Template:FC-300 MIDI Programming
Figured out how to do this on the FC-300, and while it will works flawlessly - turns Wah On/OFF using switch on EXPR pedal and the pedal to control Wah Frequency - it's down right UGLY to program. It's not for the faint of heart, but really isn't that hard once you get into it. Would have been a breeze with a software editor :(
- I tried all kinds of things, but the ONLY way to make this work is in PATCH mode. Will NOT work in STD mode. Why? 'cus in STD mode you essentially in IA mode.. meaning you can only trigger one set of CC#'s to the CTL1, CTL2, EXPR1 and 2 pedals and EXPR 1 and 2 switches. This limits you to 6 CC#'s.... not PER Patch, but across ALL patches. Changing the CC# changes it for EVERY patch you switch to, meaning you can't have CTL2 turn on Drive in one patch and Reverb/Delay in a second.
This will work in CC mode, but you are limited to one patch - with 12 stomps, and no way to easily switch between patches on the AxeFx.
- So I now have 3 banks of 5 patches programmed (1st 15 on Axe) with [inventive] patch names (there's a 12 char limit on patch names); with CTL1 set up as Tuner on all patches, CTL2 for whatever [drive on/off?]; EXPR 1 for WAH, EXPR 1 SW as Wah On/OFF and EXPR 2 as volume [nothing assigned to EXPR 2 SW]. Did this in about an hour. Note that CTL1/2 are totally customizable as far as function. So CTL2 can be set up to send up to 6 CC#'s or up to 255 bytes of other midi data when pressed ON [or OFF].
PATCH Mode PATCH mode lets you use the UP/DOWN buttons and the 1/6-5/10 buttons to select a patch - 20 banks of 5 per bank, up to 100 stored patches. Each patch can be programmed to do specific things, including controlling mutiple midi devices [can send on MIDI CH01 thru 16], but I will focus here on setting this up for the AxeFX. [i][code]The patch can set the following parameters. •Patch’s ON Stream
Group of MIDI messages transmitted when a patch is selected. [Midi messages sent when the pedal is pressed]
•Patch’s OFF Stream
Group of MIDI messages transmitted when a different patch is selected or when a pedal is released. These are used for canceling settings from ON streams.
•Timing for transmission of the patch’s OFF stream [can be occur on PEDAL RELEASE or PATCH CHANGE] •CTL1,2 ON streams
These are the groups of MIDI messages transmitted when the pedals are switched on.
•CTL1,2 OFF streams
These are the groups of MIDI messages transmitted when the pedals are switched off.
•AMP CONTROL
You can set the status of the AMP CONTROL jacks when a patch is selected.
•Control pedal, expression pedal, and other settings •Patch names
- An individual patch can hold MIDI messages containing up to a maximum of approximately 500 bytes. Although the total amount of MIDI message data that can be stored in Patch Mode is approximately 8 Kbytes, this amount of memory is shared by all patches. Therefore, please note that not all patches can contain the full approximately 500 bytes.[/code][/i]
Here's what I did in PATCH mode. Using this process will LIMIT your PAIN. What you choose to control with each of the pedals may vary, but the principle in doing this from scratch is the same. Note that there are other ways to make use of this mode, but this is my approach. - Decide what you want to control with each of the pedals [CTL1, CTL2, EXPR1, EXPR2, EXPR_SW1, EXPR_SW2]. NOTE: You cannot program 1/6 thru 5/10 or the UP/DOWN pedals as these will be used to change patches. I will not be addressing setup of external controls (CTL3 thru CTL8) is this section. - For the two EXPR pedals (and their switches), I chose WAH and Input Volume for EXPR1 and EXPR2 respectively, WAH ON/OFF for EXPR_SW_1 and nothing for EXPR_SW_2. - For CTL1 and CTL2 I chose Tuner and Drive [as defaults]. These can be changed later. [code]We are going to program 1 patch [P.01], replicate to P.02 thru P.05, then go back and modify P.02 thru P.05 for the specific patches on the AxeFx - including naming patches. This approach will be a lot EASIER, with FAR LESS button pushing than programming each patch separately.[/code] - Turn on the FC300 and use the "Mode" button to set the controller to PATCH mode - on the left of the display, the red light next to "Patch" under the mode bank indicates active mode. Press the 1/6 pedal. BANK/NUMBER should read P.01 and you should see "Roland FC-300" to the right. [b]NOTE:[/b] You will navigate in these edit screens using the [b]PARAMETER[/b] and [b]VALUE[/b] buttons.
