MOD Device (Dwarf/Duo/Duo X) owners' club - Tips, Ideas & Patches

[rwillett]

Hi

 

I'm trying to do integrate my Mod Dwarf (MD), an Irig HD, Bias FX and one amp and no mixer. Why? Because the BiasFX2 on the ipad has some interesting sounds and I like a stupid challenge.

 

I want to control all of this switching from a single Midi Pedal press as well. 

 

Here's a sample idea of how I'd like to wire it up. One Bass goes into the MD on Input1. A switchbox in the MD will route it to either a Big Muff distortion pedal (keep it simple) and then the output goes to another switchbox which routes it to output 1 and to the amp.

 

I want to press a simgle switch that moves switchbox 1 to the second channel which then routes the signal to output 2, which then connects to the iRig and the iPad, does some crazy sounds and toutes the signal back to input 2 on the MD, this then routes it to the second switch box which then sends that signal to the amp.

 

If I press the keyboard footswitch I can assign a midi CC to the first switchbox and it works fine. However the MD doesn't allow you to assign the same MIDI command to the second switch box to get it to switch at the same time. Thats actually sensible but not what I want to do. I want a single foot tap to move both switcheboxs at the same time. I've looked through the various MIDI controllers and can't see anything that might help.

 

I have also looked at the Control Voltage stuff and that looks really good except that you can't assign a CV input to a switch box.

 

A simple plugin that fires other MIDI commands on receipt of one command would be great, but I can't see that  in ahy of the plugins.

 

So I'm trying to work out what to do here. Any suggestions welcomed.

 

Thanks

 

Rob

 

 

 

[rwillett]

This might be the solution...

 

[MrDinsdale]

2 hours ago, rwillett said:

This might be the solution...

 

Aye that’ll work, just make sure you do a little experimentation as it will introduce a bit of extra latency.

 

Thats one of the reasons I stopped using the 2nd channel as an fx loop, especially with Portals it essentially doubles latency. If no Portal is required though it should be manageable as long as iRig isn’t adding too much. 

[rwillett]

32 minutes ago, MrDinsdale said:

Aye that’ll work, just make sure you do a little experimentation as it will introduce a bit of extra latency.

 

Thats one of the reasons I stopped using the 2nd channel as an fx loop, especially with Portals it essentially doubles latency. If no Portal is required though it should be manageable as long as iRig isn’t adding too much. 

 

Thanks for this. I kept looking at the options and had a nagging feeling that there was a solution, but couldn't see it.  What do you mean by Portal please?

 

Good call on the latency, as I'm such a super fast metal shredding guitarist, this could be a major problem for me (stop laughing at the back). I did read something a few months ago about using multiple cores to reduce latency, so will investigate further. 

 

The reason for this is that I have spent a bit of money on Amplitube and BIAS FX on the iPad and they do have some great sounds. If I can keep the Mod Dwarf and the iPad coexisting then its a win for me.

 

I can also confirm that the Line 6 FBV Shortboard (which is possibly the biggest lie on a piece of music gear as it's around 45cm long) MKII works out the box with the Mod Dwarf. I had an old one I picked up for a few quid, connected it to the USB-A socket on the MD and it worked.  No configuration needed at all. I know I can change the pedals over, but the MD learns what the assignements are so it doesn't matter. Not tested every pedal yet, but A-D work fine.

 

Rob

[SamIAm]

2 hours ago, rwillett said:

What do you mean by Portal please?

 

Portal (Named after the game) is a pair of plugins (Source & Sink) that basically allow the dwarf to spread load across cores.  One needs to consider both increased latency and phasing of the 'portaled' signals.  I believe it is only in the beta store so cannot share a link.  I'm not sure tho if it would be of benefit in the scenario you describe.

 

The dwarf constraint of only letting one midi command control one thing is a major bugbear for me; the CV workarounds can be effective but are such a phaff!  And its limit of only supporting 'Learn' a MIDI command (Contrasted to say the HX Stomp's capability to specify or learn) ... yuch!

 

There are some MIDI controllers that can send multiple commands for each footswitch activation; with a bit of config/reconfig during the learning process this could be an solution.

 

Alternatively (And I'm not sure it would work as I've not tried it) you might be able to use MIDI CC Map plugin to achieve similar.

https://pedalboards.moddevices.com/plugins/aHR0cDovL2dhcmV1cy5vcmcvb3NzL2x2Mi9taWRpZmlsdGVyI21hcGNj

 

<MD MIDI IN> wired to <MIDI CC Map>.

