user definable controllers problem

[versis]

hi there,

i _tried_ to use the user definable controllers CC1 and CC2 by sending sysex to my ews64.. as printed in the "wavetable and midi manual" just before the midi implementation chart page. but i wasn't able to hear any difference when using them (i both tried CC1 pitch control and CC1 LFO1 filter depth).

has anyone been successful trying that? i don't believe this doesn't work... guess i forgot something..

thanks for help,
matthias

[Werner_O]

Hello Matthias,

the user definable controllers CC1 and CC2 of the EWS64 work fine :-)
You must have made an error with your SysEx-commands!

Possible mistakes:
1. SysEx-commands for CC1 and CC2 always change the value of an 'EWS64-Part', but 'Part' and 'MIDI-channel' are not the same at the EWS64!
Please read the chapter Part/Channel-Assignment of your EWS64-wavetable-manual.
2. Part number and controller number need to be included as 'hexadecimal code' in SysEx-commands.

Further information you'll find at my English homepage http://www.studio4all.de/start.html or my at my German homepage http://www.studio4all.de at 'EWS64 under Cubase' in chapter 'Channel mixer maps'.

Don't hesitate to post the SysEx-codes you've tried - like this I could answer more detailed.

Regards
Werner

[versis]

hi there,
it's me again. after my nerves recovered from my first CC1/CC2 try, i tried again, with some interesting results.

at first my ews didn't receive any sysex at all (i send everything from my new pc with ewx24/96 via midi to the ews midi-in 1, which is forwarded by midi-ox to the midi play, works very well). i hunted this down to a midi echo problem with my alesis mmt-8 sequencer, it simply didn't pass any incoming sysex to it's out port (i guess they didn't want to handle sysex buffers in those days...). so i put it out of the chain.

finally my ews received sysex. i made a simple test program with the saw440.wav included with ed!son. fed it with the following sysex strings:

F0,41,00,42,12,40,1C,1F,10,00,F7
(set cc1 to controller 16 (10h), as shown in the manual)
F0,41,00,42,12,40,2C,40,70,00,F7
(set cc1 pitch control to something audible, shown in the manual as well)

channel/part assignments remained default. and voila: nothing happened. =(

after some minutes tweaking, i downloaded your mixer maps for channel 1. to my surprise, it worked! at least the "cc1 to lfo3 filter depth", and the "cc1 pitch ctrl depth" sliders. checking the mixer map sysex strings, i noticed there was a difference:

(for example set cc1 controller number)
ews manual: F0,41,00,42,12,40,1C,1F,XX,00,F7
mixer map : F0,41,00,42,12,40,11,1F,XX,00,F7

same thing for cc1 filter cutoff control:
ews manual: F0,41,00,42,12,40,2C,41,XX,00,F7
mixer map : F0,41,00,42,12,40,21,41,XX,00,F7

instinctively combined, i changed the sysex string
F0,41,00,42,12,40,2C,45,70,00,F7
for my desired parameter "cc1 lfo filter depth" to
F0,41,00,42,12,40,21,45,70,00,F7
and i hardly believed my ears, it worked!!

so why do i distress my nerves because of using a useless (because wrong) manual (downloaded as pdf from the terratec website)? i don't know.. must be a strong will to keep my ews instead of buying a real sampler *g*.

nice greetz,
matthias

[Werner_O]

Hello Matthias,

even if there are definitely some errors in the Terratec EWS64 Wavetable manual, this manual is not too bad. Otherwise it would have been impossible for me to create my EWS64 mixer maps ;-)

I think, you didn't understand, that very often you need to define one of the 16 available parts in a SysEx string!
The part number appears as a 'variable' (in small letters!) in the manual (i.e. ...,1cH,... or ...,1pH,...), and you need to replace 'c' or 'h' with 0-F Hex (parts 1-16) depending on which part you want to access.

Example: CC1 controller number
String: F0,41,00,42,12,40,1c(!),1F,XX,00,F7
Replace '1c' with '10' to '1F' depending on the part you want to vary.
Replace 'XX' with the controller number (hexa decimal) you want to use for CC1...
that's it :-)))

Important note:
The EWS64 part numbers are not the same as the MIDI channel numbers!!!
Please read the chapter 'channel/part assignments' of the Wavetable manual or view the table at my homepage
http://www.studio4all.de/htmle/main41.html#ewschannel17 (in English) or
http://www.studio4all.de/htmlg/main41.html#ewschannel17 (in German)

Finally:
The EWS64 is a 'real' Sampler with many possibilities to control the sound in real time :-)

Regards
Werner

[versis]

re,
thanks werner for your reply. with some further tests i found out my sysex really just worked on channel 1, and your explanations have been really helpful here [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] .
you are right, the manual actually is quite good, but it wasn't obvious that the c has to be replaced, at least for someone trying sysex for almost the first time.
my thoughts of a "real sampler" are based on my bad mood when thinking of carrying that pc to my next live set, it's so awkward and hard to carry compared to small sampler / sampling workstation. but since i begin to understand that sysex stuff (and the LFO1 controllable by CC1/2 even seems to be kind of independent from the LFO1 of ed!son instruments (i.e. its frequency)) i think there are few samplers capable of such sysex programming in the price range of a ews64 (correct me if i'm wrong).
greetingz and thanks again,
matthias

[Werner_O]

The EWS64 synth includes an additional 3. LFO, which is independent from LFO 1 and LFO 2 in Ed!son!
It's called 'LFO 1' in the wavetable manual, but I've named it 'LFO 3' in my mixermaps to avoid any confusion with LFO 1 and 2 of Ed!son. The speed range is 0-17 Hz and always common (!) across all 16 MIDI channels.

Further information to this LFO you'll find at
http://studio4all.de/htmle/main41.html#ewschannel05 (in English) or
http://studio4all.de/htmlg/main41.html#ewschannel05 (in German)

The 'Ed!son-LFO 1' is controlable via SysEx too:
You can vary Speed, Ramp Time and Oscillator Modulation Depth. Further information you'll find at the link mentioned above.

Have fun :-)
Werner