How to convince a virtual instrument to use a certain controller when all it has is Learn mode

[Herbert Chong]

i mostly do orchestration which means i work on other people's MIDI files and mix to a final audio track. it's just for fun and these are mostly downloaded MIDI files.

I've run into a problem with my virtual instruments that don't have a control panel where i just enter the CC numbers to be used to control certain aspects of the instrument, say vibrato. my most frequent problem is that the incoming MIDI file expects to use Controller 11 for one thing and Controller 1 for another exactly opposite to the default for the virtual instrument. the only way out is to Learn because the specific software doesn't have direct controller configuration entry. my digital piano doesn't have anything other than pedals and the wind controller only lets me choose between CC2 and CC11 for controller outputs. inputting a long stream of controllers into a Cakewalk track and playing it seems to not work because Cakewalk is outputting a volume controller as it starts playback. all my virtual instruments in learn mode are learning CC7. i am thinking i need to get a hardware controller device of some kind where i can program it with an arbitrary CC number. then i can just have the instrument configured on a track, put it into Learn mode, and cause the device to send whichever CC number i want. am i missing something in Cakewalk that lets me have an instrument in Learn mode and play a track full of CC events? otherwise, what's a good programmable controller i can use for this. i'm never going to perform with it.

Herb...

[mettelus]

Hopefully someone who uses these can chime in on which is preferred, but there are MIDI Mapper/MIDIMapper (some need to be found without using the space) VSTs that can be inserted between a controller/MIDI track and the virtual instrument you are driving to reconfigure the data. Some are very specific on what they can modify, but a handful specifically support CC mapping.

[Herbert Chong]

58 minutes ago, mettelus said:

Hopefully someone who uses these can chime in on which is preferred, but there are MIDI Mapper/MIDIMapper (some need to be found without using the space) VSTs that can be inserted between a controller/MIDI track and the virtual instrument you are driving to reconfigure the data. Some are very specific on what they can modify, but a handful specifically support CC mapping.

i don't mind getting a hardware programmable controller if that's the most flexible solution. it's been 30 years and tons of things have changed since i was active doing this kind of thing. i didn't have to worry about virtual instruments not having enough controls. the rack was big and heavy but all the sound modules had ways to configure realtime controllers to different parameters by entering numbers.

the other thing i can do because i'm actually decent at programming CAL scripts is to write one to change or swap controller numbers. it's not ideal but if an incoming MIDI file is full of controllers already sometimes that conceptually is easier. the vast majority are CC1 or CC11 and it turns out about half my virtual instruments want CC11 to control dynamics and the other half want CC1.

Herb...

Edited May 3 by Herbert Chong

[Amberwolf]

TenCrazy MFX includes CCMap that will convert one CC to another in realtime or offline, and can also choose the range of numbers it responds to, and you can even use it to flip the whole range on it's head. 

Pretty sure one of Viramor's MFX can do this kind of thing, too, but I don't remember which one. (his thread has info on all of them and a link to his site with them). 

There are others I don't recall the names of. 

 

 

 

[Herbert Chong]

On 5/2/2025 at 9:29 PM, Amberwolf said:

TenCrazy MFX includes CCMap that will convert one CC to another in realtime or offline, and can also choose the range of numbers it responds to, and you can even use it to flip the whole range on it's head. 

Pretty sure one of Viramor's MFX can do this kind of thing, too, but I don't remember which one. (his thread has info on all of them and a link to his site with them). 

There are others I don't recall the names of. 

i've figured out a way to process a MIDI file using CAL to do the basic transformation i need but it's fragile with lots of assumptions about controller use in the file. i am too lazy to deal with the complications right now. i also decided to take the hardware approach since all of the virtual instruments i am using have a Learn mode. i got an Akai LPD8 Mk2 and programmed some of the knobs to send the controller values i need every virtual instrument i own to learn. there's only 4 that i can think of right now and there are 8 knobs. besides i can use the controller for CC7 volume fades and other such related things and not have to draw them in with Cakewalk. however i did look at the plugins on TenCrazy and downloaded the CCMap one just to have handy for other things i might work on. as far as i can tell all that he does in CCMap can be done via CAL and i'm comfortable writing CAL scripts when it's really important and i can't find another simple way to deal with these problems. i had been leaning toward the hardware approach anyway because i can use the controller for other things besides just forcing a CC sequence for a virtual instrument's Learn mode.

Herb...

[msmcleod]

You could use an articulation map to transform CC#1 to CC#11 or vice-versa.



This will transform the CC#1 to CC#11 in real time without you having to modify the underlying MIDI events.

If you want to change the MIDI events later, you can right click on the articulation and use one of the Apply options.  This will change transform the MIDI data directly, and remove the articulation from the articulation lane:

Note that you can have more than one transform per articulation, and a single articulation map can have up to 255 articulations,  so you can build up a collection of transforms you use regularly, then simply draw the appropriate articulation in the PRV when required.

[Herbert Chong]

14 hours ago, msmcleod said:

You could use an articulation map to transform CC#1 to CC#11 or vice-versa.



This will transform the CC#1 to CC#11 in real time without you having to modify the underlying MIDI events.

If you want to change the MIDI events later, you can right click on the articulation and use one of the Apply options.  This will change transform the MIDI data directly, and remove the articulation from the articulation lane:

Note that you can have more than one transform per articulation, and a single articulation map can have up to 255 articulations,  so you can build up a collection of transforms you use regularly, then simply draw the appropriate articulation in the PRV when required.

thanks. i'll keep all this in mind. there's other reasons for me getting a hardware controller including doing controller fades and pans more easily than drawing with a mouse which i really dislike. i use a drawing tablet for drawing kinds of things but only when there's something really important. i had mostly been thinking of a hardware solution to just send the Learn mode CC events because i have other uses for the physical knobs and pads in the controller.

Herb...