Bc2000 (for the BCF2000 & BCR2000)

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, "mongoomusic" <mongoomusic@...> wrote:
> I have some follow up questions from our message, you said:
> 
> "1. The BCR can send a fixed sequence of MIDI messages whenever you
> select a preset (via the PRESET "<" and ">" buttons): in BC Manager,
> check "Request" on the "Settings" tab of the preset dialog box, and
> define the individual MIDI bytes on the "LEARN output" tab. Thus, you
> can instruct a receiving MIDI device or program to send its current
> settings to the BCR - but I don't know if Reaper can do this."
> 
> Okay, so what you are saying is that if I want feed back to hit my bcr
> from the computer (with reaper, if it can), I need to check the
> "Request" box under the preset settings tab in BC Manager. Correct? To
> follow that up in addition with, entering in all of the Controls in
> the "learn output" tab? If I do not do this though, your saying that
> My bcr would not receive feedback even if Reaper supported sending it?
> Correct? I ask because I've never used this function of the bc
> manager, and in fact didn't know what it did specifically or how to
> use it.

I should have been more explicit: although you are completely free in
what you put under "LEARN output", this should typically be a single
command (so NOT "all of the Controls" - you can do that via
"snaphot"); this command should cause the receiver (e.g. Reaper) to
send all its current settings to the BCR. So the crucial question is:
can Reaper do that?

> The same goes for snapshot, cause that wouldn't work when I
> tried it either.

"Snapshot" as such does NOT have to do with the receiver: if the
current BCR preset contains any button/encoder settings (typically CC
messages defined via "standard output"), pressing the EDIT + "<
PRESET" buttons should ALWAYS make the BCR send a sequence of CC
messages. (You may try to capture these on the computer, e.g. in BC
Manager's "MIDI input messages" window.) And, as I explained, the BCR
should ALSO send this sequence of CC messages upon preset selection if
the "Snapshot" feature of the preset is "On".

In a sense "Snapshot" is a "second-best" option, namely if "LEARN
output" doesn't work: i.e. by using Snapshot you effectively turn the
BCR into the master, and the receiver (e.g. Reaper) into the slave -
i.e. there is no BI-DIRECTIONAL synchronization, but at least there is
ONE-way synchronization...

> Reaper recently updated to v2.55 with these updates listed....
> 
>     * FX parameter MIDI learn: fixed updating of "set with selected
> tracks" flag

I may be completely wrong here (since I don't know ANYTHING about
Reaper), but this merely means that you can decide for yourself which
Controller numbers Reaper associates with its FX parameters. However,
it doesn't tell you whether/how Reaper can SEND its parameter settings
in one go.

 > I will try reading the bc midi implementations
> manual. It looks like a hard read though. :P I'll do my best!

It started as a guide to BCL (the BCF/BCR's sysex-based setup
language) for myself: I used it to write BC Manager. So at that point
it wasn't written for the "normal" BCF/BCR user. However, since then
it has expanded quite a bit beyond the basic facts of BCL, and now
even covers some areas (like startup modes) that aren't strictly
MIDI-related. Hopefully it's a bit more "user-friendly" in those
areas. But in general my advice is to try and read around BCL and the
mathematical mumbo-jumbo as much as possible - if you manage to do so,
you may find quite a bit of stuff relevant to you.

> can increment buttons increase in odd ways,
> rather than by one singular number over and over?

Not as far as I know. (Unless you count the many QUIRKS of the
"increment" parameters (as described in "BC MIDI Implementation.pdf")
as such...!)

Mark.