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Recording midi Control Change messages to midi track

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I combed the web and the forums without much success.

I have a Roland TD-10 drum module with midi out connected to the PC running qtractor. I created a midi track on channel 10 and had no issues recording the drums except for the hi hat. The TD-10 has a foot switch that controls the separation of the hi hat cymbals (from fully closed to open). Some reading of the TD-10 manual and snooping of the midi data using aseqdump showed that the hi hat foot control position is sent out as a CC#4 message:

Waiting for data. Press Ctrl+C to end.
Source  Event                  Ch  Data
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 1
 20:0   Active Sensing
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 6
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 13
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 27
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 44
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 63
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 78
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 94
 20:0   Note on                 9, note 44, velocity 13
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 104
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 118
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 127
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Note off                9, note 44
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Active Sensing
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 109
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 95
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 73
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 52
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 36
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 23
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 12
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 6
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 2
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Control change          9, controller 4, value 0
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Clock
 20:0   Active Sensing

So, is there a way to capture these values on channel 9 such that the performance of the foot controller can be reproduced later by a soft synth or the TD-10 itself? Setting up a midi track connected to midi channel 9 did not capture this data.

Thanks,
-Marco

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rncbc's picture

hi Marco,

the aseqdump output above is telling that all MIDI events goes on channel 10 (aseqdump shows zero-based channel addresses, 0-15; to get the channel number you should add one, so that 9+1=10).

so all MIDI data fits in one single channel (10) and that should be the one you set up the MIDI track in qtractor (and not 9) for recording; the CC#4 events should be recorded as well, as any other CC#, along with the note-on/offs...

other than that i see no reason for it not capturing all the performance data you're trying to record and playback.

hth.
cheers

Thank you so much for replying. I will go back and check but I asked the question because the CC event was not being recorded. Well, let me clarify, I am new at midi recording so what I am trying to say is that the CC event was not showing on the track. I guess the track only shows midi notes. But because my software synth only has sounds for open and closed hi hat I could not check that the CC#4 event was recorded. Is there a way to verify that the CC event is being recorded by looking into the file?

Thanks,
-Marco

rncbc's picture

re. Is there a way to verify that the CC event is being recorded by looking into the file?

hell, yes. :) while on the MIDI clip that conveys the recorded material, double-click on it or just (right-button-)click and select Clip/Edit... from the context-menu, now entering the MIDI clip editor or, as some like to call, the piano-roll or matrix editor:)

  • select "Controller" and then "4 - Foot Pedal (coarse)" (this is a the old GM assigned name for that controller number, fwiw.) on the drop-down list on its right--all CC#4 events, if any, will appear on the bottom time-line pane, depicted as like a bar-chart graphic;
  • turn on View/Windows/Events for showing up the complete MIDI event list, where among everything else, "Controller", "4 - Foot Pedal (coarse)" event items might get listed iif they are indeed parts of the subject MIDI clip contents.

hth.
cheers

Fantastic! Thank you so much.

-Marco

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