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Assigning Korg microKONTROL joystick Y to mod wheel in Logic


Cone

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I have a vintage 2005 Korg microKONTROL which I use as a MIDI controller keyboard. Logic Pro 8 supports Korg native mode, so I can control Logic with it, and the LCD displays show useful information. So far, so good.

 

The microKONTROL has a joystick instead of separate pitch bend and modulation wheels. With the default control surface settings in Logic, the X axis of the joystick sensibly controls pitch bend. The Y axis, however, is not assigned to mod wheel, and it seems it can't even be done.

 

Has anyone come across with a method to assign the Y axis of the mK joystick to mod wheel duties? Or, has anyone solid information that it simply can't be done? This is a surprising omission that is not a deal breaker, but would be nice to get working. Many synth patches do useful things with the mod wheel, even if it is just adjusting filter cutoff.

 

I have verified that the joystick Y axis is recognized in other software. It can be assigned to mod wheel (MIDI CC #1), and often is, depending on the microKONTROL scene loaded.

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I have a vintage 2005 Korg microKONTROL which I use as a MIDI controller keyboard. Logic Pro 8 supports Korg native mode, so I can control Logic with it, and the LCD displays show useful information. So far, so good.

 

The microKONTROL has a joystick instead of separate pitch bend and modulation wheels. With the default control surface settings in Logic, the X axis of the joystick sensibly controls pitch bend. The Y axis, however, is not assigned to mod wheel, and it seems it can't even be done.

 

Has anyone come across with a method to assign the Y axis of the mK joystick to mod wheel duties? Or, has anyone solid information that it simply can't be done? This is a surprising omission that is not a deal breaker, but would be nice to get working. Many synth patches do useful things with the mod wheel, even if it is just adjusting filter cutoff.

 

I have verified that the joystick Y axis is recognized in other software. It can be assigned to mod wheel (MIDI CC #1), and often is, depending on the microKONTROL scene loaded.

 

 

Logic's environment has been known to change water into wine. :P

 

What is the value of the Y axis as shown in Logic's midi window?

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Logic's environment has been known to change water into wine. :P

 

What is the value of the Y axis as shown in Logic's midi window?

 

Assuming you mean the MIDI Activity display in the transport bar, nothing (that is, it just shows "No In"). The X axis does register, but the Y axis doesn't. It's like the Korg native mode support of Logic just captures it and doesn't pass it through.

 

For example, I've loaded a scene in which "joystick Y as mod wheel" works, immediately before starting up Logic 8. When native mode takes over, it's gone.

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Logic's environment has been known to change water into wine. :P

 

What is the value of the Y axis as shown in Logic's midi window?

 

Assuming you mean the MIDI Activity display in the transport bar, nothing (that is, it just shows "No In"). The X axis does register, but the Y axis doesn't. It's like the Korg native mode support of Logic just captures it and doesn't pass it through.

 

For example, I've loaded a scene in which "joystick Y as mod wheel" works, immediately before starting up Logic 8. When native mode takes over, it's gone.

 

 

I guess a look at how it is programmed may help, also check the transmission port ( as per the manual).

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I guess a look at how it is programmed may help, also check the transmission port ( as per the manual).

 

Yeah, it's just that once you're in Native Mode, none of that applies. (I went through the steps of assigning CC#1 to the Joystick Y as described in the manual - to no avail.) Logic takes over and does what it does. And one thing it apparently doesn't do is pass through the joystick Y value.

 

I searched inside the Logic 8 application bundle for a configuration file that would allow me enable the Joystick Y value to be passed through. Looks like the control surface support is "baked in" into the Logic application, am I right or should I keep looking?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got this problem too and I've just finished reading the 245 page Control Surfaces manual.....twice :?

 

I simply cannot see where the joystick parameters get mapped at all.

 

Interestingly if I hook up a midi monitor, when you move the joystick left and right, you get some sysex data going from port A and the pitch bend data going to port B. However, moving in the Y axis only sends the sysex data on port A.

 

In the midi monitor, the sysex message just says "Korg Sysex, 9 bytes"

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How about NOT using the Microkontrol in its native control surface mode? That way you have full control of what MIDI messages get sent into Logic. I did the same back when I got my Novation RemoteSL25.

 

If you want to delete the native support, select the Logic app in the Finder. Right-click and select Show Package Contents. Open the Contents folder then the MIDI Device Plug-ins folder. Drag the microkontrol.bundle file out of there. Restart Logic.

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Another microKontrol user here - re Fader8's ^ suggestion, I use the Bypass All Control Surfaces command ( menu bar > Logic Pro > Preferences > Control Surfaces ) so I can easily switch from Native Mode ( eg when I need to assign controls to faders etc in the Environment windows )
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