Whammy Remote via MIDI?

[Jaicen_solo]

Just wondering if anybody here has tried building a device to remote control a Whammy  WH4 via it's MIDI input. I'm inspired by the suggestion of an arpeggiator pedal. I was wondering if it would be possible to have a 8-16 step sequence to automate the pitch shifting on the whammy, to create a pseudo arpeggio thing. My old zoom505 used to have a similar function, but that was envelope triggered, i'd like this to start and stop on a button push. Now that would be cool, because I have an old WH-4 that no longer sweeps properly, so this would allow it to be used again.

[galad]

hi jaicen,

i believe this is possible.  i haven't used a midi arpeggiator with it but i have used cubase and a cc track to control the treadle to get some weird sounds you couldn't possibly do with your foot.  what you want to do, if you have some program like cubase or logic..etc.. is go into a blank midi track, then in the expression area (cc 11) draw what pattern you want from 0-127 you can draw anything, steps, gradual lines, parabolic lines, triangle waves etc... and it will control the treadle... you can also do bank select through a cc track (cc 0) and change the preset in the track although it's a little tougher than controlling the treadle if you're just drawing it in
- also make sure it's coming from the correct midi cable and that you have your midi set up properly in the program

if your whammy doesn't sweep properly it sounds like it might be out of allignment.  try putting it in MIDI selection mode (unpluging and pluging back in the power while holding down the footswitch) and then rocking the treadle fully back and forth to re-align it. then hit the footswitch again and see if that works... if it doesn't .. i dunno guess it's broke.
i think that's how you do it but i could be wrong... download the manual

[Jaicen_solo]

That sounds like exactly what I need.

So, anybody know how it's done?  I'm looking at using a PIC, since I figure it's simple, and I have a PIC burner for my MBHP projects.

[galad]

dunno bout making a pedal out of it that would sequence... that might be pretty hard to do

here's one i found - mainly just for choosing the different channels through a box rather than reaching down and turning the knob
but you might be able to build on that design - that is if you can find it
http://www.lnafx.com/whammidi%20bypass.htm ... it's french i know

but personally i think it would just be easier to do through cubase or some cc sequencer on your computer

did you try to re-align your pedal yet?

[Dave_B]

I've got a wh4-related design that I've been intending to sell so I've been messing with this thing quite a bit.  As far as sequencing goes, I was able to get real close to a chromatic scale with the single octave settings by sending CC commands to the WH4.  I only qualify that because I used a standard tuner rather than a frequency counter, but it sounded fine to my ears.  The 2-octave settings don't tune up as well.  There are quite a few sharps and flats on them, so I don't think they'd be nearly as useful. 

I also found that my unit makes a slight click sound when changing programs rapidly, so that kind of killed my thought of switching between programs to get more accuracy.  Maybe your results would be different. 

[galad]

hey i was messing around with this again in cubase and found that you can just use stepdesigner as an insert in a midi track
then go to setup on the stepdesigner controller and choose expression then just select the expresion again as the controller and make your expression pattern and quantize(for speed) now just pres play and you've got yourself a 32step-whammy arpeggiator controller

only problem is getting proper notes,... maybe if there's a midi stepcontroller that allows you to see what 0-127 number is used in the controller then you'd have a good arpeggiator

i recorded some of this
listen to "whammyarp"  here http://www.myspace.com/sonicase
it's a ds-1 -> morley wah -> whammy(controlled by the stepdesigner) ->out 

[Jaicen_solo]

That's exactly the sound i'm looking for! I was aware that some people have done this via a sequencer, but that's really not practical for live use now is it!
Would it be difficult to work out a way to have a box with 16 sliders, which would be connected to the AIN pins of something like a PIC8F452, and then a tempo control and maybe an LCD to show the value of each slider when it's moved? That's all i'm after really 

EDIT: Yeah, recalibration is the first thing I tried, no joy. I've even been inside to try and move the LED/LDR but no joy.

[Dave_B]

Would it be difficult to work out a way to have a box with 16 sliders, which would be connected to the AIN pins of something like a PIC8F452, and then a tempo control and maybe an LCD to show the value of each slider when it's moved?

I'm not sure where you're at with programming these suckers, but that shouldn't be too tough.  I don't know how many ADC's the '452 has, but you could always use a 405x chip to multiplex them.  Also, if you use a table lookup on the pots, they would jump to the correct note values instead of you having to tune each one.  Then you wouldn't need an LCD.

