What are Bit Changers in MIDI Designer?

Question

I saw Bit Changers on the Change Log for 1.6.6. What are they? What are they used for? How can I use them?

bit-changers Bit Changers

Answer 1

Why: Bit changers were created based on our users' need to work with older synths, particularly the Yamaha DX-7. Older synths use the different bits of a value to send packed data.

What: Bit changers alter individual bits of a subcontrols value. As an example, the subcontrol might have a value of 71. In binary, 71 is 1000111. If a bit changer were affecting the 4th bit (from the right, currently 0) the value would be 79. 79 is 1001111 in binary.

• What's 71 in binary? [ Google Link ]
• What's 1000111 in decimal? [ Google Link, note we prefix with 0b for Google ]

How

1. Make a button
2. Change the Subtype to Bit Changer
3. Add a subcontrol
4. On the MIDI page for the button, change the "Change Bits" field to be the 4th bit. This would be the 4th bit from the right.
5. Out of design mode, when you switch the button on, a value of 71 in the subcontrol would change to 79. Shutting the button off, a value of 79 would change to 71. 

Note: coming in 1.6.6

Comments

You don't know how happy I am with that functionality. :)

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@ezb the only thing better than happy users is happy users like you who make and share layouts. I'd say that all of the early layout sharers -- including Chris, Rainer, François, Andrè -- had features that they needed to get their layouts done. It's been mutually beneficial and we're quite ecstatic about the results.

Very glad that bit changers work for you. We're curious to see if they're useful beyond "vintage gear," too.

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Well, the DX7 layout will be released after the next official MD release. The same counts for the CS6X/R layout. That one used a few bit changers and it got its usage optimized.

I am sure that sooner or later there will be a synth released that will need bit changers.

Answer 2

Why: Bit changers were created based on our users' need to work with older synths, particularly the Yamaha DX-7. Older synths use the different bits of a value to send packed data.

What: Bit changers alter individual bits of a subcontrols value. As an example, the subcontrol might have a value of 71. In binary, 71 is 1000111. If a bit changer were affecting the 4th bit (from the right, currently 0) the value would be 79. 79 is 1001111 in binary.

• What's 71 in binary? [ Google Link ]
• What's 1000111 in decimal? [ Google Link, note we prefix with 0b for Google ]

How

1. Make a button
2. Change the Subtype to Bit Changer
3. Add a subcontrol
4. On the MIDI page for the button, change the "Change Bits" field to be the 4th bit. This would be the 4th bit from the right.
5. Out of design mode, when you switch the button on, a value of 71 in the subcontrol would change to 79. Shutting the button off, a value of 79 would change to 71. 

Note: coming in 1.6.6