FCB1010 and Logic Pro

Has anyone been able to control Guitar Rig via the FCB1010 inside of Logic Pro?. If so could you please provide info on how to do it. My FCB1010 works great with GR when I use it as a stand alone app.

Thanks

 

Yes, I do it quite successfully for myself in a live capacity.

I also feed my vocals through Logic, as well, for some vocal processing and trigger some SFX from the sampler, all while running GR 2.0 as a plug-in.

Unfortunately, I have to run out right now and can not elaborate on how I have it setup, but will get back with you shortly.

 

Thanks man. I look forward to the info.

JG

 

Unfortunately, I don't have my laptop wth me that my setup is on, so this will be from memory.

To control GR in Logic, you have to insert the GR Plugin on a midi instrument track, such as you would insert a software synth. From what I understand, the only way for GR to recognize midi information sent from the FCB1010 is if it is setup in this way. If you insert GR on a regular audio track, it will not respond to MIDI.

I have a pretty complex environment setup as well so that certain notes/program changes sent from my FCB1010 get routed or converted to trigger or change all the different things I have going on.

I do not switch between banks on GR, but let it stay on one bank at all time and just change the preset on that bank. So if you have your different patches spread over different banks, my solution will not work for you. All patches need to reside on the same bank.

The MIDI channels I have listed below may not be accurate, since I am going from memory, but you will get the general idea of how I have it setup. I.e. program changes may not actually be on MIDI channel 1 but on channel 3, etc.

I have program changes for GR coming in on MIDI channel 1, that hits the environemnt and gets routed to the GR plugin on the instrument track it is inserted on.

I have program changes for my vocal effects coming in on MIDI channel 2, and based on what the change number is, gets converted to bypass effect inserts I have inserted on an audio track for my vocals.

I can't remember exactly how I have the expression pedals and modifier stuff setup, but I think they come in as CC messages which get routed to GR for controlling volume and wah, effect modifiers, etc.

If you have some specific questions, let me know and I'll do my best to help you out when I get my actual laptop in front of me.

 

Thanks.

I have the FCB1010 fully programmed to work with my banks although in reality I use only one bank. I have different effects, preset up/down, and it all works great in stand alone.

In logic I can add GR to an Audio Instrument track as a plug in and it works great but I can't control GR with the foot controller. You are right about your comments regarding MIDI to audio tracks. It can't be done.

So my question is do you only have one software instrument track to hear and control GR? or do you have 2 tracks (an audio and a software instrument track)?

I'll see if I can figure out with the info provided but it will be great if you can provide more specific details when you have your machine in front of you.

Thanks for the help.

 

I have two audio instrument tracks and one audio track.

1st audio instrument track - Guitar Rig
2nd audio instrument track - exs24 for triggered SFX
1 audio track w/ rec enabled for my vocals with various effect plugins

All of the above tracks get routed to separate output tracks so I can branch to different amps/mixer/p.a. via my Presonus Firebox which I use as my interface.

I don't remember if I did anything special to get the audio instrument track to work, but will verify this evening once I get to my laptop and let you know.

Off of the top of my head, I know I used a midi channel splitter in my environment that split off all the MIDI instructions for Guitar Rig and routed that channel directly to the audio instrument track that GR is on. Though I did this mainly to control the routing of all the different things I was doing.

You may just need to do a simple route from your MIDI input in the environment to the audio instrument track to get it to work for ya.

 

ElGringo

Ok my environment is simple. I have an audio interface connected via USB to my dual processor Mac. My guitar and FCB1010 are hooked up to that audio interface and Logic 7.1.1 gets the signals ok. I also have a keyboard controller connected directly to the Mac via USB.

If I set up an audio track, load GR as a plug in, and play the guitar everything works however the MIDI commands from the foot controller aren't regonized.

If I setup only a audio instrument track I load GR as a plug in as the only Insert in the channel strip when I play the guitar I get no sound or response from the foot controller commads.

If I only go into I/O region of the channel strip and select Stereo/AU MIDI Controlled FX/Guitar Rig FX then GR loads and responds to the foot controller commands however no sound is heard from the guitar.

Bottom line is that inside of Logic Pro I can get sound from the GR plug -in or get GR plug-in to take commands from the foot controller but I can't seem to to get GR to do both.

 

OK, I have my laptop. You need to be somewhat familiar with setting up MIDI routing in the environment. Here is how I have mine setup:

Route MIDI physical input to a router. From the router you can split off the same MIDI signal to different routes, if need be. From the router I usually route to a Monitor object so that I can see that Logic is indeed receiving the MIDI data properly. Since I think you said you had different things setup, link from the Monitor to a channel splitter.