If it helps, here are the values I came up with for the octave up notes: 0,  7, 15, 24, 33, 42, 52, 63, 74, 86, 100, 112, 127
The octave down is different: 0, 15, 28, 41, 53, 64, 75, 85, 95, 104, 112, 120, 127

[Jaicen_solo]

That is useful thanks.

Unfortunately, I have ZERO programming knowledge, so if this project is going anywhere, it won't be me at the programming reins!
Hardware's my thing really, I'm a little out of my depth in this particular field.

[galad]

hey i just finished building a sequenced expression controller in synthmaker

i made the sliders really big too

i'll work on it some more later

[galad]

check out my midi controller for the whammy



still not completely done yet though

and i think i accidently remapped my program channels on my whammy ... anyone know how to fix that? i emailed digitech - waiting for a response

oh again with the recalibrating the treadle... are you sure you did it correctly?.. you have to hold down the switch (like a few secconds) untill the light blinks and then stops, then when you're recalibrating the different LEDs should light up as you move the treadle, if they aren't you didn't hold down the switch long enough and you're in midi channel mode

i think when im done writing this program i could sell it for about $20 each maybe more?
how much do you think someone would pay for it considering they spent $200 on the whammy
- a tenth of the cost doesn't seem too bad considering how well this thing controls it
i can do some pretty crazy stuff with this

[Dave_B]

and i think i accidently remapped my program channels on my whammy ... anyone know how to fix that? i emailed digitech - waiting for a response

Are you sure?  One thing to know, the program numbers in the manual are wrong. 

i think when im done writing this program i could sell it for about $20 each maybe more?
how much do you think someone would pay for it considering they spent $200 on the whammy

That's the boat I'm in.  I've got a couple of ideas for the Whammy.  One is actually finished, the other has been on the breadboard for awhile.  The thing is so cheap, I'm guessing it will be difficult to sell accessories, but I think $20 is more than fair.

[galad]

oh the one in the book is wrong?... i though i messed up my thing although, i thought they were right beforehand.... i could be wrong though

i just don't remember now

although i did read something somewhere that said some of their product's program channels could be remapped

how is it on yours? mine are correct on the right side, but on the harmony side 9 is where 17 should be and visversa

[Dave_B]

how is it on yours? mine are correct on the right side, but on the harmony side 9 is where 17 should be and visversa

That's the way mine is also.  The as you increment the program number, the LED's move clockwise.

[galad]

hrm ... makes sence i guess.....gotta change some settings in my program then

guess the manual is wrong....   lol i sent digitech this detailed discription of how i thought i messed it up and they sent me a pic of the program channels from the manual... with no explanation

they should revise that manual... and also add the first letters to all those sentences on the left..

[Dave_B]

they should revise that manual... and also add the first letters to all those sentences on the left..

  Does yours ever produce a quiet click when changing programs?  As I've mentioned, if I change programs rapidly, I get some 'zipper' noise. 

[clarky2003]

dunno bout making a pedal out of it that would sequence... that might be pretty hard to do

here's one i found - mainly just for choosing the different channels through a box rather than reaching down and turning the knob
but you might be able to build on that design - that is if you can find it
http://www.lnafx.com/whammidi%20bypass.htm ... it's french i know

but personally i think it would just be easier to do through cubase or some cc sequencer on your computer

did you try to re-align your pedal yet?

Hi everybody,

i'm Stef from LNA Guitar Effects, the builder of the Whammidi. Sorry for my web site which is only in french. So , if you want some informations about my products, don't hésitate to ask me 

Best regards!

Stef.

[galad]

oh shit....lol how did you find this thred?
--

as for the program change, yea it kinda flutters if i do it real fast... prolly can't process it fast enough

i wrote a manual for it and now i just gotta make some presets ... then ppl can buy it..lol

[clarky2003]

oh shit....lol how did you find this thred?
--

as for the program change, yea it kinda flutters if i do it real fast... prolly can't process it fast enough

i wrote a manual for it and now i just gotta make some presets ... then ppl can buy it..lol

It's not the question, i found it, that's all.

The design of the whammidi, and all of my others products, are protected (resin for analog, code protected for the numeric), so you will have to design it on your own if you don't want to order one to me ! 

[galad]

but the whammidi is mainly for channel program selection and bypassing right?.. or does it have sequencing or any other effects?

when i first saw it, the screen was off so i thought it was some sort of ribbon controller on a box...lol