Hi, forum-crew,
I'd like to share with you these Mididesigner templates I built to more easily integrate remote control in my ipad setup.
The hardware controller I'm using is the Behringer BCR2000. I'm on an ipad air2 with ios11.4.1. The BCR is usb-connected to an audio/midi interface.
Basically you could use any controller with the layout, and you could even use it without a hardware controller.
The apps in the scenario I'm trying to achieve (developing a pleasing environment) are Kymatica Aum Mixer, Auria Pro, AudioBus 3, Quantum MidiSequencer, MidiFire and some auv3 synths&fx.
I really like Auria, and it's the main daw here, where I record and play midi and also collect and effect audio. The advantage of Aum as main mixer is the midi-controllability of its tracks. I send midi sequences from Quantum and a midi keyboard, and the audio of the played instruments travels from Auria to Aum and back through via audiobus IAA ports, for overall convenience (State saving, side-bar, global link start/stop ...)
Utilizing the BCR for mixing and manipulating fx parameters plus at the same time changing the sequencer notes/faders for composing, providing for tactile feedback. The layouts are seperate though, if you're only interested in either the mixing or sequencing part. Load and append the other to run both.
I have been experimenting for quite a while now and the current setup evolved with its complexity but a good compromise of stability and performance. However there will be needed some planning and establishing a kind of routine to get&keep it running.
The BCR2000's buttons/knobs can be edited by the user to be set up on a page with cc's going to the different apps on several midi channels. The Mididdesigner playing surface reflects the surface of the BCR as well as of the mixer and sequencer. (It could be said that Aum 'reflects' the mixer in Auria too, the idea was to send over sub channels to emulate the app's behaviour and distribute the tasks.)
MidiDesigner is the visual representation of the BCR's controls, but with the peculiar way to map and thereby 'translate' the midi-info, it was advisable to make several pages (=presets on the BCR, to be selected by '<' and '>') for every application.
The top surface in MidiDesigner with its controls going to the apps, behind the surface there are the PedalBoard' supercontrols, which I tried to get as many of them in there, which need not be an obstacle for you, because you simply midi-learn all of them on your BCR.
The principle is fairly easy: you take a 'preset' (say nr.13) on the BCR and either midi-learn all of the knobs to its pedalboard pendants, or edit from scratch and then midi-learn them, because the subcontrols on the playing surface of Mididesigner have their controls mapped to the apps' midi ctrls (by their internal midi-learn) already (you could change those too, of course). The pedalboard controls are coming in different colors, don't be confused by the fact there are three of those distributed both on the left and right.
As you might have concluded this means three 'pages' on the top surface, first page Aum mixer channels 1-8, second page au(fx) parameters, third page Aum mixer ch. 9-16; and vice-versa three 'pages'='presets' on the BCR, say preset nrs.13, 14, 15. For Quantum, there are two more pages, let's take nrs. 16, 17. ok, so there are five pages on the BCR corresponding to the five pages in MidiDesigner.
And the same with the midi channels, the red controllers (on the pedalboard) represent cc's on all midichannels from 1-8, the yellow ones all have cc's on ch.10, the blue ones all on ch.11. which should be considered when setting up the BCR. Most knobs I numbered upwards from left to right etc. but it can be arbitrary. (Some knobs or buttons need to be edited on the BCR with 'toggle off' so they wouldn't interfere with the midi-learn options in Aum, which provide a 'toggle off' too, or can be set to 'momentary' in Mididesigner options.)
Another thing, all this needs to be 'calibrated' the first time, as everything's in pick-up mode, see below. You need to reassure that upon loading the template your controllers get 'picked up' by moving them, although that is happening automatically anyway, just mentioning it as it's generally a good idea to always look for visual 'feedback' in these circumstances.
[Note: sometimes only unplugging/replugging the usb cable on the back of the BCR would reveal the blinking light signalling midi activity finally after finishing all the set-up.]
One more thing: why add MidiFire to this equation? To establish the loopback from Quantum to the BCR via a virtual midi-port, filtered by a small algorithm to make sure for the note-off's to be received by the lights (or something like this ...) Anyway, it's moving! Yes, everything you do in-app, like moving faders, changing sequence or velocity etc. wil be automagically reflected on the BCR unit.
So, the set-up. Start Mididesigner and load the layout/template. Then load the other and append it to run both (although you need to do that on every new session, with clearing out the layouts, starting new, loading again).
Don't worry about midi connections yet. (In case you do, input is BCR2000, output is Aum.)
Start MidiFire, make a virtual output port (from midi sources), send it through streambyter module (install the rule 8X XX = 9X XX 00) to the BCR2000 (from midi destinations).
Checking back by bringing up to the foreground these two (MDP and MF) occasionally is recommended during a session (in case some initialisation went wrong, and doublecheck by wiggling a knob sometimes).
Start Auria (just in case, the inputs on the audio tracks - Aum channels are Audiobus Port 1 and 2 resp.)
Start AudioBus 3. Quantum and Aum will be loaded, connections will be established, all should be ready. In Auria untick all core-midi entries.
Tap 'midi-in' and 'Send midi for: Out' to be active in Quantum, go to Aum, in midi-ctrl settings connect the midi node 'IAA-port 1' to 'Auria Pro' and 'Audiodamage Quanta', record-arm all tracks in Auria, double-tap the gobal ab play button in the side-bar and that should be it.
About the Aum layout: A click on the upper row's knobs on the BCR makes for an additional row of buttons, and those are mapped to recording the channels in Aum.
In the Quantum layout the upper row's knobs clicked are changing the six sequences and mute/solo them.
The prototype version evolved in the audiobus forum: https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/27708/mididesigner-bcr2000-template-for-aum-au-fx-quantum-quanta-in-ab3#latest
And as for a last word on Auria, although only indirectly, with Aum hosting its channels, I can independently bring in the dry Subs, and the Auria master in Aum, the mix going through buses to be recorded in Aum.
Audiobus preset 'Au^4Q': http://preset.audiob.us/ogWWsUcgHjtrOQN
Take care and have fun :]
