Midi Signal Path MorningStar Engineering MC8, Beat Buddy and Aeros

Aeros Loop Studio Help, Questions and Bugs
1

Hello! For anyone familiar with MorningStar Engineering Midi Controllers:

I’ve spent a couple of days looking for the answer to the below questions. If it has been addressed, please send me a link or refer me to a resource. If not, would you please review my midi routing question and advise?

My “basic” board:

• Beat Buddy
• Aeros Loop Studio
• Helix Floor
• Morningstar MC8

I just switched from a board of pedals to a Helix. I controlled that board with my Morningstar MC8 midi controller. One feature of my MC8 that I am most proud of and that I share freely in all BeatBuddy and MorningStar forums is that I can control “EVERYTHING” on my BB with my MC8. I NEVER have to reach under my editing desk for any adjustments, drum selections, folders, song sections, etc. Before I got my MC8 I thought the BB was too labor intensive.

I want to maintain this MC8/BB relationship in my new setup while permitting my BB to talk to my Aeros. My question is more about MIDI routing.

In my old board the BB set the clock. Instead of “tap tempo” I assigned two of my switches to control the increase and decrease of tempo.

Old Board Midi routing:

MC8 out to BB in
BB out to MC8 in
MC8 clock set to pass through
MC8 1/4" TRS midi out to the rest of the board.

Proposed New Board midi routing based on Aeros manual suggestion for routing midi from BB.

BB out to Aeros in
Aeros out to MC8 in
MC8 out to Helix in
Helix out to BB in.

My intent here is for BB to control the clock in my system and to permit me control the features of the BB with my MC8 and to be able to send commands to the rest of my board. (The Aeros is so damn user friendly, I don’t know if I will actually “control” it to my MC8, but that’s a detail I can deal with later.)

Do you see any conflicts with this midi signal path? Would the Aeros unit recognize the BB as indicated in the manual if it is at the end of the signal chain, instead of (as specified in the manual) second in the signal chain? (Again, until now, I never considered there to be a “signal chain” or signal latency for midi. Each unit either recognized a signal intended for it or not.). I’m “assuming” that if I use my MC8 to adjust the tempo on the BB, the BB will communicate that tempo to the Aeros. Any start/stop syncing issues?

Cordially,

Bill

2

For the record and for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation in the future, here’s the response I received from Daniel in Customer Support:

*" **Your plan looks good overall. There shouldn’t be any significant latency or recognition issues with your setup. The BeatBuddy should communicate tempo changes to the Aeros, ensuring synchronization. If any start/stop syncing issues arise, feel free to send a message (or video) explaining the problem, but theoretically it should work. ***

*If I were setting this up, I’d connect the MC8 MIDI out to the BeatBuddy, the BeatBuddy MIDI out to the Aeros, and the Aeros output to the effect pedal. (As in this video, except that you’d be connecting the aeros output to your Helix and that you would use the MC8 instead of the Midi Maestro in the signal chain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Hz_ng54dg ) *

Remember, there’s no one “right setup” for MIDI routing. You should experiment with different setups to see which one suits your needs best."

Cheers!

Bill