Switch an effect via MIDI and device foot switch

[Jandalf]

I’ve been trying to achieve a pretty simple use case (in my opinion at least), but I’m afraid it’s not possible on the Dwarf
Can someone please prove me wrong?

1. I want to switch the state of a pitch shifting plugin (e.g. Capo), between an off-state and another state (which pitches up by one semitone) [it doesn’t matter to me whether I switch the plugin on/off or switch between presets]
2. I want to be able to do this via one of the Dwarfs on-device foot switches
3. I want the Dwarf to switch the same thing via Midi from an external device
4. I want to see the current state of the plugin (e.g. Capo) on the device

background:
I’ve been using the capo on my pedalboard for some years already. Now I want it to be switched via Midi, but I want to see on the device whether it’s on or off. Also I need the option of switching with the Dwarf’s foot switch as a fallback

[Jandalf]

I hadn’t found anything in the forum on this topic. That’s why I posted. Now, with some AI support, I finally found matching threads… that didn’t make me any happier

Would it make sense to try snapshots?

[Jandalf]

YES! Snapshots!

I created two snapshots, one for each state of the effect. Set the PC channel for switching snapshots. → A program change message on that MIDI channel with a value of zero activates the first snapshot. A PC message with a value of 1 activates the second snapshot.

At the same time, I’ve assigned “all snapshots” to footswitch C and additionally, the Capo’s own on/off switch to one of the knobs. So, I can switch snapshots on demand, all while the current state is nicely visible.

Looks like my problem is solved. Only thing that bugs me is that I had some problems with snapshots in the past… Sometimes, the device UI seems to freeze when switching between snapshots. I comes back to normal functionality after a while, but on stage that’s a big NO-NO

[Abotte]

If you only need the option of using Dwarf’s footswitch as a fallback, you could use Control Button Board plugin: it’s not in the store, but you can find it in this thread:

Companion plugin for external MIDI control buttons

I had a need for this, so wrote it; if there is interest in this, I will be happy to send a pull request to be included after gate-keeping due diligence steps are done. The plugin has two buttons that work with each other thus - if the first one is mapped to an external MIDI controller and the second to a hardware button on the device, turning the latching MIDI on will turn on the hardware button display and off if turned off, and output a CV signal that can be used to control effects on the pe…

Basically you can control the Capo plugin with CV, and in Control Button Board plugin you will activate the CV with any of two switches:

• one to be mapped on a Dwarf’s footswitch
• one to be controlled by midi
  If at least one of the toggles is ON, the CV output will be set to HIGH.
  The state of Capo plugin will be shown by the led of the Dwarf footswitch.

It’s great to setup a pedalboard to be controlled via MIDI while having the fallback option to control it just with the Dwarf in case of anything bad happens to the MIDI controller.

[Jandalf]

Many thanks for the hint! I’ll test it

[VeggieSoup]

Another option is to use the Mindi plugin to send the same signal as your external midi controller. You assign on/off with midi learn in the Capo plugin using your external midi controller, set the Mindi to send the same signal (I think you need midi loop back enabled), and assign Mindi Value to the CV of the Control CV plugin, and finally the CV plugin on/off to the physical switch.

Capo Ext Midi and Hardware Switch - MOD Audio