Expression Pedal

[thomasfxlt]

I use the H9 on a board controlled by the MusicomLab EFX MkV pedal switcher/controller. The expression pedal is an EB VP Jr. I use the proper cable to connect the pedal to the MkV and the MkV then controls the H9 via midi (no direct connection between the pedal the the H9)

The software control of the MkV allows for some discreet XPDL settings. I’m attaching a screenshot of the email from the Musicom designer where he describes how these settings work.

Here’s what works:

1. The settings select the correct H9 to apply the commands (channel #)

2. The settings apply a change to which algorithm is being used on the H9

3. The settings correctly select with parameter within the algorithm is going to be controlled by the expression pedal

4. The range the pedal will work within is correctly set.

What doesn’t work:

The MKV software provides a field to enter a “beginning value” for the expression pedal when you change presets on the pedal controller. This is suppose to establish a starting point for the algorithm paratmeter being controlled. The options are “off”, “PDL” or “an “absolute value 0-127”. Regardless of what I enter in that field, the algorithm parameter selected to be controlled by the pedal begins at a midi value of something other than OFF or what I want. In most cases I want the pedal to be at 0. For instance, it it’s a delay algorithm, the wet/dry mix would be completely dry until I engage the pedal. 

The software options work as described in the attachment. I’ve tried all the options I can think of here and have had no luck getting the H9 to recognize these Beginning Values.

 

Thanks in advance.

[camn]

I’ll bet it is sending the initial CC value too quickly after the algo is selected.

[atomheart411]

I’ll bet it’s not your MkV. I’ve been beating my head against the wall trying to program an expression pedal to a patch and the behavior is pretty much like you describe. No matter how many times I have tried it keeps picking some random range. Sometimes I’m done setting the range and without my hands touching a single thing I can sit and watch it jumping around on the H9 Control screen. THis just is not working and I’m getting pretty sick and tired of wasting time.

[thomasfxlt]

Well, now I at least know I’m not incompetant or nuts. That lack of help from Musicom or Eventide on this is pretty frustrating. Musicom has settings built into their software to control this stuff and it doesn’t work. I think the H9 and expression pedal use with the EFX pedal switchers is pretty common too. I’ve tried to simplify and isolate the issue to no avail. I can set the range but that’s it (and like you said, there can be some odd, jumpy behavior with that as well).

I pretty much have to rock the expression pedal immediately after making a patch change which makes the expression pedal pretty useless because I can’t start it at ZERO. I always have to depress it and reset it to turn off the parameter it’s controlling.

[camn]

Do you want to take a methodical approach to troubleshooting?

[tsternfeld]

Can you use a MIDI interface (or some other piece of gear) to confirm that the MKV is sending what you intend, and to confirm whether the H9 is responding to what it's receiving?

From the sound of it, the MKV should be sending a PC to the H9, followed by a CC to the controller mapped to the EXP pedal.  Do those things happen correctly in isolation, when you do them by hand?  As an option, the H9 responds identically to MIDI over USB as to MIDI over the DIN jacks, so you can debug the controls from a computer.  I recommend the program PocketMidi as a bare-bones way to send arbitrary messages.

As a point of interest, do you happen to be controlling your H9 both through the USB and the DIN jacks at once?

[camn]

for real tstern is on the right track with a methodical approach to troubleshooting. If you want to ID this problem……..this is the way.

 

Of course, I would put dollars to donuts it is sending the CC to quickly after an Algo change. Fixing that will be on the Musicomlab side. There is no way for the H9 to be ready faster than it is ready. JUST SPECULATION THIS IS WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME

[thomasfxlt]

tstern wrote:

Can you use a MIDI interface (or some other piece of gear) to confirm that the MKV is sending what you intend, and to confirm whether the H9 is responding to what it’s receiving?

From the sound of it, the MKV should be sending a PC to the H9, followed by a CC to the controller mapped to the EXP pedal.  Do those things happen correctly in isolation, when you do them by hand?  As an option, the H9 responds identically to MIDI over USB as to MIDI over the DIN jacks, so you can debug the controls from a computer.  I recommend the program PocketMidi as a bare-bones way to send arbitrary messages.

As a point of interest, do you happen to be controlling your H9 both through the USB and the DIN jacks at once?

 

Thanks for the reply. I am not using USB. I’m connected via midi out on the EFX to midi in on the H9. 

 

The program changes are working and the range command works but the Beginning Values (which are CC as I understand) do nothing. If you look at the attached file in my original post you can see how Musicom allows for settings relative to the expression pedal. It does take the min/max values. The programs change properly. It’s these deeper settings that aren’t working right.

[tsternfeld]

thomasfxlt wrote:

tstern wrote:

Can you use a MIDI interface (or some other piece of gear) to confirm that the MKV is sending what you intend, and to confirm whether the H9 is responding to what it's receiving?

From the sound of it, the MKV should be sending a PC to the H9, followed by a CC to the controller mapped to the EXP pedal.  Do those things happen correctly in isolation, when you do them by hand?  As an option, the H9 responds identically to MIDI over USB as to MIDI over the DIN jacks, so you can debug the controls from a computer.  I recommend the program PocketMidi as a bare-bones way to send arbitrary messages.

As a point of interest, do you happen to be controlling your H9 both through the USB and the DIN jacks at once?

 

Thanks for the reply. I am not using USB. I'm connected via midi out on the EFX to midi in on the H9. 

 

The program changes are working and the range command works but the Beginning Values (which are CC as I understand) do nothing. If you look at the attached file in my original post you can see how Musicom allows for settings relative to the expression pedal. It does take the min/max values. The programs change properly. It's these deeper settings that aren't working right.

So, to be clear, the expression pedal works correctly once the preset is loaded on the H9 when you start moving it?  Do you have the CC channels and numbers in this configuration set to the same channel as the H9 and the same CC number as the EXP_PDL channel?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with MKV and don't have access to one at the moment, so trying to reverse engineer this from the MKV manual.

It would be very helpful to be able to bisect this problem by looking at the messages between the MKV and the H9.  You don't have any way accessible to you to do that?

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