Ruin & Wesen Midi Command User manual

User manual
Ruin & Wesen c/o Odendahl Systemprogrammierung, Jägerstrasse 36!76227, Durlach, Germany [email protected] http://ruinwesen.com/
RUIN & WESEN
MIDI COMMAND

Midi Command!3
Introduction!3
Midi Command User Interface!4
Midi Command basic operation!5
Macro Knob!7
Midi Command settings!9
Page type submenu!10
Page settings menu!12
MID type page settings !13
Machinedrum type page settings (ECH, REV. EQ, DYN)!15
Macro Knob settings!17
MIDI Command Incoming MIDI Support!20
Using the MIDI Command to control Ableton Live!21
Midi Command Sysex Reference!24
Midi Command Schematics!29
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Midi Command
Introduction
Thank you for choosing the Ruin & Wesen Midi Command. The Midi Command is a flexible MIDI controller designed to
be small and easy to use. It is especially designed for users of the Elektron Machinedrum synthesizer, as it can directly
control the parameters of it’s 4 effects. This document describes how to use the Midi Command to control other musical
gear, how to edit its settings, and how to control Ableton Live with the Midi Command. It also describes the SYSEX
commands supported by the device, and how to load new firmware on the device. Finally, the electronic hardware of the
Midi Command is described, allowing you to design your own firmware.
We provide a one-year warranty covering all malfunctions occuring from normal use. Damage caused by abusive
handling is not covered. Please contact us before returning a device for repair. Shipping to Ruin & Wesen is covered by
the customer, shipping from Ruin & Wesen is covered by Ruin & Wesen.
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Midi Command User Interface
The Midi Command features a LCD display (1), 4 control encoders (2), a menu encoder (3) and a shift button (4). It also
has a MIDI IN connector (5), a MIDI OUT connector (6), a power supply connector (7), and a power indicator LED (8). The
4 control encoders are used to send MIDI control parameters, as well as to set values while editing the settings of the
MIDI Command. The menu encoder is used as a macro knob in normal operation (for more information see the section
Macro Knob). The shift button is used to access additional functions in order to switch pages, change patches, access
the editing functions and to set secondary settings.
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2. control encoders
3. menu encoder
1. display
5. MIDI IN 6. MIDI OUT
7. power connector
4. shift button
8. power led
RUIN & WESEN
Midi Command User Interface

Midi Command basic operation
To use your Midi Command, hook up a device that you want to control by connecting the MIDI OUT port (6) of the Midi
Command to the MIDI IN port of the device you want to control. Power up the Midi Command by plugging in the power
supply into the power supply connector (7). The power indicator LED (8) will light up, and the display (1) will show the
company logo “RUIN AND WESEN”. After a short amount of time, the Midi Command will show the parameters values
for the first page of the first patch. The upper line of the display shows the parameter names, while the lower line shows
the current parameter value.
You can adjust the parameters of the current page by turning the control encoders (2). Each parameter can go from 0 up
to 127. Pressing a control encoder and turning it will make the values increment or decrement faster (by an amount of 5
instead of 1). This is similar to the push-turn functionality of the Elektron machines. Double clicking a control encoder will
reset the value of the parameter to 0. Be careful not to turn the encoder while double-clicking it because this will cancel
the double-click. Turning the menu encoder (3) will activate the macro knob feature, which is describe in more detail in
the section Macro Knob.
C01 C02 C03 C04
002 080 003 100
Turn encoders (press for bigger steps)
Parameter name
Parameter value
Changing parameters
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The Midi Command can store 8 patches, where each patch is made of 4 parameter pages. Each parameter page is a
grouping of 4 MIDI parameter that can be controlled using the 4 control encoders (2). To switch pages, press the shift
button (4) and hold it down, then press one of the control encoders (2). Be careful not to turn the control encoder while
turning it, as this will cancel the press. The display will display the number of the new page, as well as the page type, for
a short amount of time, and then show the parameter values of the new page. The control encoders now control the
values of the new page.
To switch the current patch, press the shift button (4) and turn the menu encoder (3). Be careful not to press the menu
encoder while turning it, as this will cancel the turn. The display will show the number of the newly loaded patch for a
short amount of time, as well as the number of the current page, and will then show the values of the parameters of the
EDIT PAGE 1
MIDI PAGE
Double-click encoder to reset parameter to 0
Resetting a parameter to 0
PAGE 2
MIDI PAGE
Hold shift down
Press encoder button
Page number
Page type
Switching pages
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new current patch. You can then adjust the parameters using the control encoders (2), and switch pages as described in
the paragraph above.
The factory patches of the MIDI Command are described in the appendix “Factory patches”.
Macro Knob
Each parameter page features 4 parameters that can be directly controlled using the control encoders (2). In addition to
these 4 encoders, the Midi Command features a Macro Knob that is controlled by turning the menu encoder. The Macro
Knob allows you to modify the 4 page parameters by twisting a single knob. You can adjust the range inside which each
page parameter is modified by editing the Macro Knob settings (see the section Macro Knob Settings below). You can
set the lower boundary and upper boundary for each parameter independently. For example, you could configure the
Macro Knob to modify the first parameter from 30 to 60, the second parameter from 60 to 30, the third parameter from 0
to 127 and the fourth parameter from 127 to 0.
