external midi device does not have physics behaviour

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Gordon Charlton
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Joined:23 Aug 2015 00:41
external midi device does not have physics behaviour

Post by Gordon Charlton » 23 Aug 2015 04:07

I bought Lemur for iPad three days ago and the first day was great. I leapt straight into my urgent project (I mentioned this in the compulsory hello posting) and got the basic functionality I require within an hour, including watching a couple of intro videos and a quick scan of the user manuals. It's a brilliant app!

Anyway, here's the set-up - an Eomono USB MIDI Expression Pedal sending various CC messages to a Moog Theremini, with Lemur allowing me to quickly change the effect of operating the pedal, and also allowing for automated control over the theremini in by modulating various controllers on the theremini to sweep them up and down repeatedly at a rate determined by the pedal, and to send sequences of control codes to transpose the pitch of the instrument, thereby creating arpeggios. There will be methods to switch quickly between user defined fixed arpeggios and also to combine arpeggios of different lengths to give very long sequences, again, speed to be controlled by the pedal. (I only get one pedal to play with because I need the other one to stop me falling over, and both my hands will be busy waving around near the theremini's antennas, with only brief moments to tap on the iPad screen during a performance.

This is how far I have got. I have a fader that can receive and respond to messages from the pedal and direct them to the appropriate controller on the theremini, and I have a couple of knobs that control the speed and friction of the ball-and-spring physics behaviour of the slider. The physics behaviour works fine when I operate the slider directly with my finger, but not when I operate the pedal. With the pedal there is no physics. This is my sticking point. I can't figure out how to fix it.

I have read the manual until my brain melted, and found on page 69 that "It’s important to note that a Variable assigned to a Custom MIDI can output data but will not react to the corresponding incoming message. Custom MIDI messages are not bidirectional." which sounded like it might be the problem. I'm not entirely clear on the ramifications of having bidirectional messages, but searching this forum for people with similar problems turned up a couple of pieces of advice, one being to use a custom MIDI message (I tried, it did not work. I do not know if this is because I did it wrong, or because it is not the right advice for me - it was given in relation to a different setup) and the other advice I found for a similar-ish situation was to use a script. This reportedly worked, but there was no description of the script that did this.

Any help with this will be very gratefully received and a tremendous boon to me in my quest to become a power user in double quick time. :-)

Phil999
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Posts:932
Joined:11 Jan 2012 01:53

Re: external midi device does not have physics behaviour

Post by Phil999 » 23 Aug 2015 14:16

that appears like a nice setup, congratulations. And set up in such short time.

Bi-directional MIDI means only that Lemur can receive parameter values as well. I think this is not necessary in your setup.
Formant+Eurorack, PPG wave 2.2, Korg MS-20, etc., EWI 4000s, QuNeo, etc., Mixbus32c, u-he, MadronaLabs, Samplemodeling, NI, etc., iPad2/4/Pro

Gordon Charlton
Newbie
Posts:4
Joined:23 Aug 2015 00:41

Re: external midi device does not have physics behaviour

Post by Gordon Charlton » 23 Aug 2015 17:59

OK, maybe that was a false lead.

So how do I get my faders to respond in the same way when I operate them with my pedal as when I operate them with my finger (i.e. with ball-and-spring physics behaviour?)

Phil999
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Joined:11 Jan 2012 01:53

Re: external midi device does not have physics behaviour

Post by Phil999 » 24 Aug 2015 11:19

you want to have physics from the pedal input, is that right? This is not possible I'm afraid.

But you could let run the moving balls and use the pedal to limit the range, or to control the speed, etc. There are many options for a performance template.
Formant+Eurorack, PPG wave 2.2, Korg MS-20, etc., EWI 4000s, QuNeo, etc., Mixbus32c, u-he, MadronaLabs, Samplemodeling, NI, etc., iPad2/4/Pro

Gordon Charlton
Newbie
Posts:4
Joined:23 Aug 2015 00:41

Re: external midi device does not have physics behaviour

Post by Gordon Charlton » 25 Aug 2015 06:50

OK. Thank you. :-)

Phil999
Regular
Posts:932
Joined:11 Jan 2012 01:53

Re: external midi device does not have physics behaviour

Post by Phil999 » 25 Aug 2015 12:20

what's also possible is to create custom modulation sources inside Lemur. LFO, envelope generator, random source, etc. And control the amount or other parameters with a pedal.
Formant+Eurorack, PPG wave 2.2, Korg MS-20, etc., EWI 4000s, QuNeo, etc., Mixbus32c, u-he, MadronaLabs, Samplemodeling, NI, etc., iPad2/4/Pro

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