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About this manual
If you are looking to start using the AudioCubes for the first time, refer to the Getting Started manual that came with the software.
This manual provides more details about the MIDIBridge software itself and using it with Ableton Live and Propellerheads Reason.
The MIDIBridge Application
When you run the MIDI Bridge program that was installed on your computer, the following window is displayed :
If you have multiple cubes connected to your computer, you can edit each of them by clicking on the other Cube buttons of the main menu. For example, the cube that was connected secondly will show up under panel Cube 2.
Note that it is not the second cube on your desk that shows up under Cube 2, but the second cube that is physically connected with a USB cable to your computer.
We now give an overview of the various panels in this edit window and their functionality.
Cube colours
This panel is located on the left hand side of the edit window. It lets you :
- set colours using the colour picker (using your mouse)
- control colours of the cubes (using incoming MIDI continuous controller messages)
- link the sensor signals of the cubes to the brightness of the colour set on the cubes (used with the sensor mode)
Note that to link the sensor signals to brightness, you need to calibrate all four faces of the sensor cube. For instructions on how to do this, see the Getting Started manual. The 4 sensor values of the sensor cube are multiplied and together, they control the brightness.
Cube modes
The cubes can be set to carry out various functions. Among other possibilities, three different modes are used in the MIDI Bridge to generate two types of MIDI information :
- MIDI note-on messages (to start sounds in other software or MIDI devices)
- MIDI continuous controllers (to change parameters in the sound)
The sender and receiver modes are used together (one wireless cube as sender, one wired cube as receiver) to generate the notes, while the sensor mode is used to generate MIDI continuous controllers (one wired cube).
Refer to the getting started manual for an example of how to use the three modes.
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For the MIDI note triggers, you can also send notes manually by clicking the buttons directly to the right of the note names.
If you want to change the notes sent by the MIDI Bridge, you can click and drag the note names, or you can click and type them in with the computer keyboard, e.g. F5. Hit return after typing in a new note.
For the MIDI continuous controllers, you can change the controller number by clicking and dragging, or by typing in the number and hitting return.
Minimum and maximum values for the MIDI controller can be set in a similar way. Inverting the range is done by typing in a large number for the minimum and a small number for the maximum. The software understands when it needs to invert the range.
Mapping to and from MIDI Information
At the left side of the window you will find a panel for choosing a MIDI input port and channel. Through this input, MIDI messages can be received to change the colours of the cubes.
At the right side, there is a similar panel for selecting the port and channel through which MIDI notes and controllers can be sent.
Of course it is possible to use both hardware ports here (from a MIDI interface, for example) as well as virtual ports (software drivers, such as the LoopBe1 on PC or to/from MIDIBridge ports on Mac).
Loading and Saving presets in MIDIBridge
At the top left in MIDIBridge, there are two buttons, one to load a preset, and one to save a preset. When clicked, they display a dialog box that lets you load/save your preset as a file.
A preset is a file containing all relevant settings for the 4 cube configuration panels in the MIDI Bridge. It stores colours, cube mode, note and controller assignments, for all 4 cubes which you can physically connect to your computer with a cable.
If you are a performer or you need to load the settings on the cubes you are going to use in as little time as possible, you can configure your 4 cubes in the MIDI Bridge while they are all connected with a cable, save the preset, and when you go on stage, you can load all settings on all 4 cubes simultaneously regardless if you then disconnect the cubes to use them, or leave them connected.
Of course, you can also make presets that just use one, two or three cubes.
Calibrating and Resetting all cube faces
The "Reset Settings" button resets all the MIDIBridge's settings to their default values, exactly like how they were when the software started.
The "Calibrate All" button can be used to calibrate all of the faces of a sensor cube, instead of going to each of the faces individually and pressing the "Calibrate" button. To use this, you first need to adjust the sliders and move your fingers in front of each of the faces. See the Getting Started manual for the procedure.
Notes about Ableton Live
Changing mappings in Ableton Live
As explained in the getting started manual, there is an example Live set on the CD or DVD, installer or disk image, that works with the MIDI note triggers of the MIDI Bridge. This Live set has already all 16 notes pre-assigned (for a cube pair : 4 faces x 4 faces = 16 note triggers), all on channel 14 :
Similarly, a continous controller has been pre-assigned to the cutoff frequency of the auto filter on the main track in the live set, for use with the right face of a connected sensor cube (MIDI Channel 2, controller 12).
In the next sections we discuss creating your own mappings in Live using the notes and controllers from MIDIBridge.
Assigning MIDI notes to clips
- Go to the MIDI Bridge and configure a pair of cubes as a sender-receiver pair.
- Go to Live and open the Live set you want to work with
- Click on the audio clip you want to link to the MIDI note sent by the MIDI Bridge
- Press CTRL+M (on PC) or Apple-M (on Mac) to enter the MIDI learn mode in Live
- Move the Sender and Receiver cubes such that the faces you want to use align with each other.
- A MIDI note should be triggered and Live should now have assigned the note to the clip.
- Press CTRL+M (on PC) or Apple-M (on Mac) again to exit the MIDI learn mode in Live
- You can now use the Sender and Receiver cube together to trigger the audio clip
Assigning MIDI controllers to effect parameters
- Go to the MIDI Bridge and make sure only the controller for the face sensor you want to use is enabled:
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Please make sure you calibrated these sensor faces using the procedure in the Getting Started manual before continuing.
