Fantom X Live Commander - LIVE sound switching software for

[Arjan]

I must say that at present the performance of the soft midi thru function is not impressive. I'm not yet sure whether this is due to .NET, the .NET library I'm currently using, the marshalling between native Win32 API and the .Net framework or just because it's Window

And the correct answer is: none of the above. Turns out that my Korg CX-3 has some problems when you send it note on/off messages for mutliple channels and starts lagging badly. Strange, how long can it take to ignore a note on/off message that's on a channel that you don't respond too? None of my other keyboards have this problem. Anyway, I think I know how to compensate for this in FXLC..

This is good news because it looks like the .Net library is plenty fast for real-time MIDI forwarding which allows things like transposing notes for external modules and so on.

[Arjan]

I have added a filter that will remove all channel messages (note on/off etc) from the soft-midi-thru stream except if they are really intended for an external module. Seems to have solved the problem I was having with my Korg CX-3.

If you use a lot of Parts during the song, all those parts KBD switches must be enabled (all the time, for that song) and as a result the Fantom is sending out the notes that you play to all the corresponding MIDI channels, even if the internal Rx is switched off (thank goodness) and of course regardless of whether FXLC filters out note events for external parts that are currrently switched off.

The result is that from the MIDI output port point of view you may be playing many notes on many channels at the same time and this could still cause a slight latency which is for the most part simply due to the limited bandwidth of MIDI. It would be possible to greatly reduce the amount of external MIDI traffic by manipulating the Key range for a part as mentioned earlier so I think that at some point I will implement that, but not now. This would also allow having the FXLC be the last 'device' in your MIDI chain, in fact in principle you wouldn't even need to connect it to the Fantom MIDI OUT.

What I am working on is a new file format because while the .NET object streaming support is nice, it generates relatively large files and even worse, if you rename you internall classes or assemblies or sign them you're suddenly no longer able to read back older files so you'd loose all of your settings. So right now I'm implementing a simple binrary file format which will be much, much smaller and will always be backward compatible (ie newer version of FXLC will always be able to read back files created by a previous version).

When that is finished all that is left for the 0.5 release is the Setup. This will probably be an MSI (Microsoft Installer) package wrapped inside a single exe.

[Arjan]

Fantom X Live Commander version 0.5 can now be downloaded from

http://www.livecommander.com

Have fun and let me know what you think. I have added copy&paste functions with full undo. You can also customize the keys or mouse buttons to use for advancing to the next or previous 'stage' (set of active sounds of the selected performance).

That's all I have time for now. Will be back later with more info.

[JazzXR]

Great, great job!

[Arjan]

Thanks. RIght now I'm adding a transpose option for external parts and a send program change for each stage so that you can switch external modules during a song. I will probably also add a feature to change the keyboard range per stage.

I haven't checked the websites server logs but I wonder how many have downloaded and tried this. Let me know if you have and what you think of it so far.

I noticed the other day while installing this on my brand new Asus 1000H netbook that it won't install unless you have certain DLLs and the .NET 3.5 framework installed on your system. The DLL requirement is easily fixed but the .NET 3.5 requirement is a shame because that is only required by Windows Installer 3.1. The actual application only needs .NET 2.0 which is a much smaller download. On top of that, I could not find a truly self-contained .NET 3.5 installer, even the complete install still wanted to download several MB from the web.

[Arjan]

I have just uploaded Fantom X Live Commander 0.7.0. Check out http://www.livecommander.com for a list of new features.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

[Arjan]

I have just uploaded Fantom X Live Commander 0.7.5. Check out http://www.livecommander.com for a list of new features. Here's a screenshot of the new version:

http://www.livecommander.com/LiveComman ... enshot.png

[tcarnes]

What exactly do i need in a laptop to run this? How do i hook this to my rig, do i need some type of usb to midi converter or what? This looks very cool and would LOVE to try it out.

[Arjan]

What exactly do i need in a laptop to run this?

Nothing too fancy really. I'm using an Asus Eee PC 1000He with an Atom N280 processor. I expect something with lesser specs will work fine too, especially if you're only using it to control the Fantom itself and not any external gear. I'm not sure what the actual minimum requirements would be, I don't have anything slower than my Netbook to test with.

Of course it doesn't have to be a Netbook per se; you can use any old Windows PC that you have lying around to test it out. You may need an active Internet connection when installing it the first time so that the the Microsoft .NET runtime environment can be installed if it's not already present (it usually is these days). I've tested it on XP, Vista and Windows 7.

