Hello all! Here is a noob question that I can't find an answer to. What should I do to send MIDI program changes to my sampling pad? I have set up the MIDI device, ch No., port, MIDI preset in BH, adjusted everything needed in the spd (patches change when connected to a PC or another Roland module) but I can't get it to respond. In BH the values are MSB 0 (or nothing), LSB 0 (or nothing), program change XX (should be the patch number, but none make anything move), since the pad has only one bank and 100 patches.
One caviat is that I'm using a Midronome (very cool and capable device) to send tempo changes and sync from BH to the modules and that works. That device should forward other MIDI messages and notes, but I'm still investigating if there could be some hiccup. How do you manage to connect BH to eg. spd-sx directly? (I saw few older threads that mention this)
Thanks for any help!
First, if you click the MIDI button in the top toolbar and look at the Activity Log, do you see your outgoing messages and are they what you were intending to send?
Second, how are your devices connected to each other now?
Quote from: arlo on August 27, 2024, 10:01:57 AMFirst, if you click the MIDI button in the top toolbar and look at the Activity Log, do you see your outgoing messages and are they what you were intending to send?
Second, how are your devices connected to each other now?
Yes, the log shows the outgoing messages, but I'm not sure if those are the correct ones. I've tried various combinations, but mainly I wrote the bank selectors as 0 or empty.
Devices are connected as follows:
Android device>USB/MIDI input Midronome>MIDI din input SPD-SX
In this setup, I'm sending the tempo change from Band Helper to SPD-SX.
Otherwise, I have tested the functionality and settings of the sampling pad, everything works fine when I have a Roland TD30 make program changes on SPD-SX via MIDI. Currently I'm trying to inspect what goes through the Midronome, since it should forward any MIDI notes or pc/cc commands automatically.
If you click the MIDI button in the top toolbar and look at the Connected Ports, does the Midronome appear there? And did you leave the Port settings in your MIDI Devices set to All in case of any discrepancies in the way the port names appear?
Quote from: arlo on August 28, 2024, 09:53:48 AMIf you click the MIDI button in the top toolbar and look at the Connected Ports, does the Midronome appear there? And did you leave the Port settings in your MIDI Devices set to All in case of any discrepancies in the way the port names appear?
Yes, the Midronome is listed in the connections (it already transmits tempo change messages to various devices including spd-sx, so that is all fine), and port settings are set to All.
It sounds like everything is set up correctly in BandHelper, and in the SPD-SX if that responds to program changes sent from other devices. I would contact the makers of the Midronome to confirm that it will forward program change messages.
Quote from: arlo on August 30, 2024, 09:41:21 AMIt sounds like everything is set up correctly in BandHelper, and in the SPD-SX if that responds to program changes sent from other devices. I would contact the makers of the Midronome to confirm that it will forward program change messages.
I'm suspecting the same thing. After testing even more possible setups with soundcards, modules and both usb and din MIDI, it seems the program changes are not getting through (although they should as stated in the manual). More correspondence with Midronome makers to come. Thank you for the support!
Okay, let us know what you find!
Hello again!
After more testing it now comes down to settings in BH. I have confirmed that Midronome is forwarding all the MIDI notes and messages, the timing clock is being transmitted normally and everything works fine (using Pocket Midi app), but doing the same with BH has no results. I have made the MIDI device, selected the appropriate channel and 'all ports', made a MIDI preset for that device and wrote the program change value. No idea what else to do.
Pocket MIDI is a Mac app, right? And you're running BandHelper on an Android device? Are you connecting the Android to the Midronome the same way you're connecting the Mac?
Also, can you compare the log in Pocket MIDI to the log in BandHelper to make sure you're sending the same data from both apps?
I'm using Windows and I have compared all the data, everything is the same.
Are you connecting the Android to the Midronome the same way you're connecting the PC?
Quote from: arlo on September 04, 2024, 12:38:02 PMAre you connecting the Android to the Midronome the same way you're connecting the PC?
What do you mean? I'm connecting both PC and Android tablet with Midronome via USB cable.
Please do this in BandHelper with the Midronome connected.
