Pedalboard buttons to select radio buttons controlled by another knob

Question

MIDI Target Manufacturer(s): Other/Unlisted Maker

(I don't know whether to put this into Advanced or Basic.)

I have a knob that's a supercontrol of 16 radio buttons. The buttons select the speed for an arpeggiator (in Mozaic). The knob (16 ticks; hidden in play mode) sends the actual MIDI message to the arp, but to select a speed I press a labeled button  -- 1/8, 1/4, 1/16, etc. Works great.

I want to add a second way to make the same selections. I want to be able to select a speed by hitting a pad on an external controller--a drum pad. Each of the 16 pads is mapped to an arp speed.

The problem is the link from the pedalboard to the 16 radio buttons. Pedalboard buttons are super controls, the arp buttons are subs. The arp buttons flash on, but the (hidden) knob isn't affected, and no command goes to the arp.

I tried making copies of the radio buttons and putting them in the pedalboard area, but these buttons refuse to "learn" from the external controller.

In other words, I want to get the knob to be controlled by two different sets of 16 buttons so that I can press either the button on the screen or a pad on the drum pad to invoke 1/4 time.

(I have good design reasons for wanting external control in addition to the MD screen, starting with the fact that I actually have 4 separate arps. When I find a solution, I'll be applying it 4 times. I do a lot with multiple arps running at different speeds.)

How do I do this within MD (and not having to resort to Streambyter)?

Thanks,

Steve

Comments

Users will chime in but you can’t control radio buttons from external buttons (they won’t act like radio buttons) directly. Instead you need another layer of buttons that move the knob that controls the buttons. In short the answer is usually another set of Supercontrols. It’s also possible that I’ve missed the question entirely

Answer 1

I also prefer to avoid Streambyter where possible, and you don't need it in this case.

Things are more reliable when super controls drive sub controls.  Reverse drive will work sometimes - as your current architecture shows, using the sub buttons to activate the supercontrol to send the message.

Easiest thing is to flip your layout above, and add a new top level supercontrol.
- New knob, midi receive on, receives the pad commands and groups the 1-16 buttons, options as super: send on only, midi 0 - 127
- 1-16 buttons, midi receive off, midi values are 0, 8, 17...127 (alternate adding 8 and 9 to the prior value), options as super: send on only
- The knob that sends the midi out control arp speed is a subcontrol of the radio buttons.

The pad midi values need to match the button values (0, 8, 17, 25...127).  You can use different range of midi values on the pad, but that will require two additional controls - one to receive the midi, then one to rescale to full range (0-127).  (To drive a subcontrol full range requires a midi value of 127.  You can learn more on this in the MDP2 Masters Course Layout).

Comments

Thank you, as always, for your detailed answer. I'll see what I can get to work.

What is the MDP2 Masters Course Layout? Where do I find it. I searched.

I got this for the full scale values.
0,8,17,25,34,42,51,59,68,76,85,93,102,110,119,127

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https://mididesigner.com/qa/7955/layout-mdp2-masters-course-tips-and-techniques

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new shortlinks:
1. https://mididdesigner.com/masters
2. https://mididesigner.com/jkhiser

Thanks for all you do JK!

Answer 2

I also prefer to avoid Streambyter where possible, and you don't need it in this case.

Things are more reliable when super controls drive sub controls.  Reverse drive will work sometimes - as your current architecture shows, using the sub buttons to activate the supercontrol to send the message.

Easiest thing is to flip your layout above, and add a new top level supercontrol.
- New knob, midi receive on, receives the pad commands and groups the 1-16 buttons, options as super: send on only, midi 0 - 127
- 1-16 buttons, midi receive off, midi values are 0, 8, 17...127 (alternate adding 8 and 9 to the prior value), options as super: send on only
- The knob that sends the midi out control arp speed is a subcontrol of the radio buttons.

The pad midi values need to match the button values (0, 8, 17, 25...127).  You can use different range of midi values on the pad, but that will require two additional controls - one to receive the midi, then one to rescale to full range (0-127).  (To drive a subcontrol full range requires a midi value of 127.  You can learn more on this in the MDP2 Masters Course Layout).