Controling MODEP via MIDI wired on the PISOUND board

Hi everyone,

I discovered patchox and Modep few weeks ago and I am really fan of this solution.
I am level 0 in linux and all that stuff but I sucess to install Modep.
It is working fine and I am using an android tablet to control MODEP (via wifi).

My configuration is a RPI4 and the PISOUND.

Now I would like to add a MIDI pedalboard using the wired MIDI “IN” of the Pisound plug: problems start! :slight_smile:

I have not idea of what is the normal way to do that ?

I tried to plug a MIDI pedal. The PISOUND MIDI led is switching ON when I press a button on the pedalboard but I don’t know what doing next ! (I have try to change MIDI option on modep, to play with the MIDI parameters on pedals option but nothing appends).

So my question are:

  • do I have to set up some parameters (somewhere inside modep or Patchbox) to get PISOUND MIDI communication available with modep ?

  • how to “monitor” what is comming from PISOUND MIDI parameters ?

  • Do I have to play with “patchable” (I tried but without knowing what to do) ?

Somehow, I am lost ! :slight_smile:

I didn’t find official “GUIDE” to help me even in this community (most of the time it is for USB connection… not wired MIDI).

Thanks a lot for any help.

@arno_b welcome to the Blokas community!

When sending MIDI commands to MODEP you can use either the MIDI In or a USB device that generates MIDI commands. I use a USB device that I created myself for this purpose. I have also used the MIDI in when trying some generic MIDI software on my Android device.

The most important thing to consider is what your MIDI pedal is sending. When you configure a knob/switch/setting in MODEP via MIDI, those parameters will respond to a MIDI Control Change. If your pedal is sending something else (Note On, Note Off, Program Change, etc) the MIDI in will light up because it’s a valid MIDI command but nothing will happen on the pedalboard unless it’s a Control Change. If you’re unsure of what your pedal is sending, you can use the MIDI display plugin to see what commands are being received:

If your pedal does send control change or you have to configure the device to send control change, then click on the “gear” icon on any plugin:

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Then click the MIDI configuration button on any parameter:

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Select “MIDI”, click “Save” then press a button on your pedal to send a MIDI control change.

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There should be a notification that the parameter was mapped to a MIDI control change. Sorry, can’t show an example here, I don’t have my pedalboard in front of me.

In MODEP there is a spot where you can configure what MIDI channel MODEP listens to and I think by default it’s set to any channel. Again, not in front of my pedalboard so can’t provide a screenshot. You shouldn’t need to change that value unless some it was changed to only listen to a certain channel.

Hope this helps!

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Thanks for this very good answer. That give me some hope ! I am not so far… (after so many hours…)

What is the correct option in MIDI modep configuration in my case?
Is it; “Separated” and “pisound MIDI 1 (in+out)” ?
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If it is correct, I can continu to explain my other problem :slight_smile:
At the same time, I am building a Midi pedalboard (pedalino), maybe this is the problem !

If the MIDI input LED of pisound is flashing, does it necessary means that the command sent is a “CORRECT” midi message ? (or, whatever is sent in, it will flash ?)

I have tried the “MIDI display” and I get nothing or sometime strange “FF” !?
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What are the basic parameters for CC commande that will work for sure ?
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In my case I put :
Control Commande/ channel All / CC=1 / Value =1 (I have no clue of what is the meaning but it is a try).

I am wondering if there is a way to see what is send to pisound midi input without MODEP. This will help me to know if the problem comes from my homemade pedalboard or from a modep configuration.

Any advice ?
Regards

@arno_b you’re welcome! I think you’ll find most, if not all, here are very willing to help.

To answer your questions:

  • I would select “Aggregated mode” so that any midi message on any channel would be available to MODEP.
  • I think any MIDI message makes the MIDI input light flash
  • Unfortunately I have never used the MIDI display personally. I can try at home, not sure what “FF” means in this case. And at the moment I don’t have any other suggestion as to a utility that could show you what MIDI messages are being received from your pedal. Searching for a Windows tools that monitors MIDI messages might help (or MAC if that’s what you use).
  • For a Control Code command to work in MODEP that controls a simple toggle switch (on/off), you need to send a control code and the Value of 0 for “off” and 127 for “on”). If you’re controlling something with variability (like volume/gain) then 0 for softest and 127 for loudest.

ok… I’m gonna make some test with those values.

I also have to find a way to trouble shoot my pedal vs patch box first.

Thanks a lot (I’ll come back soon to give you my results… good or bad !)

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Hi,

I finally found what was my problem. :sweat_smile:

In case someone has the same … here is it !

The problem comes from my homemade midi pedal (using PEDALINO github soft >>> amazing by the way)
When I was looking at the raw electrical signal coming from the pedal it was not as expected. Something else was sent !!! :frowning:

So I start to look at pin assignment in “pedalino.h” file !!!
In PEDALINO, the configuration for a ESP-32 (LILYGO_T_DISPLAY_S3) was set up on GPIO3 for MIDI output but ALSO for Fastled (don’t ask me why this is like this by default on V3.2.2 :sob:)
image

So, I replaced the FAST LED GPIO from 3 to 18 (GPIO 18 = pedal number 6 that I will not use)

My MIDI raw signal became as expected and MODEP is now working fine !!! :slight_smile:

Thanks for your help, it allows me to look quickly inside modep and to switch somewhere else ! (otherwise i would be stuck to modep until now)

:grinning:

2 Likes

@arno_b glad you figured it out! Would love to see pictures of your final product.

With pleasure… have to wait some time !!! :rofl:

@arno_b I totally understand! I also built a custom MIDI pedal using a Raspberry PI Pico W. If you’re interested here’s a post about my build:

2 Likes

I’m not going to open a new thread for this, so I’m going to ask here.
I’m trying to use SwitchTrigger with Rodecaster DUO, which has MIDI controlls.
Everything works, and I can trigger it normally, but I’m not sure how to set it up so that lights on Rodecaster change when another output is triggered, because this works as switch trigger, so that for example when button trigger 3 is pressed, all other lights turn off, because trigger 3 is selected and ON.
How to implement this?
Tnx!

@vedranius I’m unfamiliar with the Rodecaster DUO so I don’t have anything specific to help with. However, since MODEP can also send MIDI events I wonder if it’s possible to trigger a MIDI send from MODEP to be received by the Rodecaster then use that to disable lights on that device? A longshot but just a thought.

hm, any idea from where to start to implement this? With a plugin? How to “wire” it up?
Tnx!

@vedranius since I don’t have a Rodecaster DUO I really won’t be able to help. Does the product have a support site where you could post a question?