How can I get an XY Pad to function as a joystick

Question

I have tried to make the "joystick" contol as described in "4 Way Crossfader with Max in Center" to control the volume of each of four zones on a Casio PX-5S. This is somewhat similar to what I thought was requested in the original question.

No matter how I try, I can't get it to work that way. What I get is: all four zones at full volume in the centre of the grid; two zones at maximum (127)and the opposite two at minimum (0) at each corner of the grid; and one zone at '0' and the other three at '127' at the centre of each side of the grid. Nowhere can I get one zone to be at maximum and the other three at minimum.

I also tried with the "XY Pad to Control 4 Mics" without any success.

Logically, I can't see how this could work as requested, but I am hoping I am wrong and there might be a solution.

Comments

So you're having trouble getting this:

http://mididesigner.com/qa/2035/4-way-crossfader-with-max-in-center?show=2036#a2036

to work? Or you need something different?

Thanks!

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Also: what are the zones? How many parameters are you trying to control?

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The four zones on the Casio PX-5S are like layers on other keyboards (although 2 of those can also contain Hex Layers which themselves can be made up of 6 tone layers). Each of the zones can be assigned a tone with a number of addressable parameters. I am trying to control the volume of each zone in a joystick manner. At the centre of the pad, all zones would be at full volume; the midpoint of each side (the extremity of the axis) would have one zone at full volume and the other three silent; and, at each corner, the two adjacent zones would be at full volume and the other two silent. So, if you were to slide your finger around the edge of the XY Pad the order would be 1, 1+2, 2, 2+3, 3, 3+4, 4, 4+1 with crossfading along the way. Sliding towards the centre would bring all levels to full volume.
Sorry if that is not clear, but it's the only way I can think of to expand what I thought was requested in the original request for help with the "4-Way Crossfader with Max in Center"

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That's what the recipe you linked to is supposed to do. What results did you get? Thx!

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Thanks for helping me with this. If you refer to the example image in your recipe for the "XY Pad to Control 4 Mics", this is exactly the way I have the controls laid out, but instead of mics, I'm controlling the volume of each zone on the PX-5S. But let's call them mics  to make it clearer.

That pad works exactly as I want as I move around the perimeter of the pad, but instead of the centre being at zero volume, it needs to be at full volume for all mics. So for example, sliding from the centre of the X axis to the left edge would keep mic 1 at full volume while reducing the other three to zero, instead of as in the "XY Pad to Control 4 Mics" version, fading mic 1 up from zero to full and leaving the other three at zero.

What I'm getting using the above example is mics 1, 3 & 4 stay at full volume, while mic 2 drops to zero. Sliding from the centre diagonally to the corners of the grid works as expected, retaining the two adjacent mics at full volume and fading the other two.

I hope that has made it clearer. I've tried everything I can think of like different inversions etc. and I'm wondering whether I might need another level of sub controls...I'm stumped.

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Yep, I see the problem now. Trying some things myself, and then it would be time to move this to suggestions. But we're currently not there yet

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Perhaps I'm not thinking clearly today, but this seems to be currently impossible. Each dimension of the XY pad retains its meaning regardless of where you are in the other dimension. So if the center of the X dimension means "max of both volumes" then it would continue to mean that no matter where you are in the Y dimension.

Or to put it another way, the two dimensions are totally independent. So the problem is this statement, "sliding from the centre of the X axis to the left edge" can ONLY affect the X-dimension parameters.

So I *think* we're talking about a new control, but perhaps I'm missing some possibility with the current XYs and crossfader overlap.

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Thanks for you efforts. As I said in the beginning, logically, I didn't think that it would be possible, but it would have been nice. If a joystick control makes it into a future release, it would be great, but I'm sure there are many more important things you are working on. Keep up the brilliant work! :-)

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It's actually pretty fascinating. I'm trying to figure out if it's really just an XY that's been rotated by 45 degrees. But that doesn't seem right, because there are 3 spots where every volume is dead... I'll think on it and get back before we close this, if you don't mind.

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That's fine...good luck!

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I was just trying to create the same kind of vector synth joystick using an XY pad and wound up here after realizing that the "4mic" plan works in the center position but not the corners for this. Anyone made progress on this?