Controlling Axe FX with Midi from DAW- Tempo changing?

Sean Ashe

Sean Ashe

Power User
Hey everyone, asking for a little insight about controlling the Axe FX with midi from a DAW.

I'm filling in on a tour in mid june, and we're going to be using the Axe FX for BOTH Guitars ( yep ;) ) and controlling it via a DAW which is already running to control samples and various other things.

Each guitarist in the band uses 3 patches, so at any given time, one of nine patches must be used. Same 3 tones per guitarist for the full set, BUT the only thing that varies is Tempo which plays a large role in some effects times.

I'm wondering if theres a way to 'tap tempo' from the midi from a DAW, or if I'll have to just copy all 9 patches 6 times (6 songs) and change the tempos per patch. The later option can work, but the first option would be soooo easy :)

If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. Thanks :)
 
Hi Sean,
You can use the same method that the MFC uses to set the tempo on the Axe-FX II.

Send the CC # that is assigned to tempo tap on the MIDI -> Ctrl page. The Axe-FX II will calculate the BPM based on the interval at which it receives the messages. So for example, send 10 CC messages at the beginning of each song with the CC message aligned to the quarter note of the DAW grid. The value you send with the CC is irrelevant as the Axe-FX II doesn't care. It just looks for the CC # assigned to tempo tap and then ignores the value of the CC.

Let me know if you need help setting up the DAW track to do this. I can walk you through how to do it in Reaper if that's what you're using.

-Adam
 
I may be guilty of over thinking this one a bit...you can also send a MIDI Beat Clock and the Axe-FX II will sync up to that.

That does give you a bit less flexibility though because in most DAW's this is generally an always on or always off kind of thing per MIDI device. The CC method will give you more flexibility on a per song basis.
 
hi Adam
would it not be possible to sync the Axe via tempo changes within the DAW via MIDI clock or something like that?
 
AdamCook said:
Hi Sean,
You can use the same method that the MFC uses to set the tempo on the Axe-FX II.

Send the CC # that is assigned to tempo tap on the MIDI -> Ctrl page. The Axe-FX II will calculate the BPM based on the interval at which it receives the messages. So for example, send 10 CC messages at the beginning of each song with the CC message aligned to the quarter note of the DAW grid. The value you send with the CC is irrelevant as the Axe-FX II doesn't care. It just looks for the CC # assigned to tempo tap and then ignores the value of the CC.

Let me know if you need help setting up the DAW track to do this. I can walk you through how to do it in Reaper if that's what you're using.

-Adam
Click to expand...

Awesome! I'm not sure what DAW it is, I'm fairly confident it's either FLstudio, or Cubase. One of the two. I'll definitely probably do that way with setting it to the grid, seems really easy! Thanks man :) I'll let you know if I have any issues when the time comes.
 
clarky said:
hi Adam
would it not be possible to sync the Axe via tempo changes within the DAW via MIDI clock or something like that?
Click to expand...

Yup...as I mentioned in my 2nd post either method would work. CC method might give a bit more flexibility since I'm not sure how many DAW's supporting turning MIDI clock on/off on the fly.
 
Digging up this thread.

For reaper would I just toss a series of notes here for each axe being controller for each song?

Reaper.jpg
 
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