Expression Pedal with the Neural Plugin VST in Ableton

Plugins
1

There is a video at Guitar Plugin Foot Controller - ft. Neural DSP - YouTube and there is an pinned note there stating:

NOTE TO ABLETON USERS: For MIDI controlling Neural DSP plugins within Ableton. You will need to use Note messages with positive note velocities instead of CC messages. That is the only way Neural’s plugins respond to Ableton MIDI right now.

Most expression pedals cannot send note messages so how we use an expression pedal with the VST DSP plugins

Is there a work around for this?

2

Most expression pedals cannot send note messages so how we use an expression pedal with the VST DSP plugins?

3

In Ableton, i was able to get my Boss EV-1-WL to work with NDSP by using the MIDI Map Editor and Automation lanes to control the wah sweep, wah switch and teach it the actions that each CC# controls. It’s a little clunky to get it to work at first, but once your parameters are set, it seems to work really well. Here’s how i did it:

Part 1:
First, we’re going to have to set up Ableton and the NDSP Plugin what we’re trying to get it to do:

  • Load up Ableton and add a NDSP plugin to an audio track
  • open the VST window
  • In Arrangement View, click the “Automation Mode” button to view automation lanes
  • Click “Options > Edit MIDI Map”, or Ctrl+M (PC) to enter MIDI Mapping. You should see a lot of the different buttons highlighted in blue.
  • Return to the NDSP VST window

Part 2:
Now, we’re going to teach Ableton what the Expression pedal is controlling.

  • Perform the action on your expression pedal (move it heel to toe, press footswitch, etc.)
  • In your VST window, first perform the action you want to control (use the mouse to move the wah pedal, turn output up/down, etc)
  • You should now see your CC# and the action you were trying to control in the list of MIDI Mappings, as well as that action in a new automation lane.
    Repeat Part 2 for any additional parameters you need to program in.

I hope that helps!