How do i hook this to my rig, do i need some type of usb to midi converter or what?

I'm using an Edirol UM2-EX USB MIDI interface but in principle it should also work if you install the Fantom X drivers on your computer and connect directly through USB (don't forget to set your Fantom to USB MIDI mode instead of USB storage). The Fantom will appear as a pair of MIDI IN/OUT ports on the PC and LiveComander should automatically find your Fantom if it's connected (it scans all available MIDI interfaces/ports on the PC).

The most important question for actual use is: how are you going to switch to the next 'Stage' (set of sounds)? The software can be configured to respond to a key on the computer keyboard or a mouse button or even a specific MIDI note coming from the Fantom (this can be set individually per 'stage') but the best and coolest way imo is by using a footpedal. To do that you can sacrifice a cheap USB mouse and wire the right mouse button to the footpedal. That's what I've done and it works great. If I have the time I will write a little tutorial how to do that one of these days.

I could also add support to allow advancing to the next stage stage with some other MIDI event but I haven't had a need for that nor has anyone actually requested it so far. For example you could use the D-beam to go to the next stage or on of the Pads.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

[tcarnes]

Dude, you rock, I really want to try this out. I'm Mac now so i'll have to get a laptop sometime. I am using my X-7 to control a Motif rack es module also. Really, i wouldn't think it would be a problem since the motif is controlled by the fantom which in turn is controlled by the laptop.
A problem i have run into is(maybe you can help) I just learned how to use the Live play mode. problem is that i use samples which i load to my pads and play them as needed. when using live mode, i load the samples like normal but when i switch between a patch and a performance via live mode, i lose the samples and have to reload them. Every time. Any ideas? Sounds like if i was to use this software it would be in live mode and i will run into the same problem. Thanks Tim

[Arjan]

LiveCommander was designed specifically to be used with the Fantom's Performance mode, not Patch mode. That's the only way to get seamless switching between sounds.

It's best not to be in LIVE PLAY mode either, that way the Fantom screen will correspond to what LiveCommander displays. Stay in plain Performance mode and it works like a charm.

Why do you need Patch mode? Can't you just stay in Performance mode? I do some pretty complex stuff on stage (that's why I built this software) and I do everything in Performance mode.

[tcarnes]

Well, to be honest i don't really know. I have used the board now for about 3 yrs and only now starting to feel comfortable delving into some of it's MANY uses. I just finally learned how to use performance mode. as for patches, i combine a patch from the fantom with a patch from the motif but most of that is done through performance. Figureing out the live mode was going to enable me to have more favorites if you will.

[Arjan]

Really, i wouldn't think it would be a problem since the motif is controlled by the fantom which in turn is controlled by the laptop.

One comment regarding this: the current version of FXLC ony controls external keyboards or modules played through the Fantom if you connect those external modules to a second MIDI out port on the PC.

That is, the PC/FXLC combo has a MIDI soft-thru function and by manipulating the MIDI data that is forwarded I have been able to also add functions such as the Octaver (note doubler/trippler), automatic sending of extra Program Change messages when you go to the next 'stage' and so on.

I will probably add an option to allow enabling/disabling external modules even if they are connected direclty to the Fantom (although that would have to be through actual MIDI of course, not USB) but it's not in there yet. It was but I removed it because it was done by manipulating the Fantom's KBD switch. It worked but not perfectly because turning off KBD would also prevent subsequent note-off events or pedal-off events from being transmitted by the Fantom so you could end up having notes hanging if you play them, swich to another stage where that MIDI channel is disabled and then try to release the note. I will have to use another approach, possibly chaning the MIDI channel for the part to something that is not used or setting the Key Range to say C0-C0 or something. I've tested this and it does work, ie the Fantom will still transmit the note-off and pedal-off events for the part/channel.

Bottom line, you will need a USB MIDI interface for your PC if you want to control both the Fantom as well as other gear using the current version of FXLC. And as I pointed out this setup does offer more features that cannot be implemented if the external gear is connected directly to the Fantom instead of going thru FXLC and out the secondary MIDI port.

Figureing out the live mode was going to enable me to have more favorites if you will.

In principle FXLC does not need the Fantom's storage to store the complete Performance data, it could have it's own storage area on your PC with an unlimited number of Performances which can be sent to the Fantom's current 'temporary' performance. Not sure if I will do this as I don't need more Performances myself at this point than what the Fantom can hold in User and Card memory.