Midi Maestro, Beat Buddy, TCH Voicelice 3 and Onsong

Hi,
I’m currently using BB + BB Footswitch, together with TCH Voicelive 3 and using midi instructions from Onsong to set the Programmes/Songs/Beat etc via the Yamaha MB-BT01 Bluetooth connector, which works really well. I’m considering upgrading the foot pedal to the midi maestro, and need to know a couple of things:

  1. Will Onsong still be able to control my song selection parameters (I.e. I choose a song in Onsong, so I have the music and lyrics to crib from, and Onsong sends the appropriate midi instruction to the BB and TCH VL3, thus selecting the BB Song, and the guitar and vocal settings for the TCH VL3) if I integrate the Midi Maestro to give greater on-the-fly control over the BeatBuddy?
  2. If so, what changes would I need to make to the BB settings to achieve this?
    3.What changes would I need to make to the midi cabling to achieve what will effectively be the BeatBuddy receiving midi instructions from both Onsong and the Midi Maestro?
  3. Finally, given the level of control I have already, is there a value in upgrading to the Midi Maestro?

Look forward to hearing some helpful answers, please :pray:

Cheers

Tony

Hey there!

  1. Yes, the onsong app should be able to pair with the MM when the MM is in pairing mode the same way it connects to your dongle, it will convert any BLE MIDI the MM receives while paired to the Onsong app through its MIDI Out port
  2. no changes necessary, the only change now is instead of using the dongle the MM will be converting BLE MIDI to normal MIDI out the out port, just like the dongle
  3. None really, just make sure the MM is before the BeatBuddy in the MIDI chain (onsong >> MIDI Maestro > BB > TCH or onsong >> MIDI Maestro > TCH > BB)
  4. Yes, you can map functions that you may not want to take up a footswitch+ button on the MM itself and transition to specific song parts, or even allow the BeatBuddy to be further away from you and still control it fully.

Thanks for the questions I hope this was helpful!

Hi Brennan,

Many thanks for your detailed reply. Much appreciated. That brings me owning the MM one step closer :+1:
Cheers,
Tony

1 Like

My pleasure!

Hey, Tony53. How are things going with OS >> MM > BB > VL3?

I’ve been using the BB & MM for a year or so now and am looking hard at OnSong as a master controller for the BB through the MM as you and Brennan have described it. I use the TCH VoiceLive 2 which also has Midi connections so I might be a able to avoid most of the tap dancing I have to do during a gig.

Any update on your progress or advice on the set up would be great before I get too far down this rabbit hole!

Dr. G-string

Hi Dr G-String. I haven’t made the jump to MM yet, but am a confirmed user of Onsong/BB/TCHVL3. Onsong is great for setting the BB beat, tempo, drum kit etc as this can all be done with the midi commands, and when you change your song in Onsong, it automatically changes the parameters for the new song - which will reduce your tap-dancing at a stroke. It takes a bit of getting used to if your’re not fully familiar with midi (which I’m not) but once you grasp the basics it’s great. BB has a section on midi in its instruction book which I found really useful, and Onsong has a lot of helpful videos about how to use the two devices together.

The TCH VL3 has only limited midi function (available only on the guitar and vocal settings) so you can choose which guitar sound and vocal sound you want from your pre-sets, but, annoyingly, theres no midi control for the looper - which I use quite a lot.

I use a bluetooth midi connector (BB breakout cable and Yamaha MD-BT01 bluetooth wireless interface, which means that I don’t then need a wired connection from my tablet to the BB - which acts as the primary midi driver.

Also, if you join the TCH forum (called Musictribe) there’s some further help in there, if you dig hard enough.

Hope this helps.

Brennan,
I have Aeros, BB, MM, and a midi Footswitch in a midi daisy chain. Aeros is in Transmitter mode. All the latest firmware. All works great with one exception. MM does not pass through CC messages from OnSong to Aeros. I’m trying to use OnSong to automate song part changes by sending CC 113 massages but the MM seems to stop the messages from going to the Aeros. I’ve bypassed the MM in the Dailey chain and it works. I also have PC messages from OnSong selecting songs which pass through MM with no problem. Is there something I can do to get the CC messages to pass through MM.
Thx,
Kris

Hey there,

How is the MIDI Maestro connected to On Song?

Brennan

OnSong to MM via a Roland Um-One USB midi, to Aeros, to BB, to Boss GM800, to Boss GT1000, back to OnSong.

I have commands going from OnSong to all the components in a daisy chain. Every thing works with the exception of CC commands from OnSong going to channel 4 on the Aeros. The PC commands to choose Aeros songs works from OnSong. But for some reason MM does not pass the CC commands to Aeros. The CC commands going from OnSong to the GT1000 work. Which go thru MM.

Maybe it’s an Aeros issue. All Aeros midi filters are off.

Thx
Kris

I would suggest throwing out the Roland USB unit from the equation, you can connect directly to the MM through Onsong, and send all commands through the MM. The MM automatically converts incoming BLE MIDI into normal MIDI to the output port.

This works perfectly and makes your set up lighter!

Let me know if this works, feel free to reach out to support@singularsound.com to get help with using onsong with our units

1 Like

Thanks Brennan! I’ll get it a shot and let you know…

Will Onsong still be able to receive/or pass midi message from the other components using the blue tooth connection to MM?

I think a midi hub may work better. Will let you know…

I inserted a Midi Solutions Merge box in the daisy chain. Both the IPad with OnSong and the Beat Buddy go into the Merge box. The out goes to the Aeros and then to the rest of the components. All is working great now.

2 Likes

See if there are midi settings and Make sure the settings are set for midi pass through in the MM.