Alesis Strike Pro Hihat foot controller issue w/triggering properly in Kontakt

[A P]

Hi

Ive got my Alesis Strike Pro Module to work properly with Drum Designer in Logic 10.7.9 but when I load Kontakt 7 and use Abbey Road Drums, the hihat will not trigger properly. The closest I am able to get is to have the hihat triggering an open hihat sample in Kontakt but when I fully close the hihat pedal, the sample does not change to a closed one. It is effecting the sound somewhat but not triggering the  fully closed samples. The Alesis Strike Module sends hihat via a single note + CC4. I have included a screen shot of my midi monitor to show what information is coming through Logic when I depress the hihat pedal. I am on a Mac mini M1 2020 running Ventura 13.5.1

If anyone can help, thank you so much... I have been working on this for days.

 

 

[Atlas007]

The way you describe your issue, it seems that the source of the problem is with Kontakt 7… Different Kontakt library could be programmed to behave (react to incoming MIDI data) differently.

 

[A P]

Yes, I think you are right that the issue is with Kontakt. I have tried using all of the available mapping schemes that Kontakt has such as Default, GM, Superior Drummer, BFD etc, but none of them helped in getting me any closer to fixing the hihat issue. NI Kontakt seems to be pretty limited in what they allow you to modify, so that is why I was hoping that possibly Logic would be able to compensate and give Kontakt what it wants to see. 

Edited September 8 by A P

[Atlas007]

4 hours ago, A P said:

NI Kontakt seems to be pretty limited in what they allow you to modify, so that is why I was hoping that possibly Logic would be able to compensate and give Kontakt what it wants to see. 

Logic does indeed features many ways to modify what it can emit in terms of MIDI. The question is what does Kontakt/Abbey Road Drums need to achieve your expectations?

Edited September 9 by Atlas007

[JakobP]

The midi data captured on your screenshot looks a bit weird, your cc4 (foot control) doesn't show values above 57 while it should range between 0-127, also there's two note off events each for A#-1 and G0, but no note on events to be found... I would try using Snoizes MIDI Monitor to see what midi comes in to your mac. 

Edited September 9 by JakobP

[A P]

I installed Snoizes Midi Monitor and uploaded the results of my foot control movement from full open to full close on the Alesis Strike hihat controller. With some curve adjustments on the Alesis Strike module I was able to get the range to be what is shown. It is still missing some information at the top and bottom of the range but not as severe as before, but the samples being triggered in Kontakt are still the same range that they were before. 

So I did some more trouble shooting and it appears that the 3 notes that are covering the hihat performance in GM are A#1, G#1 and F#1. I used my Yamaha CP33 keyboard to trigger the Kontakt drums and found while playing A#1 (which triggers the "Open Control" articulation in Kontakt) and using the Mod wheel on the keyboard (CC1), I get the same articulation range as when I use my Alesis hihat controller (which sends the same note +CC4). When playing G#1 on my keyboard, it triggered the "Closed Pedal" articulation in Kontakt, as did fully closing my hihat module. When playing  F#1 on my keyboard, it triggers the "Closed Tip" articulation in Kontakt. That is where the problem seems to be, the Alesis module is failing to communicate to Kontakt to play the "Closed Tip" articulation (F#1)

My goal is to get the Alesis drums hihat to trigger F#1 somehow and allow full articulations in Kontakt. I am not sure if this is something to be handled in the Environment with a Transformer, script, etc... It just appears that there aren't any options at the Alesis end or the Kontakt end to resolve this, leaving the burden on Logic...

[Atlas007]

I believe that is possible to transform (via script or transformer) a note into another one (i.e. either A#1 or G#1 to F#1). To make it on a temporary basis (at the desired moments) it would require use of another modulable parameter (i.e. note velocity or CC1 for instance).

[David Nahmani]

On 9/9/2023 at 5:52 PM, A P said:

My goal is to get the Alesis drums hihat to trigger F#1 somehow and allow full articulations in Kontakt. I am not sure if this is something to be handled in the Environment with a Transformer, script, etc...

It can be handled by either. The Transformer in the Environment can give you a global solution that will work independently of the track you're playing, in case you have multiple drum tracks. 

The Scripter solution gives you a MIDI FX plug-in that you have to insert on the drum kit designer channel strip. 

If all you want to do is turn all incoming G#1 notes into F#1 notes, then try the following script: 

function HandleMIDI(event) {
  if (event instanceof Note) { 
    if (event.pitch==44) {		 		 
      event.pitch = 42;
    }
  }    
  event.send();
}

If you want to add specific conditions, let us know? 

[A P]

Thank you for the reply and sorry for the delayed response (busy week). I want to use the script to change the event pitch from 44 to 42 but only for instances where the accompanying CC4 information is within a certain range, say 100-127 (or something similar). The existing mapping to 44 works in triggering the correct sample articulations but for some reason fails to trigger the final “closed” hihat articulations. As it is now, even when I am playing with the hihat pedal fully depressed and sending CC4, the samples don’t change to the fully “closed” articulations for any of the CC4 range. I hope that makes sense…

[David Nahmani]

8 minutes ago, A P said:

I want to use the script to change the event pitch from 44 to 42 but only for instances where the accompanying CC4 information is within a certain range, say 100-127 (or something similar).

Aaah.. I see. So I'm afraid I'm not sure how to do that exactly. Perhaps @Dewdman42 would know how to do that? 

[Dewdman42]

I don't have access to a mac right now so i can test this, but here is more or less a script if i understand corrrectly what you're saying you want to keep track of the current CC4 running value (the last known value), in order to determine how to transpose the pitch.

var lastCC = 0;

function HandleMIDI(event) {
    if(event instanceof ControlChange && event.number == 4) {
      lastCC = event.value;
    }
    // right here look for notes and decide whether to transpose them
    if (event instanceof Note) { 
        if (event.pitch==44 && lastCC > 50 && lastCC < 100) {		 		 
            event.pitch = 42;
        }
     }    
  
     event.send();
}

 

Edited September 15 by Dewdman42

[A P]

Oh my gosh! It works! Thank you @Dewdman42 and also to everyone else for helping me get my head around this and troubleshoot.  I installed the script and it worked but only needed me to change the range to:

(event.pitch==44 && lastCC > 126 && lastCC < 128) {                  
            event.pitch = 42;
and that got the best performance through the articulation range. 

I tested this in Kontakts Abbey Road Drums (the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, Modern and Vintage) packs and it worked with all of them. I also tried it in Kontakts Studio Drummer pack and it worked with that as well.

Again, I appreciate the help so much.