Important questions before buying an MK2

General discussion
1

Hello,

I consider buying an E1 MK2 to control plugins but, since I can’t try it before, I have a few important questions:

  1. Does the unit constantly update parameter values from the DAW to the hardware?

Example 1 : if I load the Diva plugin, then choose the Diva preset on the E1 (that I created before), is the current value of Diva’s cutoff frequency synced to the one of the E1 screen? I’ve watched a video and it seems like it’s not the case, which is quite surprising.

Example 2 : I use the DrivenByMoss script for controlling track volumes in REAPER. If I load a project that is already mixed (track 1: -12 dB, track 2: -3 dB, etc.), then load the preset from the E1, will these values (-12 dB, -3 dB, etc.) be reflected on the E1 screen and if I make a tiny movement to adjust track 2 from -3 dB to -2 dB, will the value instantly jump to - infinity?

  1. Is it possible to match the values of a plugin parameter to the ones of the E1 screen?

Example: cutoff frequency goes from 20Hz to 20 000 Hz in a plugin. If I create a parameter to control it, will I be able to put these bound values instead of 0-1 (or 1-100, etc.)?

  1. Can we adjust the curve of a given parameter? Is it just straight/logarithmic/exp or can we put a real curve?

Example: logarithmic for track volumes

Example: logarithmic for all EQ/filter frequencies

  1. I saw it’s possible to show a parameter in full screen for fine touch adjustments. It’s great but I’m wondering if it’s possible to fine adjust with a knob and a “shift button”.

  2. Can we just increment/decrement values with physical buttons? If so, is it possible to define precisely those values? If so, is it parameter-dependant?

I may have other questions later, but for the moment there are the ones that prevent me from pulling the trigger.

Thank you,

creal.

2

That is not dependent on the Electra One, but on the synth or VST you want to control. The question you need to ask yourself: is the plugin able to send out parameter changes via CC, NRPN or SysEx so the Electra One can listen to it?
If yes, then indeed you can make the Electra One respond to it.

There are two ways to resolve this:

  • You give each parameter value a distinct message to display. A bit tedious but doable for value ranges up to 128 values, I’d say (my experience).
  • You create a formula using a lua script you make yourselves, that provides you the value to display for each value the paramater has, and you assign this formula to the parameter as a formatting function. I do this all the time for instance to represent Pulsewidth in values between 0.0% and 50.0 % instead of the common 0…127

How a synth or plugin reacts to values received it receives is more a characteristic of the synth or plugin, not of the controller. But if you want to have a different scaling than programmed by the synth/plugin, you can always set up a parameter as a selection list where you skip certain values, to get that logarithmic or exponential feel, or one again you create your own lua logic where you translate parameter values as set on the Electra One to another scale of parameters you want your synth/plugin to receive. Mind you, this way you will make it harder for yourself to read the parameter changes as your receive them from your synth/plugin as in the latter case you will have to program as well the inverse function to translate the received value into the parameter value.

Yes, with a long press

Yes, you can program such logic

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3

Hi NewIgnis,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

  1. I understand. Suppose that a plugin is able to send out parameters via MIDI, does E1 catch all the current state values when opening an E1 preset? I mean, is there a kind of automatic “total recall” that would send all values from the plugin to the E1? Or maybe it’s also plugin-dependant

  2. This is great. But I don’t understand why you need a function to represent the PW. Couldn’t be linear from 0% to 50% (mapped from 0 to 127)? 64 would represent 25%

  3. Thank you. Lua transfer functions seem dope.

  4. Which button is it (from 3 to 8, according to the manual)? I can’t find any info on the manual.

  5. Are we able to assign whatever buttons? Say buttons 7-8? If so, how can the initial actions be achieved (in that case: snapshots, menu)

I also have a couple of questions, if you don’t mind. After that, I will have enough info to decide if the unit will suit my needs:

  1. Is there undo/redo actions? And can we map them to any physical buttons (from 3 to 8)?

  2. Can we “lock” a parameter? Example: press button 3 while moving a knob would change a parameter which gets back to its previous position when releasing both the knob and button 3

  3. Can we display faders vertically? It could take two rows so that we would only have 3 vertical faders per column instead of 6 parameters

  4. Are pads (touch buttons) be able to only send one value? If so, can we program if it’s when pressing or releasing? In the manual, I read that we can toggle between 2 values, but I don’t know for 1 value.

  5. Can we define an “uncentered center” for bipolar faders? Example: fader from -36 to 100, with a centre at 0.

  6. Can we assign pads to send increment/decrement program change? Example: PC is currently 45. If I press the “+1” pad, PC 46 is sent to my MIDI device.