- Go to Live and open the Live set you want to work with
- Click on a setting you want to assign to the controller (e.g. Filter cutoff in the Auto Filter on the master track)
- Press CTRL+M (on PC) or Apple-M (on Mac) to enter the MIDI learn mode in Live
- Live should now have assigned the controller to the setting
- Press CTRL+M (on PC) or Apple-M (on Mac) again to exit the MIDI learn mode in Live
- You should now be able to move your hands closer and further away to the face sensor to control the effect setting
Notes about Propellerheads Reason
These sections assume you have succesfuly installed the Remote Codec for the AudioCubes and have already gone through the Getting Started manual.
Assigning MIDI notes to buttons
- Setup a Sender-Receiver pair in the MIDIBridge.
- Go to Reason and open the Reason song you want to work with
- Control-Click on the button of the Reason device you want to link to the MIDI note sent by the MIDI Bridge
- Select "Edit Remote Override Mapping"
- Select the CubeControl Control Surface from the drop down menu.
- Make sure the "Learn from Control Surface Input" checkbox is enabled.
- Move the sender in front of the receiver cube to send a MIDI note trigger.
- A MIDI note should be triggered and Reason should now have assigned the note to the button.
- You can now use the Sender and Receiver cube together to "push" the button you just assigned.
Assigning MIDI controllers to synth parameters
- First, set up a cube in sensor mode in MIDIBridge.
- Go to the MIDI Bridge and make sure the controller for the face sensor you want to use, and the controller for the enabling face, are both enabled:
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Please make sure you calibrated these sensor faces using the procedure in the Getting Started manual before continuing.
- Go to Reason and open the Reason song you want to work with
- Control-Click on the parameter of the Reason device you want to link to the MIDI controller sent by the MIDI Bridge
- Select "Edit Remote Override Mapping"
- Select the CubeControl Control Surface from the drop down menu.
- Make sure the "Learn from Control Surface Input" checkbox is enabled.
- Keep one finger on the enabling face of the cube (see Getting Started Manual)
- With a second finger, touch the sensor face you want to use for the parameter
- Reason should now indicate it has assigned the sensor to the synth parameter.
- You can now use the 2 faces of the sensor cube together to control the synth parameter.
Of course it is possible to use any other face of the sensor cube together with the "enabling" face (controller 13).
Understanding the Reason Remote Codec Map
When you installed the Reason Remote Codec for the AudioCubes using the Getting Started manual, the codec was installed in the following locations:
If you are on PC:
- C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Propellerhead Software/Remote/Codecs/Lua Codecs/Percussa/CubeControl
- C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Propellerhead Software/Remote/Maps/Percussa/CubeControl
If you are on Mac:
- /Library/Application Support/Propellerhead Software/Remote/Codecs/Lua Codecs/Percussa/CubeControl
- /Library/Application Support/Propellerhead Software/Remote/Maps/Percussa/CubeControl
If you browse the CubeControl folder you will find a file called "CubeControl.remotemap". You can open this file with a text editor. On PC, you can use Notepad. On Mac, you can use TextEdit.
How cube sensors are mapped to parameters
The file shows the assignments of cube sensors to parameters on all the synthesizers which can be inserted into the Reason rack. For example:
Scope Propellerheads SubTractor Analog Synthesizer // Control Surface Item Key Remotable Item Scale Mode Map Face 1A Amp Env Release Map Face 1B Filter Env Amount Map Face 1C Pitch Bend Map Face 2A Mod Env Gain Map Face 2B FM Amount Map Face 2C Mod Wheel
In the Remote Codec, Face 1A to 1D is assigned to an AudioCube on MIDI Channel 1 sending MIDI Continuous controllers 10-13. Face 2A to 2D is assigned to an AudioCube on MIDI Channel 2 sending controllers 10-13. The MIDI Channel on which the AudioCube is sending can be changed in the MIDIBridge.
For people who are into experimenting, CubeControl.lua and CubeControl.remotemap can be edited to map MIDI continuous controllers sent by the AudioCubes to other synth settings of the Subtractor synth.
For those who prefer to keep it simple, Remote Overrides can be used in Reason to map the cube sensors to other Subtractor synth settings.
How cube triggers are mapped to buttons
The file "CubeControl.remotemap" also maps a range of MIDI notes to pattern selection buttons on the Redrum and Matrix pattern sequencers:
Scope Propellerheads Redrum Drum Computer Define Group Keyboard Shortcut Variations c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 c6 c7 c8 c9 c0 // Control Surface Item Key Remotable Item Scale Mode Map Keyboard 72 Pattern 1 Map Keyboard 73 Pattern 2 Map Keyboard 74 Pattern 3 Map Keyboard 75 Pattern 4 Map Keyboard 76 Pattern 5 Map Keyboard 77 Pattern 6 Map Keyboard 78 Pattern 7 Map Keyboard 79 Pattern 8 Map Keyboard 80 Bank A Map Keyboard 81 Bank B Map Keyboard 82 Bank C Map Keyboard 83 Bank D
Notes 72-75, notes 76-79 and notes 80-83 each correspond to a different side of the receiver cube in a sender-receiver cube pair. To understand how this works in practice, please see the Getting Started manual and the section on Reason and the Remote Codec.
Copyright Notice
Copyright 2004-2008 PERCUSSA(TM). All rights reserved.
This manual, as well as the software and hardware described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.
The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice and should not construed as a commitment by PERCUSSA.
PERCUSSA assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document.
Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of PERCUSSA.
PERCUSSA and AudioCubes are trademarks of PERCUSSA. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
All features and specifications subject to change without notice. For the latest revision of this manual or the software, visit www.percussa.com
