Midi?

[ShredMAN]

What exactly are MIDI controllers and how do you use one?

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Midi?

It's a footswitch that will control various MIDI functions. First, you need a piece of gear that can be controlled via MIDI. Different pieces of gear require different types of command. You connect the controller's MIDI out to the MIDI in on the device you want to control.

MIDI commands can be used in various ways:
You can swtich presets on your synth/processor/preamp
You can control various parameters in real time, like delay/reverb/volume
You can skip tracks or songs, play/stop/record/rewind/cue on your sequencer, drum machine, or multi-track recorder
You can input notes into a synth

I use my MIDI controller (a Roland FC200) for two different things:
I use it to scroll thru preset sounds on my Roland GR30, and I also use it to play notes on the GR30 like a bass pedal synth (like an Oberheim Taurus, or Moog).

You can also plug in expression and other latching pedals to the MIDI controller to control just about every parameter imaginable. The FC200 has some silly amount of expression inputs, like 6!!

[RGN]

Re: Midi?

So, if I buy a Diezel VH-4 head (you use MIDI to select its channels) could I design presets that would automatically change presets on TC-Electronics G-Force and the Diezel Head?? That is the direction I'd like to go. I have been using a Marshall DSL50 and a VHT Pitbull 100CL but still need to change channels on the head with its own channel selector THEN use my Ground Control MIDI controller to change presets on the G-Force. I'd like to have something that looks like this--

MIDI 1 - VH-4 Clean Channel 1, G-Force Preset 25 Chorus / Delay
MIDI 2 - VH-4 Channel 2, blues, G-Force #112 Auto-Wah
MIDI 3 - VH-4 Channel 3, crunch rythym, G-Force #64 gate, compression
MIDI 4 - VH-4 Channel 4, lead tone, G-Force #17 delay
MIDI 5 - VH-4 CHannel 4, lead tone, G-Force #157 delay w/phaser, etc..

Doable?

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Midi?

Yes, that is exactly what you can do ...

[Mincer]

Re: Midi?

I use my Digitech PMC-10 to trigger bass notes and whole chords with my feet too...glad to see I am not the only insane one out there...hehe

I also use mine to transmit Sysex to my synths and processors, so I can get to different modes/screens without pressing front panel buttons. If you have a processor with midi in/out on it, then there is probably a 'midi implementation chart' somewhere in the manual. Every button press on the front panel sends a message, called a system exclusive, or SysEx, message to the CPU of the processor. With a good midi controller, you can mimic these messages (written in hexidecimal 'strings').