MIDI event filter

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eekay
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MIDI event filter

Post by eekay »

I couldn't find one so I'm asking. Is there a MIDI filter module that can strip out event types? Would a developer care to make one, if there isn't?
Thanks
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utdgrant
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Re: MIDI event filter

Post by utdgrant »

I have a few questions:

1(a). What do you mean when you say "strip out" MIDI events? Is it the case that you want to thin out a MIDI stream by silently dropping the events which you want to filter, and pass through all other events by default?

1(b). Instead, do you want to manipulate the parameter values of certain MIDI events? Do you want voltage control over the parameters of certain MIDI events?

1(c). Do you want one MIDI In and two MIDI Outs, with 'filtered' events going to one output and 'pass-thru' events going to the other?

2. Have you created a patch within Voltage Modular which is working incorrectly as a result of an unfiltered MIDI stream? Could you post a screenshot or patch file to this thread? Could you give a brief explanation of which unfiltered MIDI events are causing problems within the patch?

3. Are you using VM within a DAW host? Does the DAW have MIDI filtering capabilities built in? i.e. can you strip out MIDI events before they even reach Voltage Modular?

4. Have you thought about which controls you would like to see on the front panel of a MIDI filter module? You can download the Voltage Module Designer software for free and use it to mock up the UI, without having to know anything about Java programming.


As to your second question, as a developer (Dome Music Technologies), I have a fairly strict policy of only creating modules which I want to use myself. As I don't have a need for a MIDI Filter, I'd be reticent to undertake the creation of a new module. However, I'd be happy to help you define and refine the 'formal requirements' for one. The only MIDI module I have created so far is Baba O'Lowrey. It uses MIDI filtering so that it only processes MIDI Note On and Note Off events and silently drops all others. If you understand Java, you can find the source code for all Dome Music Technologies modules on my website (bottom of the page).
BabaMIDIFiltering.png
BabaMIDIFiltering.png (101.24 KiB) Viewed 1037 times
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eekay
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Re: MIDI event filter

Post by eekay »

utdgrant wrote: Thu Nov 17, 2022 9:04 am
1(c). Do you want one MIDI In and two MIDI Outs, with 'filtered' events going to one output and 'pass-thru' events going to the other?
This is basically what we need.

We're using 2 merged midi controllers on 1 instance of voltage modular in Cubase. We're using 1 midi controller for pitch information and the other for CCs. We need a module that will pass the CCs from the midi input without passing note information. If this module could reassign at least 1 CC that would be helpful as well.

The workaround we are presently using is several MIDI CC to CV modules patched to several CV to MIDI CC modules. This allows us to reroute/reassign CC numbers as well. Some of our patches involve over a dozen of these. A single module to replace these would be great. Hope this makes sense thanks for the help!
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utdgrant
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Re: MIDI event filter

Post by utdgrant »

Thanks for the comprehensive response.

What do you do with the processed/reconstructed MIDI streams after they exit the CV to MIDI CC converters?

Do you use multiple MIDI Output modules, or Plug-In Hosts to drive external hardware / 3rd-party plug-ins?

Or do you further process the MIDI and use it to drive sound-generating modules within Voltage Modular?

I guess what I'm asking is: Are you using VM purely as a MIDI processor / router in this situation?
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eekay
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Re: MIDI event filter

Post by eekay »

We are basically using Voltage Modular as a plugin host to modulate various softsynths and hardware from VST Sequencers (Stepic) as well as VM sequencers,lfos, etc

The CCs are editing the softsynths, either on their own Cubase track or in VMs VST plugin host. The main CV out from Voltage modular is being used to change patterns on the Stepics from a keyboard (Stepic has no transpose functionality built in but it is accessable through the plugin host on VM). The keyboard voltage is scaled so the Stepics will change pattern 1-16 chromatically from a keyboard.

The problem is the the midi keyboard goes to both the CV Out at the top of Voltage modular and the midi output. So it becomes problematic when the transpose note is sent to the softsynths along with the CCs when it should only be going to the sequencers. A midi event filter would solve this nicely.

The need to reassign a CC come from the Arturia softsynths not responding to CC32 (for whatever reason) CC32 is an important knob CC on our CC controller so we remap it in VM to a CC that the Arturias do recognize.

Hope this makes sense.
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utdgrant
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Re: MIDI event filter

Post by utdgrant »

Totally. I can now imagine what sort of functionality you require. Thanks for taking the time to describe your use case so clearly.

I can't guarantee that I'll develop a module to implement the functions, but it's something I'll chew over in the background. Maybe someone else will run with it or has something suitable in the pipeline already.
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