Direct Bank Select?

steadystate

steadystate

Fractal Fanatic
Forgive me if this has been asked before, but I cannot find this info in the manual or on the forum.

I'm ready to purchase the FM9 to replace my Axe II/Gordius live setup, but I'm concerned that it lacks one (and only one) capability that is a must have for me.

I need the ability to randomly and directly access any bank of presets using the footswitches. I see that banks can be accessed sequentially, and that any footswitch can be assigned to recall a specific bank. But I see no way of randomly recalling a bank. In my use case, I don't have the luxury of having everyone wait while I sequentially scroll through dozens of banks to get to the required preset.

Even with only nine switches, I'm hoping that a switch can be programmed to cause the switches to enter a "bank select" mode, with perhaps one of the switches operating both as a 9 (tap) and 0 (hold) function, with all switches returning to the previous layout once three digits have been selected.

If this is simply not possible, are there any practical workarounds to quickly recall any bank at will? Thanks.
 
You can scroll through presets 7 at a time on the FM9. The 8th and 9th buttons are used to bank up or down.
 
You can manage the rigs and put them wherever you want. I put my live banks starting at 500. That way I don’t bank all over. Hopefully that helps you with your consideration.
 
For my FC6, switches in the Preset Layour are as follows (bank size = 4):
1) tap=select preset 1 of current bank, hold = jump to preset 1
2) tap=select preset 2 of current bank, hold = jump to preset 13
3) tap=select preset 3 of current bank, hold = jump to preset 25
4) tap=select preset 4 of current bank, hold = jump to preset 37
5) tap=bank increment
6) tap=bank decrement

So, if I am far from the preset I want then I use the hold function to get to the closest bank and then use the tap functions of 5 or 6 (bank inc/dec) to get to the exact bank I want and then the tap function of 1, 2, 3, or 4 to select the preset I am looking for. With FM9 you could have more groups and depending on how many footswitch presses you can tolerate for the worst case you can size the groups as best suits your needs.

It's not the ability to randomly load any random preset, but depending on how many you have it provides a way to limit the number of presses you need to get to any specific preset. Instead of jumping to a specific preset with hold functions you could increment preset by some amount.
 
scarbodave said:
For my FC6, switches in the Preset Layour are as follows (bank size = 4):
....

It's not the ability to randomly load any random preset, but depending on how many you have it provides a way to limit the number of presses you need to get to any specific preset. Instead of jumping to a specific preset with hold functions you could increment preset by some amount.
Click to expand...
Thanks. So far, this seems like the best potential workaround. While not as useful or quick as having a "Bank Select" layout like what I described above, I'll investigate using this technique to see if it's practical for my needs. I'm highly motivated to make the FM9 work for me.
 
rcm78 said:
When you say "bank" what are you referring too?
Click to expand...
Exactly as defined in the manual. Depending on the Bank Size parameter, one can have anywhere from 43 to 512 banks. Using the default bank size of 5, you'll have 103 banks to scroll through.

Having a 10-key style layout (with one switch covering two possible digits via tap/hold would allow direct access to 512 banks with three taps and a hold (max); even easier with an added external switch. My current controller has a 10-key tyle access, but I want to replace it with the FM9.

I'm just looking for the most efficient method of random navigation to distant banks and presets, given the current firmware.
 
steadystate said:
Thanks. So far, this seems like the best potential workaround. While not as useful or quick as having a "Bank Select" layout like what I described above, I'll investigate using this technique to see if it's practical for my needs. I'm highly motivated to make the FM9 work for me.
Click to expand...
You could absolutely create a "bank select" layout. It could use the tap and hold functions of all 9 switches to select 18 unique banks and use the layout links function to load a presets layout once a bank is selected. Or change the hold function of one of the switches to "reveal hold" so you don't have to remember which bank each hold function corresponds to.

You could similarly customize the Presets layout to select 17 presets (again using one hold function as "reveal hold") in a bank (assuming it is possible to set bank size to 17). Use layout links here to load the Scenes or Effects layout.

