Future Impact v3 and now V4

[ped]

Hi guys

Just approaching the rabbit hole and would appreciate any thoughts along the way.

As I have mentioned I'm bidding on a Roland MIDI interface. 

Now the VB99 has a MIDI in/out but also connects to my computer by USB.

I wondered if there was any way to control the FI (using the desktop software) by connecting it to the VB99 by MIDI? I suppose any knowledge here will rest upon knowing the VB99 MIDI capabilities and although I feel like I know it inside out I just haven't ever played with the MIDI stuff on it before (never had to as poor pitch to MIDI is why I use a GK system in the first place)

[Quatschmacher]

32 minutes ago, ped said:

Hi guys

Just approaching the rabbit hole and would appreciate any thoughts along the way.

As I have mentioned I'm bidding on a Roland MIDI interface. 

Now the VB99 has a MIDI in/out but also connects to my computer by USB.

I wondered if there was any way to control the FI (using the desktop software) by connecting it to the VB99 by MIDI? I suppose any knowledge here will rest upon knowing the VB99 MIDI capabilities and although I feel like I know it inside out I just haven't ever played with the MIDI stuff on it before (never had to as poor pitch to MIDI is why I use a GK system in the first place)

The FI software can’t be controlled by MIDI in a straightforward way. However, every parameter in the editor and the pedal is set with a combination of the values of CC98 and C99 to choose the parameter; the value of CC4 is used to set the chosen parameter’s value. 

[prowla]

In my reply I separated out upload/download patches & do firmware updates from control via a DAW.

You can think of it as admin vs operations.

I think for the first (admin) you will have to go via a USB-MIDI interface.

But for the latter (operations), eg. switching patches/banks, you can use any MIDI device which can send PC & CC codes; the ones the FI can accept are detailed in the manual (which I believe @Quatschmacher wrote).

So then the question is what can the VB99 do...

[ped]

This:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/141834/Roland-V-Bass-Vb-99.html?page=49#manual

Don't know where to start really!!

[ped]

The Roland UM One interface isn’t actually in stock in most shops - there’s a two week wait in most places. If my eBay item doesn’t work out what other interfaces would you recommend, and sorry I’m sure that’s been covered before but I haven’t had the time to read through the thread (but will over the weekend!)

[Quatschmacher]

9 minutes ago, ped said:

The Roland UM One interface isn’t actually in stock in most shops - there’s a two week wait in most places. If my eBay item doesn’t work out what other interfaces would you recommend, and sorry I’m sure that’s been covered before but I haven’t had the time to read through the thread (but will over the weekend!)

Read the appendix in the manual for a list of tested interfaces. 

Edited August 12, 2020 by Quatschmacher

[Al Krow]

12 minutes ago, ped said:

The Roland UM One interface isn’t actually in stock in most shops - there’s a two week wait in most places. If my eBay item doesn’t work out what other interfaces would you recommend, and sorry I’m sure that’s been covered before but I haven’t had the time to read through the thread (but will over the weekend!)

My Roland UM One interface is going spare  - I'm currently trying to simplify my pedal board life, so that I actually use rather than merely admire my kit(!) and de-humidifying is part of that process! 😁 

You would be very welcome to borrow it and if it's useful then feel free to buy it off me if you want to hold on to it. I'm actually making a trip to the PO tomorrow morning to post a couple of pedals sold to fellow BC'ers, so I could post it to you at the same time. Let me know.

[ped]

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

My Roland UM One interface is going spare  - I'm currently trying to simplify my pedal board life, so that I actually use rather than merely admire my kit(!) and de-humidifying is part of that process! 😁 

You would be very welcome to borrow it and if it's useful then feel free to buy it off me if you want to hold on to it. I'm actually making a trip to the PO tomorrow morning to post a couple of pedals sold to fellow BC'ers, so I could post it to you at the same time. Let me know.

