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ModStep CC template for Mersenne v2 with application notes
NOTE: the template and mapping for Mersenne v2 is in the comment a few posts down.
I'm keeping this original post up as it has some general info and, because v2 removes and/or changes some MIDI functionality regarding controlling the arpeggiator, so some might want to keep using v1.x
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Another CC template for ModStep. This time iceGear’s Mersenne.
Just about every parameter has a mapping except the Mono switch which doesn’t seem to be mappable (and it doesn’t respond to the traditional CC126 Channel Mode Message either)
Some of the parameters are not well suited for modulation in ModStep, but I made the assignments regardless. These are parameters with multi-state buttons or knobs with discrete values (e.g. the Pitch semitone adjust, Noise Filter Type, Arp Style, Arp Step Length, Loop Length, etc)
I made a few of the assignments with typical controls in mind:
CC5: Glide time
CC7: Instrument volume
CC11: Patch Level
CC69: Hold
The rest are just assigned in order. I decided to keep things in groups rather than splitting them out further to possibly align with General MIDI conventions (i.e. I didn’t put Reverb Dry/Wet controls on CC91 or Chorus Dry/Wet on CC93, but rather kept them grouped with the rest of the Reverb and Chorus controls).
Some of the effects parameters are slightly out of order as I was trying to keep assignments similar to the Laplace template for use with hardware controllers. See the PDF for a listing of both mappings.
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The issue with mapping the multi-state buttons or mapping a knob with limited, stepped range is that controls with discreet values in Mersenne respond to discreet CC values and ModStep isn’t great about programming discreet values.
To really work with stepped controls, you need to limit the range that ModStep is sending the CC values. ModStep can limit controllers to a range, but that setting isn’t saved with the template - it needs to be done each time the parameter is loaded into an X/Y slot: after assigning the control to an X/Y slot, set the Range bar to the appropriate settings. All such controls in this template have their range listed after their names (e.g. 0-2; 0-7; 0-14; 62-66, 52-76 etc.)
As an example: the Octave control is mapped to CC76, but it only responds to values from 62 to 66 (a value of 62 corresponds to -2 octave; 63 to -1; 64 to 0; 65 to +1; 66 to +2). So, to work with this, you load the “76 Octave” control to an X/Y slot and then adjust the range to 62 to 66.
However, the other ModStep quirk to recognize is that the range set here only works for the X/Y controllers on the Step Sequencer page. If you go the Piano Roll and paint in a curve, you are always working in the full 0 - 127 range.
Simple Boolean toggle switches (Tone off/on; -1 Octave shift; etc.) work in the typical 0-63 = OFF; 64-127 = ON paradigm, with the Mono switch exception noted above.
One other note for ModStep: the pre-assigned Mod Wheel controller sends MSB and LSB values (i.e. both CC1 and 33), so don’t try to assign CC33 to something if you’re going to use the Mod Wheel. Of course, you can create a CC1 controller which is only CC1. This is probably better than using the dedicated Mod Wheel, unless you have a synth that responds to 16,384 values.
Comments
er. i don't see an actual template to download....
Maybe, in the 4'th version of this post, the template might show up ?
My goodness. What's with all the duplicates ? I'm guessing this was accidentally posted as it was still being edited ?
Sorry for the duplicate posts. It got stuck awaiting moderation for a day and a half.
I would check back and not see it posted and also see that the draft would no longer have the attachments, so I would re-add.
Apparently that put a ton of posts in the queue (and none with the attachments).
Talk about annoying....
Thx, @aplourde, seems like a lot of labor for love, you must really like these synths
The pdf is interesting, the range and value things in modstep not so much, as for the incomplete template saving, maybe baking them in into a complete recallable ab3 preset would alleviate that.
@aplourde don't worry too much about it
for now try to wait atleast 30 seconds or even a minute between edits or new posts. You basically got caught in the anti-spam filters.
@sebastianD could you please help him with the duplicate threads ? And maybe make him an allowed user so that he doesn't get stuck in the moderation queue ?
Version 2 of Mersenne adds some features that result in a few more controllers and implements Share extensions so both the Mersenne and ModStep files needed to be updated.
