Sending Tempo via MIDI CC

[AlanC]

I'm running BandHelper on an iPad which is connected to my Boss RC-500 Looper pedal via a CME WIDI Jack Bluetooth MIDI adapter.

I've set up my songs in BandHelper with tempo values and configured BandHelper to send MIDI Tempo, but I'm finding that the tempo that gets set on the RC-500 is not very precise.  I'm not sure if this is due to the wireless connection or some other issue, but it makes it unusable for me.

It is possible to configure the RC-500 to accept tempo changes via MIDI CC, so I'm going to set up BandHelper with some MIDI presets to set the tempo that way.

I was wondering if there was any way to utilize the Tempo value that is assigned to the BandHelper song in the CC message rather than having to create a separate MIDI preset for each tempo I want to use?

If not, this might be a feature to consider adding in a future version.

Thanks!

Alan

[AlanC]

I'm wondering if I could use the "Send Tempo to BeatBuddy" feature to accomplish this?

Are there any details about what this is sending somewhere?

[Insider0203]

Hi Alan,

I also use the CME WIDI jack and I have found that the tempo can drift slightly.

However, a good work around is to not have Setlist maker continually send out MIDI clock. In the tempo settings, there's a setting called "auto-stop bars". This means that the app will stop sending tempo after X number of bars. I have mine set to 2, so it only sends out 2 bars worth of clicks and stops. I don't have an RC-500 but I imagine that it would just keep the tempo at whatever it received last. It won't continually drift that way.

[arlo]

The only standard way to send a tempo with MIDI is to use the MIDI Beat Clock, which is a continuous stream of messages, so I'm not surprised it is less stable over a Bluetooth connection compared to wi-fi or USB. Insider0203's suggestion to auto-stop the Beat Clock is a good one, if your device keeps playing the tempo after the Beat Clock stops.

I added a special option to support the BeatBuddy's own way of receiving tempo settings because a lot of people were asking about BeatBuddy support. You can see how it works from the "Tempo Control" section of the BeatBuddy user manual:

https://singularsound-publicly-downloadable.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/manuals/BeatBuddy+Manual+(Firmware+4.0.1).pdf

I don't know if the RC-500 has an alternate way of receiving a tempo setting.

[AlanC]

I did try the "auto-stop bars" function before, but the tempo is still very imprecise.

Looking at the BeatBuddy implementation, I discovered that the CC# is too high for the RC-500 as it only supports a maximum value of 95.

I was able to get it working as follows:

The RC-500 supports a "tempo range" mapping for CC control.  You can assign any CC number (up to 95) to control tempo.  I used CC#3.  I mapped the minimum tempo to 40 and the maximum tempo to 167, which makes it a little easier to calculate the CC value by subtracting 40 from the desired tempo.  This provides for a tempo range from 40-167 which corresponds to CC values 0-127.

Here are the steps to configure the RC-500 in case someone else is interested:

• Select the Memory button.
• Scroll to "ASSIGN1" and press the value knob (or enter).
• Press the value knob and then change the value from "OFF" to "ON", then press value again to exit.
• Scroll to "SOURCE" and then press the value knob.  Rotate the value knob to set a CC number.  I used 3.  Press value again to exit.
• Scroll to "TARGET" and press the value knob.  Change the target value to "TEMPO".  Press value again to exit.
• Scroll to "TARGET MIN" and press the value knob.  Change the value to minimum tempo value.  I used 40.  Press value again to exit.
• Scroll to "TARGET MAX" and press the value knob.  Change the value to maximum tempo value.  I used 167.  Press value again to exit.
• Save the preset.

BandHelper configuration:

• Create a new MIDI Preset.
• In the MIDI Control Changes section, set the CC controller number to the value you used in step 4 above.
• Set the CC value to (desired tempo - 40) assuming you used the 40-167 range above.

[arlo]

Cool, thanks for posting these instructions!