This would give you 289 presets available with two button presses (once you are on the bank select layout).
 
scarbodave said:
You could absolutely create a "bank select" layout. It could use the tap and hold functions of all 9 switches to select 18 unique banks and use the layout links function to load a presets layout once a bank is selected. Or change the hold function of one of the switches to "reveal hold" so you don't have to remember which bank each hold function corresponds to.

You could similarly customize the Presets layout to select 17 presets (again using one hold function as "reveal hold") in a bank (assuming it is possible to set bank size to 17). Use layout links here to load the Scenes or Effects layout.

This would give you 289 presets available with two button presses (once you are on the bank select layout).
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll investigate this.
 
scarbodave said:
You could absolutely create a "bank select" layout. It could use the tap and hold functions of all 9 switches to select 18 unique banks and use the layout links function to load a presets layout once a bank is selected. Or change the hold function of one of the switches to "reveal hold" so you don't have to remember which bank each hold function corresponds to.

You could similarly customize the Presets layout to select 17 presets (again using one hold function as "reveal hold") in a bank (assuming it is possible to set bank size to 17). Use layout links here to load the Scenes or Effects layout.

This would give you 289 presets available with two button presses (once you are on the bank select layout).
Click to expand...
This is a great solution.

Me personally, I have the presets I use regularly at a gig starting at 001 and scroll through them 7 at a time when needed.
 
The Footswitch Functions guide indicates the maximum size is 12.

However there's nothing stopping you from defining multiple bank select layouts if you need to quickly get to more than 17 banks of 12 presets.
 
You absolutely can directly select a bank. I have a hold function that goes directly to ‘bank 0’, which is where my per-song presets start. Here’s a photo of the editor where you can program a footswitch to directly select a given bank:
 

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Rumbletone said:
You absolutely can directly select a bank. I have a hold function that goes directly to ‘bank 0’, which is where my per-song presets start. Here’s a photo of the editor where you can program a footswitch to directly select a given bank:
Click to expand...
From my original post:

"I see that banks can be accessed sequentially, and that any footswitch can be assigned to recall a specific bank. But I see no way of randomly recalling a bank."

Still, the feature you and scarbodave mentioned might be a useable workaround when dealing with a huge number of banks. I'll have to think about it more.
 
steadystate said:
From my original post:

"I see that banks can be accessed sequentially, and that any footswitch can be assigned to recall a specific bank. But I see no way of randomly recalling a bank."

Still, the feature you and scarbodave mentioned might be a useable workaround when dealing with a huge number of banks. I'll have to think about it more.
Click to expand...

Sorry I’m misunderstanding what you are seeking - what is the difference between ‘recall a specific bank’ and ‘randomly recalling a bank’?
 
Maybe I am missing something, but what are you trying to accomplish by recalling a specific bank with entering in the numbers. If you have 100 banks lets say, how are you going to know what bank to recall when playing? Are you doing this from memory or will have a cheat sheet? Trying to determine if there may be a better way you can do this with the Songs/Setlists feature since that hyperjumps to base presets for specific songs.
 
Rumbletone said:
Sorry I’m misunderstanding what you are seeking - what is the difference between ‘recall a specific bank’ and ‘randomly recalling a bank?
Click to expand...
It's analogous to the difference between speed dial and 10-key dialing on your phone. Speed dial limits you to one call recipient (i.e. bank). 10-key gives you direct random access to a virtually unlimited number of recipients (i.e. banks).
 
steadystate said:
It's analogous to the difference between speed dial and 10-key dialing on your phone. Speed dial limits you to one call recipient (i.e. bank). 10-key gives you direct random access to a virtually unlimited number of recipients (i.e. banks).
Click to expand...

So then assign 10 footswitches to select 10 different banks?
 
guitarplayer1969 said:
Maybe I am missing something, but what are you trying to accomplish by recalling a specific bank with entering in the numbers. If you have 100 banks lets say, how are you going to know what bank to recall when playing? Are you doing this from memory or will have a cheat sheet? Trying to determine if there may be a better way you can do this with the Songs/Setlists feature since that hyperjumps to base presets for specific songs.
Click to expand...
Cheat sheet. Been doing it with my current controller for decades. Working in several bands with chaotic schedules who never play the same setlist twice makes the setlist feature too cumbersome.
 
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