MIDI Pitch-Automation without Whammy Pedal

I’m using QC for gigging and all commands (preset- and scene changes) are done via MIDI.
I was wondering if i can programm the pedal position of the “Wham” via MIDI. I don’t want to use a physical whammy pedal (or expression pedal, or similar) because I only need it in one song at a specific point. Therefore it would be better to automate the shift of the pitch digitally.

Please help me smart crowd :smiley:

i need the same thing

Did you realize how to do that??

I need this too! DId you figure it out?

Not sure what you are using as a MIDI controller, but you can absolutely program the position of the Wham (or for example a Wha) using MIDI. I used a MIDI loopback to test (MIDI cable connected from the MIDI In to the MIDI Out on the QC). So I would think this can be done with an external MIDI controller as well.

  1. In the context menu (three dots) under ‘Assign Expresssion Pedal’, assign, for example, ‘Heel Pitch 1’ on the Wham block (or Wah if you wanted) to EXP 1 or EXP2. You can assign one of the other parameters if you prefer, but I used ‘Heel Pitch 1’ for this example.

  2. In step #4 if you use EXP 1 you will use CC#1, or if you used EXP 2, use CC#2. It doesn’t matter if you have an expression pedal connected or not. The MIDI commands you are about to set up will still work.

  3. Now go to ‘Preset MIDI Out’ selection under the menu in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Select the footswitch you want to assign your MIDI command to, for example ‘F’. If you are using your own MIDI controller then select your footswitch using your controller’s interface.

  4. Select “CC Toggle” if you want to use two values for this footswitch. Then select ‘CHANNEL’=1, and then CC#1 if you assigned the WHAM to EXP1, or CC#=2 if you used EXP2.

  5. You are going to select the ‘Min Value’ and the ‘Max Value’ to toggle between two semitone values, e.g. one octave up, one octave down.

  6. In this example the ‘Heel Pitch 1’ has 24 semitones up, and -24 semitones down, for a total of 48 possible semitone positions. The CC values go from 0 to 127 for a total of 128. So, 128/48 means that each position, starting from -24 semitones on the Wham, is an increase of roughly about 2.6 on the ‘Value’ parameter. So, for example, a ‘Min Value’=“64” and a ‘Max Value’=‘94’ will switch between zero semitones and an octave (12 semitones) up.

  7. You may have to experiment with the ‘Value’ a bit to get just the number of semitones you want given the decimal addition. Seems like a lot of math but if you play with the values, it gets obvious very quickly. You can check your value settings by going back to the Wham block’s ‘Heel Pitch 1’ knob and seeing how many semitones you have set it to.

You did not say what you were using for a MIDI controller, but I think it would work roughly the same way as with the MIDI loopback trick. The important parameters are that the CC# parameter, CC#1 & CC#2, correspond to EXP1 & EXP2. And the MIDI ‘Value’ parameter(s) (e.g. ‘Min Value’ & ‘Max Value’) correspond to the number of semitones in the parameter, e.g. ‘Heel Pitch 1’ you assigned to the expression pedal (even if you don’t have one connected) under the context menu. In this case controlling the number of semitones up or down.

Btw, you could also use only one semitone ‘Value’ for the Wham by selecting ‘Type’=“CC” instead of ‘Type’=“CC Toggle” under the ‘Preset MIDI Out’ settings (or from your external MIDI controller).

Also, you can assign multiple Wham parameters, e.g. ‘HEEL PITCH 1’ and ‘TOE PITCH 1’ on EXP1 and/or EXP2. Then send the corresponding MIDI commands to CC#1 and/or CC#2.

Don’t know if any of this helps if you are trying to automate a continuous shift on the Wham. But hopefully something in here helps get you on the right track. I believe @RexRemus is the resident MIDI expert around here. Maybe he can chime in. A video would go a long way towards explaining this as well.

I guess in long-winded fashion I was trying to say that the key to using MIDI commands for the Wham (or other blocks) on the QC, at least currently, is to tie the expression pedal assignment (whether or not you have an expression pedal connected), to the MIDI commands.

You do that by selecting the Wham block and then setting up the parameters you want to control by using the context menu (three dots on left of screen) and selecting ‘Assign Expresssion Pedal’.

After that it is standard MIDI assignment with CC#1 corresponding to EXP1 and CC#2 corresponding to EXP2. The MIDI ‘Value’ field controls whatever parameters you assigned under the ‘Assign Expresssion Pedal’ screen.

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@HonestOpinion has it exactly right. You still need to assign the EXP pedal as if you were doing it for a physical pedal, then just control it via CC#1/2 (EXP 1/2) however you need to

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Sheesh, I wish I had your gift for brevity. :grin:

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