New features:
-Noise oscillator now has Grain and Attack parameters
New, unlisted features:
-pitchbend range is now on the main screen (in the slide out drawer that now holds the Octave and Glide controls) and you can set independent values for pitch up and pitch down
-knobs have a center detent
-Level control was removed. In v1 Level was a per-preset volume setting and Volume was in instrument setting not saved in a patch. With v2 Volume is saved into the patch, so Level became redundant.
-multiple MIDI mappings can be created
-both MIDI mappings and Arpeggiator can now be saved with the preset and exported easily with the new Share extensions (but you can also override their loading if you want)
From these new features we now have a few new controls:
-Noise Grain
-Noise Attack
-Pitchbend Range -
-Pitchbend Range +
Also Mono mode can now be MIDI mapped.
Unfortunately, apart from Arp on/off, all other arp controls can no longer be mapped to MIDI CCs.
As such, these new controls are mapped in the location where the old Arp settings were:78 - 82
Also, while most switches used to work with a 0-63 = OFF; 64-127 = ON paradigm, they all now work with 0 off, >=1 on. This makes control within ModStep (especially the Piano Roll) difficult, as hitting a 0 value is very finicky.
Switches, multi state buttons and knobs with limited, stepped ranges are not great to work with in ModStep as these controls in Mersenne respond to discreet CC values and ModStep isn’t great about programming discreet values.
As a correction to what I have stated in previous posts, it is possible to save a controller with a reduced range in ModStep’s template editor, but only when it’s assigned to an X/Y slot. After assigning the control to an X/Y slot, set the Range bar to the appropriate settings: all such controls in this template have their range listed after their names e.g. (0-2; 0-14; 62-66, etc.)
I don’t include these saved ranges as I prefer to not pre-load the X/Y slots and instead just add the controls I want to use for a particular track, but if you do preload, you can save these reduced ranges.
As an example: the Octave control is mapped to CC76, but it only responds to values from 62 to 66 (a value of 62 corresponds to -2 octave; 63 to -1; 64 to 0; 65 to +1; 66 to +2). So, to work with this, you load the “76 Octave” control to an X/Y slot and then adjust the range to 62 to 66.
However, the other ModStep quirk to recognize is that the range set here only works for the X/Y controllers on the Step Sequencer page. If you go the Piano Roll and paint in a curve, you are always working in the full 0 - 127 range.
One other note for ModStep: the pre-assigned Mod Wheel controller sends MSB and LSB values (i.e. both CC1 and 33), so don’t try to assign CC33 to something if you’re going to use the Mod Wheel. Of course, you can create a CC1 controller which is only CC1. This is probably better than using the dedicated Mod Wheel, unless you have a synth that responds to 16,384 values.
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To install:
1) In iFunBox open the ModStep folder “/Templates/CCs/“. Install "Mersenne-v2.mtt" in that folder.
2) Since Mersenne now uses the iOS Share extensions there are a variety of ways to install the MIDI mapping in Mersenne (“ModStep MIDI Mapping.Mersenne_midi_pack”). You can use Airdrop, iCloud Drive, email to yourself, etc. and then “Open in…” Mersenne.
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To load this file in ModStep:
1) go to the Template Editor,
2) tap on the CCs folder,
3) drag the “Mersenne_v2” template to the bottom half of the screen; the area will highlight.
4) drag the parameter you want to modulate to any of the X/Y slots.
5) go to the Piano Roll or Step Sequencer and modulate away!
In Mersenne, MIDI mappings are now stored per-preset instead of globally.
Go into the Settings/MIDI Mapping and load “ModStep MIDI Mapping.” You can turn off the “Load MIDI mapping along with the sound preset” setting to essentially make this the global mapping.
NOTE: this mapping can be loaded inside of the AU version of the app. You do not have to remap the controllers, just load this mapping.
One big thing to note with the Arpeggiator: with v2 of Laplace, Lorentz and Mersenne, the Arpeggiator is now unified across all three apps. The files are also now stored in a common IceGear space, so, for example, if you create an Arp configuration in Laplace, it will automatically show up in Lorentz and Mersenne. Note that if you delete an Arp config in one app, it will disappear in all three.