Question About Auto Tap and Presets

vatore3rd

vatore3rd

Active Member
Hi,

I have a pedal (Keeley Halo) that takes analog tap tempo input. I have set this up to use Tap Tempo from the PBC for both a Tap Tempo button and Auto Tap on preset changes. It generally works fine EXCEPT that the PBC seems to only do Auto Tap for a preset when the preset changes the tempo. Unfortunately, in the case of the Halo, when you change presets on the Halo it always reverts to the time value in the preset (that is, Halo does not "remember" the last tap tempo value when loading a new preset). Thus if I have a song with two PBC presets, both at the same tempo but selecting different Halo presets, it does not sync up tap tempo when I select the second PBC preset.

It appears that the Auto Tap is only sent if the PBC preset changes the tempo. Is there a way to have the PBC always do Auto Tap on preset change? This would be the ideal behavior.

If that is not supported, then what is the minimum required BPM value change for PBC to resend Auto Tap? I tried, for example, to change the second PBC preset by +1 BPM, but it still doesn't resend Auto Tap. However, if I change it by +2 BPM across presets it does resend Auto Tap when changing presets. Just trying to understand how this feature works.

Thanks.
 
The auto tap mechanism does filter out small changes (1BPM or less). Any System / BPM action will force the auto tap to send again, you could add that to the preset action list.
 
I got some time with the PBC today and tried a few things out. I am running PBC 5.0.0.

I assigned a System BPM action with a very fast absolute BPM value to a button. If I press that button, the PBC appears to be changing the tempo as (a) the fast tempo is displayed on the main screen, and (b) my regular tap tempo button flashes with the fast rate. However, it does not seem to activate the Macro used by Auto Tap. My Auto Tap macro sends MIDI CC's to a Suhr Micro MIDI to control the Halo Tap input. The Micro MIDI will flash when it receives a CC. No flashes when I invoke System BPM action. I then tweaked the MIDI Device on PBC to send to my Mac via USB and I verified that no CC's are sent when System BPM action is invoked. CC's are observed in both cases when pressing my normal tap tempo button and when changing presets with different tempos.

Not sure if I am doing something wrong or if System BPM action is not wired into Auto Tap macro?
 
For completeness, I did try invoking System BPM action from a Preset action list. Same behavior -- appears to set tempo on the PBC but does not invoke Auto Tap.
 
Hi @vatore3rd, I don't have an answer for this sorry, but I just received my Halo and would be interested in how you have it set up to receive MIDI to change presets... or are you changing presets on the Halo itself?
 
I used to use the TRS output jack on the PBC to switch between A/B sides. I also at one time used a Suhr Micro MIDI to translate MIDI CC's into TRS jack switching. I couldn't get the auto tap stuff to work reliably though. At this point I use just the one Halo preset with an expression pedal.
 
vatore3rd said:
I used to use the TRS output jack on the PBC to switch between A/B sides. I also at one time used a Suhr Micro MIDI to translate MIDI CC's into TRS jack switching. I couldn't get the auto tap stuff to work reliably though. At this point I use just the one Halo preset with an expression pedal.
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks... I'm hoping to send tempo and MIDI CC's from my PBC via my Selah Quartz. I currently use the Quartz to send all my time based information around my board instead of the PBC.

If I have any success, I'll let you know.
 
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