Just got the Hapax. I was wondering if anyone has advice for making definition files for this machine. I have the templates from hapax, but I m still trying to figure out how the alphabase works. Does 1 definition file load per track? Because it seems like I’d need to load a bunch of different files since the kick is on a different channel from the snare..etc. Are you all using Claude to code these definition files, or what is the easiest way to do this? The Alphabase has a ton of possible parameters I just need to figure out how to set it all up. Manual on page 111 is the MIDI chart.
There’s already a topic: Instrument definition for jomox alpha base
And a pyramid def file: Jomox Alpha Base Definitions
Should be able to get inspiration there
Dont use AI tools if you dont understand what you are doing. Its a monkey job but the monkey has to know what its doing
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Ignore the RED way, take the GREEN way.
Map only the first / left note for 0 pitch offset.
No pitch sequencing this way, only sound triggering.
So something like
ROW 1
TRIG NULL
CHAN 16
NOTENUMBER 36
NAME Kick
ROW 2
TRIG NULL
CHAN 16
NOTENUMBER 40
NAME Snare
For the RED part with individual channels and pitch sequencing, it should probably go:
ROW 1
TRIG NULL
CHAN 1
NOTENUMBER 66 (66 or 67, meaning default note will be in the middle of 36 - 97 pitch range allowing for the same range of semitone offset up and down)
NAME Kick
ROW 2
TRIG NULL
CHAN 2
NOTENUMBER 66 (same for all tracks or custom according to your preference how you want to play with pitch of the particular drum)
NAME Snare
We cannot use multiple MIDI channels for CCs on one track, only for drum triggers.
So if you want sequence and control AB from one or two tracks (8+4 drum lanes), you can pretty much do only the sequencing, not automation of parameters. You can automate parameters of on only one MIDI channel per track. So you might add the CCs into to definition file and then change the channels of those one or two AB tracks you use according to which instrument you want to automate.
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Ok thank, you the green way is more than fine for sequencing. I can dedicate 2 hapax tracks to that and be good.
For the automation, does it make sense to use separate hapax tracks for that? I want to automate a decent amount, but since Hapax has 16 tracks I don’t mind using half for drums if I need to.
My other question - in the definition text file do I just need to fill out the mapping and the CCs? I also see assign and automate and am not 100% clear on what those do. Is that assigning to macro knobs automatically and then automation parameters is automatically there in the automation menu selection?
I would love to map all the automation from each drum out, because I know some people control every AB parameter from their sequencer and the box itself is not touched. So I am just trying to make sure I do it all correctly.
Ok I got this to work so far. I am still testing automation and CC, but it triggers. Is there a way I can attach the file, or does this copy paste work for you all?
VERSION 1 # Currently, this should only be 1.
Supports all alphanumeric ASCII, and ’ ', ‘_’, ‘-’, ‘+’ - can also be NULL
TRACKNAME Jomox AlphaBase
Can be POLY, DRUM, MPE, or NULL
TYPE DRUM
Can be A, B, C, D, USBD, USBH, CVGx (x between 1&4), CVx, Gx, or NULL
OUTPORT A
Can be x (between 1-16), or NULL – this is ignored if output port is not MIDI
OUTCHAN 16
Can be NONE, ALLACTIVE, A, B, USBH, USBD, CVG, or NULL
INPORT A
Can be x (between 1-16), ALL, or NULL. This definition will be ignored if INPORT is NONE, ALLACTIVE or CVG
INCHAN 16
This defines the default ‘MAX RATE’ for automation lanes.
Can be NULL, 192, 96, 64, 48, 32, 24, 16, 12, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1
MAXRATE 96
DRUMLANES
Syntax: ROW:TRIG:CHAN:NOTENUMBER NAME
ROW must be between 1 and 8
TRIG can be between 0 and 127, or NULL
CHAN can be a number between 1 and 16, Gx, CVx, CVGx (x between 1 and 4), or NULL
NOTENUMBER can be between 0 and 127, or NULL
NAME supports all alphanumeric ASCII, and ’ ', ‘_’, ‘-’, ‘+’ - can also be NULL
Please note this section will be discarded for tracks which are not DRUM tracks
[DRUMLANES]
1:NULL:16:36 Kick
2:NULL:16:40 Snare
3:NULL:16:44 Closed HH
4:NULL:16:48 Open HH
5:NULL:16:52 Clap
6:NULL:16:56 Rim Shot
7:NULL:16:60 Crash
8:NULL:16:64 Ride
[/DRUMLANES]
PC
Syntax: NUMBER NAME
number must be either:
- A number (for simple PC)
- Three numbers, delimited by ‘:’, which represent PC:MSB:LSB. You can put ‘NULL’ to not set the MSB/LSB.