PAGE 2
LOADING PATCH 2
Hold shift down
Turn menu encoder
Page number
Patch number
Switching patches
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C01 C02 C03 C04
000 000 000 000
Turn macro knob (press for bigger steps)
Turning the menu encoder (3) to set the Macro Knob to 0 will set the first parameter to 30, the second parameter to 60,
the third parameter to 0 and the fourth parameter to 127. Gradually turning the menu encoder to the right will change the
value of the first parameter from 30 to 60, the value of the second parameter from 60 to 30, the third parameter will
follow the Macro Knob exactly, and the fourth parameter will be the inverse of the Macro Knob value. You can also
double-click the menu encoder to set the Macro Knob to 0, thus resetting all the 4 parameters to a default value.
Using the Macro Knob, you can achieve drastic sound modifications at the twist of a single knob.
The Macro Knob can also be used to send two different relative CCs. This way, stepping through software menus or
other relative CC functions can easily be reached from each page. This is especially useful for scrolling through tracks in
scenes in a program like Ableton Live.
Macro Knob
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Midi Command settings
To edit the settings of the Midi Command, press the shift button (4) and hold it down, and while keeping it down, hold the
menu encoder (3) down. After approximately 1 second, the Midi Command will enter the settings menu. The settings
menu edits the settings of the current patch.
MENU
PAGE TYPES
Press for 1 second to enter settings menu
Hold shift button
To change the edited patch, hold the shift button (4) down and turn the menu encoder (3). The changes to the current
patch settings will not be saved when loading a new patch. To exit the settings menu without saving the settings, hold
the shift button (4) down and double-click the menu encoder (3). The Midi Command will go back to the current page. To
exit the settings menu and save the settings, hold the shift button (4) down and press the menu encoder (3) for about 1
seconds. The Midi Command will save the modifications made to the current patch and go back to the current page.
Entering the Settings menu
PAGE 3
MIDI PAGE
Double-click to leave settings menu without saving
Hold shift button
Leaving the settings menu without saving
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The settings menu is composed of a number of submenus which can be accessed by pressing the different encoders.
The following diagram shows how the submenus are organized.
Page type submenu
The Page Types menu is used to set the “type” of the 4 pages of the current patch. Each page can be of one of the
following types:
•MID Type: MIDI page type. The encoders send MIDI CC messages. The channel and number of the CC message can
be configured.
•ECH Type: Machinedrum DELAY page type. The encoders send SYSEX messages used to control the Delay effect of
the Elektron Machinedrum. The parameter of each encoder can be configured.
•REV Type: Machinedrum REVERB page type. The encoders send SYSEX messages used to control the Reverb effect
of the Elektron Machinedrum. The parameter of each encoder can be configured.
•EQ Type: Machinedrum EQUALIZER page type. The encoders send SYSEX messages used to control the Equalizer
effect of the Elektron Machinedrum. The parameter of each encoder can be configured.
•DYN Type: Machinedrum DYNAMIX page type. The encoders send SYSEX messages used to control the Compressor
effect of the Elektron Machinedrum. The parameter of each encoder can be configured.
SAVING SETTINGS
TO PATCH 1
Press for 1 second to save the current settings
Hold shift button
Saving the current settings
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The type of each page can be adjusted by turning the corresponding control encoder (2). The new type will be displayed
on the display. Changing the type of a page will reset the parameters values to the default values. Be careful when
changing the types of a page (you can always cancel the change by holding shift down and double-clicking the menu
encoder to leave the Settings mode).
You can also activate or deactivate the display backlight while in the page type submenu. Hold the menu encoder down
for 1 second to toggle the LED backlight.
PG1 PG2 PG3 PG4
ECH REV EQ MID
Turn control encoders to adjust page type
Changing page types
PG1 PG2 PG3 PG4
MID MID MID MID
Hold for 1 second to activate backlight
Toggling the LED backlight
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Page settings menu
To edit the settings of an individual page, press the control encoder (2) corresponding to the page. The display will show
the settings for the selected page.
To go back to the page type submenu, hold the shift button (4) down and press the menu encoder (3).
EDIT PAGE 1
MIDI PAGE
Click encoder to edit a page
Edit an individual page
MENU
PAGE TYPES
Press to return to page type menu
Hold shift button
Return to page type menu
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MID type page settings
MID type pages have two settings pages. The first page shows the name of the parameter on the first line of the display,
and the selected CC value on the second line. To change the CC value, turn the encoder corresponding to the
parameter. Be careful not to press the encoder as this will change the edited page.
Pressing the encoder corresponding to the selected page again will switch to the second MID type settings page.