This is where we will set up the MIDI data is sent to the AxeFx when the pedal (1/6 in this case) is pressed. We want to make sure that each pedal (1/6 thru 5/10) switches to the corresponding patch on the Axe-Fx for each bank of % n teh FC-300. To do that we need to insert a PC (Program Control) message to be sent.
- Press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button once. You should see the following screen.
[code]PATCH:On MIDI
[WRITE][/code]Press [b][WRITE][/b] button TWICE !! This will now display
[code]001:---
------ ------[/code] The 001 indicates this is the first MIDI command that will be sent. Right now it is empty. Press Press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button once. This will now display:
[code]001:PC CH#01
PC#001[/code] PC#001 is the Program Control Msg being sent to the Axe-Fx. This tell the Axe-FXC to switch to Patch A0001.
OK. NO need to add anything more here. We now need to [b]EXIT[/b] back to the top screen and [b]SAVE[/b] the patch. Press the [b]EXIT[/b] button THREE times to get back to the top screen. Each press will back you out a level. At the top level (main screen), press the [b]WRITE[/b] button. [code]Write to [WRITE] 01: [/code] The 01 is the patch number to save to. Since we are on patch 01, we do not need to change this value. Press the [b]WRITE[/b] button again. [code]Sure? [WRITE] 01: [/code] Yup, we are sure... so press the [b]WRITE[/b] button again to save the patch to the P.01 location. P.01=01: (shown left), P.02=02:, and so on up thru P.99 Now, when you press the 1/6 pedal, patch A001 will be selected on the Axe-Fx. Test it out by changing to a different patch on the Axe-Fx (using the rotary dial), then press the 2/7 Pedal on the FC-300, then the 1/6 Pedal. The Axe-Fx should now be switched to the first patch in Bank A !! Note that we have not named it yet.
Now we will setup CTL1 to activate the Tuner, CTL2 to turn Drive On/OFF and setup Wah on EXPR1/EXPR_SW_1. [b]CTL1:[/b] Press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button until you get to: [code]CTL1:Assign 1
CH Tx CC# 80[/code] Up to 6 MIDI messages can be transmitted per pedal The "Assign 1" means this is the first. Right now it is setup to send CC#80 (the default) when pressed. We want the TUNER to turn on and off when pressed. Assuming you have not changed the default CC#'s in the IO->CTL screen on the Axe-FX, CC#15 will do that. So press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button until the cursor is under the "80", then use the [b]VALUE[/b] button to change it to "15". Press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button again and you will see:
[code]CTL1:Range
01 - 127[/code] Press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button again and you will see:
[code]CTL1:Mode
LATCH[/code] [b]CTL2:[/b]
Press the right [b]PARAMETER[/b] button until you get to: [code]CTL2:Assign 1
CH Tx CC# 81[/code] We want CTL2 to turn the DRIVE block on and off. That requires CC#49 to be sent. So move the cursor to under the "81" and change it to "49".
You can now save the patch by pressing [b][WRITE][/b] button THREE times.
[size=150][b]*** We're not done yet... More to come... ***[/b][/size]
The only unresolved challenge so far is that when switching patches, if CTL1 or 2 were latched ON in prior patch, pedal lights do NOT go off. However, the pedal is the OFF position and requires 2 taps to activate. First tap turns off light. 2nd tap activates the pedal and light goes back on.