Thanks that’s very kind - if my best offer on eBay is declined I’ll let you know (don’t think I can withdraw it now)

[prowla]

I've used a Yamaha U16 USB USB-MIDI interface with mine.

I've loaded the programs from the FI and controlled the FI (using the app on Windows) and applied a firmware update to the FI.

(I already had that, so decided to use it before going to the recommended/tested list.)

[ped]

So just doing the maths and it seems that if the unit draws 100mah then a rechargeable 9V battery with 850mah will last about 8 hours (probably less if you do lots of twiddling). Tempted to try it as a backup and for travelling, any things I should know beforehand? I'd just get a centre negative adapter with a battery snap on the end.

[stewblack]

4 hours ago, ped said:

So just doing the maths and it seems that if the unit draws 100mah then a rechargeable 9V battery with 850mah will last about 8 hours (probably less if you do lots of twiddling). Tempted to try it as a backup and for travelling, any things I should know beforehand? I'd just get a centre negative adapter with a battery snap on the end.

Sounds fine to me. I run mine off my Harley Benton battery pack and it's fine, but it works well from a 9v rechargeable too. 

[prowla]

Mine's on a board with a CIOKS power supply.

[ped]

OK well good to know I haven't lost my touch - I've installed the UM ONE driver and done the setup via the MIDI Studio in OSX as instructed in the UM ONE readme.

I opened the editor and selected the UM ONE as the In/Out

All that happens is that my pedal shows --5 as the patch and pressing the keys on the app makes a long sustained note that doesn't stop unless I hit a string.

Knew it wouldn't be easy!

Help!

 

 

[Quatschmacher]

6 minutes ago, ped said:

OK well good to know I haven't lost my touch - I've installed the UM ONE driver and done the setup via the MIDI Studio in OSX as instructed in the UM ONE readme.

I opened the editor and selected the UM ONE as the In/Out

All that happens is that my pedal shows --5 as the patch and pressing the keys on the app makes a long sustained note that doesn't stop unless I hit a string.

Knew it wouldn't be easy!

Help!

 

 

Unplug the MIDI cable from the FI MIDI out port; you’ve created an infinite MIDI loop.

You only need a cable connected to the FI MIDI in unless you are writing patches to the FI’s memory slots.

The display is correct. 

Edited August 14, 2020 by Quatschmacher

[Owen]

2 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

you’ve created an infinite MIDI loop.

 

FAAAAAAAAARRRR OOOOOOUUUUUUUTTTTT!

[ped]

3 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Unplug the MIDI cable from the FI MIDI out port; you’ve created an infinite MIDI loop.

You only need a cable connected to the FI MIDI in unless you are writing patches to the FI’s memory slots. 

OK Thanks  - still the same though do I need to change something in the MIDI Studio? Told you I hate MIDI

[ped]

Right I turned the pedal off and on again(!) and it works now when I use the on screen keyboard, but changing patch by pressing the pedal makes no difference to the sliders/screens, all that changes is the sound the keyboard makes. Have I misunderstood how this editor works or something?

[ped]

Ah bugger me I hadn't downloaded the directory.

Done now.

Is the pedal meant to show  --  when using the software to change patches?

 

[Quatschmacher]

25 minutes ago, ped said:

Ah bugger me I hadn't downloaded the directory.

Done now.

Is the pedal meant to show  --  when using the software to change patches?

 

The software loads a patch into the pedal’s edit buffer. You make changes on the screen and these are sent to the pedal. 

Stepping through patches on the pedal itself has nothing to do with the editor screen - those are patches that are written to the pedal’s internal memory slots. Communication between the the editor and pedal is one way (except for burning patches to the internal memory slots).

When the pedal is connected to the editor, all you’ll see is two horizontal lines in the pedal’s display.

If you want to study the factory patches’ settings on the editor screen then you need to load the patches individually via the editor to the edit buffer. That is, click “load” and load the first factory patch, then use the arrow keys to step through them. You can make adjustments to those patches but the changes won’t be stored in the pedal until you write them to the internal memory slots using the “write” command. If you you edit factory patches, I’d suggest renaming them so you can distinguish between them.

