Can I Automate Wah/Whammy on EV1 Pedal in Logic Pro?

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FireStrings7

New Member
I play in a band and we are using Logic Pro to run our click tracks. I just recently learned how to automate my presets on the FM9 in Logic Pro so all my presets and scenes change automatically with the click, but I am also wondering if there is a way I can automate my expression pedal so I don't have to touch the EV1, and the wah and whammy would go up and down on its own. If I can do this, I could have my pedalboard off to the side of the stage and I would be completely free of having to touch any pedals. I've searched up and down and can't find any videos or threads that walk through this particular scenario with the gear/DAW I'm using. Cooper Carter has a good video that touches on this, but it doesn't actually go into detail on how to make it happen in Logic Pro with an FM9 and EV1. Does anyone know how to do this?
 
Automating it is simple: set a MIDI CC# for an external control, put a modifier on a parameter for that external control, then send that MIDI CC from a Logic MIDI track to the FM9.

But I suspect your question is: How do I record the EV1 motion into Logic? That's not so simple. You'll need a device to convert the EV1 to MIDI. MIDI foot controllers usually have an expression pedal input, or something like a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller will generate MIDI from the EV1 you can record.
 
My old Line 6 box had a built-in expression pedal that I could use as a MIDI input to Reaper. I bought the Lehle dual expression pedal so I could use the pedal as a MIDI input with my FM9, or for VSTs too.
 
GlennO said:
Automating it is simple: set a MIDI CC# for an external control, put a modifier on a parameter for that external control, then send that MIDI CC from a Logic MIDI track to the FM9.

But I suspect your question is: How do I record the EV1 motion into Logic? That's not so simple. You'll need a device to convert the EV1 to MIDI. MIDI foot controllers usually have an expression pedal input, or something like a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller will generate MIDI from the EV1 you can record.
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Thank you for that info! I'm considering paying for a 1 hour session with Cooper Carter to see if he can walk me through it step by step. What additional equipment do you think I'll need? Just the device and maybe 2 midi cables?
 
For the first part, where you simply want to send MIDI from Logic to the FM9, you already have all the equipment you need. The question is: how do you get MIDI events into the MIDI track in Logic? You could draw them with a mouse.

For the second part, where you want to record MIDI events with a pedal instead of a mouse, there are many ways it could be done. For example, you could plug the EV1 into a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller, then connect that to your computer with a Roland UM-1 cable (after setting up a modifier as described above). Create a MIDI track in Logic, turn on input monitoring to send the MIDI that comes in from the EV1 back out to the FM9. Hit record and play a track to record the movements of the EV1 as you hear the effect it has on the FM9 (for example a wah).
 
GlennO said:
For the first part, where you simply want to send MIDI from Logic to the FM9, you already have all the equipment you need. The question is: how do you get MIDI events into the MIDI track in Logic? You could draw them with a mouse.

For the second part, where you want to record MIDI events with a pedal instead of a mouse, there are many ways it could be done. For example, you could plug the EV1 into a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller, then connect that to your computer with a Roland UM-1 cable (after setting up a modifier as described above). Create a MIDI track in Logic, turn on input monitoring to send the MIDI that comes in from the EV1 back out to the FM9. Hit record and play a track to record the movements of the EV1 as you hear the effect it has on the FM9 (for example a wah).
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If I want to record the MIDI event with the pedal, do I need to buy a separate MIDI controller or can the FM9 be used as the MIDI controller? Right now I have the FM9 & EV1 running into Logic via USB. I also have a couple interfaces that have MIDI in/out.
 
It would be nice if the FM9 could be used that way, and that has been requested many times, but alas no.
 
GlennO said:
Automating it is simple: set a MIDI CC# for an external control, put a modifier on a parameter for that external control, then send that MIDI CC from a Logic MIDI track to the FM9.

But I suspect your question is: How do I record the EV1 motion into Logic? That's not so simple. You'll need a device to convert the EV1 to MIDI. MIDI foot controllers usually have an expression pedal input, or something like a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller will generate MIDI from the EV1 you can record.
Click to expand...
I seem to be having a lot of trouble with this. I'm trying to make this work with drawing the midi event in Logic: I set the expression pedal to External 1 and set it to auto engage, and on External Control 1 I set it to CC#12 (I just picked a random number). I made a midi track for CC#12 and have drawn the midi event in every different setting and the expression pedal will not work.
 
