Bc2000 (for the BCF2000 & BCR2000)

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, steve <stevesblues@...> wrote:
> I recall reading of setups with something like a multi-channel mixer 
> template where the user presses the preset button to bank up through 
> channels 1-8, 9-16 etc
> 
> And rather than the preset buttons acting as generic remote banks the 
> description sounded  a lot like the setup has programmed preset1,
rotary 
> 1 to manipulate channel 1 in the vst mixer and preset2, rotary 1 
> manipulates channel 9 in the mixer etc
> 
> Is there a method of programming 1 rotary in a preset to affect a 
> particular mixer channel only?

This mainly depends on the capabilities of the individual mixer.

The BCF/BCR's 32 presets are completely independent: so they don't
function as "generic remote banks" (unless you manually set up the
individual presets that way of course). So each element
(button/encoder/fader) in any preset can be set up independently,
exactly as you like. What's more, the BCF/BCR remembers the momentary
values (positions) of ALL the elements of the 32 presets ACROSS preset
changes.
So in effect the BCF/BCR can be seen as one big, virtual preset, in
which there are 32 "copies" of each button, encoder and fader, each
copy having completely independent settings. Pressing the PRESET
buttons ("<" and ">") merely switches the "focus" of the BCF/BCR to a
particular preset from among the 32.

However, when it comes to communicating with a mixer device, there are
some restrictions, caused by the MIDI protocol itself.

For instance, a CC (Control Change) message (which is the most common
type of message used to control MIDI devices (including mixers))
includes 3 numbers:

1. The MIDI channel: a number from 1 to 16 (internally 0-15).
2. A Controller: a number from 0-127.
3. The actual (momentary) value (position) of the element: also a
number from 0-127.

Obviously the sender (the BCF/BCR) and the receiving mixer must
understand each other. That is: a particular mixer control (volume,
pan etc.) must be associated with the exact MIDI channel and
Controller sent by a particular element (in a particular preset) on
the BCF/BCR.

So it depends almost completely on the capabilities of the MIXER (not
the BCF/BCR) what is possible: which MIDI channels and Controller
numbers can be associated with which mixer controls.

I hope this answers your question.

Actually, there are other ways to control multi-channel mixers:
E.g. Propellerhead Reason takes full control of the BCF/BCR, using
only ONE preset (the "temporary" preset or - in BC Manager's parlance
- "preset 0"): when you press the BCF/BCR's PRESET buttons, you don't
actually change presets (or even the way the temporary preset is set
up): instead, a preset button sends a particular MIDI message to
Reason, which then knows that you want to switch from one group of
mixer channels to another, and responds accordingly, namely by
updating the BCF/BCR's elements (via CC messages) to the new group's
mixer channel values as maintained by Reason itself.

Mark.