Patching VSTs that output midi

[Andrulianblog]

Hi,

Can anyone advise on routing VSTs that output midi? I'm sure I'm missing something really simple with this but I just can't find a solution.

I'm using SQ4 by Dialog Audio which is a 4 channel sequence processor used to automate filter cutoffs, volume etc. It outputs midI and CV data and can be used to control hardware or software VSTs.

I'm trying to use it to control parameters on a synth VST. I can set it up in a rack and add a device and I can see that it is outputting midi data correctly.

However, I cannot seem to assign these midi messages to synth parameters of a VST. I'm thinking that I'm missing something really obvious but can't figure out what is wrong.

Many thanks,

Andy

[woodslanding]

I think you will need to use the cabling on the module itself. You can wire it direct to someplace, or send it via midi buss.....

Changing the midi messages to vst parameter values requires some conversion. I just looked through the modules in the browser, however, and did not see a basic midi->param conversion patch. Maybe someone else can chime in? I certainly remember them being around back in v5, but haven't used one recently.

You basically need a Midi Get Message module from the out of the first vst. Then you need to check for the correct message type (i.e. CC) and the correct number, and then use that to control a pass value object. You also need to divide the value by 127 to get a value between 0 and 1 for the 2nd vst's parameter input.

Are there seriously no examples in the module list? Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place? I just looked under 'Midi'.

If you already have the right type and index of message, you can just wire direct into the second module.

Is this any help at all??

[x.iso]

I think you need to wire MIDI Filter module, then filter CC message and get the data values out of module to further convert and perhaps send to array for more convenient mapping of VST parameters.

Generally, if VST that you need to control doesn't have any controls with already assigned CC's and doesn't have any way to assign them, then the only way to control it's parameters is by converting MIDI data to Usine data first and then sort it out with arrays,so different CC's control different parameters. However, some VST's have CC's assigned to parameters or 'midi learn' feature or other way to assign CC's to it's parameters, look for that first.

[Andrulianblog]

Thanks for your replies.

I've previously used an external controller with a vst that didn't have midi learn by creating a fader and assigning it to the controller with midi learn.

I used the same process for this software but although the vst is receiving the messages, it is not implementing them. The SQ4 Sequencer outputs cc messages, there are detailed setup instructions for a number of different DAWs, I've tried to follow the principles without any success.

I'll try to control a few different VSTs, it was quite an old one I using so maybe it's just being stubborn!

Many thanks,

Andy

[x.iso]

yep, I've tried it out and with VST that doesn't have any controls assigned to receive specific CC, you have to extract CC number and value, convert to 0-1 range and input that to array or specific parameter. and make sure you wired the midi out of SQ4 VST, by default it's not present, also set MIDI to HOST as target device in SQ4.

[Andrulianblog]

Many thanks for your help with this x.iso. Haven't had a chance to recreate the patch until now. Just setting it up for one parameter and it's working perfectly with an older VST that doesn't have midi learn.

Next I'll sort the arrays to control multiple parameters.

Many thanks again,

Andy