Helix > Bandhelper integration help - somewhat midi-ot here

[themetallikid]

Ok, so Its been years since I used Midi, and there are lots of things in BH and on the Helix to mess with and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

I have all my songs in BH and just need a few things based on which project I'm playing with (both are under the same name in BH)

1) Acoustic project - I use a single preset with 4 snapshots to control guitar, leaving upper row for 4 stomps.  Was thinking a Previous/Next song and Page Up/Down buttons would be most beneficial for this project.

2) Full Band - I setup a preset per song and utilize 4 snapshots....usually.  I'm usually in preset/snap mode.  In this scenario, can I attach a preset to the BH song so as I advance through songs or call up a song it will pull up the right lyric sheet?  The drawback to this is being in 4/4 preset/snap mode I have no control of BH's display.....so that leads to #3

3) Full Band - I could change my Bank Up/Down buttons to be Preset Up/Down buttons then allowing me to run in stomp/snap mode and have a page up/down button available as the Helix preset would trigger the BH presets lyric page.  The only possible drawback I see is that sometimes we audible for a dancing crowd and I may need to jump 20 presets quickly, is there any issue with quickly jumping presets. 

[arlo]

can I attach a preset to the BH song so as I advance through songs or call up a song it will pull up the right lyric sheet?

You can but typically don't need to use MIDI messages to select lyrics. If a song just has one set of lyrics for all situations, that will appear automatically. If you need different versions of the lyrics for different situations, there are easier ways to do that.

I may need to jump 20 presets quickly, is there any issue with quickly jumping presets.

If you want to skip through 20 songs using the next/previous song actions, that should be fine. You can optionally set up your layout so that your MIDI presets and other layout actions aren't triggered unless you select a song a second time. So you'd step through the songs to the one you want, then click another button to reselect it and trigger all its actions. Or you could just use the screen to scroll and select when you need to skip around.

[iguana]

I’ve used BH with a Helix for a couple of years. They work together very well.

You are on the right track with the way you want to set up your Acoustic sets. That should be very easy to set up - use the Helix Control Center to assign MIDI commands for Page Up / Page Down / Next Song / Previous Song to the four stomps, and then set BH to recognize those MIDI commands to take the requested action.

For your full band setup, if I understand, you have a preset for each and every song. And you normally run through them in order, although that’s not particularly important. So what you want is to have the Helix send PC (Program Change) messages on preset load to BH. You also want to associate a program change number to each song in your BH database. And you want to configure BH to respond to those PC messages coming from Helix. Effectively, you can change your presets on the Helix, and BH will load the song associated with that preset.

You don’t have to go through the Helix presets in an defined order, so jumping over 20 isn’t an issue. When you pull up Helix preset #35, that will load the BH song you’ve tagged as #35.

Here’s the drawback, though. Even if you are in stomp/snap mode, you need to go through every preset and program the appropriate stomps to send the Page Up / Page Down commands.

BTW, when you are in preset/snap mode, you can step on the MODE switch to get to stomp mode. Or if you are in stomp/snap mode, you can step on Bank up/down to get to preset mode. My advice would be to use stomp/snap mode, giving you the (programmed!) BH Page Up / Page Down, and then Use the Bank buttons to navigate through Helix presets.

Another option - and the way I use BH - is to have a separate MIDI foot switch (Morningstar FC6, specifically, though there are a lot of other options). That’s programmed with the commands to control BH (Next Song / Previous Song / etc...) and I don’t need to use up buttons on my Helix presets. I run in stomp/snap mode, and while I base everything on using snaps, I regularly make use of the ability to tap-dance on the stomps.

[themetallikid]

Some very good information/points for sure....let me clarify....

Acoustic - I think we are good there, I just need to figure out the programming of it, and that should work.  This was the easier of the scenarios. 

Full Band....couple quotes and responses...

1 - "For your full band setup, if I understand, you have a preset for each and every song. And you normally run through them in order, although that’s not particularly important. So what you want is to have the Helix send PC (Program Change) messages on preset load to BH. You also want to associate a program change number to each song in your BH database. And you want to configure BH to respond to those PC messages coming from Helix. Effectively, you can change your presets on the Helix, and BH will load the song associated with that preset."

Yes, essentially....Being that I create the setlists and we run them in order (amazingly well for 45ish songs a night)...other than some audibles if we get a different crowd or bachelorette party bus shows up....so song to song to song would be great.  Only if we audible I'd need to skip from preset 17 to preset 52 potentially.  This is where the bank buttons help as it shifts in groups of 4 as I normally run preset/snap mode.  None of my songs require more than 4 snaps, so the top 4 help me jump around and see the setlist ahead of time a bit.

2. "BTW, when you are in preset/snap mode, you can step on the MODE switch to get to stomp mode. Or if you are in stomp/snap mode, you can step on Bank up/down to get to preset mode. My advice would be to use stomp/snap mode, giving you the (programmed!) BH Page Up / Page Down, and then Use the Bank buttons to navigate through Helix presets.

Yeah, I use Stomp mode for 2 songs just so I have access to a 'momentary' switch for my lead boosts for a couple of lead lines during Crazy Train and Slither (too complicated to step on play lead, step on another button to go back to rhythm, while singing, lol).  Other than that everything I need is done over the 4 snaps, which most songs only use 2 or 3 at most.

Realistically...I only need lyrics for a handful of songs, more as a crutch rather than a 'need'.  however, if I'm gonna do that for one, might as well do it for all.  It sounds like maybe I'll need to get an extra side pedal/button to control BH's lyric page up/down or maybe even song up/down.  Hmm...