<MIDI CC Map> configured to xlate Command A to Command B.

<MD MIDI IN> wired to <Switcher One> which listens for CC Command A.

<MIDI CC Map> wired to <Switcher Two> which listens for CC Command B.

 

Edit: I've just thought about another approach that I'm pretty sure would work ... snapshots.

Snapshot A is saved with signal through one route, Snapshot B saved when configured to use the other route.  Use MIDI PC commands to select snapshot.  Only drawback is that you will need two footswitches. (Unless you can configure the switch to send alternative PC messages on each press, some MIDI devices can do this)

 

Sam x

 

Edited May 31 by SamIAm

[rwillett]

Ah, thats makes sense. I liked Portal, great game and sometimes very weird physics

 

I agree over the constraints with Dwarf but it is what it is. The Line 6 foot controller isn't that sophisticated and can't send multiple commands but can send the same command on multiple channels. So I could probably do what I wanted to do that way.

 

Already tried the plugin you suggested. The issue is the Dwarf works on the midi command BEFORE it gets to the plugin, not after its been changed. So it make no difference. Great minds think etc etc

 

I did think about snapshots, the Line 6 Controller can be configured to send a different MIDI command on the first press (aka turn on) and the second press (aka turn off). It's a bit of hack (Editor: "and all the other things you're trying aren't hacks?"]. It does get around the latency issue and may well be the best solution.

 

The other solution I came up with was hooking the Line 6 pedalboard to an iPad (already done) and using Audiobus to capture the MIDI command and then sound out multiple commands. A poor mans MorningStart unit I will keep looking at this as that will be a useful thing to be able to do.

 

Thanks for the thoughts on this. Some new ones which is great.

Rob

[SamIAm]

Hmmmm ... I wonder if this would work:

Using the approach you have for CV, but slightly modified.  The Switch Box plugin does not take a CV input, but it does accept a MIDI command.  Drop in a couple of 'the infamous mindi' plugins (Which seem to allow CV control) and use them to fire off the pair of MIDI messages you need to flip the switches.

 

Sam x

[MrDinsdale]

Yeah I did the CV thing with an expression pedal connected via midi. Had it so the EXP controlled ranges of random CV oscillators which controlled some delays to give a kind of funky warbling sound which got more extreme and chaotic as you used the pedal.

 

The CV stuff is incredibly cool, takes a little getting your head around. 

[pslh]

As an alternative to the switch box you might try the (beta) ztoggle plugin which does support CV input.

[SamIAm]

42 minutes ago, pslh said:

As an alternative to the switch box you might try the (beta) ztoggle plugin which does support CV input.

Excellent catch @pslh ... it seems the same author created Toggle_2IN which is described as "Same as the MOD switchbox plugin but switch possible with CV" which might also be suitable.

Sam x

[rwillett]

I did have a play with getting this working over the weekend it works very well.

 

I plugged in a Line 6 Shortboard FBV MKII pedalboard into the Mod Dwarf, put an iRig on one output of the Mod Dwarf with an Ipad into BiasFX2 and routed the output back to the input of the Mod Dwarf and then to a set of headphones.

 

It worked well, there may be latency but I couldn't hear any. I did try to connect the Line 6 to the iPad but it drew too much power and the Camer Connection Kit would not power it. I suppose a powered USB hub would help here rather than an unpowered one.

 

This does open up using the ipad as well nopw, so Bias FX 2, Bias Pedal and Amplitube. The iPad and the Mod Dwarf are NOT MIDI connected, so thats the next problem to resolve.

 

[Woodinblack]

Well, just over 33 weeks later, and bass direct have sent back my mod dwarf after replacing the jack socket.

Hopefully I can now get going with it, even though I bought a boss ME90b in the mean time to keep going and we have changed the keyboard player in the band since, so some of what I relied on isn't needed any more

[SamIAm]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Well, just over 33 weeks later, and bass direct have sent back my mod dwarf after replacing the jack socket.

Hopefully I can now get going with it, even though I bought a boss ME90b in the mean time to keep going and we have changed the keyboard player in the band since, so some of what I relied on isn't needed any more

Glad it is back but 33 weeks!!!