1. Open the MIDI Status window.
2. Click MIDI Running to stop MIDI.
3. Click Clear Log.
4. Click MIDI Stopped to start MIDI.
5. Close the MIDI Status window.
6. Send a program change to the Midronome.
7. Open the MIDI Status window.
8. Copy and paste the log contents here.
Then connect the Midronome to your PC, clear the Pocket MIDI log, send a program change from there and copy and paste the Pocket MIDI log here.
I will do that. In the meantime, here is a suggestion from the maker of Midronome, considering MIDI ports:
'I see. But am I correct that the CC messages are working while the PC are not? If so I would really contact BH as they might be able to see something in their code. Mention to them that the issue is probably related to the fact that there are more than 1 pair of MIDI-USB interfaces.
Simon'
Here is an update, just to add to the confusion :?:
The screenshots are from different devices, both Android, one from tablet that works normally with Midronome but doesn't 'see' all the ports (and consequently doesn't manage to get the program change to work), and other from phone that 'sees' more ports but the BandHelper app freezes after starting MIDI.
Here is an update, just to add to the confusion :?:
The screenshots are from different devices, both Android, one from tablet that works normally with Midronome but doesn't 'see' all the ports (and consequently doesn't manage to get the program change to work), and other from phone that 'sees' more ports but the BandHelper app freezes after starting MIDI.
Other two screenshots are from Pocket MIDI app. One with Bandhelper app connected to the Midronome and other with Windows computer sending the program changes successfully.
Here are a few things to check:
1. The "MS 1-4" ports on one of your Android devices are virtual ports from a different app. If that's the device that isn't working for you and you don't need those, you can turn off virtual MIDI in that other app or delete the app.
2. It looks like you're sending bank MSB and LSB messages from the Android tablet but not from Pocket MIDI.
3. You're sending program 25 from the Android tablet (19 in hex) and program 24 from the PC (18 in hex).
4. Do you have Settings > Audio & MIDI > MIDI Thru turned on on your Android tablet? If that's on and you're receiving MIDI beat clock from the Midronome and the "MS" app, that could overwhelm your device and prevent it from handling other MIDI messages
Thanks for pointing out those details. I realized that those inputs are from some other app (probably Behringer Mixing Station), but that made no difference. The device that was having freezing issues indeed had the MIDI thru turned on and turning it off solved the issue.
Other points about program change have no impact. Sending litteraly any MSB LSB from Pocket MIDI to SPD-SX made no difference to program changes (as did sending no MSB LSB) and program number also makes no difference, anything from 1-100 works, but nothing works when sent from Bandhelper.
I feel that this is a MIDI port issue, Bandhelper only 'sees' one port (probably the one that is used only for sending commands to the Midronome) while other two ports should forward messages to other devices, but they don't show up in the list.
QuoteI feel that this is a MIDI port issue, Bandhelper only 'sees' one port (probably the one that is used only for sending commands to the Midronome) while other two ports should forward messages to other devices, but they don't show up in the list.
Are you saying the Midronome is supposed to expose more than one port to BandHelper? Is that what their support person meant by "there are more than 1 pair of MIDI-USB interfaces"?
What Android version do you have? You can see that in the Help > About page of BandHelper.
Quote from: arlo on September 10, 2024, 08:53:27 PMAre you saying the Midronome is supposed to expose more than one port to BandHelper? Is that what their support person meant by "there are more than 1 pair of MIDI-USB interfaces"?
Yes, exactly. There should be three ports exposed when Midronome is connected via USB. First one is for sending commands to Midronome, other two are for forwarding to devices connected to two MIDI din outputs.
Edit: Android versions are 13 on both devices
Okay, Android 13 has a bug where it only connects to one port of a MIDI device. Google says it was fixed and the fix will be available "in a future build" but they usually don't follow up to say when the fix is released or what version you need to install to get it:
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/257712619
I recommend updating to a later Android 13 version if available or to Android 14 if possible. Or you could ask Midronome if they have an option to forward messages received on the one port that Android recognizes. Usually this is implemented as a "MIDI Thru" function. One more option would be to connect a simple one-port USB MIDI interface to your tablet, then connect a MIDI splitter to the USB MIDI interface, then connect your Midronome and your keyboard to the splitter.
I'm glad to inform that the issue is solved. It was down to Android after all, I have updated to ver 14 and the MIDI ports finally all got recognized! Thank you for the support!
Great ... I'm glad your device allowed upgrading the Android version.