Send midi commands via USB to PC

Boris

Boris

Member
Hi there,

I was wondering if the following scenario is possible:

Push of an FC-6 button sends an midi command via USB to an Mac?

I'd like to control iTunes for practice purposes .....

Thank you for any hint if something like this is possible.
 
There's currently no way to do this directly over USB. Control Switch MIDI commands are currently not sent out over USB, only to the physical MIDI Out port on the Axe III. The Axe II had USB adapter mode that would allow that kind of communication, but that feature was not included in the Axe III. USB Adapter Mode for MIDI has been on the wish list for the III for a while. Not sure if there are any plans to add it or not.

One work around is to buy a simple USB MIDI interface cable and connect it to the Axe III's rear MIDI ports. That would let you capture all MIDI data to and from the Axe III.
 
@mr_fender Is this thread still relevant and the case? I finally got midi over USB to work for present and scene changes with the Axe FX 3 and Reaper, but I was hoping to use a control switch to send CC commands to Reaper so I could assign the CC commands to "Next Project" and "Play/Stop" so I can dynamically run my click tracks from my FC-12 controller during live shows.

If this is unfortunately the case, what would be my next best option? Would I have to buy a MIDI to USB adapter (if it exists) and plug that into the MIDI Out of the Axe FX and then into the USB port on my PC?
 
Yes, you'd need an external MIDI interface to capture the Control Switch MIDI commands from the axe's physical MIDI port.
 
@Honken @State of Epicicity

Could either of you by chance maybe take a screen shot or picture of your Control Switch MIDI setup? I bought a FORE MIDI to USB cable (Found here: Amazon product ASIN B0719V8MX1 ) and I've hooked it up to the MIDI Out and played around with multiple settings for the MIDI Control Switch settings, and I cannot seem to get anything to happen.

That cable comes with a light that's supposed to illuminate when signal is getting received and nothing I do seems to make the blue light appear and Reaper receives no signal even though Reaper does see the usb midi adapter.
 
RamboMadCow said:
@Honken @State of Epicicity

Could either of you by chance maybe take a screen shot or picture of your Control Switch MIDI setup? I bought a FORE MIDI to USB cable (Found here: Amazon product ASIN B0719V8MX1 ) and I've hooked it up to the MIDI Out and played around with multiple settings for the MIDI Control Switch settings, and I cannot seem to get anything to happen.

That cable comes with a light that's supposed to illuminate when signal is getting received and nothing I do seems to make the blue light appear and Reaper receives no signal even though Reaper does see the usb midi adapter.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can't. I used my Roland UM-ONE interface for a while, but I haven't done anything with it for probably a year. Plus, I haven't even been able to get near my gear because of work and preparing for a move. Sorry I can't help right now. I know with Reaper you have to go into the part of the menu where you select the MIDI interface and make sure you have the one you want enabled. It's fuzzy, but I do think there are several steps, and of course if you just miss one, nothing will happen! Best of luck in the meantime.
 
Make sure you've got the cables connected correctly. The MIDI IN plug of the interface should connect to the MIDI OUT jack of the Axe III and vice versa.

Did you select the correct MIDI Input and channel for the track in Reaper and arm the track for recording?

I use my old M-Audio Fast Track Pro as a MIDI interface and it works like a champ in Reaper for capturing CS MIDI and my Keyboard controller for piano and such. Pretty much any generic MIDI interface should work though.

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My guess is that you need the driver for the midi to USB cable.

My rig is at the rehearsal space now.

I use the Roland UM-ONE. The cable is labeled from the factory with connect to midi out and connect to midi in.

In the axe you will need to check the setting that says: use CS midi. I think this is in the setup page? (If my memory serves me correctly)

Edit: I'll try to remember to take some photos tonight
 
Well, after checking the fore cable, there is no driver. It should be plug and play. Then it depends on how they marked it. I would guess that the fore cable midi in would connect to axe midi out, and the fore cable midi out would connect to axe midi in.
 
Big "doh!" moment for me I guess lol. I did not realize that, as @mr_fender suggested, the MIDI IN on the cable is what should get plugged into the MIDI OUT on the Axe. I had out connected to out. As soon as I swapped this around I had MIDI getting into Reaper within 5 min or so.

I am, however, experiencing another issue. It appears as my FC-12 will stop sending MIDI signals on press after only a few uses. Currently, I have 3 midi control switches setup. All three are used as hotkeys in Reaper: 1 to move to the next project, 1 to move the play marker to the beginning of the track, and the last one to play/stop in Reaper.

After a few uses of each of the foot switches to great success, I hear a small "pop" and then the control switches no longer send midi. All of my other foot switch assignments still work such as swapping presets or scenes or tap tempo etc. It's only the midi control switches that stop sending a signal.

I have to disconnect the XLR cable from the FC-12 and then reattach it, and then the midi control switches begin working again, but only for a short while. I spent 30 minutes in this cycle last night and got frustrated and gave up for the rest of the night. I know I generate a bit of static electricity as I live in Colorado and it's extremely dry here and starting to cool down. But why would a small static electric shock to the FC-12 stop only the midi cs's but not the others?

Have any of you experienced an issue like this and found a solution? If I can't get the FC-12 to send midi signals consistently, I'm going to have to look into another midi controller to control Reaper during live shows.
 
Glad you found out about the in/out. I've never experienced what you describe with the FC, and having to disconnect and reconnect. Anyone else?
 
Hello,
Is it still the case that Ax FX III cannot send Midi CC & PC messages via USB to the computer (MacOS in my case), but only via the Midi OUT port and you need a Midi/USB converter?
 
MBure said:
Hello,
Is it still the case that Ax FX III cannot send Midi CC & PC messages via USB to the computer (MacOS in my case), but only via the Midi OUT port and you need a Midi/USB converter?
Click to expand...

That's the case, from what I understand. I use the Roland UM-ONE when I want to do that, and it works just fine.
 
The axe 3 CAN send cc and program changes on the usb port, BUT, the 5 pin jacks don’t speak the usb jacks and the fx pedals are not midi pedals.


In other words, I automate my axe 3 over usb from Cubase, but if I plugged a midi controller to the 5 pin midi in on the axe, the computer will never see it
 
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