  7. Are we able to use physical buttons (from 3 to 8) to trigger pads? It would be great to not forced to use touch screen to toggle actions.

Thank you very much and have a great day,

creal.

4

Depends indeed on the synth. Only some synths are able to respond to a request (typically MIDI SysEx) to dump a program or their edit buffer, in which case you can parse the received info and set parameters on the E1 accordingly to reflect how the sound was made up. Some synths are even able to spontaneously send out all their MIDI CC settings when changing presets.
Limitation don’t come from the E1, but from the synths themselves.

It’s a matter of taste: it’s very simple to represent 0…127 CC values as 0…50 display values. No need for a function for that. But I myself like to see the %-sign as part of the shown value. Therefor a formatting function is needed (takes 3 lines: the header, the formula, the end line).

The buttons only are used for navigation purposes, not for controlling parameters. You need to long press the parameter on the (touch) screen.

I don’t understand the question

Redo / Undo exists in the Web editor, when building a preset.

Redo/undo does not exist in MIDI messages. The Electra One, as a MIDI controller does not provide that. I can understand perhaps you want this for plugins. I myself usually work with hardware devices, none of them come with undo functions. So it’s not something I’ve ever missed.

Yes, you can lock or hide parameters using lua code.

Not yet, I believe Martin has ideas for additional display formats. But it’s not the first priority

Of course. Again with a bit of lua, you can make a press do multiple things. And make different actions between both states

Yes. Out of the box

Yes. Although my experience is limited to using it for ppatch browsing

Don’t know. You can trigger actions based on encoder touch.
But if you have a simple MIDI controller with buttons, you could use the USB connection on the Electra One to add it and use as a physical extension to the 12 Electra encoders. I haven’t done that myself, because I route my Keystep through my E1 .

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5

Thank you very much for your replies and your reactivity.

Everything is clear now.

Concerning 5) I thought about assigning not only knob encoders to MIDI commands but also the six buttons, which is not possible as you specified in 4) But you said in 12) that we can use encoder touch-based actions, which could be a workaround to mute/solo a track, or bypass a plugin without touching the screen itself

Concerning the undo/redo, I can use another MIDI surface plugged into the E1, as you suggest, or simply use the undo/redo actions of the DAW (with the keyboard). Maybe a Streamdeck would be the best companion here.

I’ll give the E1 a try and post FabFilter presets as soon as I can.

Have a great day and thank you again,

creal.

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6

One important fact is that @NewIgnis talks about hw synths, while you specifically talk about plugins. With those it is a bit different and relies on the DAW you’re running the plugin in. All recall, stored values etc can for example be easily achieved with Ableton or iirc bitwig, if you are using the control scripts. Check out the threads here in the forum about those. The ableton one is done by @jhh

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7

This is correct, Markus. And the recall info is very important for me. It would be a pity to open a project with a Diva plugin (for example), and a certain volume mix of tracks, and that E1 does not display the current values.

I am working with Ableton Live, Bitwig but particulary REAPER. Do you have info on REAPER scripts, please? Especially the recall function.

8

Just a few clarifications / additions as most of the questions has been already answered:

This can be done without Lua. When @NewIgnis mentioned Lua is was meant just to add the % sign.

yes, if you omit the value in the editor for particular state, nothing will be sent out.

HW buttons have predefined functions now. As these functions do not suit everybody’s needs a possibility to customize them will be added.

When the large version of the control is displayed, it still can be controlled with the knob. However, an idea of the “shift” button that would adjust the sensitivity of the knob has been discussed here on the forum. I really like that and it is just another reason why the customization of the HW buttons should be added.

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9

Thanks for the clarification, Martin.

I am glad the idea of the shift button will be integrated someday. It will push the customization of the E1 one step forward. And I guess we will be able to use those buttons to trigger the touch pads? It would be sooo nice.

Don’t you think the E1 could memorize MIDI value of a parameter, so that when we change it, we could tap undo from a physical button and it will recall that previous value?

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10

no that is not supported. If I were @NewIgnis I would say you could do that with Lua :slight_smile: - by overwriting the default value of the parameter when you need it. Double tapping the control would then reset the parameter to that value.

11

okay, I see, the default value would be dynamic, so that when we change a value from 34 to 145, 34 becomes the default value, and a double tap would reset the parameter to 34. Am I correct?

12

I don’t, sorry.
(20 characters filling)

13

Okay, no worries, that’s fine.

14

FYI: There is a default value anyways for each parameter, that you obtain by double tapping. But in the standard it is a fixed value. Quite handy.

15

You are right, but I am talking about a center value, not a default one, which isn’t the same thing.

By the way @martin please consider the action “set the default value for last touched parameter” for the customization of hardware buttons.