Lighting control from Fantom?

I'm not sure that the FG can transmit midi control messages from the pads. They are not programable in that way to act as physical controllers for external gear.

maybe you could use the pads and assign phrases in the them that have system ex data in them (in the phrases) or maybe even the cc data being sent (in the phrase)

Sorry for the delay in replying. Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was thinking of the way that phrases can be used with the pads to send sysex messages, e.g. to change sounds within a live or studio set. But if the pads can't send the messages out from midi then the idea is a non-starter. Are you sure about that mojkarma? Or haven't I not been taking notice of external control threads here?

PC

Actually, thinking about it.......the external midi control should be possible. When transmit edit data is selected in the system midi menu it sends data transmitted by the pads out to my sequencer where it is recorded. That is what set me thinking about the lighting control possibilities.......if I know what the lighting control midi messages are.....which I don't at the moment!

????????

PC

Hi.

Sorry for my English.
I do it similar in my band. But I use my iPhone and the Midi Mobilizer with the S1 MidiTrigger app.
You have to know what messages your DMX-Interface needs. MIDI is different from DMX protocol. If Your DMX-Interface needs MIDI Messages (what our light commander does) you can send them via Pads or you program live sets with a track you use for the note values.
In my case: For each scene or chase our light commander needs a note on value between 0 and 126. I programmed the S1 MidiTrigger app with many different banks and pads and assigned one note on value per pad. Unfortunately the app doesn't react on Program Change values on its MIDI IN. Otherwise I could program a Program Change Value per Live Set, send it to the app that would change its bank and would have only the pads (and scenes) that would fit to a specific song we play.

Have fun and keep on rockin'
Stefan.

Hi Stefan. That's really useful thanks. And your English is better than mine! I don't know anything about midi mobiliser and the S1 midi trigger app so more investigation. But it sounds as though that could be on the way to doing what I was thinking of. Shame about the lack of scenes though. I wanted to get to each song, hit a pad which triggers the phrase / song and let it do the rest during the song.

I'll keep you posted on how I get on (or not).

PC

Hi PC.

If I wouldn't use my Fantom MIDI OUT otherwise (connected to my NE3) I could possibly plug it directly into my light commander and use one track transposed to the correct notes that correspond with the scenes of the light i want for the mood of the song and routed to MIDI out so I could "play the light" with the keys. (If I have keys and tracks unused ...)
But on the other hand this is a fix setting that is there everytime and everywhere you play. If the audience is suddenly in a different mood as the audience two weeks before you are lost ... I mean, the flexibility to change the mood is gone. For this case the light commander is right behind my back on the stage so I can control it manually. Have a look www.sixth-sense-band.de

Stefan.

Hello Stefan. Enjoyed the vids. I guess that's what I've got at present - my little dmx box sitting on top of Fantom for quick control. But without any 'playing the light' from midi out. I was thinking of different lighting scenes / sequences for different songs triggered from the pads but it looks like that's not possible. Thanks for the help.

PC

Hi.
What kind of DMX box is this ? Have you got a manual ?
Stefan.

It's a colormix 32 for icolor lights. Yes I've got the manual but it's not very helpful. It has got dmx in for a foot controller which I don't use cos I haven't got 3 feet - a bit like the hands really, I could do with a 3rd hand and an extra bit of brain to work the lights while I'm playing and warbling....remembering that left hand plays bass! Aaaggh!

PC

Update....now have Stairville DJX-16 controller which responds to the appropriate notes on the G's keyboard via Sonar so it's actually the computer sending out the midi messages to the controller. But.....when I connect Fantom directly to controller - nothing. There's a midi signal getting through to the controller from the Fantom but none of the lights are triggered the way it happens from the computer sequencer.

That suggests to me that the G's midi protocol is incompatible with the controller's midi. Somehow the software sequencer (Sonar) changes the signal to something the controller can recognise.

So near and yet so far........

Second update: Well my Juno G has managed to intermittently trigger the lighting controller but it's not workable, needs repeated key presses, and it seems quite random whether or not lights come on and for how long.........

Hmmmm. Well it now works! I have obviously done something on the Fantom but I don't know what - it's always been a bit quirky. Solution for anyone interested is to put a RPS pattern to trigger the lights onto one of the pads. Set transmit to midi channel 10 (or whatever you prefer). Set the light controller to receive on midi channel 10. Set Fantom external to on. Set key range to G9 to G9 so that stops the Fantom triggering the lights when I play the keyboard. Hit the relevant pad and it works. Brilliant!

....but not so brilliant if you want to do live sound switching from the pads at the same time. For some reason the sysex messages to turn individual parts on and off seem to turn off the lights as well. Is this because there's an all notes off message contained within the sysex? I can get the lights back on by programming the relevant note on messages after the sysex, although it leaves a 4-beat bar of music without light! (That's how long my sysex switching is and it doesn't seem possible to alter the length of this.)

I feel as though I'm having this conversation with myself and would welcome any suggestions on how to overcome this......so near and yet so far.......

PC