Making a MIDI effect like Auto LFO control a parameter in a MIDI-enabled VST effect like FabFilter Pro-Q3 is painfully underdocumented, and even after I got it to work, I still feel it’s a rather tortuous procedure. Therefore, even though I explain it here, I still place this post in the “Feature Requests and Suggestions” section: please Steinberg, document this feature better and provide some examples. And, if possible, make it more straightforward.
This example uses controller 1 (modulation) to control the frequency of a band within Pro-Q3.
There are two ways to go about this:
- Use a MIDI keyboard with modulation wheel to make Pro Q3 learn what controller to listen to, and only then connect Auto LFO to Pro-Q3.
- If you do not have a MIDI keyboard you can accomplish everything using just Auto LFO. As soon as you insert Auto LFO on a MIDI track it will start emitting controller events (after all it’s an LFO), and these will swamp Pro-Q3 the moment you activate its MIDI Learn mode. This method almost always works. However, I did once got the dreaded “A serious problem has occurred” message, and I suspect it’s because Pro-Q is caught unawares by the controller messages pouring in from Auto LFO.
Use a MIDI keyboard for the MIDI Learn phase, and only then connect Auto LFO
- Insert Pro-Q3 on the audio track you want process.
- Create a band in Pro-Q3.
- Create a MIDI track and set its output to the Pro-Q instance you just created.
- Open Pro-Q3 again.
- With Pro-Q3 open, select the MIDI track you just created. Important! Otherwise the MIDI events we are about to generate won’t reach Pro-Q3.
- In Pro-Q3 click MIDI Learn along the bottom of the plugin interface.
- Click the green dot of the frequency band on the yellow line and click the Frequency knob of the band you just created. These two actions make Pro-Q3 understand that you want to control the frequency of the first band.
- Move the modulation wheel. Possibly after a little hick-up Pro-Q3 now knows (and shows) that the frequency of band 1 is controlled by the modulation wheel (controller 1).
- Hit the Close button that appeared in the top right of the Pro-Q3 panel when you activated MIDI Learn.
- Now we can insert Auto LFO on the MIDI track. Set its Controller Type parameter to 1 (modulation) and set the other parameters as you like.
- You should now see the frequency band in Pro-Q3 go frantically up and down.
Using only Auto LFO
- Insert Pro-Q3 on the audio track you want process.
- Create a band in Pro-Q3.
- Create a MIDI track and set its output to the Pro-Q instance you just created.
- Insert Auto LFO on the MIDI track. Set its Controller Type parameter to 1 (modulation) and set the other parameters as you like.
- In Pro-Q3 click MIDI Learn along the bottom of the plugin interface. Even though you don’t do anything yourself, Pro-Q3 is now immediately swamped with control 1 messages from Auto LFO.
- Click the green dot of the frequency band on the yellow line and click the Frequency knob of the band you just created. These two actions make Pro-Q3 understand that you want to control the frequency of the first band.
- Hit the Close button that appeared in the top right of the Pro-Q3 panel when you activated MIDI Learn.
- Possibly after a hick-up, you should now see the frequency band in Pro-Q3 go frantically up and down.