The second page shows the name of the parameter on the first line of the display, and the MIDI channel of the CC
message on the second line. To change the MIDI channel, turn the encoder of the corresponding parameter. Be carefu
not to press the encoder as this will change the edited page.
C01 C02 C03 C04
001 002 003 004
Turn encoder to adjust CC number
Parameter names
CC number
Edit MIDI page CC numbers
EDIT PAGE 1 (2)
MIDI PAGE
Press page encoder a second time to enter second page
Editing second MIDI page
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To edit the name of a parameter, hold the shift button (4) and press the corresponding control encoder (2).
The name edit menu shows the number of the selected parameter on the first line and the name of the parameter on the
second line. Each name can have up to 4 characters. It is recommended to leave the last character empty to separate
the names of the parameters on the display. Turn the 4 control encoders (2) to edit the individual characters of the
C01 C02 C03 C04
001 002 003 004
Turn encoder to adjust CC number
Parameter names
CC number
Edit MIDI page MIDI channels
EDIT NAME 1
PAGE 1
Press encoder to edit name
Hold shift button
Edit MIDI parameter name
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parameter name. Once the parameter name is edited, hold the shift button down and press the control encoder
corresponding to the edited parameter again to exit the name edit menu and return to the MID page settings menu. If
you want to edit another name, you can hold the shift button down and press the encoder corresponding to the
parameter you want to edit to go directly to another name edit menu.
Machinedrum type page settings (ECH, REV. EQ, DYN)
The machinedrum type page settings are much simpler than the MID type page settings. You can chose the selected
effect parameter for each encoder by turning the respective encoder.
The different parameters are:
•ECH page:
EDIT NAME 1
C01
Turn encoder to the name's letters
Name
Edit MIDI parameter name
FRQ FLF FLW LEV
Turn encoder to adjust the MD parameter number
Editing Machinedrum pages
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•TIM: delay time
•MOD: delay time modulation amount
•FRQ: delay time modulation frequency
•FB: delay feedback
•FLF: delay filter frequency
•FLW: delay filter width
•MON: stereo width parameter
•LEV: delay level
•REV page:
•DVL: delay send volume
•PRE: pre-delay time
•DEC: reverb decay time
•DMP: reverb damping amount
•HP: highpass frequency
•LP: lowpass frequency
•GAT: gate threshold
•LEV: reverb level
•EQ page:
•LP: low filter frequency
•LG: low frequency gain
•HP: high filter frequency
•HG: high frequency gain
•PF: bandpass filter frequency
•PG: bandpass filter gain
•PQ: bandpass filter resonance
•LEV: EQ level
•DYN page:
•ATK: compressor attack time
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•REL: compressor release time
•THR: compressor threshold level
•RTO: compressor ratio
•KNE: compressor knee setting
•HP: compressor highpass filter frequency
•LEV: compressor output level
•MIX: dry/wet signal mix
Macro Knob settings
To access the macro knob settings for one of the four pages, enter the page settings menu as described above, and
press the menu encoder (3).
EDIT MACRO
PAGE 3
Press menu encoder while in menu edit to enter macro edit
Accessing the Macro edit page
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The display will show the number of the edited macro page, and will then show the macro knob settings menu. The
upper line displays the lower boundary for each of the 4 parameters, while the lower line displays the upper boundary for
each of the 4 parameters. To adjust the lower boundary of a parameter, turn the corresponding encoder. You can also
press-turn the corresponding encoder to adjust the lower boundary value by bigger steps. To adjust the upper boundary
of a parameter, hold the shift button (4) down and turn the corresponding encoder. While holding the shift button down,
you can also press-turn the corresponding encoder to adjust the upper boundary value by bigger steps.
Setting the same lower and upper boundary value will disable macro for this parameter (turning the macro knob won’t
affect the current value of the parameter).
Using the Macro Knob to send relative CCs
Setting a lower boundary of 128 for the first encoder activates the relative CC mode of the Macro Knob. When the Macro
Knob is set to relative CC, it sends out 2-bits complement Relative CC messages, which are recognized by softwares like
Ableton Live. You can set two CC values for the relative CC mode using the shift button and the first and second
encoders.
030 060 000 127
060 030 127 000
Turn encoder to adjust lower/upper boundaries
Lower boundary
Upper boundary
Hold shift to access
upper boundaries
Editing macro boundaries
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When in normal mode, turning the macro knob will send a CC message with the first CC number. Pressing down the
macro knob and turning it will send a CC message with the second CC number. This way, you can for example scroll
through scenes and tracks in Ableton Live.
RELATIVE CC
000 001
Turn encoder to adjust CC values
Hold shift to modify
CC values
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MIDI Command Incoming MIDI Support
The Midi Command reacts to incoming MIDI CC messages and updates its parameter values accordingly. This way,
annoying parameter discrepancy jumps are avoided when modifying parameters on the controlled gear. To achieve this,
connect the MIDI OUT connector of the controlled gear or software to the MIDI IN connector of the Midi Command.
Make sure that the controlled gear or software sends out the modified values. Midi Command only supports absolute CC
messages.
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