Select specific track from midi controler

[Riccoboni]

Hello

am looking for a way to use the buttons of my Midi-Controller to select specific tracks(instruments) from buttons.

It would be: Button 1: track 1  (and not select NEXT track etc... .)

Button 2: track 2

.....

I tried with the ACT midi controller. But I only found the possibility of doing Next/Previous track

Best regards

Bruno

[John Vere]

I used Cakewalk as a VST instrument host to play keyboards in a band. I set up 8 instruments in tracks and rack was assigned a midi channel. I simply changed the keyboard midi output to what ever instrument. I could also set up a split. 
I then set up midi learn and I had control of each Tracks level as well as  I set a second control for effects. 
The only thing that is super important is to always make sure the controller is powered up and recognized by Cakewalk before you open the project you set up for this. 

[Promidi]

Thinking outside the square, and depending on your MIDI controller programmability, yes Is it possible to select specific track from MIDI controller.

Though this depends on how programmable your MIDI controller and what you can program the buttons to actually send.

Your MIDI Controller buttons needs to be able to be programmed to send custom MIDI Events.

I do this with a Edirol PCR-800 for play /stop and record and it works fine.

Create a CAL script to select a specific track and save it in the folder specified in Preferences - File - Folder Locations.  Will need multiple CAL scripts , one for each track you want to select.

Something like this:

(do
  (TrackSelect 1 x)
)

Where x is the track number you want to select minus 1.  So to make a script for track 1, x = 0

Then in Preferences - Customisation - Keyboard Shortcuts (Advanced) create a mapping from a MIDI note to that script.

Remember to set a Controller number to define the “MIDI Shift”.  I use CC119

Using CC119 (or 77 in Hex) for MIDI shift send the following sequence of MIDI events:  B0 77 7F 90 03 DT B0 77 00

Breaking this up. 

B0 77 7F is pressing the MIDI shift.
90 03 DT is the note on/off message.  (03 being the note number.  DT being the button state from 0 to 127))
B0 77 00 is lifting the MIDI shift.
 

[azslow3]

Or with AZ Controller (www.azslow.com). After installation (there are videos) and following "Quick start" (https://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,9.0.html), you will know how to map a button and what is the Action list for control. The action list for your purpose can be:

1. Strip (Track, <First>, +0 or +<other track, counted from zero>)
2. Function "Select strip"

For more buttons, practical is "Dup" button on the Options tab. So you just need to re-learn MIDI and adjust "+X" to define more buttons.

You can also do track name based selection. For that you will need to define "Software States Set" in the Options tab, like "Tracks" with States "Drum", "GTX", etc. And then adjust "Strip" Action for the button, changing "<First>" to "Tracks" and then selecting f.e. "GTX". That way your button will select "GTX" independent from the position it has.

[Riccoboni]

Good morning,

Many thanks for your very detailed and precise answers.

@Promidi:
I'm discovering the CAL and I'm going to see if I get by. I managed to make a script and associate it with a note, and make it play by clicking on a note (I'm still waiting for my Midicontroller to be delivered so I'm using the bass notes of a paino digital).
I don't understand the story of SHIFT. If I don't use a paino note but a pad on my controller, do I really need it?

@azslow3 :

I'm discovering  the AZ Controller, which is great and really meets my need to address tracks directly and manage action lists.
Once I tamed the beast and understood its logic, I successfully completed a test with just the Strip/Select Strip actions !!!
If I understood correctly, I must in the same list Mute the current track, select a given track, etc., which is exactly what I need!
So big congratulations for this plugin.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask a complementary question: is it possible to disable the input echo on a track in the action list?

 

Thank you for your valuable help.

[azslow3]

23 minutes ago, Riccoboni said:

@azslow3 :

I'm discovering  the AZ Controller, which is great and really meets my need to address tracks directly and manage action lists.
Once I tamed the beast and understood its logic, I successfully completed a test with just the Strip/Select Strip actions !!!
If I understood correctly, I must in the same list Mute the current track, select a given track, etc., which is exactly what I need!
So big congratulations for this plugin.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask a complementary question: is it possible to disable the input echo on a track in the action list?

All depends what you want to do, preferences, and the type of the track. In general, you can turn off echo for current track with:

1. Strip <Track> <Current> <Inp. Echo>
2. Value <0> (or <toggle>)

For MIDI tracks you normally use "automatic echo" on strip selection ("A" on echo button). With Preferences option MIDI/Playback and Recording/Always echo current MIDI track you just need to select the track to echo it, deselected track echo will be auto-disabled. So you don't need to manipulate Echo/Mute for previously selected track (and really you can't when the option is set). For recording, just check you have "Allow MIDI Recording without an Armed Track" enabled (in the same preferences section).

So mentioned Actions make sense for audio tracks (f.e. a button to toggle echo for mic or guitar) and in exotic situation for MIDI tracks, when auto-echo can't be used.

PS. unlike ACT MIDI and keyboard assignments with CAL scripts, AZ Controller support feedback (f.e. turning LEDs on controller). So if you plan to use AZ Controller, MIDI controllers with LEDs have advantages. Also note if you don't want/need MIDI controller, AZ Controller also support gamepads and phones/tablets (with OSC apps). The last option can be used for feedback only, f.e. to show the name of current track on the phone (useful if you play away from monitor). It can even speak the track name when you change the selection, useful when you are away from monitor and don't want other display ?

