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Tips
& Tricks
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Real
Time Control of the ASR-X The
following is my response to a post on the ASR-X
Mailing regarding Real Time Control of the ASR-X
with a Yamaha CS1x. Note that I use a Yamaha AN1x
which offers a more advanced implementation of the
'Assign Knobs' originally implemented on the
CS1x. >
Q. Is it possible to control and manipulate FX when
the 'X' is in pattern mode? I've
been meaning to reply to this as I use an AN1x
which has similar control functions to your CS1x. I
haven't tried to manipulate the effects in pattern
mode but, I don't see why it would not work. Read
on... >
If so is it over MIDI ? Yes,
it does work quite well over MIDI. The CS1x has six
Control Knobs. Four of which are pre assigned for
AmpEnv Attack, Release, Filter Cutoff, and
Resonance - and two more which function as Assign
Knobs. If you are already familiar with the
procedure to assign MIDI CC's to your 'Assign
Knobs' you are halfway there... >
I had a go at controlling the FX over MIDI in
normal mode using a Yamaha CX1 but the real time
controllers had very little effect, It may be the
way I set it up. Anyway I would be interested if
any one has used a CSX1 like this and would
appreciate a step by step guide to set up the 'X'
with the Yamaha. Pages
41-46 of the Reference Manual give an overview of
the Insert Control Track. What the manual fails to
mention is that some of the presets are already
setup for real time control. I noticed this as I
was scrolling through the available options but I
didn't take note of which did / did not. Lesson
One: Select
Edit under the EFFECTS Menu. Reply 'Yes' to the
Edit insert effects? prompt. Use
the Parameter Knob to scroll through the options
until you see Mod Src= (depending on which preset
you start from there may/may not be a value already
present.) I used DDL->Chorus for this
example. Turn
to page 45 of the Reference Manual and you will see
a list of default MIDI CC from which you may
select. For this example I used
ModWheel. Use
the Value Knob to scroll through the options until
the display reads Mod Src= ModWheel. Use
the Parameter Knob to scroll through the next few
options until you see Dest= (this will be the
parameter that is altered when you move the Mod
Wheel on your controller.) Use
the Value Knob to scroll through the options - I
chose Dly1Feedback from within the DDL->Chorus
preset. Pick
a sound and a track to work from - set the track to
use the Insert Effect. Make
certain your CS1x is transmitting on the identical
MIDI Channel, i.e., Track 1 on your ASR-X will
receive MIDI Ch. 1 data from your controller and so
forth... As
you play the CS1x use the Mod Wheel to alter the
Delay1 Feedback rate. You should be hearing the
effect alteration. Lesson
Two: Setup
an Assign Knob on you CS1x to transmit MIDI CC 91
'Rev Send'. Turn
to page 120 of the Reference Manual. There is a
table 'MIDI Controllers Reception Behavior'. Notice
that MIDI CC 91 will function as the FX Bus Select.
This will permit you to change the LightReverb,
MediumReverb, WetReverb, Dry setting on the
ASR-X. Assign
a sound to a track on the ASR-X. Make
certain the effects bus is set to anything other
than Insert and set up your CS1x to transmit on the
same channel as the track you selected (Ch 2 /
Track 2 or whatever.) As
you play the CS1x move the Assign Knob which you
setup to transmit MIDI CC 91 - you'll hear the
Reverb setting change as you play. Note:
If the FX Bus= Prog, Dry, or any of the three
reverb setting then the ASR-X will respond
accordingly to MIDI CC #091. If FX Bus= Insert than
MIDI CC# 091 will have no effect. Another
Note: I experimented with the GlobalReverb Amt= in
my Insert Effect and found that MIDI CC #091 will
NOT alter this setting in real time nor does it
appear that it is available as a Mod Source
destination under Edit Insert
Effects...bummer. Unfortunately,
I've yet to find an alternate method of controlling
the Reverb Wet/Dry mix other than this. If someone
knows a better way - I'm all ears. This appears to
be a limitation of the Reverb effects only - not
the Insert Effects. Lesson
Three: Setup
an Assign Knob on you CS1x to transmit MIDI CC 02
'Breath Controller' (any unused MIDI CC value will
do, actually.) Then,
on the ASR-X select System under the Disk/Global
menu - enter YES to the Edit MIDI Setting?
prompt. Use
the Parameter knob to scroll to CTRL1= You'll
notice that it is already set to Breath #002. If,
in Step 1, you assigned any other MIDI CC # to an
Assign Knob on your CS1x then obviously you'll want
to set CTRL1= to the same value. Use the Value Knob
to scroll the MIDI CC #'s on your ASR-X until you
find the identical MIDI CC # your CS1x will
transmit. Go
back to "Lesson One - Step 4' and select CTRL1
rather than ModWheel. Play
your CS1x while turning the Assign Knob you set up
in Step 1 of this lesson to hear the effect
changes. Important
Note: Okay,
now - turn back to page 120 of the Reference Manual
and review that table again. If you transmit MIDI
Control Changes such as 72, 73, 74, 76, & 77 to
the ASR-X you'll be able to change the Amp Env
Release, Amp Env Attack, Filter Cutoff, Amp Env
Decay and Filter Resonance (respectively) in real
time as you play your CS1x. However,
and this is where it gets tricky, Ensoniq did not
implement the MIDI CC spec verbatim to the Yamaha
implementation. Example: Yamaha uses MIDI CC #071
for Resonance where as Ensoniq uses MIDI CC #077.
If you send MIDI CC #071 to the ASR-X you will
likely not hear any effect. Why manufactures cannot
implement a 'standard' the same as one another I do
not know?! Ensoniq isn't at fault alone
here. You'll
notice that in Lesson 1 I skipped over a few of the
Edit Effects parameters like Mod Dest Min &
Max. These are there for you to scale the amount of
change you want to apply to the effects in real
time. Tweak to your own liking...anyone got any
favorite effects setting they care to
share? >
Also I would like to point out that I have all my
sounds and tracks routed to the AUX OUTS. Than the
8 outputs are wired to a 14 channel mixer. Now a
lead is taken from one of the AUX send on the mixer
to one of the inputs on the 'X', those inputs are
routed to the FX chip. I connect the stereo out on
the 'X' to channels 9 and 10 on the mixer. It is
now possible to rout any of the mixers channels
through the 'X' FX. I JUST WANT COMPLETE CONTROL IN
REAL TIME!!!!!!!!!! Who
doesn't?!?! "Obey Me" is my motto! Just kidding
;-) Well,
I'm certain you already know that the AUX OUTS on
the ASR-X cannot have the internal effects applied
but it sounds as though you have the Source= parm
set incorrectly. Did you try Input+Insert? I
haven't even tried this yet :-( so that's all I can
come with. >
Q.How good are the filters on the 'X' compared with
the new ELECTRIX FILTER FACTORY. Haven't
heard an EFH(?) but, IMO, the ASR-X filters are
superb! >
And can you control the 'X' filters over
MIDI? Yes. >
If so how using the Yamaha CSX1? See
Lesson Three above. |
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