Live use with MC6PRO midi controller

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Hey. I'm looking to test my midronome out this week, but I'm not sure if it's gonna fit the needs of my live rig.

I'm hoping it can replace the drum machine I use live for a click track and a disaster zone micro.clock I use with my Morning Star MC6 Pro controller to adjust BPM on the fly.

The Disaster Zone Micro.clock goes into an OmniPort on the MorningStar MC6Pro . I'm just sending a tap tempo into MC6Pro for on the fly changes, mostly in rehearsal.

I have a custom 433mhz 16 channel remote fob and relay into an Arduino unit to send Midi commands to the MC6Pro and other gear. I can't use my feet a with my pedal board during performance so I use a remote control.

The MC6 Pro has a bank for most of my songs. I have BPM set per song and currently the MC6Pro:
- is master clock starting and stopping a SR-16 drum machine for a click
- sends program and control changes to 8 midi devices
- sends BPM to devices for time based effects.

I'd like for the Midronome to speak two way to my MS6PRO. I want BPM recalled from the MC6Pro bank, click audio to come from Midronome to feed to IEM's and I want that dial on the Midronome to work on the fly to readjust tempo.

If I understand the manual, I'll have to test if USB C out on my MC6Pro will control Midronome USB, but Midronome has . multiple USB inputs. I may have to use Midi Channel 12 and Midronome CC messages outlined in manual to make this work. Hopefully all my other Midi data will still pass though the Midronome which would be acting as master clock. Hopefully sending a tap tempo back to the MC6Pro won't cause a loop.

Any advice before I test in a few.days is welcome

[Simon]

Hi

Yes it sounds like you figured it all out - looking forward to hearing what the tests show

Note that you to send commands to the Midronome from the MC6Pro you will need to send them to the first USB-MIDI input interface (called "Midronome Commands"), and only on channel 12 as you indeed noted. To get the Midronome to forward MIDI data to your devices you will need to send this data to the second and third USB-MIDI input interfaces (called "MIDI Out 1" and "MIDI Out 2").

Sending the tempo back to the MC6Pro should be fine, and even if it creates a loop I would guess the tempo would still be stable.

(Just FYI, the loop effect would be for example:
* initial situation: tempo is 125 on both MC6 and Midronome
* you turn the dial to 127 on the Midronome
* the Midronome sends tempo 127 to the MC6
* the MC6 detects a change of tempo, so it sends MIDI CC to the Midronome, to change its tempo to 127
* the Midronome receives the messages, and does nothing since its tempo is already 127
)

Let us know how it goes

Cheers
Simon

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Simon,

Thanks for responding. At the moment I can't figure out how to make this work.

To get the Midronome to forward MIDI data to your devices you will need to send this data to the second and third USB-MIDI input interfaces (called "MIDI Out 1" and "MIDI Out 2").

I don't have the option on my MC6 Pro to select USB-MIDI input ports. It's not a computer, it's a stand-alone MIDI controller. https://www.morningstar.io/mc6-pro

I can power Midronome from the MC6 Pro USB-C Host Port.

From the MC6 Pro, I can send MIDI Start and MIDI stop messages and MIDRONOME recognizes them. Gear I have plugged into either MIDI 1 or MIDI 2 is also getting a Stop and Start message I believe from Midronome, not the MC6 Pro.

*I can not get PC, CC or any other MIDI message to come from MC6 Pro via USB Port and go through the Midirome through either MIDI 1 or MIDI2 to other gear.

From the manual of MC6 Pro, the USB-C Host Port functions as:

USB Host
The MC6 PRO comes equipped with a USB Host port to allow you to control other USB MIDI devices. The Host port is capable of both sending and receiving MIDI. You can use a USB hub to connect and control up to 3 USB MIDI devices. You can also connect a computer keyboard to the USB Host port to give you control over the MC6 PRO. If connecting and powering multiple USB devices via the host port, you will need to use a powered USB hub.

Not all USB Hubs are compatible. It is not possible for us to advise which hub will or will not work. Generally, hubs with added functions besides USB, like HDMI or SD Card functionalities, will not work.


When connecting a USB Device to the USB Host port, the USB Device may be drawing power from the USB Host port. If so, there will be increased power requirements for the MC6 PRO. Please ensure that you are supplying your MC6 PRO with adequate power.

If you wanna have a look at exactly what my MC6 Pro controller options are, a demo version of the editor is here:
https://editor-mkii.morningstar.io/mcgen2
- Scroll down the page and below "Try our Demo Mode" select MC6 PRO
- From the top menu select "Controller Settings"
- The only setting with something looking like a small chance of helping is 'Edit MIDI Channel Settings'

I had no faith in testing deselecting and selecting every combination of USB Host and USB Device Port would make any difference BUT I tried and nothing happened.

I'm open to suggestions but looks like I'll be selling my MIDRONOME.

And by the way, I'm getting a buzz out of mine when I have the USB connected to my computer. Seems like a ground loop buzz cause when I power it else where buzz goes away. The computer might be cause of buzz, but at the same time, none of my other gear is making noise.

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I just tried something else.

The MC6 Pro USB Host connection is 2 way, so:
- I plugged all my MIDI gear back into the MIDI out of the MC6 Pro
- I have the MIDRONOME plugged into USB-Host
- Successfully send CC on CH 12 to set BPM of MIDRONOME
- Successfully send MIDI Clock start that MIDRONOME recognizes and all my gear sees
- When I adjust BMP on MIDRONOME, the BPM changes on the MC6 Pro, however...

It's showing double the tempo of the MIDRONOME. I have a MIDI Clock Loop.

I didn't think it would work at all this way. If I could get rid of the loop causing the doubling I'd be happy.

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And it does the same thing in http://www.midimonitor.com/ by Morningstar. It doubles the BPM. I think because it's being sent twice, once by each of the Midronome USB host in midi ports.

Stand alone midi controllers that guitar players typically use (or at least) MorningStar do not have a way to choose USB midi ports.

Maybe this could be a feature request? A way to turn off one of the USB midi in ports from Midronome settings?

I don't know how many others would find this useful.

[Simon]

Hi

So it seems that:

1. The MC6Pro is sending data only to the first USB-MIDI interface (i.e. MIDI Commands), which explains why you can control the Midronome but not get it to forward data (as that would require sending MIDI to the second and third USB-MIDI interfaces)
2. The MC6Pro and the Midi Monitor are reading data from all USB-MIDI interfaces, i.e. both "Clock & start" and "Clock only" which explains why they get double tempo

If you ask me, that's just bad USB-MIDI implementation from their side. They should ideally give the user a choice of which USB-MIDI interfaces to use, instead of taking the first one IN and all OUTs.

But good news for you, I plan on removing that extra "Clock only" interface because I think it confuses people and creates problems like yours with USB hosts that read all data from both interfaces. If you do not mind creating one, then yes having an official topic about removing that interface in the Feature requests forum would be great, to see if other people also agree

Cheers
Simon