This thread will be a list of questions from Newbie

[Brian Jackson]

EDIT: Have already solved the following question.

Next question...

I seem to be having difficulty sending MIDI to Addictive Drums over the USB cable:
MD>>>(USB Cable)>>>AD2

When using a standard MIDI cable I do get a drum to sound:
MD>>>(MIDI Cable)>>>AD2

Not sure where the break is in communication. The forum doesn't allow searches for "usb midi". Does anyone know if there is a setting in MDM-FX and/or AD2 that allows MIDI over USB?

Respectfully,
Brian Jackson

EDIT: It was a setting in Reaper (my DAW). I had to Enable the "MegaDrum USB MIDI" port in Reaper's preferences. Was disabled by default.

[Brian Jackson]

As I document my progress as a newbie here, I'm finding it very helpful to have a notepad next to me. Everything is making better sense on this first day of diving into the configuration, and the very act of writing down my observations and trouble spots along the way has proven useful. I'm also a CAD guy by trade so drawing a visual map is speeding up the learning process. The attached (partial) image is what I'm referring to for setting up MegaDrum's note numbers. I know AD2 already has a MD Mapping, but I decided to leave AD2 as is and map the MD to it. More effort, but I believe I'll end up with a better understanding of the MegaDrum system.

When the MD is performance-ready on my kit, I will share any files & materials with new folks considering a MD purchase. This is my first free weekend to dive into configuration since it arrived from Dmitri, and I am very impressed so far. The few stumbling blocks I've had so far were easily solved, and mostly due to lack of knowledge of other softwares in the chain.

[Brian Jackson]

My progress is confined to weekends so the set-up & configuration is being spread out over a couple of weeks. So far so good. All pads recognized and note numbers set. I disabled unused ports. Made a comprehensive poster based on the wiring diagram I started earlier.

One odd thing though... whenever I would Save-All to the configuration file on my PC, MDM-FX seemed to "forget" that I had disabled the unused MD ports. It no longer showed a check in the Disabled checkbox of the pads/ports I disabled. I've been pretty good about Send/Get habits, but there's a reasonable likelihood this could be pilot error.

So far I'm really liking the MD... it's beginning to behave the way I expect and hope.

Respectfully,
Brian Jackson

[dmitri]

One odd thing though... whenever I would Save-All to the configuration file on my PC, MDM-FX seemed to "forget" that I had disabled the unused MD ports. It no longer showed a check in the Disabled checkbox of the pads/ports I disabled. I've been pretty good about Send/Get habits, but there's a reasonable likelihood this could be pilot error.

I will double check and if needed fix it.

[dmitri]

I just published a new MDMFX version where this bug has been fixed.

[Brian Jackson]

Wow, that is impressive speed! Thank you. So I wasn't going crazy after all.

[Brian Jackson]

Eureka moment! It wasn't quite making sense to me how to get MD to communicate hi-hat pedal positions to Addictive Drums 2. I was grappling with the multitude of note numbers for various half-open states, etc., before realizing AD2 will handle this internally simply by assigning the MD note# to the AD2 CC note# (shown in image). I haven't tweaked any other HH parameters yet but finally got it to respond to VH-11 pedal. I'm documenting my progress.

[Brian Jackson]

OK, last resort. I do spend time searching the MD forum for answers before posting questions but it's been hours today and my time is limited. Hoping someone might see the obvious thing I appear to be overlooking.

Hi-Hat configuration progress has hit a roadblock. I cannot seem to get MD module to recognize an Edge hit on the VH-11 Hi-Hat. The bar graph in the attached image is what registers when alternately hitting the bow and edge of the HH pad. Notice they are all the same note number (bow), and none appear for the edge note. I've tried all combinations of pad type (single peizo/peizo, 3-way yamaha, etc.) to no avail. The VH-11 is indeed a 2-zone pad, correct?

I've tried Zourman's VH-11 sysex hoping for a clue but nothing jumped out. Any help appreciated. Thank you all.

[ignotus]

Set the 'type' of the edge to 'switch' and then find the threshold value at which the edge switch is activated.

[Brian Jackson]

Set the 'type' of the edge to 'switch' and then find the threshold value at which the edge switch is activated.

Brilliant. Thank you. That worked.

I've attached screenshots of the results. Interestingly, after the suggested edit, both the edge switch and the bow piezo registered note 61 on the graph. This note was the same as "DampenedNote" in the 3rd Zone settings, even though I've disabled this zone, shown in the image. But lowering the Edge threshold allowed the Edge switch to start registering the correct note. This behavior doesn't quite make sense to me yet but I'm still learning. Thanks Ignotus for helping me make progress.