Axe-Fx 3 - MIDI question

GreatGreen

Power User
The Axe-Fx 2's MIDI functionality always confused me a bit. It seems like there are so many unused values it could take advantage of.

For example, in the Axe-Fx 2, CC #37 controls Amp 1 bypass. Specifically:
CC #37 = 0 turns the block off
CC #37 = 127 turns the block on.

Same thing with CC #38 which controls Amp 2 bypass:
CC #38 = 0 turns the block off
CC #38 = 127 turns the block on.


Why can't it be something like this:
CC #37 = 0 turns Amp 1 off
CC #37 = 1 turns Amp 1 on
CC #37 = 2 turns Amp 2 off
CC #37 = 3 turns Amp 2 on
CC #37 = 4 turns Cab 1 off
CC #37 = 5 turns Cab 1 on
... and so on?

Seems like the Axe-Fx's MIDI functionality could be stretched quite a bit further if some settings were crammed together. 128 Control Change reservations * 128 values per Control Change = 16,384 potential control parameters, or 8,192 pairs (if every parameter needs an up/down or on/off function).

For example, if the Axe-Fx's MIDI was setup like above, there would be more room to do something like:
CC #38 = 0 turns up input gain in Amp 1
CC #38 = 1 turns down input gain in Amp 1
CC #38 = 2 turns up Treble in Amp 1
CC #38 = 3 turns down Treble in Amp 1

This way, you could set some external MIDI knob so that "clockwise turn = CC #38 value 2, and counter-clockwise = CC# 38 value 3" and now you have an external Treble control. From here, just apply the same algorithm the main Value knob uses for "slow turning = small incremental steps, fast turning = big incremental steps" and you can externalize a ton of controls if you want.

Is something like this possible or do I just have a crazy misunderstanding about how MIDI works?
 
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This is how Scene selection works, so you don’t have a crazy misunderstanding.

As to why this isn’t implemented this way - well, it’s common to have separate CCs controlling separate parameters, that’s the way many DAWs show automation, and that’s how most foot controllers are programmed.

So theoretically your method is possible and doesn’t break any laws. :) In practice, you can’t set up Axe-FX this way, I’m afraid.
 
Most MIDI controllers do not allow you to set the value of the messages. Off = 0 and On = 127.
Also, setting automation lanes in a DAW to specific un-labeled values would be challenging for most people, to sat the least.
For maximum compatibility with the greatest number of applications, the industry standard of one MIDI cc per function makes the most sense. Besides, I've never seen any rig use all 128 CCs, and all functions are accessible with SysEx.
 
setting automation lanes in a DAW to specific un-labeled values would be challenging for most people, to sat the least.

Not just unlabeled, but changing in very small increments, like from 0 to 1, on a 0-127 scale. That’s hard to see and sometimes rather tricky to do with a mouse. In some DAWs, it’s a true pain in the butt.
 
I see, thanks for the clarification guys.

I do hope it would be possible at some point to have the option of controlling most of the amp block parameters via MIDI in the way I described above. Seeing as we can choose our own CC associations within the Axe-Fx, I’m sure at least some people who have the MIDI controllers capable of this would happily sacrifice real time control functionality of, say, external controllers 7 or 8, for the option to instead devote an entire CC channel to potentially 64 pairs of up/down commands to associate with any control in the Amp block, or any exposed parameter in any block for that matter.

edit: The RJM Mastermind MIDI pedal allows you to send any possible combo of CC’s and CC values, and messing with that software was what got me wondering in the first place.
 
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