PC must be between 1…128
MSB/LSB must be between 0…127
[PC]
1 Multi Kit 1
2 Multi Kit 2
3 Multi Kit 3
4 Multi Kit 4
5 Multi Kit 5
6 Multi Kit 6
7 Multi Kit 7
8 Multi Kit 8
9 Multi Kit 9
10 Multi Kit 10
11 Multi Kit 11
12 Multi Kit 12
13 Multi Kit 13
14 Multi Kit 14
15 Multi Kit 15
16 Multi Kit 16
[/PC]
CC
Syntax: CC_NUMBER NAME or CC_NUMBER:DEFAULT=xx NAME
DEFAULT_VALUE must be a valid number between 0 and 127
[CC]
7 Volume
64 Select Instrument
93 Mute Control
34 MB Pan
35 CH Pan
36 OH Pan
37 Clap Pan
38 Rim Pan
39 Crash Pan
40 Ride Pan
41 X1 Pan
42 X2 Pan
43 FM Pan
100 Reverb Room Size
101 Reverb LP Reflections
102 Reverb HP Reflections
103 Reverb Level
104 KD Reverb Send
105 MB Reverb Send
106 CH Reverb Send
107 OH Reverb Send
108 CLP Reverb Send
109 RIM Reverb Send
110 CRH Reverb Send
111 RID Reverb Send
112 X1 Reverb Send
113 X2 Reverb Send
114 FM Reverb Send
14 Delay Time
15 Delay Feedback
17 Delay Spatial
18 Delay Level
19 KD Delay Send
20 MB Delay Send
21 CH Delay Send
22 OH Delay Send
23 CLP Delay Send
24 RIM Delay Send
25 CRH Delay Send
26 RID Delay Send
27 X1 Delay Send
28 X2 Delay Send
29 FM Delay Send
62 Store Instruments
[/CC]
CC Pair
Syntax: CC_MSB:CC_LSB NAME or CC_MSB:CC_LSB:DEFAULT=xx NAME
DEFAULT_VALUE must be a valid number between 0 and 16383
[CC_PAIR]
[/CC_PAIR]
NRPN
Syntax: “MSB:LSB:DEPTH NAME” or “MSB:LSB:DEPTH:DEFAULT=xx NAME”
Lsb & msb should be between 0 and 127
Note: LSB can be over 127 ONLY if MSB is 0 or omitted
e.g. ‘0:1026:7 FOO’, or ‘:2000:7 BAR’
the examples above would be equivalent to ‘8:2:7 FOO’ and ‘15:80:7 BAR’ respectively
DEPTH can be 7 or 14
For NRPN: DEFAULT_VALUE must be a valid number, either between 0 and 127 (for 7 bit NRPNs) or between 0 and 16383 (for 14bit NRPNs)
[NRPN]
[/NRPN]
ASSIGN
Syntax: POT_NUMBER TYPE:VALUE or POT_NUMBER TYPE:VALUE DEFAULT=DEFAULT_VALUE
POT_NUMBER must be between 1 and 8
TYPE can be “CC”, “PB” (pitchbend), “AT” (aftertouch), “CV”, “NRPN”, or “NULL” (this won’t assign the pot).
Non explicitly-defined pots will be considered “NULL”
VALUE VALIDATION
For CC: Value must be a valid number between 0 and 119
For PB and AT, any text after the TYPE will be ignored
For CV, value must be between 1 and 4
For NRPN, value must be MSB:LSB:DEPTH, with both lsb & msb bebtween 0 and 127, and DEPTH being either 7 or 14
DEFAULT VALUE
For CC: DEFAULT_VALUE must be a valid number between 0 and 127
For PB: DEFAULT_VALUE must be a valid number between 0 and 16383
For NRPN: DEFAULT_VALUE must be a valid number, either between 0 and 127 (for 7 bit NRPNs) or between 0 and 16383 (for 14bit NRPNs)
For CV: DEFAULT_VALUE must be either a valid number between 0 and 65535, or a voltage between -5V and 5V, e.g. “-4.25V” or “1.7V”
Please note default value will be ignored for PB and AT messages.
[ASSIGN]
1 CC:100
2 CC:101
3 CC:102
4 CC:103
5 CC:14
6 CC:15
7 CC:18
8 CC:7 DEFAULT=100
[/ASSIGN]
AUTOMATION
Syntax: TYPE:VALUE
TYPE can be “CC”, “PB” (pitchbend), “AT” (aftertouch), “CV”, or “NRPN”
VALUE VALIDATION
For CC: Value must be a valid number between 0 and 119
For PB and AT, any text after the TYPE will be ignored
For CV, value must be between 1 and 4
For NRPN, value must be MSB:LSB:DEPTH, with both lsb & msb bebtween 0 and 127, and DEPTH being either 7 or 14
NOTE: You are limited to 64 automation lanes
[AUTOMATION]
CC:7
CC:100
CC:101
CC:102
CC:103
CC:104
CC:105
CC:106
CC:107
CC:108
CC:109
CC:110
CC:111
CC:112
CC:113
CC:114
CC:14
CC:15
CC:17
CC:18
CC:19
CC:20
CC:21
CC:22
CC:23
CC:24
CC:25
CC:26
CC:27
CC:28
CC:29
CC:34
CC:35
CC:36
CC:37
CC:38
CC:39
CC:40
CC:41
CC:42
CC:43
[/AUTOMATION]
This section will be readable from Hapax.
[COMMENT]
Jomox AlphaBase Drum Machine
Channel 16 mapping mode with 4-note pitch variants per instrument
Drum lanes map to base notes: KD=36, SN=40, CH=44, OH=48, CLP=52, RIM=56, CRH=60, RID=64
Each drum has +0/+6/+12/+18 semitone variants on consecutive notes
For individual instrument control use channels 1-11
X1 Sample on Ch9 note 68, X2 Sample on Ch10 note 72, FM Synth on Ch11 note 76
Global FX on Channel 16: Reverb CC100-114, Delay CC14-29
Pan controls CC34-43, Mute control CC93, Store CC62
[/COMMENT]