Any Experts?

edited April 2013 in Support
So I got the MPC Fly. I desperately want to use it to control BM2. Can anyone please help a poor girl out? I've read that the fly is compatible with apps that have core midi. Doesn't BM2 have core midi?

BM2's midi screen tells me that it recognizes the fly when it's plugged in, but I can't get the fly pads to trigger any of my loaded sounds. I've tried all midi channels and midi settings combinations that I can think of, but I think I must be missing something here. Can anyone help? There's nothing sexier than a guy who knows his way around those midi settings <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

Comments

  • edited 7:21PM
    prrobable the note numbers sent by your MPC are not matching the pad assignments in BM2. See page 83 of the BM2 manual. Try assigning your sends to notes from C-2 on up. If yo cannot do this,, you could use MidiBridge or FreEwi to map the notes you can send down to that range.
  • edited 7:21PM
    That doesn't make sense to me. How to I change the assignments/sends of the pads? Is it the midi cc numbers? I've tried just about everything, and I don't have much midi experience. So I'm stumped. There has to be a way, I'm just not getting it. And page 83 of the manual isn't helping me at all.
  • edited 7:21PM
    Transpose. It's the note numbers. BM2 pads start around note #0 or 1. General MIDI - the usual standard especially for hardware that has to conform the the MMA spec starts a bit higher. See

    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://computermusicresource.com/GM.Percussion.KeyMap.html">http://computermusicresource.com/GM.Per ... eyMap.html</a><!-- m -->

    transpose your MPC down about 3 octaves. Like I said, you can use the free MIDI filter FreEwi to do that, or MidiBridge.
  • edited 7:21PM
    I might be out of luck because you can't make any actual adjustments on the MPC Fly, like you can on the MPD units. You have to make all of those midi adjustments within the BM2 app. Does that mean the Fly isn't compatible with BM2 then? It's supposed to be compatible with all apps that use core midi...
  • edited 7:21PM
    You can use FreEwi. It's an App, free,that maps MIDI messages. Including, for you, note number transposition. Since you are coming in through the CCK, however it may be that you need MidiBridge instead.

    In BM2 you just enable FreEwi and disable the MIDI interface. FreEwi has instructions in its Info button when you run it. MidiBridge can also do the mapping by itself, but it is not free hence try FreEwi first.
  • edited 7:21PM
    I got FreEWI and MidiBridge. The rest is over my head. I've been tinkering it with it quite a bit and I don't understand it at all. I have been getting pads to light up on the Fly when I push them in BM2, but they are not triggering the sounds I have loaded. I have messed with assigning and sends. All types of combinations.

    I have no experience with midi, can someone give me a step by step walkthrough on this "for dummies"? I really want to use the Fly for BM2 instead of being stuck with that crummy impc app!
  • edited 7:21PM
    I think a bit more than a forum post might be needed here.

    First question: I am now unsure, are you using a physical MPC or the iPad iMPC App? The setup will be a little different.
  • edited 7:21PM
    I'm using the MPC Fly, which is a midi controller that is made specifically to use with the impc app. But it is also compatible with all apps that use core midi. And since Beatmaker 2 can use core midi, I figured I could control Beatmaker with the Fly.

    So I would like to use the MPC Fly to control the pads within Beatmaker 2. But I have to do it thorough midi, which I know nothing about.

    I don't want anything to do with the impc app. It's total crap. I want to use BM2!
  • edited 7:21PM
    Unfortunately the fly is made by akai...should i say more? You are also using a competing app, so is this really in their best interest to get it working or is it more in the interest of intua? Most pad controllers dont work with beatmaker out the box, because beatmaker doesnt support keymapping standards at all...moving the cc maps of the pads would be quite ideal in fact
  • edited 7:21PM
    I don't know what you mean by the last thing you said.
  • edited 7:21PM
    BM2 maps note numbers to the drum pads. Starting with note #0.

    We are going to use it on Channel 10. Set your MPC to send MIDI on channel 10.