Split off based on MIDI channel what information goes to Guitar Rig and what MIDI data goes to other things in Logic, if needed.

Now that you have the channel splitter routed to your Audio Instrument Track, here is how to setup that Instrument track. Insert the Guitar Rig Plug-In as the Input in your I/O section. Set the output to whatever output you need.

Open the Plug-In configuration window. At the top, you will see a "Side Chain" setting. Set this to the Input of your guitar Signal. For example, my guitar comes in on Input 2, so my side chain reads Input 2.

That should do it for you! Let me know.

 

The more I think about it and after I re-read your latest post, I think the only thins your are lacking is:

-Put the Guitar Rig plug-in in your Audio Instrument Track as an Input
-Enable your side chain for this input plug-in with the input signal from your guitar.

 

I never had a need to fiddle with the Environment in Logic too much however I will read about it and try your suggestion. I have a very good training book.

I really appreciate this.

 

You may not have to do all of that environment routing if you don't really need it for doing other things. If as you say that you have setup the Guitar Rig plug-in as an Input for your Audio Track Instrument and it responded to the FCB1010 controller, but no guitar signal reached it, then all you need to do is set the Side-Chain input of the Guitar Rig Plug In to the input your guitar signal is coming in as and you'll be good to go.

Let me know if you get it working or have any further questions.

BTW - I didn't mess with the environment either before my Guitar Rig setup. But I have quickly discovered it is very powerful. If you have a nack for computer programming, you can do quite a bit with the environment.

 

ElGringo.

Dude you are da man!!! It is working like a charm. My problem was that I had the side chain setting pointing to a track and not the Input 1 (which is where the guitar is plugged in).

One more question. I got now one audio instrument track where I can play guitar with GR and I can control GR with my foot controller. How do I record my guitar with GR and with my foot controller at the same time?

When I try to record the audio instrument track all Logic records is the MIDI data. I have an audio track setup with the input from the guitar. When I try to record both tracks all I get is just the guitar signal without the GR effects.

 

GREAT!! Glad I could be of help!!

Well, there is no direct way in Logic, that I know of, that allows you to record the output of an Audio Instrument track directly to an Audio Track. You have to bounce it out and then re-insert the bounced audio on a track. There is however, a workaround trick I have located. You can find it here:

http://community.sonikmatter.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23257&st=0&p=144546&#entry144546

For the trick on that site to work, you would asign the output of your Guitar Rig Audio Instrument track to a Bus and then use that Bus as your side chain input on the tip.

Which, by the way, Sonikmatter is a great Logic forum. It has been a big help to me over the years.

BUT ~ the big question is, do you really want to record the Guitar Rig wet signal to a track? The beauty of Guitar Rig is that if you record just the plain guitar track, you can always feed it back through Guitar Rig at a later date and use different settings to change your sound, if you so desire.

Regardless, I think the trick on the link above should serve your purpose, though I have never attempted it before.

I, myself, am just using Guitar Rig in a live capacity so haven't tried to record while using it. I think with everything I have going on in Logic, it would bog down my PowerBook something awful if I tried to record while playing. Just wish NI would get in gear and get that Universal Binary out so I can start using my MacBook instead!!!

 

A bit of a follow up.

So, you can have, in theory based on what I read:
- 1 Audio Instrument Track with GR output set to Bus 1
- Input object #1 with the input set to your dry guitar signal input
- Input object #2 with the logic noise gate plugin setup like in the tip with Bus #1 as your side chain input
- 1st Audio Track will have the input of the dry guitar signal as your source so you can record the dry signal for later re-processing (Input #1)
- 2nd Audio track will have the input of the processed guitar signal (Input #2)

Record enable the two Audio Tracks and the Audio Instrument track. This will record the dry guitar signal, the wet guitar signal and the MIDI controller information for the Guitar Rig instrument.

Read that other thread all the way through, since there may be some further tweaking that can be done to get the best results.

Best of luck!!

 

Thanks again.

Could you tell me the exact name of the thread that you mention?. The link doesn't work even after registering on the Sonik Matter site. There is a forum in there called "Protected". Is that where the thread is and if so how do you get in?

JG

 

It's not in a protected area, so not sure why it doesn't work, but it is under the following:

Sonikmatter > Logic / Emagic > Tricks and Tips

and the thread is titled:

Tip: Recording from a bus

 

I will check it out. Apparently I did not validate my access properly

Thanks!