CC / NRPN converters for remote editing
2016-05-17 by Jason Proctor
dear vectors,
following on from Vector Surgeon, i've been trying to find an easier and more compatible way of remote editing our synth. i did get some way into designing a dedicated hardware controller, but eventually i decided that i wanted a solution that pretty much everyone could use with a minimum of DIYing and the like.
jumping in at the deep end, i thought of doing custom firmware for the Behringer BCR2000 controller, as, like every other MIDI controller, it doesn't support the reversed NRPNs that the VS uses for remote parameter edits. however it doesn't look like the reverse engineering effort yet supports all the facilities such an app would need.
so then i thought about doing a converter so that any old MIDI controller could remote control the VS. the idea is that a box or app would convert incoming MIDI CCs or NRPNs into the backward NRPNs and forward them on to the VS. since most of the controllers are very configurable, the router app could be a dumb Arduino brick - or not.
what do the panel think? worth persevering?
to that end, i put a very simple example up here --
uses WebMIDI, so it only works in a modern Chrome. works fine for me, enables me to use my Nord Lead 2 as a (somewhat limited) remote editor.
also please note that as it's not over SSL, i can't send the SysEx command to enable remote editing, so you have to do that on the synth.
feedback welcome!
Jason