    Connect your MPC to your iPad

    Run MidiBridge

    run BM2. It should start with the home dialog upper left quarter of the screen. Tap the home button upper left if it doesn't.

    Create your Drumpad instrument.

    Still on the home dialog, with drumpad instrument selected, tap the little MIDI connector icon at the lower right of the drumpad instrument picture. This will bring up the MIDI assignments for the instrument.

    In the upper left, tap the '+' button until the number shows channel 10. Close the panelto go back to the home dialog.

    Tap the gear icon in the home dialog upper right, then the MIDI SETUP button center right.

    Make sure all MIDI ports in both lists at the top are "Off".

    Close all dialogs including the home dialog so the instrument itself is showing.

    Tap some pads to get the feel for how they sound, make especial note of how the lower left pad sounds.

    Back to MidiBridge.

    You should see the MIDI interface you are using in the left hand column. With luck it is named "MPC".

    You should also see the BeatMaker 2 icon on the right column.

    Tap the MPC icon in its center top area. It should turn green. Then do the same to the BM2 icon on the right.

    You should see a line appear connecting them.

    Tap the MPC icon on the little ladder-like icon in the lower left of the big icon. That should open up a list of 9 options. You want the second one down "Note Mapper".

    Tap the checkbox on its left to set it, then the blue arrow on its right. That will open the mapper configure dialog.

    The bottom item is marked "Note Transpose". You need to find the number that works:

    With one hand tap the lower left pad on the MPC. With each tap, use the other hand to tap the '-' button in the MidiBridge dialog. Somewhere around -20 you should start hearing the instrument responding. Maybe even not until -50 or so. Keep trying.

    Keep doing this until you hear the lower left instrument pad responding to the lower left MPC pad.

    OK, you are done. MidiBridge will remember the offset and connections for the next time yo run it with BM2 and the MPC connected.
  • edited 7:21PM
    I look at that list, and suddenly I have to wonder how anybody manages to make anything work.

    For me it is really just the result of elaborating on a pretty simple structure. I tend to forget most people don't have the system architecture plus MIDI experience I've picked up over the last mumble decades. They spent their time developing other skills. Like composing and performing, and people. All of which are mysteries to me.

    So I really hope I made enough sense for you to follow those steps. If not it's my fault. Ask, ask, ask. No such thing as a stupid question on this subject.

    I see it is possible to attach drawings and pics using Tapatalk. I developed the instructions by running through the steps above, and am writing this with BM2 bopping away at me as a result. Don't have a MPC so I used the littleMIDI pattern machine to push buttons for me.

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  • edited 7:21PM
    So the small resolution sucks. Let me know if you need higher resolution.
  • edited 7:21PM
    Wow thanks! I'm almost there. Your instructions helped me so that I can in fact control the bottom left pad in BM2 with the Fly...it's just that the other pads are all off, meaning they are not triggering the correctly assigned pads when I hit them. I've tried every possible number in midi bridge, but I just can't seem to get them all aligned. I think we're making progress though. Any other suggestions?
  • edited March 2013
    Thanks for the MidiBridge procedures, it helped tremendously. The final steps to map the pads correctly are:

    The few pads that don't respond correctly have to be individually mapped in MidiBridge in the Note Number Mapping section just above Note Transpose. Map them according to the iMPC layout listed here:


    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.noterepeat.com/products/akai">http://www.noterepeat.com/products/akai</a><!-- m --> ... idi-device
    Akai_iMPC_MIDI.jpg

    For example, the 2nd pad wasn't responding correctly in BM2 so I changed the incoming C1(36) to outgoing D1(38) based upon the iMPC chart and it triggered the correct pad in BM2!

    This chart also helps:
    numbersp.jpg
  • edited 7:21PM
    Are just getting pads playing unexpectedly, or no other pads at all?

    You could try something like MidiVision. This is a MIDI debug tool. It will list every MIDI event it sees. YOu will want to not run it except when doing these tests, as in normal play mode its buffer will fill up very quickly and bog your system down.

