Dear squarps,
I am about to buy a Squarp Pyramid, I think it’s an amazing machine. I have one question about it. It might be a very general midi question, please don’t kill me if it’s a bit naive.
If CC messages to my hardware synth are sent, let’s say, the filter cutoff increases and decreases during a track, can i still change the filter cutoff on my hardware synth? Does the Squarp send absolute values, or does it send +something and then -something, which is specified on the hardware?
If the squarp sends absolute values, what happens if I change the values on the hardware while the track is running?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Martinus
The pyramid is sending absolute values.
What happens on your synth has nothing to do with the Pyramid and really depends on the implementation on your specific device.
I guess most devices will jump in values. Some might have a smooth function and some few might have some sort of „hook“ mechanism.
Thanks for your quick response! If I understand you correctly: if a track is running, those cc messages are send constantly (96ppqn?) and hence will constantly override the knobs of my synth (this is a Korg Minilogue), even when I tweak them during the track is running?
Just a thought: when I automate cc, i could save that to a separate track on the pyramid, and when i want to take over “live” i just mute the cc track from the pyramid, and tweak the knobs live.
So then an automated track will still be live tweakable!
What do you think?
M
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Good thinking!
It’s always a good idea to separate CCs from note messages (melody) when you want to jam, combine the melody with different modulations etc. This way you could also tweak your synth by hand.
The CC automation will get sent with clock resolution, yes, but only, when you want it to. So say you put a CC message for the filter cutoff (one value) on the first beat on your first bar, it will only get send at that point in time.
So in a 4 bar track, you’ll have that fixed CC in the beginning. For the rest of the track you can freely wiggle your filter cutoff. When your track is set to loop (unless a one shot track) it will fire that CC again on bar 1/beat 1. (Note that you might get a sudden jump when you come back to the automated CC when there’s a delta between the current cutoff value and the CC.)
It’s easy and very usable.
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It’s very clear now, thanks a lot!
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