Program change with RolandPK5 / Boss FC 50

The Lowdown Bass Synthesizer recreates the super-fat, room-rattling sounds of the most legendary dual-oscillator bass pedal synth ever made.
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slyslam
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2022 7:24 pm

Program change with RolandPK5 / Boss FC 50

Post by slyslam »

Hi,
It seems that even with the program change option turned on I can't change the presets using my FC-50 program changer pedal. Is there any work around tht can be made so I can use the Lowdown like the original Taurus pedal.
I want to use all three presets + users presets in a live situation. I'm also looking at using the 2 expression inputs on the FC50 for both Loudness and filter.
Last I woul use the two availble on/off ( CC 64 & 80 ) switch to control the Octave and decay.

In the case of the on /off , do I have to use momentary switches or toggle switches?

Thanks for your help
Sylvain
Steve W
Posts: 758
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:55 pm

Re: Program change with RolandPK5 / Boss FC 50

Post by Steve W »

In standalone mode and with Program Changes allowed in the LowDown's Settings, Program Change commands from my keyboard successfully changed presets in the LowDown. I also used the LowDown's built-in midi learn to set Octave, Decay, and Filter Contour Amount to a couple of sliders. I previously had CC7 from my keyboard mapped to Loudness. It was a little tricky to find the hot spot on the button, but after a couple of tries I got it. (Click the UI control with the mouse until the Learn dialog comes up and then just move the external controller.)

I just found a momentary contact foot pedal and mapped that to Octave. That works, too.

Also, click on the MIDI button on the top row to open the midi settings. I edited the Min and Max values from my pedal so the LowDown would switch between 2 consecutive octaves. You can tweak Min and Max for other controllers to reduce extreme changes from your expression pedals if you want. You can even set up two or more parameters with different Min/Max values to respond to one expression pedal. Maybe you'd want a medium range for Filter Contour, a small range for cutoff, and a very tiny range for emphasis. Or maybe you just want to map the Filter Foot Slider.

I don't use the Learn button in the MIDI panel, but I gave it a try. That works, too. Maybe the manual would explain more about it. https://docs.cherryaudio.com/cherry-aud ... ontrollers

Oh yeah, if you make a mistake, there's Unlearn, too.

Hope this helps.

I looked at the Boss FC-50 Owner's Manual and I assume you know how to use it to switch presets and banks and to program the external expression pedals.
slyslam
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2022 7:24 pm

Re: Program change with RolandPK5 / Boss FC 50

Post by slyslam »

Thanks for your info,

I went a bit further with my testings and found the program change works from the PK5 but not from the FC50 ( which is actually a program changer module).
The CC controls on the FC50 don't work either so it seems the FC50 is not compatible with this VST plugin.

Sadly I have to keep going with my older VST which accepts all the CC commands sent to it for my live situation. This Lowdown is awsome but seems to be more DAW oriented but still an amazing product

Thanks for all
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