MIDI control of Helix Native in C12

Cubase
21

Pf. I do have some suggestions, but it’s going to be somewhat confusing. I downloaded the demo of Helix (WHICH IS VERY NICE BY THE WAY, IT WOULD BE TERRIBLE IF I COULDN’T RESIST BUYING IT BECAUSE OF YOU Mr. @jpspoons1 :rofl:), and I gave it a go. Here’s what I’ve done.

  1. Get into Helix’s Remote Control Editor.

image
image1878×868 325 KB

Let’s just look for the time being. We have 16 knobs and 16 switches as automation parameters by default. These will work easily. But beyond those, we have CC numbers. Ok.

Now, let’s go to our MIDI remote and create a new page.

remote
The idea here is to put the parameters in a logical sequence for your MOBI, so that you know that when you twist the topmost encoder to the left, it’s parameter 1 (maybe you want it to be something else?) Decide on which parameters go to which encoders on the surface. You should also modify the Parameter Bank so that it corresponds to how many physical encoders you have. (for example, if you have 24 encoders with push, you would need 48 parameters. 24 for twists, and 24 for the pushes)

After you’ve set up your page, you can start mapping stuff from Helix.
As I said, those Automation parameters are easy enough…
helix assign

But for the MIDI CC… it’s a bit more complicated.

Remember how we assigned Parameters to our knobs? In my case, I have a knob controlling parameter 33. So, I go to the Remote Control Editor, and assign - let’s say CC1 - to parameter 33.

image
image1313×879 255 KB

You do this from the “Knob:” field on the left, it reveals a list where you choose the parameter to assign. Don’t forget to click apply on the top right befor closing the window, or it won’t stick.

And then…
helix assign CC

TL;DR

You need to assign CCs TO automation parameters from the Remote Control Editor, and then control the Parameters from your surface.

This is a 100% MIDI Remote operation, no Generic involved.

Oh, by the way, I turned off compatibility mode for the Helix from the preferences, since I don’t have hardware.

I hope I didn’t tire you out, or confused you even more.

1 Like
22

Wow @ggmanestraki , thank you so much for doing this, I really appreciate it.

That looks fantastic. I think I need to do some serious prep before I start and work out exactly what I want to map to where, but hopefully it’s a “do once” operation.

I hope you enjoy your trial of Helix Native… it’s a serious upgrade on Amp Rack, with a scary amount of effects available… you can probably see why I wanted to use MIDI remote. This will allow me to set up a few different mappings on the Mobi (there are 6 different “modes” which will each allow a completely different map for the 34 push encoders plus switches- I’ll keep the original Mode 1 setup which controls the channel settings page and transport etc).

Thanks again and have a great weekend.

1 Like
23

Quick note to say that I’ve just mapped out five dials to check the process - it’s not entirely intuitive (to me anyway) but it works brilliantly. Thanks again @ggmanestraki , you’re a genius.

24

There are three big points that need to be understood for this whole thing to make sense.

  1. Parameters as abstraction. For a plug-in, “the first knob” is defined in the RCE (as parameter 1). For a controller, “the first knob” is the one that you decide to call first. Left to right? Top to bottom? Zig zag? Who knows? The thing that brings those two together is the Mapping Assistant, and parameters. The knob that you like to call knob 1 on the Mobi, controls parameter 1, which is Helix’s knob 1.

  2. Raw MIDI. While you can pass raw midi to a plug-in (I saw a vid where someone was using a midi track to send data to the helix insert on an other audio track), and you can even do it with the MIDI remote, there’s no guarantee the plug-in will listen. You said further up “how can I change the encoders’ mode in helix”. That was a good question!

But helix won’t give you that option. If you had absolute controls, maybe it would listen. But, the MIDI remote already does this job for you, you twist the encoder and it maps it to a range of values. You twist the encoder and see it go smoothly through all the values of a pot, it doesn’t jump around.

So the solution is to map MIDI CCs to parameters. Which parameters? See above! Maybe that encoder on the lower right should be knob 47? Let’s call it 47. In the RCE, assign a MIDI CC number X to parameter 47. When you later assign that cc X in helix, it listens to your knob 47, which is going THROUGH the MIDI remote. When it was listening to the raw MIDI that goes INTO the MIDI remote, it was jumping around, because it was listening to inc/dec, values like 1, 127, 2, 126 etc etc. No good.

  1. A remote page can work on all stuff. When you have a remote page filled with parameters from “1” to “as many as your mobi can give you”, you can control ANY plug-in in focus, for these parameters. Now, if you don’t agree with the default positions (if for example you want threshold to be where release currently is, or you have a switch that you operate by twisting the encoder, when you could just push instead), you can go into the RCE for that plug-in and switch the parameters around. It’s a bitch to do if you want to control many plug-ins, much work. But in the end, you can have one (1) remote page that controls ALL of your (most used obviously) plug-ins, right there and then.

Don’t hesitate to give me a shout if you get stuck somewhere, I’m happy to help if I can.

25

Hello again @ggmanestraki - help…

I’ve set up a few controls and all is working fine. EXCEPT. When I close and reopen the project, the controllers all seem to default to zero… so if I have a parameter set at 7 out 10 and then turn the linked knob up, it jumps to zero and then starts to control from there.

I’ve tried Jump, Pickup and Scaled value modes and none of them made things better - in fact Pickup made things worse.

Is this happening to you as well? If it isn’t - any idea what I need to change?

Thanks! JP

1 Like
26

Yes, that’s what happens here too. I think this is Helix’s business. The encoders are set to “Jump”, and also set to receive outgoing data from the Remote. Nothing more we can do.

Just for comparison: I have Helix and a Vintage Compressor opened, next to each other. I select the Compressor to bring it “in focus”. I look at my encoder’s led ring. The leds light up accordingly, to indicate the approximate value of the parameter, even before I touch the encoder. Then, I click on Helix’s window. The encoder lights go completely out (which means a value of 0), and sure enough, once I do one lone click clockwise, the control parameter moves from 0 to a small value. 1 or 0.5 or something. It doesn’t matter if it originally was at 60 or 100, it starts at 0.

It looks like a good quirk to ask Line6 about.

1 Like
27

Thanks for trying and confirming @ggmanestraki . You’ve helped me enormously and it feels like we’ve got SO CLOSE, but… that’s a bit of a showstopper - saving a preset but having parameters revert to zero every time you tweak them is definitely not optimal.

I’ll see if I can drum up any answers on the Helix Native forum. And in the meantime, if this hasn’t put you off, the special offer on Native (and other Helix software) expires on March 31st, so if you’re still tempted, it’s a good time to buy :slight_smile:

Thanks again for all of your help, you’re a star.

1 Like
28

You know what, I’ll just open a ticket with them and see what they think.

29

Hi @ggmanestraki, I should have followed up before now (especially if your trial has now expired) but -did you get a response to your ticket? Thanks.

30

Hey @jpspoons1. I got a reply, but nothing came out of it. I posted the issue, they said it’s normal that it works like that for absolute controllers, I sent them back a little video of the issue with relative controls, I haven’t heard from them ever since.

My trial has expired, yes. It’s a bummer, it would be awesome if this particular issue would be solved.