Midi control of drawbar sliders

[Korghelper]

One of the best ways to get the lowest latency for live playing is to limit your computer’s workload as much as possible while you play. So, for tracking, it often works well to render the project so far to a WAV and turn off all other plugins and VSTi’s, or open a new blank project with just the render and the VSTi you want. This will allow you to lower the buffer as much as possible...

Once you record the take, open up the original project and import, and return the buffer settings to whatever works best for running all the plugins you need for mixing.

Perhaps your system can handle ultra low latency with all the rest of the stuff enabled, but if not, this is an acceptable workaround. I have always felt the most ‘connected’ with my playing with latency as low as my system can possibly be pushed. So I don’t mind the hassle - in the end, the better I feel, the better I play!

[mintjamman]

I tried this self same thing some months back in trying to get the Pax sliders to control GSI VB3II. After a lot of experimentation due to a lack of proper midi implementation from Korg and using my midi analyser it became evident that to be able to control the drawbars of VB3II from the Pa4x was not possible.

Why an earth Korg made a set of sliders which are meant to be assignable with such limitations is pants. Had Korg provided a credible drawbar organ engine we wouldnt be even trying to do any of this.

[Scott]

The sliders send no MIDI at all in drawbar mode, not even sysex? So if you were to record a live performance from the PA4X into a DAW, and your performance included manipulation of the drawbars (sliders), those drawbar manipulations would not be recorded?

[siebenhirter]

.. Pa4X sliders in drawbar mode do not send any external midi
.. is not possible to map the B-3X to respond to the physical drawbars ..

I can not believe that Pa4X sliders in drawbar mode do not send any external MIDI, because of its Midi Implementation: Drawbar settings are using NRPN (LSB, MSB, DataEntry MSB = CC 99, 98, 06).

That is the same with Pa1000, with the only difference that on the Pa1000 the touchscreen is operated instead of the manual drawbars (16" - cc99/98 = 02/00; 5 1/2" = 02/02; 8" = 02/01 etc; with cc06 value for volume-max..min 7F ... 00)

With Pa1000 all drawbar parameters are sent/received with the exception of tone (mellow/hard) and rotor (slow/fast, on/brake). But all Leakage, KeyOn, KeyOff and Percussion parameters are transmitted/received as NRPNs, such as Percussion Mode (All =cc 99/98/06 = 02/0e/00; 1st = 02/0e/01), Percussion Foot (4' = 02/0b/02; 2 2/3' = 02/0b/01), Percussion on-off (02/10/01 - 02/10/00), Percussion volume (02/0c/00..7f) and Percussion length (02/0d/00 ... 63).

Value of percussion length is not from 00 to 7f but to max 63, because length of percussion is 0 to 99 in decimal.

Rotor slow/fast is done with cc=01 (modulation), leakage (on = 02/13/01; off = 02/13/00; volume = 02/14(00 .. 7f), keyon (on = 02/0f/01, off = 02/0f/00, volume = 02/0a/00 .. 7f), keyoff (on = 02/11/01, off = 02/11/00, volume = 02/12/00 .. 7f).
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I don't know whether and how B-3x evaluates NRPNs, but in any case the Pa1000 and certainly also the Pa4x send the NRPNs as above and in its Midi Implementation Chart. This easily cam be checked if you connect the Midi Out of a monitor program - such as MIDI-OX - to the Pa-keyboard to protokoll its midi messages.
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NRPN parameters are sent through 14bit controllers with an index between 0 and 16383 and may need to be converted accordingly before mapping the B-3x.