Can Logic receive info re: controller pedal/switch actions on FC12 and/or stand-in switches while recording?

[Joe Bfstplk]

Have RTFM'ed multiple times, but the manual doesn't quite answer this.

When recording using output 5 and input 1 as sources (for guide track and reamp track), if you hit a button or tweak a pedal, does that send any data about those actions to Logic that it could use and/or manipulate later when reamping?

 

[iaresee]

Have RTFM'ed multiple times, but the manual doesn't quite answer this.

When recording using output 5 and input 1 as sources (for guide track and reamp track), if you hit a button or tweak a pedal, does that send any data about those actions to Logic that it could use and/or manipulate later when reamping?

It does not send any MIDI data that could be captured by Logic as part of the performance.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

It does not send any MIDI data that could be captured by Logic as part of the performance.

So, I guess, then, I would need to make a copy of the preset used, and change the modifiers around to accept MIDI from Logic to control things, then, if Logic controlling the AxeFX and doing sound changes in the AxeFX was needed? I have, at least, figured out how to get tempo to sync, so delays and other tempo-synced stuff can work.

I guess for reamping, this would be a way of evolving the preset used into a way of capturing the sound pallette that was eventually settled upon as a new preset for that particular song/track, which could be saved with the Logic files bundle for that tune. Then, for performance, a copy of the new preset could be adjusted to accept FC control.

I guess Scene MIDI could send Logic a MIDI scene-change command to record, so that it could then change scenes, and a CS MIDI could contain a command to indicate a control switch was activated, but that leaves Effect on/off and many other functions with no way of telling downstream equipment to do stuff too, and controller knobs/pedals are also unable to function this way, too.

Still, it seems like it would be more helpful if hitting a button or moving a pedal/knob attached to the FC could be used as a way of controlling downstream equipment somehow, like could be done with the old MIDI stuff.

 

[Callan]

Or you can record each different sound individually?
Or just hit the buttons on the fc while re amping?

Sending midi from your daw to change scenes seems easy enough, do you have more than 8 sounds on any given track?

 

[chris]

i'd just program the midi directly in the daw. chances are you don't hit the FC exactly when you want and would be moving things around anyway. you know the bar numbers, the sections and so on. so potentially you'd add 4 to 16 or so changes per song which can be done quickly all at once.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

i'd just program the midi directly in the daw. chances are you don't hit the FC exactly when you want and would be moving things around anyway. you know the bar numbers, the sections and so on. so potentially you'd add 4 to 16 or so changes per song which can be done quickly all at once.

Your estimation is probably accurate for most of the time, but eliminates the possibility of capturing something magical on those rare occasions when something serendipitous occurred....

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

I use a fair amount of sound changes within sections of a song, usually a controller of some sort, be it a pedal, knob, or switch, tweaking a setting or doing individual bypass/engage of something. Scenes can cover a lot of bases pretty well, but not all.

Even the imperfect switch/pedal/knob timings could at least serve as reminders that "something happened here or thereabouts".

Recording, ultimately is about capturing a performance and polishing it. It'd be nice to capture more of it, not to mention that any downstream gear one has could still be controlled by it....

 

[chris]

Your estimation is probably accurate for most of the time, but eliminates the possibility of capturing something magical on those rare occasions when something serendipitous occurred....

but if you captured a magical moment, what would the button and expression data do for you later? you'd have to try and play the guitar only anticipating when the pedal movements are for a wah for example, and that seems impossible to me. part of the magical moment happened because you pressed the buttons when you did. that data can't make a new magical moment.

i think re-amping and midi capture is great, but people tend to play "less practiced" due to all that and fixing it in post later. you just approach it differently.

hopefully you can figure out how to do what you want, but i think performing each section separately with a well-performed take is the tried and true method. if you do a full take and need to redo a section, just punch in there, using the buttons in real time to go along with how you're playing it at that moment.

i just can't wrap my head around playing something again but having switch and pedal things automatically happening. for recording anyway. i know people do this live, but there's more wiggle room there. just my opinion and approach.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

but if you captured a magical moment, what would the button and expression data do for you later? you'd have to try and play the guitar only anticipating when the pedal movements are for a wah for example, and that seems impossible to me. part of the magical moment happened because you pressed the buttons when you did. that data can't make a new magical moment.

This is primarily aimed at re-amping the dry track, should the original amp/cab choice prove not to fit nicely in the mix later in post.

The guitar from the original performance would be used, along with the control inputs to the Axe, if they were recordable somehow in a DAW.

The added benefit of also being able to use my nice FC12 and pedals/switches to control other gear is sort of a bonus, I guess, if it were sending data that other devices could use.

I guess what I am really asking for is the FC switches and pedals to send MIDI CC info to downstream devices, and through the USB to the DAW when used for recording.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

I did some rudimentary experimentation with the Scene Midi Block this evening. I got the AxeFX3 to send CC values to Logic indicating what scene was to be selected, and found the data in the track automation. Did similar with CS#1, which I set up to do 0/127 for off/on, and also captured that in track automation. That gets at least some FC performance data into Logic.

Scene Midi Block - CC110 has the setup I used. I found using multiples of 17 to be easier to see and work with in the grid. 0-7 would work just as well, but the display is difficult to see and the value difficult to grab and drag to a new value if necessary. This splits the CC values up enough that Logic knows to treat the values as a controller switch rather than a continuous controller. It was treating a 0 -> 1 change as a continuous controller change, but the 0 ->17 is a big enough jump that it gets that it needs to jump straight up to that at a point rather than slope up to the new value.

Not sure how to upload the CS MIDI settings, as those don't seem to be separately save-able, and probably live in global data somewhere. I only did one anyway, to test it. I think my most complicated preset has two CS set up. I use the continuous controllers a lot, as well as the Effect on/off and Effect channel toggle/increment/decrement functions.

If only the pedals and the Effect on/off and channel could emit a signal that could be captured....

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Case in point: this preset uses a controller pedal to do seamless fades between three different sounds per the method suggested by @NDESMAREST in a post around a month or two ago. I have quite a few presets set up this way, as it makes for a very easy way to set up 3 sounds on one controller pedal.

Currently, the only thing I am doing with this preset that could be captured by Logic is the delay boost.

The controller switching between the three sounds could be drawn out in Logic easily enough, as that is less likely to be a quick change than a change that follows the song's arrangement. Heck, you could do that ahead of time and have it change your sounds for you automagically if the preset's modifiers were adjusted to use an external and Logic sent the controller changes to the correct controller....