Pads and Buttons don't respond to MIDI ?

[chapelierfou]

Hi, i can't seem to be able to turn the leds on and off from my computer. Regardless of wether it's Notes or CCs.
I've made lots of tests and ran to the conclusion that the 16 pads and the 16 step buttons don't respond to Midi input. Is it right ?

thanks !

[Valentin Arturia]

Hi, Pads and steps do not light when you send MIDI to the Beat Step Pro. Pads light when you touch them in Control, when they are selected in Drums and for the Sequences the lightened Pads correspond to the piano keys. The Steps light when they are activated to play.

[chapelierfou]

Thanks.
From my point of view this is unfortunately a real design mistake. This means to be unable to have led feedback for DAW's track mutes, effects on/off, custom sequencers, etc.......
Hopefully this could be changed in a future firmware ?

[Koshdukai]

Feedback exists and it's working through SysEx.

It would be interesting if Arturia could officially publish the full MIDI Implementation charts, including the SysEx "cmds", like it used to do in the Experience series User Manuals (The Player and The Factory at least)

Right now, we're stuck with reverse engineering the MCC and trial'n'error, which was how I was able to find a very fortunate and useful hidden feature: we can "force" the other (not available through the MCC) buttons into sending out CC/Notes etc. In my specific case, this allows me to detect when the Shift button is pressed/released, which is a key feature to expand the functions of the buttons, knobs and pads on-the-fly on some script-driven DAWs (like Reason, Live, etc).

I only wished this was also true for the older Experience controllers

Anyway, I hope this cool hidden feature won't go away from the BeatStep and BeatStep Pro on future firmware revisions!

[siseturist]

I hope it's a bug/mistake, because pads light up in Beatstep (not pro)

[chapelierfou]

Well, sysex is not an option for me, since i work in M4L which doesn't handle sysex.

[Koshdukai]

I see, so... in practice, it would make sense for the Controller mode (and *only* that mode) to "listen" to MIDI Note on/off to control the pads backlightings.

Problem is, I may want the BSP to receive Notes "silently" for USB/DIN in -> CV out and not have those visually interfere with what's going on in the Controller mode pads, right?

This would force to add yet another feature to turn that "feature" off.


Not sure how high something like the above would be in the BSP suggestions list, TBH :/

[chapelierfou]

Wouldn't you use seq 1 and 2 channels for this ? i don't get it. The control mode is an independent mode, focused on Midi.

[Koshdukai]

Wouldn't you use seq 1 and 2 channels for this ? i don't get it. The control mode is an independent mode, focused on Midi.

You're right.

I mentioned USB->CV while thinking USB->DIN OUT. I really meant the scenario of sending MIDI through USB to BSP's MIDI DIN OUT, not through CV, which (as you rightly point out) is already hard-wired to the existing CV outs with specific channels for that.

So, unless there was a specific input channel for DIN out, MIDI being sent through the BSP to the DIN out would get in the way of the Pad backlighs while in controller mode, right?