1 Topic by Quantizer (edited by Quantizer 2024-09-05 22:49:58)

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Topic: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

I want to toggle the DIM switch using anything that's software-based, whether it's a MIDI note, Python, or AppleScript; I don't care. However, I have had zero luck in the last hour I spent trying to get it to work.

I tried:

  • Sending MIDI note 93 on channel 1 — with a velocity of 127, which I had to find on a forum post?

  • Enabling all four controllers, I used various inputs and outputs, including the RME ARC and a virtual IAC cable. I also attempted to route MIDI from Ableton Live and from Keyboard Maestro. I can monitor the MIDI coming out from these devices right before they hit the input that I told Totalmix to use, however TotalMix doesn't seem to be reacting to any of it.

  • I also tried MIDI Note 44 to see if I could get Master Mute to toggle.

Can it only be controlled via MIDI hardware? Is my ARC Controller blocking it?

I love RME and recommend them to everybody, but this has been frustrating.

Thanks in advance!

2 Reply by MC

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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

Settings - MIDI - Make sure Enable Protocol support is enabled.

Options - Make sure Enable MIDI Control has a checkmark.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

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  • Registered: 2022-06-29
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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

Yes those were both checked. So you're saying it's possible to do?

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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

Of course its possible.
It makes sense to enable just one controller in TM (for testing first).
Can be controlled via MIDI HW or SW - it doesnt matter. ARC has not impact for this.
And make 100% sure you really followed, what MC described.
Send a 90 5D 00/7F for DIM Off/On to the Input you selected in TM.

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5 Reply by MC

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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

There is no DIM 'for a selected input' it only works on the assigned Main Out.

The velocity needed for switches might be an issue, so to check your MIDI remote capabilities first do the simple fader movement stuff. That's most easy IMHO. See manual which MIDI channel and CC value equals which fader.

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Matthias Carstens
RME

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6 Reply by Quantizer (edited by Quantizer 2024-09-06 17:20:14)

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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

I typed all this out once, but the forum logged me out and didn’t save my draft.

Anyway, I figured it out. The trick is that Totalmix only responds to the MIDI Note Off message, not the MIDI Note On message! This unexpected behavior needs to be fixed, or worst case documented in the manual.

In Totalmix, these settings must be checked:

  • Options > Enable MIDI Control

  • Options > Settings > MIDI > Pick any controller # > check “In Use”, pick an Input Port to receive MIDI from (in my case Keyboard Maestro), and check "Enable Protocol Support".

The MIDI Off message for Dim is 93 and must be on Channel 1. Again, MIDI On does not work. This is also true for MIDI Note 54 which controls Snapshot 1, so it's probably for all MIDI Note messages.

Edit: once I got it working, I still didn't understand why people thought Note On vel 127 worked, so I tested more velocities and discovered that vel 0 works! Apparently a MIDI Note On message with a velocity of 0 is treated as a Note Off message. But this isn't a real solution because I don't know what controllers can send a Note On velocity of 0 other than Keyboard Maestro.

7 Reply by MC

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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

MIDI Off is not a bug but Mackie standard, where all these notes are based on. Also the manual says:

Fortunately a Mackie Control compatible controller is not required to control these buttons, as they are steered by simple Note On/Off commands on MIDI channel 1.

In normal operation any On command has a following Off command...

The velocity thing on the recveiving side might be a thing of the past, and we might have changed that later to make it easier to use (it is still Mackie compatible this way. But that was years ago, so I would have to check that myself. But might explain why velocity is not in the manual).

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Matthias Carstens
RME

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Re: Sending MIDI to Totalmix on macOS

Send a 90 5D 00/7F for DIM Off/On to the Input you selected in TM.

Sorry, i was unclear. With "to the Input" i meant the selected MIDI Input Source (selected Controller in TM) - Not a Audio Input or sth. And with "90 5D 00/7F", i was in the Hex-World.

90 = Note On, Channel 1
5D = Note Numer 93 in Decimal
00/7F = Velocity 0/127 in Decimal

I still didn't understand why people thought Note On vel 127 worked

Yes, thats right. Only a Note On with vel 127 will not work - Sorry, my mistake. But vel 0 works.
Why?

- Short:
Because we are on Mackie Protocol here.

-Long:
As i understood this:  While its the same if you press a Key on a Synth, etc.
The "complete" MIDI Note Message always consists of two Messages:
NoteOn   90 5D 7F [A5  ( 93), 127] (you hit the key with max velocity)
NoteOff  80 5D 00 [A5  ( 93),   0] (you release the key)
So, I call it a MIDI note "bang". This is a MIDI Note On message immediately followed by the corresponding Note Off.


From my Notes regarding sending States from a Mackie Controller to a DAW (TM acts like a DAW from this point of view)
There is a common behaviour to all buttons and LEDs. The "bang" uses the velocity of the "Note On" message as a mean of describing the button / LED state. Maximum velocity (127 / 0x7F ) is a button pressed or a LED turned on. Minimum velocity is a button released and or a LED turned off (see above).

As a side note, this is to avoid a MIDI note overflow on the DAW. Imagine if it only used the Note On: a MIDI engines could try to keep track of all of them, waiting for the corresponding Note Off. This would build over time as we press more and more button until it runs out of memory. It's maybe not an issue anymore as MIDI engines are probably more clever than that and memory is widely available on computer now but it might have been a limitation at the time of designing this protocol.

----
So, from the direction of Mackie Controller -> TM:
- TM behaves correct, according Mackie Protocol.

The other way, TM -> Mackie Controller, it sends:
For Dim On: NoteOn   90 5D 7F [A5  ( 93), 127]
For Dim Off: NoteOff  80 5D 40 [A5  ( 93),  64]
- Ok, too, as Mackie Protocol Spec is defined as follows, regarding its LED Behaviour:

LEDState Velocity Hex   Remarks
Off      0        0x00  Any even value
Blink    1        0x01  Any odd value except 0xF7
Solid    127      0xF7
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