Sam x

[rwillett]

15 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Well, just over 33 weeks later, and bass direct have sent back my mod dwarf after replacing the jack socket.

Hopefully I can now get going with it, even though I bought a boss ME90b in the mean time to keep going and we have changed the keyboard player in the band since, so some of what I relied on isn't needed any more

 

Thats appalling, 33 weeks is rubbish service.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

 

Thats appalling, 33 weeks is rubbish service.

 

I had to chase them 4 times for that. Well, 3 times, once i posted on the bassdirect thread and they contacted me the next day.

When they sent it back they sent an email saying they sent it - if it had been me I would have written how deeply sorry I was that it took almost 9 months, guess not..

[rwillett]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I had to chase them 4 times for that. Well, 3 times, once i posted on the bassdirect thread and they contacted me the next day.

When they sent it back they sent an email saying they sent it - if it had been me I would have written how deeply sorry I was that it took almost 9 months, guess not..

Any explanation as to why it 33 weeks? At this price level, its probably cheaper to put a new one in the post rather than paying someone to fix the board. Not good for recycling but less expensive.

[Woodinblack]

29 minutes ago, rwillett said:

Any explanation as to why it 33 weeks? At this price level, its probably cheaper to put a new one in the post rather than paying someone to fix the board. Not good for recycling but less expensive.

 

Yes, they were waiting for the part from MOD a couple of times. The Jack socket. So in the last month I wrote and asked them to return it as I could get a jack socket in a couple of days.

[Woodinblack]

OK, so now I am back gigging with my mod dwarf and I am happy with the sound, although I probably need to set up some new patches that I used on my ME90B while the dwarf was away. If I can get a sample playback plugin I can drop a pedal from the pedalboard, and add some other things.

Looking it seems that there is still no sample playback pedal so once again I think I need to try and make one. 

Has anyone (and I am probably guessing @SamIAm ) had any luck building a plugin on a mac? If not I have some PCs around, would just be easier on the mac. 

 

Then I need to look at some autowah - or I guess I can repurpose my voume pedal as a expression. but only if I get the room by removing the jamman!

[pslh]

For autowah I use a normal wah pedal with a CV LFO to control the frequency.  I'll share a link to the pedalboard when I can.  I am still not 100% happy with this approach, but I have used it live and my band mates seem to like it.  I intend to continue investigating alternatives that get me closer to a Q-tron sort of feel.

 

When you say "sample pedal" what exactly are you doing?  If you need a looper, I like the looperlative plugins.  If you need to play, pre-prepared audio files, there is the Audio File plugin by falktx.

[rwillett]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

OK, so now I am back gigging with my mod dwarf and I am happy with the sound, although I probably need to set up some new patches that I used on my ME90B while the dwarf was away. If I can get a sample playback plugin I can drop a pedal from the pedalboard, and add some other things.

Looking it seems that there is still no sample playback pedal so once again I think I need to try and make one. 

Has anyone (and I am probably guessing @SamIAm ) had any luck building a plugin on a mac? If not I have some PCs around, would just be easier on the mac. 

 

Then I need to look at some autowah - or I guess I can repurpose my voume pedal as a expression. but only if I get the room by removing the jamman!

You could of course get a larger pedal board, just thinking outside the box...

 

Rob 

[Woodinblack]

2 minutes ago, rwillett said:

You could of course get a larger pedal board, just thinking outside the box...

 

I have just gone down to a smaller one - just seems that as I have a pedalboard on it, it is a pain that i need a separate pedal just to make one noise!

 

9 minutes ago, pslh said:

When you say "sample pedal" what exactly are you doing?  If you need a looper, I like the looperlative plugins.  If you need to play, pre-prepared audio files, there is the Audio File plugin by falktx.

 

Single shot sample triggered by midi. I will check the audio file plugin if it does that.

[pslh]

On 07/12/2024 at 20:40, pslh said:

For autowah I use a normal wah pedal with a CV LFO to control the frequency.  I'll share a link to the pedalboard when I can. 

 

 

Here is a link to a pedalboard using a GxCryBaby wah driven by a CV LFO: 

  https://pedalboards.moddevices.com//pedalboards/662e7cc8eaca783ed594b4dc

 

I should also have mentioned that I also use a crossover plugin to keep some unfiltered lows in the signal.  I also keep some entirely clean signal via my amp which has a blend control for the  the send/return loop so as to ensure there is some low-end even when I get silly with the effects.