I suggest reading the FAQ section at the end of the user manual. 

Edited August 14, 2020 by Quatschmacher

[ped]

9 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

The software loads a patch into the pedal’s edit buffer. You make changes on the screen and these are sent to the pedal. 

Stepping through patches on the pedal itself has nothing to do with the editor screen - those are patches that are written to the pedal’s internal memory slots. Communication between the the editor and pedal is one way (except for burning patches to the internal memory slots).

When the pedal is connected to the editor, all you’ll see is two horizontal lines in the pedal’s display.

If you want to study the factory patches’ settings on the editor screen then you need to load the patches individually via the editor to the edit buffer. That is, click “load” and load the first factory patch, then use the arrow keys to step through them. You can make adjustments to those patches but the changes won’t be stored in the pedal until you write them to the internal memory slots using the “write” command. If you you edit factory patches, I’d suggest renaming them so you can distinguish between them.

I suggest reading the FAQ section at the end of the user manual. 

Thanks very much for that, I'm sure you're tired of having to explain to idiots who should just RTFM! All makes sense now - I even managed to download and try your Mutron patch just now. I've made a folder with all the files in and will have fun playing with them.

Do you find it best to keep a spreadsheet of what's on your pedal so you don't end up writing over things or so you know which patches to overwrite if it's one you won't use? I know you can just reload the default ones at any time but I feel I could get lost quite quickly! On the VB99 you have all the default patches stored under a second bank so you can A/B against the default sound which is sometimes helpful.

[Quatschmacher]

23 minutes ago, ped said:

Thanks very much for that, I'm sure you're tired of having to explain to idiots who should just RTFM! All makes sense now - I even managed to download and try your Mutron patch just now. I've made a folder with all the files in and will have fun playing with them.

Do you find it best to keep a spreadsheet of what's on your pedal so you don't end up writing over things or so you know which patches to overwrite if it's one you won't use? I know you can just reload the default ones at any time but I feel I could get lost quite quickly! On the VB99 you have all the default patches stored under a second bank so you can A/B against the default sound which is sometimes helpful.

I keep all my patch files (hundreds) in a single folder. I then have a separate folder into which I copy the 99 that I want to load onto the pedal. That way I always know what’s on there. 

[ped]

Just now, Quatschmacher said:

I keep all my patch files (hundreds) in a single folder. I then have a separate folder into which I copy the 99 that I want to load onto the pedal. That way I always know what’s on there. 

Ah good plan. I’ll do the same. 

Just had a panic that the editor wouldn’t load because I moved the directory folder. Put it back and it opened. 

Yeah I’ll sort out my structure now and hopefully make some cool sounds to share. 

Here’s one synth sound I really like and will try to copy. Synth sound at 55 seconds

 

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, ped said:

Just had a panic that the editor wouldn’t load because I moved the directory folder. Put it back and it opened. 

You can store files wherever you like. (A problem sometimes occurs if you move the location of the last opened patch; when opening the editor, it loads the last used patch and if it isn’t in the location it looks on, it has a paddy.)

 

[ped]

1 minute ago, Quatschmacher said:

You can store files wherever you like. (A problem sometimes occurs if you move the location of the last opened patch; when opening the editor, it loads the last used patch and if it isn’t in the location it looks on, it has a paddy.)

 

Yes I think that's what happened - all organised and sorted now. I downloaded your pack and will spend the weekend synthing. Very impressed so far.

[Quatschmacher]

55 minutes ago, ped said:

Yes I think that's what happened - all organised and sorted now. I downloaded your pack and will spend the weekend synthing. Very impressed so far.

Glad to hear it.

Make sure you have some way of sending CC1 with an expression pedal to get the best out of it. I’d guess your Roland unit should be able to do that  

There’s a non-v3 pack of my sounds too nearer the end of the list.