Can I control Softube Console 1 Fader (mk1) LEDs with MIDI Remote? Or Bome MIDI Translate?

Cubase
1

Hello all, I’ve been on a stop-start quest for a while now to control my Console 1 Fader (mk1) with MIDI Remote rather than having to load the Console 1 VST onto every track (and still not be able to control e.g. Pan with the faders).

I’ve just used Bome MIDI Translate to capture the MIDI that’s being transmitted when I hit a couple of the mute buttons on the unit. I’m just wondering whether there’s any way to decode this and work out whether it could help to control the unit’s LEDs?

This was a track which didn’t have the VST on and the Mute on / Mute off signals seem to be in pairs, but both look identical to me - first two are mute on, second two are mute off:
2: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 7C 7F 1B 13 52 31 01 F7
3: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 7C 00 5B 29 3E 1C 0C F7
4: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 7C 7F 1B 13 52 31 01 F7
5: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 7C 00 5B 29 3E 1C 0C F7

The next group are for a track that does have the VST loaded. First three are on this time, last three are off but again they look identical to me:
1: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 76 7F 61 7C 3A 3B 0E F7
2: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 24 00 00 00 01 00 7F 3D 20 48 60 08 F7
3: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 76 00 21 46 56 16 03 F7
5: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 76 7F 61 7C 3A 3B 0E F7
6: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 24 00 00 00 01 00 7F 3D 20 48 60 08 F7
7: MIDI IN [Console 1 Fader]: F0 7D 00 00 00 00 02 00 76 00 21 46 56 16 03 F7

I’ve tried the following code to get the unit to switch on the LED when mute is pressed in Cubase rather than on the unit, but not a flicker so far:

pageMain.mHostAccess.mTrackSelection.mMixerChannel.mValue.mMute.mOnProcessValueChange=function(activeDevice,activeMapping,value){

// If 'value' is close to 1, Cubase channel is muted -> Light up the physical LED

    if (value > 0.5) {

        // Send the payload string to activate LED

        midiOutput.sendMidi(activeDevice, 

            //[0xF0, 0x7D, 0x24, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x3D, 0x20, 0x48, 0x60, 0x08, 0xF7]) // Line 2 when Console 1 IS loaded on track

            [0xF0, 0x7D, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0x00, 0x7C, 0x7F, 0x1B, 0x13, 0x52, 0x31, 0x01, 0xF7, // Line 1 when Console 1 not loaded on track

            0xF0, 0x7D, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0x00, 0x7C, 0x00, 0x5B, 0x29, 0x3E, 0x1C, 0x0C, 0xF7]) // Line 2 when Console 1 not loaded on track

    } else { ////etc

I’m not sure whether I’m completely wasting my time here though - and also wondering whether it’s worth buying the full version of Bome to see if it can do it? Everything I’ve read online suggests that Softube keep the LED programming “proprietary”, I don’t know whether that means that what I want to do is impossible?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

2

I might be wrong, but it looks like you’re capturing MIDI IN from the Console 1 Fader, meaning the messages the unit sends out to cubase (or the plugin) when you press a button.

For controlling the LEDs, you´d probably need to capture the opposite direction: the MIDI/SysEx messages sent from Cubase (or more likely the plugin) back to the unit.

The button press may simply tell the software that the mute button was pressed. The actual LED state is then probably determined by the software/plugin and sent back to the controller separately.

Just thinking out loud, but the meter LEDs are a good example. The controller itself has no way of knowing the current signal level inside Cubase. The plugin/software has to calculate that information first and then send the corresponding commands back to the hardware. I’d therefore expect the mute LED state to work in a similar way.

If the LED states are actually sent via MIDI/SysEx, I’d say there’s a good chance of being able to reverse engineer the LED behaviour.

If no corresponding MIDI messages show up at all, then the communication may be happening over a different protocol instead, in which case it may indeed be proprietary.