    BM2 pads are strictly note C-2 (0) through Eb-1 (15), counting left to right, bottom to top.

    So you should run MidiVision, then in sequence play the pads on your MPC. Make a note (!:) of what note numbers each pad sends.

    Assuming they are just not in the same order, instead of using the all notes mapper, you need to use the individual note mapper above it.

    Set the all notes mapper offset to 0 so it gets out of the way.

    Assign the MC note numbers on the left side to the BM2 numbers you want them to play on the right side. You could play the MPC pads as you do this again to be sure you get the right ones, but you will need that bit of paper you noted down which pad was which note as reference.

    Alternatively, you could re-assign the MPC pad note numbers. See this section of the MPC manual (500, right? if not, it should be a similar procedure.) If it won't assign down to note number 0 then you could still assign them in the right ascending order and use the all notes mapper again.



    „ Assigning MIDI Note Numbers to the Pads

    Normally, when you hit a pad, the MPC500 will output the MIDI note data assigned to the pad in the program. However, when the selected track does not have any program assigned, hitting a pad sends out the default MIDI note number, instead of the number set in the program. When you create a new program, this setting will be used as the default setting. You can change this default pad setting in the MIDI/SYNC mode, which can be accessed by pressing the [MODE] button and then the [PAD 7] (MIDI/SYNC).

    1. Select the MIDI/SYNC mode by pressing the [MODE] button and hitting the [PAD 7] (MIDI/SYNC).

    2. Scroll with the [DATA] wheel to select Default assign. The screen will look like the following.

    3. Press the pad you would like to change. You can use the [DATA] wheel to change the note assigned to each pad.

    4. To reset the note assignments back to the default settings, do the following:

    5. Select the MIDI/SYNC mode by pressing the [MODE] button and hitting the [PAD 7] (MIDI/SYNC).

    6. Scroll with the [DATA] wheel to select Assign reset. The screen will look like the following.

    7. Press the [DO IT] button to reset note assignments back to the default settings.
  • edited 7:21PM
    With forelock tugging reference to dwarman and CoolID's posts here (thanks so much) we have produced a little guide on setting up MidiBridge to map the Fly's pads to BeatMaker 2. The guide has all the pads mapped individually, so do not use the transpose feature in the NoteMapper!

    The quick guide is available at http://audeonic.com/fly_bm2.shtml
  • edited 7:21PM
    nice!
  • edited 7:21PM
    BM2 manual ? Where the heck is that ? I'm new to this, and have been learning but that would be really nice to know.
  • edited 7:21PM
    Thanks Audeonic for putting the guide together. That will help a lot of folks!
  • edited 7:21PM
    BM2 manual - there's a download button for it on <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.intua.net">http://www.intua.net</a><!-- m --> home page, rhs.
  • edited 7:21PM
    With forelock tugging reference to dwarman and CoolID's posts here (thanks so much) we have produced a little guide on setting up MidiBridge to map the Fly's pads to BeatMaker 2. The guide has all the pads mapped individually, so do not use the transpose feature in the NoteMapper!

    The quick guide is available at http://audeonic.com/fly_bm2.shtml

    Thanks again for the quick guide, it works well. Is there a way to set it up so that banks other than A work?

    Thanks
  • edited 7:21PM
    > Thanks again for the quick guide, it works well. Is there a way to set it up so that banks other than A work?

    Add 16 to all the numbers in the third column, ie 16-31 should correspond to bank B and so forth. Create a new preset for bank B in MidiBridge that maps all the notes in column 2 as before but to the 'B' range (16-31).

    To trigger bank B, load in the B preset and to trigger A load in the original preset.

    MidiBridge 1.5 is almost done and with that version you can save entire MidiBridge configurations (including presets) into scenes and switch between them at the touch of a button or MIDI program change message. Sorry, got carried away with a plug - my apologies.
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