It’s clear that Hapax can send program change messages to change banks and presets on external devices. Can it also listen to those same preset changes? I’ve always had issues with the MPC One because it sends program change messages but I can’t move around the studio and play with my synths because it listens to program change messages as pattern changes. So if I move to a synth and thumb thru a few presets, it’s not saved to the song I’m building on the MPC. I’m hoping Hapax sends and receives program changes the same way so I can finally work freely in the studio.
If I’m understanding your question correctly, you’re asking whether Hapax automatically assigns incoming PC messages to the current active pattern.
It currently does not.
It doesn’t have to be automatic. But then what does Hapax do with incoming program change info? I see in the manual there is the option to ignore incoming PC but I didn’t see any info on options for where to route PC messages.
I would have thought HAPAX (in a future firmware) will use PC to change patterns…
I assume based on the Track Input (midi port/channel)
this is whats happening on the Pyramid. and kind of ‘expected’ behaviour for sequencers (e.g. Elektron)
but of course, we need this to be optional, since you don’t always want the HAPAX to do this when it receives PC.
I wonder what work flow calls for sending pattern changes to the sequencer? Must be connecting to a DAW, right? Because my guess is it’s far more likely the hapax is the mothership of your setup not the slave to another sequencer.
It’s odd because most of these sequencers I run into this issue with are “primarily” for dawless workflows. And reciprocity is one of those design principles where I’m surprised that you don’t often see the functionality to accept PC messages the same way you send them. I feel like I’m missing something.
multiple sequencers in a setup…
so many musicians have multiple elektron boxes, so they use one as the master, and when that one switches patterns, it sends PC to the other electron boxes which also switch patterns.
(Elektrons all both send and receive PC for patterns changes)
multiple sequencers in a hardware setup are not that uncommon really…
e.g. I have the Hapax, but also have an Octatrack…
personally Id used the Hapax here as the master,
but I can see that perhaps some may prefer to use the Octatrack… and then it would seen PC t o the Hapax to keep aligned with patterns.
you know what its like , 10 musicians with the same gear will all use it differently 
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Hey Thibault, I’ve been tinkering in my studio and have learned a lot more about Hapax so I think I can ask this question more clearly. When I have the input and output of a channel set to a specific synth, with or without that instrument definition, the program change works beautifully from the Hapax to the Synth. I can comb through presets on the Hapax. But the incoming program changes from any external device do not affect the program change set on the channel listening to that input. So, not necessarily the active channel. Simply, it doesn’t work the other way around.
Effectively, I’m locked into working from the Hapax and ignoring my wall of instruments which becomes more of an issue with multiple people in the studio. For example, let’s say I’m sequencing drums on the Hapax, if a keyboardist is playing another instrument, they would usually scan the keyboard to find a good starting point. Maybe tweak the sound and save to a user bank for example so that the sound is saved. How are we supposed to save these changes to the Hapax project? Any change to the PC on the Hapax will change the preset on the external device and completely break the flow of anyone using an instrument other than the Hapax.
I’m still doing things like using the Hapax to record midi in my DAW, writing down the saved presets as names in the DAW channels, saving the Hapax project with the same name as the DAW project, etc. But I know I should be able to use the Hapax completely from music creation to performance as the mothership of my set up.
Am I doing something wrong in the settings or do I just need to make an official feature request somewhere? Are there other workflows that I’m missing that allow for the free flow between Hapax and external devices in a studio set up or that allow multiple people to jam freely?
The other option I see is to a prepare a “band” in the studio, meaning instruments are saved to specific settings allowing for sequencing and song creation in Hapax, and afterwards, without clients or others in the studio, I can sound design and find the right sounds for the song we have made and save those PC’s to the Hapax retroactively.
EDIT: Looks like there’s an updated answer in this thread and yes, PC’s do need to be saved manually. Sorry for the novel! Save synth patch number in project
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I exactly just re-checked the manual and searched the forum looking for an answer to this question :). I was hoping to find a switchable “learn/record” mode inside the track PC-menu. Unfortunately it is not there.
Luckily thanks to instrument definitions it is at least not that painful to set the right program for synths with big preset storage.