllers
  • Axe-Fx II: 7.3.8 External Controllers
  • Axe-Fx II: 9.4 Control Parameters
  • Axe-Fx II: 16.8 LFO Waveforms, Duty, and Phase
  • Axe-Fx II: 16.9 Tempo Cross Reference
  • Axe-Fx II: 16.13 Setting up a Wah Pedal
  • Axe-Fx II: 16.13.2 Using an Expression Pedal on an MFC-101
  • Axe-Fx II: 16.17 Modifier Power
  • FX8: 10 Modifiers

Controllers and modifiers: supported by which Fractal Audio products?

  • Axe-Fx II: yes.
  • FX8: yes.
  • MFC-101: yes (as a control device).

Controllers and modifiers: huh, what?

  • A controller generates control data. For example: an expression pedal, or an "on/off" switch. These are considered external controllers, because the data is generated from outside the main device (Axe-Fx II, FX8). This also applies to a MIDI floor controller, when connected to the Axe-Fx II or FX8, software etc. External controllers can be connected using a Pedal jack input(s), or USB or MIDI IN, or a floor controller. In I/O > CTRL you inform the Axe-Fx II or FX8 which external controller(s) you are using.
  • And then there are internal controllers, which generate control data within the device: ADSR, Envelope, LFO, Pitch and Sequencer. Use the Control menu to adjust their settings. Note that the settings always apply to the current preset only.
  • And there are modifiers. A modifier, aka the modifier menu, sits between the controller and the parameters within an effect block controlled by the internal or external controller. So: the controller sends or generates control data, which are modified within the modifier menu, and then changes parameters in effect blocks.
  • Here's an example: Wah. Go into Edit mode and you’ll see a block under the FREQ parameter. This means that the frequency parameter can be controlled by a controller. If it is being controlled by an internal or external controller, the block will be filled. Go to FREQ and press Enter. You’re now in the Modifier menu. Under Source you can select the internal or external controller you wish to attach, or select “None” to detach a controller. Start, End, Slope, Damping etc. are all modifier parameters. If you’d choose an internal controller like Envelope, you need to go to the Control menu (front panel button) to configure its settings.

Controllers and modifiers: MIDI CCs for external controllers on the Axe-Fx II

  • The MIDI CCs for external controllers in the Axe-Fx II 1-12 are: 16 - 27.

Controllers and modifiers: discovering modifiers

  • To check if modifiers and controllers are used in a preset, press Control on the front panel of the Axe-Fx II and scroll to the MODS tab. You can do the same in Axe-Edit.
  • When pressing Enter after selecting a modifier at the Mods page, that Modifier menu will open (except for "CONTROL" modifiers). Exit or Control will return from a modifier menu to MODS.

Controllers and modifiers: Scene Controllers

Controllers and modifiers: global blocks (Axe-Fx II)

  • Modifier parameters and controller assignments are not saved in / part of Global Blocks. You can use use Axe-Fx II: Recall Effect to copy controller and modifier settings between presets.

Controllers and modifiers: X/Y

  • An assigned modifier always applies to X and Y block states. It's not possible to have different modifier settings for X and Y. The architecture doesn't allow for this. source

Controllers and modifiers: CPU utilization

  • Assigning a controller to a parameter, will increase COU usage a little.
  • If you move an assigned pedal, the CPU utilization will increase slightly because of MIDI traffic management.

Controllers and modifiers: Auto-Engage parameter

  • Axe-Fx II firmware 11.04: "Added speed (SPD) vs. position (POS) options to Modifier Auto-Engage parameters. The SPD options engage the effect when the controller changes more than 5% in any 20 ms interval (as before). The POS options engage the effect when the controller value is 5% greater than or less than the Off Value (depending upon whether the Off Value is less than or greater than 50% respectively). For example, setting the Auto-Engage to SLOW SPD will bypass the effect when the controller value is less than, say, 5% (default). To engage the effect the controller (foot pedal) must be moved more than 5% in a 20 ms interval. This requires that the pedal be moved somewhat rapidly and prevents the effect from engaging erroneously if the pedal droops. Setting the Auto-Engage to SPD POS will bypass the effect in the same manner but the effect will engage when the controller exceeds 10% (5% + 5%) regardless of the rate of change."
  • For a virtual toe switch: set Off Val to around 90% and AutoEng to Medium or Slow.
  • Alternative to Auto Engage. Bakerman: "Damping on the mix modifier can help with that. Around 200 ms would probably be a good starting point. It will still go to 100% mix very quickly, then once it's on you can spend a half-second or so at 0-5% while mix remains at 100%." source

Controllers and modifiers: PC RST parameter (PC RESET)

  • This parameter determines if a modified parameter will be reset to its stored value upon receiving a Program Change message, or will stay at its current value.
  • Cliff: "The new value must be 5% different than the previous value, otherwise whatever value the pedal is at, will immediately override the "PC RST" value. The idea is that the parameter is set to a value when you recall the patch. You then have to move your pedal a bit (5%) to regain control of the parameter. This is done for two reasons:
    1. Many MIDI controllers send the state of their expression pedals along with the PC message. If the behavior weren't as described, the stored parameter value wouldn't stick.
    2. Many MIDI controllers have "noisy" expression pedals where the value tends to bounce around a little. This prevents the stored value from being lost."

Controllers and modifiers: about internal controllers

Controllers and modifiers: setting the initial state of an external controller

  • Setting the initial state of an external controller is important in this scenario: you are using a pedal to control the overall volume. To make sure that Volume is at 100% when the pedal that controls Volume is NOT connected, set initial state to 100% (I/O > MIDI > Init Ctrl Val).

Controllers and modifiers: Envelope and Pitch controllers work only with the front input and Input 1 left on the Axe-Fx II

  • The Envelope and Pitch internal controllers only detect signals at the front input and Input 1 left (rear) on the Axe-Fx II.
  • The FX8 lets you adjust this for POST-only setups (Global menu).

Controllers and modifiers: modifier curves

  • The Scale parameter applies a “gain” to the modifier curve allowing the user to create steeper or shallower curves.
  • The Offset parameter allows shifting the curve up or down.
  • Here are some useful settings:
    • Simulating a Whammy, reaching an octave at toe-down, with extra "play" at the top: Pitch CONTROL; SCALE 1.089; OFFSET 10.0.
    • Make the Auto-Engage "bump" disppear (true bypass at heel-down): Pitch MIX; Start 40; Mid 100; End 55; Slope 0; Scale 10; Offset 100.
    • Make a modifier go straight from MIN to MAX at toe-down: START 0; MID 0; MAX 60; SLOPE 0; SCALE 10; OFFSET -100.
    • Simulate a Log taper in a modifier menu: set "Mid" in the modifier menu to 20%. Adjust Slope to avoid the dead zone.

Controllers and modifiers: using a DAW

Controllers and modifiers: crossfading sounds