I just recently picked up the quad cortex, I have previously been able to use my fcb1010 to control NDSP plugins but am finding no luck in setting it up with the quad cortex. I was hoping someone would be able to help me along with this and really spell it out for me because I have no clue what any of the midi data is or what it does I simple followed a video that told put this number here and this number there and it worked. Basically all I’m trying to do it go back and forth between 4-5 presets and use the expression pedals with each preset wether it’s a wah or any other effect and that’s basically it. I’m surprised there isent a streamlined way to just plug and go especially for a unit that costs as much as it does. Have to jump through hoops just to get a pedal working with it. If there is a template I can copy of someone’s editor that they have working for them that would make things so much easier. But I also don’t know how to configure the cortex for it either. Every video I see never makes any sense and I litteraly need a step by step explanation of the process because I don’t get how this midi shit works
It is extremely easy and QC is pretty much plug and play with regards to setting up MIDI. I would suggest reaching out to a forum for that MIDI controller. I used to use the same controller a few years ago and got rid of it due to the fact that it didn’t play well with a lot of equipment without having special ROM chips to make it easy to program.
Also if you search FCB1010 you will find multiple threads where people are setting up for different things.
Midi is so dependent on each various controller, and what you’re trying to do. There’s so many possibilities, which is amazing and allows everyone to adjust to their own setup. Just requires the research early on when setting it up. It’s all very achievable, just may seem daunting at first if you aren’t familiar with it. Midi with any device + controller will be just as frustrating with any brand when tweaking the controller to your own needs
Did you get it sorted or are you still having problems.. I can send you a Sysex file for the fcb1010
I never saw this post originally but @Gtarguy just replied yesterday and it caught my eye. @Dtownlenny if you (or anyone else in the forum) are still looking for how to control presets (and other MIDI commands in the QC via the FCB1010, using the FCB1010 Manager from Mountain Utilities (free download) makes things WAY easier than trying to make updates using the native controls in the FCB1010, a very tedious process for sure. The FCB1010 Manager lets you define all of the PC, CC, and EXP parameters for all 100 FCB1010 presets (10 banks of 10 presets). I control the QC with the 30 presets in banks 07-09. Bank 07 handles the Scenes & Modes, bank 08 does the foot switches & Gig Mode on/off, and bank 09 has 10 Presets of my choice defined. I also define the full sweep range of both EXP pedals 1 & 2 in each preset from 0 (heel down) to 127 (toe down). To know how to define the presets in the FCB Manager control file (which is a representation of the sysex file loaded in the FCB1010), you should consult the QC manual for the Incoming MIDI Messages section. I’ve included a couple of screen prints below to connect what I’m saying here with the MIDI specs in the QC manual. Main thing to remember is that in the FCB1010 to define a preset, you need:
CC #0 value to specify preset group 0-127 (0) or 128-255 (1)
CC #32 value to specify Factory Presets (0), My Presets (1), or User Folders (2-12)
PC #1 value to specify the specific preset from 0-127. These values map the actual preset value you see on the QC. For example, value 20 = QC preset 3D. I’ll explain that more below but the QC manual MIDI section has a link to the MIDI Calculator Tool, which helps you quickly find the PC #1 value based on the preset value on the QC. The quick math is that since the presets on the QC are in groups of 8, the preset identifier can be mapped to the PC #1 value by multiplying the numeric part of the preset minus 1 times 8, then adding the equivalent value of the alpha part of the preset value (A=1…H=8). So in my example above the PC #1 value for preset 3D would equate to (3-1)*8 = 16 + the D value (4) = 20.
Getting really good with the FCB1010 takes a fair amount of careful reading and testing but the Mountain Utilities FCB1010 Manager really makes managing the FCB1010 banks and presets pretty easy once you get familiar with the sysex file define, retrieve, modify, send processes. Here is a screen shot of the FCB1010 Manager editor with QC presets defined in banks 07-09. The other two screen shots are from the QC manual Incoming MIDI Messages section.
Yes I have mine running well and also use mountain utilities… I was offering him a Sysex file if he still needed one… Do you have tap tempo working also and tuner on and off gig view can also be done using one footswitch on the fcb … I’ve set mine up differently than yours but mine works for me..@InGainWeTrust
How are you moving through the banks of presets my thinking head isn’t on at the moment maybe I’m just not seeing it… Or how many presets can you scroll through… Is it 10 presets you have defined on the FCB1010?
Hey @Gtarguy I’ve been wanting to build out my MIDI config and your questions pushed me into action. Each FCB1010 preset bank in descending order (using 9 down to 5) has functionality that sort of leads into the next bank. So here’s how it works now (there is a new screen shot below).
Bank 9: Has most of the CC commands to let you set the best state for what you want to do next (Stomp, Scene, Preset Mode or Gig View On/Off, etc.)
Bank 8: My 10 favorite (most used) presets which will display based on whatever you might have set in Bank 9.
Bank 7: Lets you jump to a scene for whatever preset is loaded. You can switch to other scenes for this preset or activate Gig View (switch 5 on the FCB1010) and read the descriptions, then switch if you want.
Bank 6: If you decide to look for a different preset than from the Favorites (defined in bank 9) I’ve associated the first 8 groups of presets with 8 of the 10 switches, so you have the first 64 presets defined in each of the 2 preset groups in both My Presets and Factory Presets folders depending what options you chose from bank 9, switches 6/7 and 8/9. So from 8 switches you will be pretty easily able to access 128 different presets in the QC. Yeah it’s not everything but since NDSP has not provided a CC command to control the Up & Down switches on the unit, there is no way (that I know of ) with the FCB1010 to actually scroll through the presets. So this bank at least let you access the first preset of each of those 8 groups (the “A” preset). You can now use switch 5 on the FCB1010 to turn on Gig View and read the descriptions of all 8 presets in the group leading to the final bank…
Bank 5: The switches in bank 6 also set the mode to Preset so now in bank 5 you can just use a switch on the FCB1010 to select any of the 8 presets in the current group. And like the previous 2 banks, Gig View can be set On (switch 5) or Off (switch 10).
I will be doing the masking tape note thing on the FCB1010 to help me remember all the switch functions on all the banks I’m using, it’s a lot of stuff but it’s really flexible now. Thanks for getting me motivated!
Oh, have not done any MIDI definitions for the Tuner or Looper yet but I still have 3 empty banks on the FCB1010 so I’ll get around to it.