That will work fine, just make sure you've set the Axe-FX as the midi device for the midi track output, and make sure you're using the same midi channel the Axe-FX is set to.
 
GlennO said:
That will work fine, just make sure you've set the Axe-FX as the midi device for the midi track output, and make sure you're using the same midi channel the Axe-FX is set to.
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It seems like I have everything set correctly. I already have all my preset/scene changes working in Logic, but I can't get this expression pedal to automate. I have the MIDI out set to the FM9, the CC#'s are matched up correctly, and I'm able to draw out the MIDI event - but to no avail. I'm still a newbie to most of this stuff, so I am sure I'm missing something somewhere.
 
Try setting the external control midi to learn, then play your midi track soloed. That will make sure you have the CC number set correctly. Then attach a modifier for that external control to the parameter you want to control.
 
GlennO said:
Try setting the external control midi to learn, then play your midi track soloed. That will make sure you have the CC number set correctly. Then attach a modifier for that external control to the parameter you want to control.
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I'm really lost now - so I have a midi track in logic that has all my preset/scene changes, and it's changing the presets and scenes just fine. On the same track I created a new section where I want the whammy to go, and made a scene change with CC#12 instead of CC#34. I went into the MIDI/Remote settings on the FM9 and set External Control to CC#12 and hit Enter (Learn). When I hit play on the soled MIDI track it changed the External Control to CC#34. I changed the External Control do a different number and then it defaulted to CC#32. I guess I don't know what I should be doing - should I be doing a scene change to the external control, or a program change? And in the whammy settings I can change the assigned footswitch to External 1, but it won't let me assign any other parameters. I think I'm in over my head with this, I wish there was a video that walked through everything step by step but I can't find anything.
 
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By "solo" I meant play a midi region that only contains CC12 events. Using midi learn is the best way to set the CC# for an external control since that way you know everything is working and correct. After you do that, attach a modifier for that external control to a parameter. That's all you need to do. The pedal and scenes and program changes are irrelevant for getting this to work since you're drawing in the CC12 events.

Unfortunately, the user manual doesn't really cover this topic, so you're not the first person who has become frustrated trying to figure this out.
 
GlennO said:
By "solo" I meant play a midi region that only contains CC12 events. Using midi learn is the best way to set the CC# for an external control since that way you know everything is working and correct. After you do that, attach a modifier for that external control to a parameter. That's all you need to do. The pedal and scenes and program changes are irrelevant for getting this to work since you're drawing in the CC12 events.

Unfortunately, the user manual doesn't really cover this topic, so you're not the first person who has become frustrated trying to figure this out.
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When I set the external control CC# to 12, I also have the midi control in Logic on the matching CC#12. I soloed the track and hit 'learn' and then when I play the soloed track in Logic, it immediately changes the CC# back to 34. Also, how do I attach a modifier? When I open the whammy controller it only lets me assign the external control, it won't let me assign parameters.
 
Put the wah control messages on a separate MIDI track. Much easier to isolate them that way. If you have any other CC message being sent in that same track (scene changes for example) it will mess with the Learn function.
 
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FireStrings7 said:
I'm really lost now - so I have a midi track in logic that has all my preset/scene changes, and it's changing the presets and scenes just fine. On the same track I created a new section where I want the whammy to go, and made a scene change with CC#12 instead of CC#34. I went into the MIDI/Remote settings on the FM9 and set External Control to CC#12 and hit Enter (Learn). When I hit play on the soled MIDI track it changed the External Control to CC#34. I changed the External Control do a different number and then it defaulted to CC#32. I guess I don't know what I should be doing - should I be doing a scene change to the external control, or a program change? And in the whammy settings I can change the assigned footswitch to External 1, but it won't let me assign any other parameters. I think I'm in over my head with this, I wish there was a video that walked through everything step by step but I can't find anything.
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Scene changes change the scene in the preset.

That has nothing to do with controlling an external controller.

You need to assign CC#12 to an External Controller and then assign that External Controller to the Control parameter of the Wah block.
 
mr_fender said:
Put the wah control messages on a separate MIDI track. Much easier to isolate them that way. If you have any other CC message being sent in that same track (scene changes for example) it will mess with the Learn function.
Click to expand...
I made a new midi track and when I try to assign the external control to CC#12 it still automatically changes it to CC#34 when I hit 'learn' and play the soloed track.
 
Mute all other MIDI tracks. Something is sending CC#34 to the FM9. Either that or you've drawn control data for CC#34 instead of CC#12.
 
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