Partitioning MIDI devices?

Hey! I'm thinking of buying Bome MIDI translator, because I'm looking for a solution to a very specific problem. If this can be solved somehow, I'm all in.

Some backstory: I'm building a custom template for my NI Maschine Studio hardware, so that I can use it for controlling Presonus Studio One.

I've successfully managed to get the two of them playing nicely with each other using Mackie MCU protocol. However, since MCU uses midi note data for relaying messages, I can no longer use the pads for note input.

For example, when I change the volume of track 1, C0 (if I remember correctly) lights up, as they are basically the same command.

So, I think what I want to do is to somehow "detach" the pad section of the controller on a software level, and use it as a separate device inside Studio One. So that there, inside S1, is the "Maschine Studio" under MCU control (plus some midi cc's mapped to DAW commands), as well as a very basic keyboard template, which takes care of only the pads.

My wild guess is that the requirement would be that the routing application can somehow make sense of the "source" of the signal, and sort the messages accordingly. Like, if the message is from a knob, do this. If it's from a pad, do that. Can your MIDI translator do this? Would it work? If not, is there a better way?

I hope my question makes sense. Any kind of solution to this problem is extremely welcome - doesn't have to be exactly what I'm asking for if there's a better way to do it.

Thanks!

Hi NidBiLD

Can you use the Controller Editor to change the messages the pads send so they don't conflict with the MCU protocol? If not we can work on a solution, but that would be the easiest way forward.

Thanks
Jared

Pardon me if I misunderstand your question. I'm kind of a noob at MCU. I'll try to answer it to the best of my ability.

Right now the pads send a note message, and these notes seem to conflict with MCU. I can see this happening in the Studio One controller editor as well. When I turn MCU knobs and press buttons, keys in the piano roll light up. I can also see the corresponding pads lighting up on my Maschine hardware. So my guess is they send (and listen to) the same message.

Now I have some other options available in the NI Controller editor. I could send different messages with the pads, but then they wouldn't send notes anymore. I guess I could route the pads to midi CC instead, and reroute midi cc to notes later on. Is this what you're aiming at?

For 7 octaves I would need 84 different messages. If I want to use the CC's for anything else on the controller, space will be tight.

Is there some other kind of midi data that I could use? Right now, the pads have two messages: hit and poly pressure. Can that be used instead?

As you might notice, I'm kind of fumbling around with this. Sorry :/

Oh, I see, it's a bit more complex then I was hoping.

Can you just change the channel of the pads to Channel 2? That should remove the conflict as MCU is sending on channel 1, with the exception of the faders, but those aren't sending notes. Moving to channel 2 might remove that conflict natively.

J

Oh, didn't consider that at all. Thanks!

I'll check this out as soon as I get back to my studio, and get back to you!

Uhm, a few quick follow-up question that might preempt some issues:

Does the midi-roll in S1 understand that note data can come from channel 2 by default, or are there any adaptations you think I'll have to make in order to get that to work?

And won't the mcu controls still trigger notes on channel 1?

Okay! It worked. Thanks a bunch!

I initially had some issues with messages seemingly bleeding over from other channels. But it turned out I hadn't said anything explicit about channels for the MCU messages in the Studio One template. Once I manually set all the mcu messages to channel 0, I had free access to the pads again.

Awesome.

Glad it worked
Jared