In Step-by-Step.01, we saw that the LEDs on Midihub show which patch we’re using.
In this session, we will write a patch to show they can tell us more than that
Cables needed: just the USB.
Other gear: PC with Midihub Editor
Let’s start!
First, Connect Midihub to the Editor
Second, click Device
→ Export Everything
(optional - just to feel safe! Then later you can Import Everything
to get back to where you were)
Now let’s start a new patch:
File
→ New
(Editor might ask “Do you want to save the pipeline?”. Click Discard)
Now let’s start building the patch:
Drag a CLOCK
Pipe into the Pipelines Pane:
pipes sometimes find a place when they're dropped...
but only when they start a new pipeline!
Now drag TO MIDI
next to the CLOCK
Pipe…
See it now says TO A
…
and the Destination
in Properties
Pane says MIDI A
See: MIDI Monitor
shows the BPM going out that port
Can't see the MIDI Monitor Pane?
You’ll be looking at it a lot!
click View
→ MIDI Monitor
Now check the Midihub:
See: the LED for TO A
is flashing…
…2x a sec - Once per beat…
…that’s 120 BPM
Now…
Double-Click on the TO A
pipe…
…that’s a quick way to tell Midihub to Bypass
a Pipe:
See Also now the BPM is now 0.0…
… and the LED stops flashing.
more on
Bypass
later
Now… let’s send different BPMs out of different ports…
…but from the same CLOCK
…
First: change the Pipes to this:
See: the TO A
pipe has been changed to a Virtual A
See: the LED for TO A
is still flashing (2x a sec - Once per beat)
Nothing has changed yet…
…but now we can use the Clock
for more ports!
So Now…Right-Click on the last pipeline and choose:
change TO A
into TO B
…
… and add a TEMPO DIV
pipe…
… and set Divide By
to 2:
Now See: how the LED for TO B
flashes slower…
…and the BPM is now 60
You’ve now got the same Clock
giving different BPMs out of different ports!
Now do it again:
See: The Divide By
is now 4
Check the BPM and watch the different flashing rates
take a moment…
To imagine what
Tempo Divider
pipes could lead to
… as well as plain practical solutions…
… poly-rhythms with two or more sequencers (Volca fans often own several!)
… and much more
Finally Duplicate Whole Pipeline
again with one of the “Tempo Divider pipelines”…
… and change the Destination
of its out-pipe to USB A
.
See that the USB/Power LED is now flashing…
…so the Clock
is now going out to the PC.
Now we’re done building, you might want to find out more on
Bypass
:
Clicking Bypass
…
...stops a Pipe from doing it's job...
- for all pipes it means data passes through as if the Pipe wasn’t there…
…try clicking one of theTEMPO DIV
pipes to see the effect on the BPM and LEDs - so for an In-Pipe or Out-Pipe that means stopping data going through at all
To finish up, choose between:
-
File
→Save
your patch on disk
(toDevice
→Store
in a Midihub preset another time) -
Device
→Store
it in a Midihub preset now.
(Are you sure you want to overwrite the patch stored?
RememberExport Everything
near the start?) - just do nothing…
… your changes stay in Midihub’s “volatile” memory until…
… another preset is loaded…
… or you switch Midihub off*
*(Try it: you can recover the volatile memory contents before they’re lost if you connect to the Editor again)
Now click Disconnect
:
See: that the LEDs keep flashing…
… because the patch is still in memory…
...want to find out more?
Try these steps… (this will be a separate item on this page (probably)
Now you know…
- how to drag pipes to set up a patch.
- how to Duplicate a Whole Pipeline
- how to use Virtual pipes to do more than one thing with an output
- how to start making changes to different outputs
- how to
Bypass
a pipe- and that you can send a copy of a pipeline’s output to your computer
Next, time to look at some messages coming in to Midihub