Blackbox 3.0 MIDI

[Christine]

We have been reading all of the great feedback you have provided about the latest beta as we move towards blackbox 3.0. We truly appreciate the time you have taken to try out the beta and to provide detailed feedback and bug reports. We will be working on bug fixes and some refinements next week.

With this beta, we have changed the way you will need to work with blackbox and MIDI. We spent a LOT of time thinking this through. The things we changed are intended to make it easier for users to get MIDI working without running into unexpected triggers, unwanted MIDI pass through or MIDI Loops. We are taking in your feedback and evaluating how well the changes meet their intended goals.

The feedback on the MIDI Changes have focused primarily on two areas: MIDI Keys and MIDI Out.

MIDI Keys
MIDI Keys was a useful tool, but it came with a number of challenges. There are two alternatives you may use instead:

1. MIDI In Per Pad. Configure different MIDI In channels for each pad, and then change the MIDI channel on your controller to change which pad you are controlling. This has the advantage of being able to switch without taking your hands off of the MIDI Controller.
2. MIDI Seq. On the tools page, select a channel for the MIDI Seq parameter. Set up a Keys sequence for each pad you want to control, and a MIDI sequence for each external device you want to control. Now you can change which pad you are controlling by changing the selected sequence. We plan to also make an update that will allow this to also work with PADS sequences.

MIDI Out and MIDI Thru
Some of you have found some very creative ways to make use of the MIDI Out features to control many external devices. Some are even using the blackbox as a MIDI Router. You can purchase much less expensive options as dedicated MIDI Routers, and that may be a better solution for some of you. At the same time, we want to enable you to move to the new firmware, so we are planning a feature change: a MIDI Thru Option.

Several people have asked specifically for MIDI Thru. Others are missing the MIDI Out per pad or the MIDI In Per Sequence. We think all of these can be addressed by providing a MIDI Thru option. Here's the plan:

On the Tools Page, add a new option labeled "MIDI Thru" with the following available values:

None - the only MIDI sent out through the blackbox TRS MIDI Out will be the MIDI from the sequences plus the clock.

USB - the only MIDI sent out through the blackbox TRS MIDI Out will be the MIDI that came in from the USB Device port.

TRS- the only MIDI sent out through the blackbox TRS MIDI Out will be the MIDI that came in from the TRS MIDI In jack.

Let us know what you think.

[-thus-]

[/LIST]MIDI Out and MIDI Thru
Some of you have found some very creative ways to make use of the MIDI Out features to control many external devices. Some are even using the blackbox as a MIDI Router. You can purchase much less expensive options as dedicated MIDI Routers, and that may be a better solution for some of you. At the same time, we want to enable you to move to the new firmware, so we are planning a feature change: a MIDI Thru Option.

Several people have asked specifically for MIDI Thru. Others are missing the MIDI Out per pad or the MIDI In Per Sequence. We think all of these can be addressed by providing a MIDI Through option. Here's the plan:

On the Tools Page, add a new option labeled "MIDI Thru" with the following available values:

None - the only MIDI sent out through the blackbox TRS MIDI Out will be the MIDI from the sequences plus the clock.

USB - the only MIDI sent out through the blackbox TRS MIDI Out will be the MIDI that came in from the USB Device port.

TRS- the only MIDI sent out through the blackbox TRS MIDI Out will be the MIDI that came in from the TRS MIDI In jack.

Let us know what you think.

Your MIDI Thru proposal is solid. It reflects how other MIDI sequencers and synths work, allowing you to change the behavior of the MIDI Out port via configuration. I agree that, before 3.0, the Blackbox may have been able to serve as a MIDI router, but that can't be allowed (IMO) to hamstring you from making the Blackbox handle MIDI better overall as the musical instrument that it is.

[softroom]

One little thing I wish you'd change - swap the order of the waveform and filter/envelope screens so that the first press of Info takes you to the latter. I never use that first screen for anything except on the rare occasion I cock up a performance and want to slice it in half or something. This small change would halve the number of button presses on my machines and therefore increase their longevity. If not universally desired, then as an option? Pretty please.

[softroom]

I only do looping or long Custom recordings but I have no need to see the waveform. That screen would only be of use to me if I could trim in bars rather than samples but even then it would be a rare visit as I usually just do again if I make a mistake. I record stuff, I go and immediately set the envelope I want, remove the resonance, that's my process every time I record anything. Will go find the wishlist place, or when more sober I will, then I'll add it. (Would not need to press info at all if pad were empty so no button presses until I recorded something.)

[Christine]

I gave this a little more thought.
If we swap the order, then we have to rethink how you get to the Modulation Parameters, because right now, you press INFO from the parameter page to get to the modulation parameters. So it's trickier than it looks. This isn't going to make into this build, but it's in the backlog for future consideration.

[softroom]

That's another page I rarely use - but I do use it fractionally more often than the waveform screen. So, for me, if I needed a third press to reach the waveform screen that would still be a big improvement in my workflow, with Back taking me back from each page until I get to the main screen. It would be good if you could name your recording without going to the waveform screen though, as for some reason you can't do that from the regular parameter screen, or couldn't last time I looked - the field seems to be view-only.

You know, when I think about it, it's amazing how much of the BB I don't use yet how vital it is to my work. I never touch the sequences, song mode or little keyboard, make very little use of the FX (reverb only), leave the compressor always off and the only recording types I use are clips or samples. I very occasionally use slices but only if I recorded a long clip and make a mistake somewhere - I slice in two. So I guess I am a not very normal user. The BB is my tight, friendly non-linear recorder and there's still nothing else remotely like it. Thanks for listening and considering. One day we should design the perfect mk2 together

[cismilk]

Awesome — the lack of MIDI thru has been a real pain so far. I'm running sequences from my syntakt to trigger clips on the BB, but also need to pass midi through to my modular, which the BB then records. Having a proper onboard midi thru option is a godsend

[Christine]

Would it be okay for you if you had to choose between MIDI Through and MIDI out for sequences?

[bobthomas]

I think it is very important to install a pickup-mode for the external controlled parameters.

[Christine]

I think it is very important to install a pickup-mode for the external controlled parameters.

I'm not sure what you are asking for. I can think of a couple of different ways to interpret your request. Could you please clarify?

[WarriorLite]

Another vote for giving us back the Global midi function - or however it is called. This was implemented properly in the last stable version ^^

Also, buttons to toggle menus - you don't need info in most cases.

User to choose if mix shows volumes first. Muting is so much more important for quick access, and especially if touch screen makes multiple mutes a breeze.

[Jack Pimiento]

'I think it is very important to install a pickup-mode for the external controlled parameters.'

I'm not sure what you are asking for. I can think of a couple of different ways to interpret your request. Could you please clarify?

I think the poster means that when turning knobs on external gear that is controlling parameters on the BB, the BB values don't automatically jump to where the knob value is on the external gear. The user should be able to turn the external knob and the BB only 'picks up' the change in value when the current BB value has been reached.

I hope that makes sense and I haven't confused matters.