Greetings - I’ve scanned old archives and can’t find a solution…

I’m using a Wind Controller (EWI USB) to send BREATH (CC2) to my Motif Rack ES, and using the REGULAR patches (yes, I have a PLG150-VL card, but that’s not the problem described here, as that works fine with BC data) ... here’s the problem:

In the “Controller” section of Voice Edit I can easily get “BC” to control lots of different parameters - EXCEPT VOLUME! For some reason it has no effect on the volume - which is a primary CC a wind controller (or Breath Controller) typically wants to control. The volume fires either on or off at a static level, no variability based on range of actual BC level.

If I use MidiOx to remap CC2 (BC) into CC7 (volume) before sending midi input to the Voice Editor, that does the trick. But isn’t there a way WITHIN the Motif (using voice Edit) to have the BC midi input fire Volume info on a given patch ... after all, isn’t that why Volume is one of the first choices within the Controller assignment panel of Voice Edit? When I select the BC box and the destination = Volume, it simply fires at a constant level - no variation in volume whatsoever. I’ve also reconfigured the EWI USB to send dynamic velocity (not volume) and that has no effect (static uni-volume result) either.

Ok, so I must be missing something REALLY basic. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

- OneWatt

OneWatt:

It sounds like you’re setting it up properly, but I’ll run through the details just in case.

When you click the button marked “CTRL SET / COM LFO” you should get another screen marked “.... CtrlSet/ComLFO”

You’ll see six lines in the Controller Set subsection.  You’ll need to change or assign one of those lines by clicking the “BC” button. 
Then, in DESTINATION, Volume should be the very first thing listed (The second item going right from “-------”.

Make sure the DEPTH parameter is a positive number. (Start with 63 and go down.)

Also, make sure you set the VOLUME of the patch to ZERO. If you’re using BC to only affect specific ELEMENTS of the voice, then set the corresponding ELEMENT LEVEL to 0 and leave the rest unchanged (in which case, your destination should point to ELM-LVL instead of VOLUME.)

Make sure none of the other controllers are destined for VOLUME, and also make sure you select whichever elements are to be BC controlled.

So, if you’ve done all that, try playing the MO OUTSIDE of Voice Editor.  When you bring up the Voice Edit panel on the RACK’s LCD screen, you should see the VOLUME parameter change in real time as you puff on the EWI.

I tired of programming voices do use my WX5, and I tired of flipping the config switches to send BC for some voices and CC7 for others, so I installed a Yamaha MEP4 in the path to do translations dynamically.

In my setup, PRESET 1 is “Bypass.” ie, What goes in comes out unmodified.
PRESET 2 is CONVERT CC7 to CC2, and leave Velocity unchanged.
PRESET 3 is CONVERT CC7 to CC2, and set Velocity constant.
PRESET 4 is SET VOLOCITY = CC2, don’t send CC2.

PRE1 works for all the -VL voices as-is, and some that I DID re-program.
PRE2 and PRE3 work for wind-type voices; voices for which a variable volume is normal while the sound is still playing.
PRE4 works for NON-wind-type voices, like Keys, Pads, Drums (yes, drums!) etc.

You can probably do the same thing with MIDI-OX and get “Better” results; but your implementation is entirely up to you.

Thanks a million! The silly step I had been omitting was setting the VOLUME dial to zero. Your instructions made all the difference… now I’m off and blowing.

Thanks again for taking the time to straighten things out.

- OneWatt