Hi all,
I recently got an LXR-02 drum machine and I’m modifying a preset for the original LXR (thanks @studiobischof if you’re still here!) to work with it.
I’ve hit an issue whereby an NRPN list control results in unpredictable results in the LXR-02, specifically when scrolling through mod destinations. There are 38 options including ‘off’, and the E1 control seems to jump around just a few destinations in the LXR-02 itself (the readout on the E1 is fine).
I’ve tried combos of LSB/MSB first, resetting or not resetting the NRPN parameter, etc, to no avail. I tried using a slider control instead of a list, which worked better but still didn’t scroll through the list completely or in the right order on the machine.
I’ve not used NRPN before so perhaps there’s something I’m missing? Other NRPN controls I’ve set up work fine, so perhaps it’s an issue with the LXR-02 firmware regarding this particular NRPN control. Here’s the work in progress preset incase it’s useful: Electra One App
If anyone has any ideas I’d be very grateful!
I’m not familiar with Eric Synths MIDI implementations. But sometimes the MIDI spec is not 100% followed . NRPN’s normally use 4 bytes : adress + value for resp MSB and LSB (I don’t know by heart their CC numbers). Standard behaviour: the E1 sends out all 4 of them. But for instance Novation doesn’t use the LSB or MSB (again; I forgot which one) and reused the freed up value CC for other duties, giving all kinds of weird results with the standard NRPN.
Do check if the LXR needs all 4 bytes. Perhaps the LSB is kept zero ? If so make your own simplified NRPN function that then only sends out the 2 bytes for the MSB and see if the weird behaviour stops.
Do you have the LXR 's MIDI implementation ?
The LXR appears to respond to LSB (in that I set MSB to 0, LSB to the relevant NRPN and to be sent first, and the LXR listens). So I suppose it’s the message itself that’s the issue. However, it could be a firmware thing - I tested via Ableton and the same thing happens.
The LXR MIDI spec is in the manual https://www.ericasynths.lv/media/LXR_manual.pdf
Infuriatingly the original bugs that prompted @studiobischof to switch from native LXR v1 firmware to 3rd party are still present. A bunch of NRPN commands reset the filter frequency (which is CC controlled). It’s looking like an E1 preset for this machine is kinda pointless as it currently stands, unfortunately
As said, make your own simplified nrpn function where you only set the 2 bytes that really matter, and see if it helps
Thanks! how would I go about that? It’s my first time with NRPNs!
Also Imho real nrpn (the one with 4 bytes) is a fucking mess in Ableton
I found this info re. NRPN which suggests I can send only LSB via CC. https://www.morningstar.io/post/sending-midi-nrpn-messages
What would be the way to do this with E1, Lua presumably as the CC for LSB and the CC for data entry need to be sent concurrently from the same control?
Hi, you should check one of my presets, dave. Go look for the one I made for Novation Summit ( might be for Peak as well). In the lua you’ll find something called SimplifiedNRPN. I think (again out of my head) I created all the Novation parameters that are actually NRPN as Virtual Parameters and then gave them that simplifiedNRPN as a function. As a result, not the standard NRPN of the E1 is sent, but the one I foresaw inside lua. It’s not a lot of coding, so you could easily find and copy it from the Summit preset and test it in your preset. Let us know if you need more help once you’ve tried it yourself.
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Thanks so much! I’ll give it a try this evening. Appreciate your help. Think I might do a test sending just LSB using Max/MSP first, might be easier to set up a quick and dirty test patch
@NewIgnis - your code solves the issue of some NRPN controls resetting the Filter Freq, so thank you so much for your help! It doesn’t solve the faulty scrolling of certain lists, though, so I think that might be a FW bug with the synth
tell me more about that faulty scrolling…
It’s for the 2 mod destinations which have the same list of 38 destinations (other lists work fine via E1). When scrolling the mod lists via the E1 the list jumps around rather than progressing from 0-38. It seems to be the same order each time but I can’t notice a pattern beyond that. It also misses some of the destinations completely, and repeats others. Same behaviour via a Max for Live NRPN device I tried.
What I’d do if I were you: check if the LXR-02 can send the MIDI data , if you tweak those destinations on the LXR itself? If so, ensure you capture these messages somewhere like with MIDI-Ox so you see yourself what the LXR is sending:
Are the values you see in those messages the same as the ones in the list of the E1?
Probably you’ll see other values appear coming from the LXR, than available currently in the E1 control; note those down.
Perhaps you will also see the LXR send out its number values in a non sequential order; in such case note down the order you see in the LXR.
If indeed you notice this, then continue below. If not let the forum know.
Then quite important, in the E1 your mod destination controls must be set up as an option list, not as a fader. In doing so, you can change the order of the options so you may arrange them the same way the LXR does, and you can also skip values.
Also, provide a link to your current preset, and tell us where to find those 2 mod destinations going awry?
Actually in the manual in this link, I find the velocity mod destinations are to be controlled via NRPN 21- 26. But in the preset that is linked in the first message of this thread, they are set up as CC controls nr 25. That doesn’t make sense … perhaps that link is dated?
Also in the manual, it is now obvious Erica Synths does not respect conventional MIDI standards: CC values such as nr 7, 10 , 38, 64 and antything above 120 should not have been used for anything outside the standard. I notice you are using 6 different MIDI channels at once. Make very sure no other synthesizer are listening in on those same channels as you might get unexpected results on them as well.
Good idea about sending MIDI from the LXR-02, unfortunately it doesn’t send data for the control in question.
The preset I linked to is a work in progress, I should have clarified a few things. I’m only working on page 1 atm, and I moved the faulty controls to page 12 along with a few test controls.
The lack of standard MIDI is fine in my use case and my other synths are all on other channels.
Just had a thought. Perhaps the LXR is expecting an incremental control for the lists. The E1 Relative control isn’t working. Would you know a simple way to modify your SimpleNRPN script to send a relative, incremental increasor/decreasor?
I have no idea what you’ve implemented, so I can’t tell. Share your WIP and we can check