3

I’ve made a lucky breakthrough. I mapped two random buttons to their MIDI IN values (Mute Channel 2 to CC#59, Solo Channel 6 to CC#48).

When I mapped the return journeys, hitting the Solo button in Cubase did nothing - but hitting the Mute 2 button changed the LED on Solo 6.

After a bit more experimenting, I can control these LEDs with these MIDI OUT in Bome, all different to their MIDI IN key press values:

  • Channel 6 Solo = CC#59
  • Channel 6 Mute = CC#57
  • Channel 6 Select = CC#56

So sending different MIDI CC values in each direction is doing the trick in Bome, I haven’t tried it in MIDI Remote yet but it feels like it might work…

4

Please keep us posted. I’d love to be able to use my console 1 with only midi remote.

5

I already have it set up to control the Cubase parameters volume, gain, HC, LC and pan (I always wanted pan on those faders!)

Plus mute and solo - but the LEDs didn’t reflect the mute and solo status in Cubase, this is why I’m trying to work out how to control the LEDs. A long way to go though I fear.

It doesn’t handle hidden channels so I’ve worked around that in Cubase with macros and 10-track configurations (I’ve never yet used 10 bass tracks, but never mind.)

I do feel this has been a breakthrough tonight… But also that using Bome permanently might be an easier way forward. I’ll keep you posted.

6

@Sunshy Is it the Console 1 Fader (mk1 or mk2) that you have? I’ve been making more progress today, I think I have all the Mute, Solo and Select LEDs working. Can’t work out how to get Select to show different colours, but the rest is looking good.

I don’t have the original Console 1 unfortunately, let me know if you do, there was a thread about that a while ago which looked promising.

7

I have the original Console 1 & Fader (no screens). Was debating getting the new ones, but I thought I’d wait to see if they would be updating anything on the older units, but it seems they have moved on. Maybe I will too! :stuck_out_tongue:

8

@Sunshy I’m almost at the point where it’s shareable, I haven’t ever done that before so will need to work out how. Let me know if you’re interested in taking a look, but no worries if not. I haven’t mapped out all of the buttons yet and I’m trying to decide what to do with some of them - eg Load Drive doesn’t really have an equivalent without the Softube ecosystem, and I’m not sure why it needs an LED.

My big additional parameter to map to the faders was Pan, even if it you don’t want to try out the script please let me know if there were ever any other parameters you wish could have fader-ised!

Cheers, JP.

9

I think you can just attach your midi remote file here (and tag it so others can find it). This is the only thread that I could find where GPnicolett got his Console 1 only partially working with the midi remote and eventually gave up on it.

Do you have a link to the thread you mentioned about it looking promising? P.S. Perhaps you can map the “Load Drive” to cycle through the drive type of the Cubase channel strip (Magneto II, Tape, Tube)?

10

That’s exactly the thread I was thinking of… and we’re both on it, small world… I don’t think I saw GPnicolett’s last post saying he’d given up on MIDI Remote, shame.

Nice idea with the cycling of plug-ins, beyond my current scripting skills and I’m on holiday after Friday for a couple of weeks so will probably have to park that.

One major challenge I’ve run into is that while the rings around the Pan button work fine, the fader meters don’t… I’m not sure I’m going to be able to overcome that.

Midi remote file attached, I’ll let you take a look before I share / tag more widely. It should load up as Softube / NextDevice.

Next job is probably to get the Volume / Drive / Character LEDs to respond to changes, but I only have Volume of those ones mapped, and all the others (Gain, LC, HC, Sends) don’t have LEDs, hence my comment earlier about some of the buttons that do and whether I should re-purpose those.

Shift puts the faders into Pan mode.

On mine anyway, the three assignable buttons are available to the normal MIDI Remote mapping.

Thoughts and feedback welcome.

Softube_NextDevice.midiremote (3.7 KB)

11

Thanks for this. Will check it out when I get back in the studio.