PS.PS. "MIDI-Shift" with MIDI assignments is used to inform Cakewalk you use a key for control, f.e. with left pedal as shift you can send 88 commands from 88 keys keyboard. But there was more then one reason for me to write AZ Controller instead of using existing possibilities. BTW you can mimic the behavior in AZ Controller (with unlimited number of Shift/Ctrl/etc. modifiers).

[Promidi]

4 hours ago, Riccoboni said:

I don't understand the story of SHIFT. If I don't use a paino note but a pad on my controller, do I really need it?

The reason for the SHIFT, in this context, is to tell the Key Binding mechanism that the note you are sending is intended to perform the keybinding function, rather than the MIDI mote being treated as a note in Cakewalk.

For instance, if you set CC119 as the SHIFT, your MIDI controller has to send CC119 > 127, then the note, then CC119 > 0 (all in a single data set).

This is how I have set some buttons on my PCR-800 to operate the transport buttons in Cakewalk (Play, stop record , rewind).

[Riccoboni]

I am amazed by the quality of your answers. I am new to midi  and that helps a lot.

A big thank you to both of you!

[Matthew Robinson]

A quick question (or two) for Azslow3. I've recently acquired one of the new(ish) cheap M_Vave SMC-Mixers, and I've been experimenting with your fantastic AZ Controller, trying to reproduce the default "Daw mode" Mackie Control functions as a way of learning how to use AZ Controller.

I think I have run into the focus / select bug you describe here: https://www.azslow.com/index.php?topic=282.0.  If I select a track using the "Select Track" button on the controller (using Strip / Track / Current followed by Function / Select Strip), I can select a track, but then if I use the keyboard to move up and down, Cakewalk remembers the last track selected using the keyboard, not the one selected by the controller.  It's not a huge problem as I don't imagine I will often be combining the controller with the keyboard, but I was wondering - did you ever find a work-around for this? I've tried various things but nothing has worked so far.

Also - I would have posted this question on your forum at azslow.com, but I can't seem to get an activation email. This might be because you have to send the emails manually, and have not had time to do so yet - if so there is no hurry! But if the sending of the activation email is automated, either the automation isn't working or the emails are being swallowed up by my email provider's spam-filter before they even get to my junk mail folder.

Anyway, many thanks for making AZ Controller available. It's a really useful and powerful utility!

[azslow3]

I can't fix Cakewalk bugs (only  @msmcleod or other Cakewalk developers can do that).

PM me (on this forum) your e-mail with which you have tried to register on azslow.com and I will approve. Normally that works (there are recent new members).

On paper, SMC-Mixer looks like the best (from cheap) currently existing mixing controllers. Behringer Mini is more expensive and has way less controls. SMS-Mixer is almost like Korg nanoKontrol Studio without jogger. But it has encoders instead of knobs and currently 2 times cheaper (in Germany).

How it feels in reality is a different question. Also there is report faders are sending movements with significant delay and all intermediate values (both not good).

In any case, you can get the best out of this device only with dedicated, specially made preset for AZ Controller. And better not build it from Mackie, even so Mackie preset and controller in DAW mode can somehow work out of the box. I don't (no longer) create presets remotely and I already have several controllers... even so this one looks promising for me (wireless + encoders), I probably will not buy one (till there will be a sponsor... has not happened for controllers so far 😏)

 

[Matthew Robinson]

Thanks for the reply. I've just sent you a PM.

As regards the SMC-Mixer, it's not a bad little thing at all, and as you say it's incredibly cheap. I don't know how responsive more expensive control surfaces are, but the only time I ever noticed any lag was when I was monitoring MIDI messages via the included app. Maybe other control surfaces are much better, but for someone like me who just likes to dabble and doesn't want to spend too much money, it's perfect.

Or I should say, it's perfect with AZ Controller. When I first tried it with Cakewalk's built-in Mackie plugin (which is what the manual suggested), strange things kept happening (sometimes buttons would repeat, sometimes the sliders would act like a pitch wheel), but with AZ Controller it's been absolutely rock solid.

I've been learning how to use AZ Controller by trying to recreate the basic out-of-the-box set-up in AZ Controller, which I have just about done, and have started adding my own customization. It's just amazing how much is possible with your programme! Once I've finished testing everything I will upload my basic preset to your forum in case anyone else wants to use the SMC-Mixer with Cakewalk. I'm really happy with it, but again, this is all thanks to AZ Controller.

 

 

 

 

[azslow3]

41 minutes ago, Matthew Robinson said:

Or I should say, it's perfect with AZ Controller. When I first tried it with Cakewalk's built-in Mackie plugin (which is what the manual suggested), strange things kept happening (sometimes buttons would repeat, sometimes the sliders would act like a pitch wheel), but with AZ Controller it's been absolutely rock solid.

Your observation with Mackie plug-in means you had problems with your MIDI setup, can happened with AZ Controller as well (sliders are technically sending pitch wheel. Surface plug-in has to be configured to "block" these  MIDI messages. Mackie plug-in and AZ Controller Mackie preset do that, so if you manage record pitch wheel directly, there had to be "parallel MIDI route").

But customization of original Mackie plug-in is possible in C++ only (it is open source on GitHub). So  as you have already found, in AZ Controller that is way simpler.