Controllers and Editors for Synths, Keyboards and Effects

 E-mu the company - Emulator the sampler No need to cover the background and history behind E-mu but I will quote this anecdote: Dave Rossum and Scott Wedge were the founders of E-mu and by 1980 they had a prototype Emulator 1 but still didn't have a name for it other than the sampler. So one day Rossum asked everyone to go home and come back the next day with some ideas. Ed Rudnick came in the next day with a big smile on his face and announced that he had found the name Emulator. He had found it after looking through the thesaurus. Considering the match with the company name it was amazing and Wedge said a lot of people thought the name of the company was Emulator. Links Emulator Archive     The Emulator Archive was founded in July 1999 to preserve the legacy of music technology created by E-mu Systems. The Emulator Archive has comprehensive information on all vintage E-mu Systems products to enable owners to continue to enjoy the amazing technology, and to create new m...

Roland RD88 Editor Panel This is a free stand alone editor built using CTRLR. Tested on Mac 10.15  Catalina and Windows 7 and Windows 10. Users tell me that my editors also run on later M1 Macs. Let me know in the comments if you can confirm this. I found a post on VI.Control from a user saying it works fine on his Mac running Sonome. Good to know! Features: Fast recall of all Scene parameters including Common, Tones, Zones and effects Rename scenes - you still have to remember press "Write" to store on RD88 Handy buttons for creation of Splits and Layers Mute buttons for each Tone Over 3000 tones are accessible from the Tone Tabs Standalone versions for Mac and PC  Here's a link to the video demo. RD88 Demo Video Part 1/2 RD88 Demo Video Part 3 Download Links RD-88 Mac RD-88 AU Plugin  does not run in Logic 10.6 RD-88 VST Mac RD-88 PC RD88 editor running as AU component You can edit all the 90 MFX effects BUT I have only added the parameter names and ranges for the ...

UB-Xa Edit V2 - DISCONTINUED  Update - new version is here  UB-Xa V5 ARCHIVED Behringer have just released a firmware update V2.0 ( 000.003.117).  This includes new features which changes some of the Sysex Data. Latest version is 1.63and has a couple of important bug fixes that were affecting Local Control menu. This release has an updated Atrophy Page and code so Presets will recall stored Atrophy settings.  Version 1 - History Patch Editor Matrix Editor New Atrophy Page Windows Version Setup: The App is not signed so Mac Gatekeeper will probably throw up a dialog that this is from an unknown developer. Just load Security and Privacy from System Preferences and select Open Anyway. You only have to this on first run. From the MIDI menu set you MIDI IO.  You may need to reload the app so the MIDI devices are refreshed: MIDI IN = UB-Xa MIDI OUT = UB-Xa CONTROLLER = NONE The editor uses NRPN messages so you need enable these in the UB-Xa menus. The editor will auto...

MIDI Organ Drawbars   When Guido Scognamiglio (Zioguido, GSi) released the D9U drawbard kit on GM-Lab I ordered the kit and built it. It was my first experience of the programming an Arduino Pro Micro and thanks to his excellent code I was able to modify and improve the unit. I then went on to build many projects based on the Pro Micro. GM-LAB I sold the D9U then picked up a set of old Hammond MIDI drawbars so I was able to build a unit based on Guido's design. One thing I didn't like about the D9U was the tiny micro switch at the back of the unit. This was used to switch between 2 sets of drawbars. I realised that it would be easy to use a rotary switch instead and then change the code to allow the adjustment of 4 sets of drawbars. Th CCs for the drawbars are stored in an array: int CCMap[4][9] = { { 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20},  // Upper B { 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 },  //  Upper A { 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 },  // Lower B { 50...

The Nord Electro 6D has a Fatar TP/80 keybed which is the same as organs like the Mojo 61. However, I was surprised at how stiff the action was. I ended up swapping the key springs with an M-Audio Keystation 61-ES. I think this might use the Fatar TP/9 synth keybed.  That reduced the Keydown by 10g - not huge but it feels a lot better for smears etc. The Prophet 6 uses a variant of the TP/9 There has been much interest in the UB-Xa and some people are unhappy with the lightness of the keyboard so here are my unscientific results: Model No 1ps 3.56g Weight in grams needed to move key from rest White Key Length mm C-C 1 octave mm Nord E6D 15p 53 To the LH edge of the C key Prophet 6 14p 49 136 164 UB-Xa 8p 29 136 164 Behringer Odyssey 6p 21 138 164 So the Electro  with  new springs is very close to the Prophet 6 but the UB-Xa is 20g lighter than the P6. It would definitely be worth replacing the springs if they are the same size as Fatars. They are easy to replace - just ca...

Simple MIDI USB Clock Converter for Analogue Sequencers Title says it all really. I have several analogue sequencers that I designed and built years ago and I clock them with a Kenton Pro Solo Mk3. This unit can switch the MIDI THRU port to SYNC24 mode to work with Roland Drum Machines. This is a great solution but does tie up my Kenton which uses with my Editor and needs MIDI THRU for 2 way comms. Features USB In 5V Reset Pulse Out 5V Clock Pulse Out Clock Divide control - 7 divisions Whole - Half - 1/4 - 1/8 - 1/16 1/4T - 1/8T - 1/6T Very simple project with few components Arduino and the Pro Micro  I realised it was a simple job to reprogram on of my Pro Micros to convert MIDI Clock and Stop/Start messages. I've used it for a few weeks and its a worker so I thought I build proper unit: Like my SYNC24 breakout box this will be mounted on the back of an existing 19" rack panel. More information about ordering and building  here Analog pulses are output on the clock jack conn...

Roland JU06a Editor Issues and info The panel is now in its 5th revision: Full implementation requires MIDI DIN in and out You can upload all the patches from the JU06a Patch dump and program names will only work over MIDI DIN In Logic Song Position Pointer causes the editor to crash - even when it is turned off! Program change only sent via USB CCs are sent from the panel so you could use it over USB as a controller You cannot change the Model type from software If you change Model type you have to upload the patches again When you get patches each one will load, the panel will update until patch 8-8 is reached JU-06A Mac JU-06A AU Plugin JU06A Mac VST JU-06A PC There are some features that you need to be aware of. SysEx data is only generated in CHAIN mode SysEx data is only sent from the 5 pin MIDI Out Data range is 0 - 255 in SysEx but 0 - 127 in CC mode On the JU06a I route CCs to USB only - reduces data You can set the editor to MIDI channel 1- 16 MIDI setup Once the editor is lo...

Big update for the panel. You can now save a bank of names - it's just the text but useful as a memo of your patches. You can also save and load individual patches to and from the Pro Solo via the editor. The panel has been completely rewritten and is licence free. It runs on Mac to at least Catalina. Standalone and AU component.  Pro Solo Edit plugin running in Logic 10.6 File Dialog Box - Save and Load Patch Na mes and Patch Sysex Downloads: Pro SOlo MK3 Control Mac Pro Solo MK3 Control AU Plugin Pro Solo MK3 Control VST Mac More about the Pro Solo here Sync24 Breakout Box Integrating analogue sequencers with a DAW is easy if you can send Midi Clock and Reset to your sequencer. Fortunately, the Pro Solo can send Midi Clock from any of its 3 Aux outputs. But a neater solution is to set the MIDI THRU to Sync 24 and extract Clock and Reset from there. It means you don't have to use your Aux CV outs which in my case are connected to my SEM. Kenton S24 setting DIN Sync or SYNC 24 ...