External control of macros

I’ve been trying to find out if there is a way that the Continuum(ini) allows an external controller to control the 6 ‘Macro Controllers’ / ‘Barrels’ directly?
So I mean without the Haken editor.
f.e. a midi controller or automation from a DAW or CC messages from a max patch or …

Seems like the most obvious thing to me that everybody would want but…
With my Continuumini on stage I would be limited to 1 pedal to control 1 macro, right?
Because the (unfairly priced) Kenton killamix mini only works through the haken editor if I understand correctly?

Any clarifications would be greatly appreciated. :slight_smile:

1 Like

I don’t have the Continuum, but it is certainly possible on Osmose, and I believe Continuumini.

1 Like

yes, they are midi mapped to CC 12-17
this can be found on p163 of the continuum user manual.

though, frankly, the haken manuals are an impenetrable mess… not surprised people can’t find what they need. even I, knowing the exact table/page I was after… took 5 mins to find it :wink:

in fairness, they are pretty comprehensive… just not "user’ friendly :frowning:

2 Likes

In the 10.44 release, easier (at least for me) to read the HakenMidi.h file to understand the MIDI protocol.

BTW, Macros 1-6 support 14-bit resolution, by preceding the cc with a cc87 with the LSB. Most MIDI controllers probably don’t have the ability to do this.

All Eagan Matrix devices support the same MIDI protocol. There are a few things that don’t work on the Osmose (such as preset queries, alas).

2 Likes

yeah, I assumed OP was not a dev (perhaps incorrectly) , so might prefer the user manual page reference :laughing:

1 Like

I’ve been meaning to rebuild my macro morpher (for lack of a better term), to ensure compatibility with the recent firmware updates. I don’t think I’d caught on that any of them had a 14 bit option, the first time. Seems a nice incentive to actually do the work…

1 Like

Great to hear! I’m not a dev indeed, so this was very helpful thank you.

1 Like

Could you give an example how this would be formulated? (for someone who didn’t know what LSB is)
And what is the default resolution then?

1 Like

I had success using an Ableton live device that sends out cc messages, which I then controller with an external behringer x-touch mini. I used cc12-cc17 and it was very easy to use both absolute and relative values, depending on the channel sent. It’s all in the manual. Also, if you send 64 to any macro CC at channel 2, the Mini (the EaganMatrix) responds with the current value of that CC. So I can use a button at Ableton to send CCX=64 messages and my controller will light up with the current values.

2 Likes

LSB = Least significant bits, MSB = Most significant bits.

A standard MIDI CC has a value in the range 0-127.
The 14-bit range of values is 0 - 16,256 (0x3F80).

To send a high-resolution value to Macros 1-6, the LSB (lowest 7 bits) is sent first as CC 87, and the MSB (high 7 bits) is sent in the Macro CC: CC 12 (i) to CC 17 (vi).

Given a 16-bit or larger integer containing the value of the parameter, in C/C++ this would be calculated as:

uint8_t low = value & 0x7f;
uint7_t high = value >> 7; // assuming value is in the range 0-16256

Firmware 10.4x adds a ton of extended macros, for a total of 90. These are always bipolar (signed). For details on their format, range, and how they’re sent and received, the technical info is in the HakenMidi.h file included with the user guides in the firmware download.

2 Likes