Bc2000 (for the BCF2000 & BCR2000)

Hi Guys,

I’m hoping some one may be able to help me.

I have recently purchased and installed a BCR2000 and having a few difficulties with getting it to do what (I think) it should do. I will admit that I am a complete new comer to MIDI and so any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. First I’ll srat by telling you my set up then what I’m trying to achieve.

Set up:

PC:

I7 2.66 Processor

6GB of triple channel DDR 3 RAM running at 1333mhz

2 x 60GB SSHD’s used for music apps

1 x 1TB 7200 RPM Seagate HD

Windows 7 Home (64bit)

Aps:

Komplete 8 Ultimate (64bit)

Cubase 6 (64bit)

Hardware:

Mackie MCU Pro (USB connection)

MikroKorg (USB connection)

Yamaha P85 (MIDI connection)

Behringer BCR2000 (USB connection)

Goal:

I have got the MCU up and running and this is allowing control of Cubase beautifully. What I would like to do is get the BCR up and running so that it solely runs VSTi’s, specifically Komplete. I have opened Massive in standalone mode and added the midi assignments to the knobs on the BCR and saved a profile in Massive. I then open Cubase and an instance of Massive and load the profile, select the required MIDI controller to control the VST and all of the assigned knobs work as expected. I then open a second instance of Massive and am able to independently use the BCR to control each instance of Massive without any confusion\parameters being changed on the wrong VST. However, when I switch between devices I would have expected the BCR’s LED’s to switch to the correct values (I hope that this makes sense). Instead the values of the last loaded instance of the VST stays on the BCR meaning that any slight change of a knob can result in a massive movement (this is obviously relative) of a parameter. A good comparative example of this is when I use my MCU – If I switch between fader banks on the MCU the faders remember the settings for that channel\fader – I want the BCR to display the correct values\LED’s when I switch between instances\VTS’s.

Also, I would like to delete all of the presets on the BCR. I have downloaded what appears to be a very highly regarded application called BCR Manager. I have read the PDF that came with this but, I am not any clearer on what I should be doing as there are no tutorials as such, just explanations on each menu choice.

If any one could lend me any advice I would be very appreciative. I appreciate you’re all busy people so thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and offer any advice.

Carl.

P.s. If any of this is unclear i am happy to clarify this.

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, Leviathan Seven <leviathanse7en@...> wrote:
> I have downloaded what appears to be a very highly regarded application called 
> BCRManager. I have read the PDF that came with this but, I am not any 
> clearer on what I should be doing as there are no tutorials as such, 
> just explanations on each menu choice.

Have you looked at the FAQ section of the BC Manager manual?
Several questions there are answered by "step-by-step" advice.
Question 45 may be a good starting point.

You may also try the two "videos" in the Files section of this Yahoo group:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/bc2000/files/Applications/BC%20Manager/

> I would like to delete all of the presets on the BCR.

To delete presets on the BCR from BC Manager:
1. Go to the "Presets" window.
2. Select (highlight) the presets of your choice (e.g. by dragging your mouse).
(3. If these presets are not already "empty" in BC Manager: execute Edit -> Initialize.)
4. Execute MIDI -> Send.

Hope this helps,
Mark.

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, Leviathan Seven <leviathanse7en@...> wrote:
> I have managed to reset the templates, but, and this is my naivety that 
> caused this issue, this rendered my BCR kinda useless as no LED's lit up 
> and it wouldn't receive any commands. I did then remember that when i 
> initially used it, out of the box, factory preset P-1 was pretty much 
> what i wanted the whole controller to be, so i could set up my own 
> presets to move through when using VST's. I downloaded the factory 
> preset .sysx files and uploaded "bcr_only_controller.sysx". and this 
> brought everything back up, except, the "Learn" function on 
> the device now doesn't work... I press the learn button with the desired 
> rotary that i wish to use, this singles this rotary out, I then move the 
> required software dial and nothing happens.

I've looked at the preset in bcr_Only_Controllers.syx: it sets all buttons and encoders to Control Change messages (on MIDI channel 1), except the "special" buttons: ENCODER GROUPS, STORE/LEARN/EDIT/EXIT and PRESET </>, so that these buttons retain their "special" functions.

So e.g. if you hold the LEARN button, then turn the bottom right rotary (encoder 49), you enter LEARN mode for encoder 49: the display shows "E 49" and the encoder's LED starts blinking.
Then if you send a MIDI message to the BCR, the display should briefly show display "Good", then return to (e.g.) "P- 1".

From your words I gather that the problem you're experiencing doesn't lie with the BCR, but with the MIDI plugin (VST(i)): moving the software dial either doesn't send a MIDI message at all, or it somehow doesn't arrive at the BCR.

> However, if you use 
> the software's midi learn function it will operate as expected but is 
> obviously not stored on the machine meaning i cant make use of the 
> preset < and > buttons. I know that the learn function worked previously 
> as i have tested it, it appears to not be working after i have set every 
> preset to the "bcr_only_controller.sysx". I'm wondering if it has 
> anything to do with channel assignments?

I'm not quite sure why you would set all 32 presets to the same preset. I assume you ultimately want to have different presets set up for different VST(i) plugins, so why not start from empty presets in all cases?

In any case, what you could do to get to grips with these things, is first get communication (incl. the LEARN operation) to work between the BCR and BC Manager. Once that works, you can see how things go with your actual VST(i)s in Cubase.

First, try performing a LEARN operation from BC Manager to the BCR:

1. On the BCR, hold the LEARN button and move an encoder (or button). This should yield e.g. "E 49" in the display.

2. From BC Manager's main window, open the "MIDI controllers" window via View -> MIDI -> Controllers.

3. In the "MIDI controllers" window, move one of the sliders (e.g. by mouse). The BCR should show "Good" briefly, then return to e.g. "P- 1".

Secondly, you can check what any BCR button/encoder is actually sending when you press/move it, as follows:

1. Open the "MIDI input messages" window from BC Manager's main window (e.g. via the button with the horizontal red lines).

2. In the "MIDI input messages" window, press "Record".

3. Move any button or encoder on the BCR. This should result in one or more MIDI messages in the "MIDI input messages" window. The actual message data is shown in the "Bytes" column; crucially, for a Control Change message, the second value indicates the CC number.

So e.g. if the bcr_Only_Controllers preset is active on the BCR, you should see the corresponding "Control Change" messages.
The same goes for any button/encoder whose assignment you've changed via a LEARN operation (either from BC Manager or a VSTi plugin): this should tell you which Control Change (or other) message your plugin has sent to the BCR during the LEARN operation.

You should also remember that any LEARN operation applies to the BCR's "temporary" preset (or "preset 0" in BC Manager). So after you've made a complete setup for a particular VST(i), you have to save this temporary preset to a memory preset.

Hope this helps,
Mark.