One Press songs (OPB, OPBk, DOP, etc.) are essentially backing tracks with a single track of MIDI note on, note off, etc. messages, yes?
If so, is it possible to, in a DAW or in BBMO, add a second track of MIDI messages to control the BeatBuddy, the Aeros, and other MIDI enabled devices?
Yes
No
It would be unbelievably, awesomely fantastic if we could.
Actually, yes. Has to be the same MIDI file/track, but you can add commands on other channels to control other MIDI devices. Itâs how I use my Beat Buddy to run my lights.
Thank you, Joe. Perhaps you can share with us how this is done in the BBMO or the MIDI file that you built in your DAW and how you set it up on the BeatBuddy (BB) pedal?
Joe, A little more detail, please. I have been trying to find a solution to this for 2 weeks.
Okay. If youâre trying to do the same thing as me, I edit the BB beats to add notes on other channels to drive the other MIDI devices. As a safety precaution, I only use notes the BB doesnât recognize. For example, I use Note-1 on Channel-1 as a âNext Sceneâ command to run my lights. Notes 5 through 7 on Channel 2 select a harmony style on my Helicon Voicelive GX, and Note 4 toggles it on and off. I may yet add more commands to run my looper, but Iâm not there yet.
All of this requires some outboard gear. In my case, I use a pair of MIDI Solutions Event Processors to convert the notes to PC/CC changes. You might be able to use something like DOREMiDi MIDI To DMX Box(MTD-1024), but I havenât researched it yet.
Thereâs a more detailed description of what I do for my lights somewhere on the forum, but I canât seem to find it at the moment.
Thanks, Joe. This is exactly what I am trying to achieve. I am going to start down the road. If I have questions along the way, are you OK helping me out? Answering questions as I go?
For sure, always happy to help. For lights, I have 30-ish scenes programmed into a Chauvet Obey40. My EP has a list of them and reads Note-1 as a âNext Scene in the Listâ command. I have written to the DOREMiDi folks to see if they support that type of programming. I read some of their docs (available here: https://www.doremidi.cn/h-col-114.html), and it talks about subtables. Iâm hoping I can use that functionality to duplicate the list of programs. That would save me the EP, the Obey, and a 3-space rack. Heck, I could even swap in wireless MIDI (which I already use now to go from the Obey to the fixtures).
Found a (VERY!!!) long and pretty exhaustive discussion in my messages about how I control my lights with the BB. I wonât be offended if you donât read the whole thingâŚ
Iâm using the BeatBuddy to control the lights. Setup is an Chauvet Obey 40, a MIDI Solutions Event Processor Plus (EPP), A MIDI Solutions MIDI Power Adaptor (because the EPP requires power over MIDI and neither the Chauvet nor the BB offers that), and the Beat Buddy.
In the Chauvet:
Iâve programmed (I think) 24 scenes with an emphasis on each successive scene being noticeably different from but complimentary to the previous one. The first one is also noticeably different from but complimentary to the last one, so I have a nice circular bunch of scenes.
The extent of the Chauvetâs MIDI implementation is that it responds to notes by calling a mapped scene: MIDI Note-0 is Bank 1 Scene 1, MIDI Note-1 is Bank 1 Scene 2, and so on. Each bank has eight scenes.
In the EPP:
The EPP supports a limited number of commands. I use a couple of the available commands for housekeeping (things like filtering notes so the MIDI notes the BB plays as drum instruments donât trigger scenes). I then define a series of commands, which means two things:
So, letâs say, for example, I define ten steps in the sequence, starting at Command 11 and finishing at Command 20 in the EPP. I can tell the EPP that "Every time you hear a CC102 (the BBâs NEXT PART command), play the next command in the sequence starting with command 11. Jump back to command 11 after command 20.â
Which means my defined triggers cause the EPP to play commands (in my case, theyâre notes) starting at command 11, ending at command 20, and circling back to command 11. Sounds very complicated the way Iâm describing it, but itâs actually pretty simple once you get your mind around it.
Now, because each note in the EPP sequence maps to a note/scene in the Chauvet, that effectively means that every time the BB says NEXT PART, the Chauvet moves to the next scene.
So far?
Cool.
If memory serves, Iâve actually defined three triggers in the EPP: CC102, MIDI START, and Note-1 (which I use to force changes outside of the NEXT PART command â I program a NOTE-1 into the song part where I want a change or emphasis).
The EPP is the only reason I can use ANYTHING other than a keyboard to run the Chauvet, and is the heart of the system, because it is the only REALLY flexible device that lets me interface the Chauvet with devices in the outside world.
On the Beat Buddy:
In the MIDI menu, I set the BB to send NEXT PART (CC102) and STARTS (again, Iâm working from memory, so YMMV).
What ends up happening is the lights advance on three events: Change to new parts (except the very first one after the intro â for what I consider flawed logic, BB considers the first part to NOT be the NEXT PART, ask not why 
); STARTS (i.e., after manual pauses); and whenever Iâve added a NOTE-1 to the song.
The net effect is âkinda controlâ over my lights: I define when I get the next scene, but I have zero control over which scene I get. Now, I COULD add a bunch of unplayed notes to each part in the BB to specify which specific scene I want, but (1) there is some serious weirdness going on in the Chauvetâs programming, so simple is more reliable, and (b) by accepting next rather than specific scenes, I can actually use any non-1P song in the BB to run the lights in the expected manner with no modifications (because the lights change every time you go to a new part).
It took me a long time to work all of this out, and John Fast at MIDI Solutions was instrumental (my experience suggests Singular doesnât really understand MIDI that well, much less what their pedal is actually doing). So a lot of trial and error.
Does that help?
@JoeInOttawa I am still trying to wrap my head around this. I am not trying to control any lights which means there is no DMX control needed. Is the EP in your set up required because of the Obey 40 or does it also play a role in controlling MIDI pedals?
Administrivia first: The Obey plays scenes in response to MIDI Notes, so I could just send Notes directly to it. However, it has some weirdness in how it responds â for example, if you request any bank, preset 7 and follow that with any other bank, preset 7, the unit blacks out. There are a couple of other things as well. The EPP lets me set up a controlled, circular series of Notes/scenes that are reliable.
None of that matters to you, but the EPP will likely be important to get things to happen as you want it to happen.
In general, the EPP allows you to set specific notes on specific channels to become control commands for your outboard gear. For example, I also have a Helicon harmonizer. It responds to PC and CC messages. Since I canât get the BB to put out custom MIDI messages, I have set up notes on MIDI channel 4 to:
I accomplish this by adding notes to the original BB file on channels other than CH10 (I use CH4) and telling the EPP to listen for and convert (for example)
Then I might send
In other words, I use NOTE00 to toggle and NOTE01 through NOTE03 to select Harmonizer presets 1-3.
Does that help? Come at me, broh!
Joe, yes that helps explain things.
However, I have solved my problem in a different way that I was pursuing on a parallel track. I succeeded in using Stage Traxx 3 to run a backing track with a lyric sheet with embedded timestamped MIDI commands. I achieved some pretty sophisticated control of my Aeros. Now the doors are wide open to control other MIDI pedals. The only âdownsideâ to this approach, but itâs minor, is that the BB plays no role. But hey, that means one less pedal on the board; two if you count the foot switch.
Thanks for your help.
What a journey!
Congrats! Many, many ways to skin the proverbial cat!