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A special case : “UseKeyboardControl”
The TinyBox also supports another way of control, instead of using the FCB1010. This alternative
routing, indicated in red in the schematic above, might be attractive to keyboard players for instance.
Indeed, it allows to use the keys of a keyboard to scroll through banks, select presets or activate effects
in the TinyBox.
On a previous page we mentioned the communication protocol between FCB1010 and TinyBox. More
specifically the footswitch presses and expression pedal movements cause following MIDI messages
to be sent by the FCB1010:
Channel 13 NoteOn/NoteOff 0x00-0x09 0x7f = switch 1-10 press/release
Channel 13 NoteOn/NoteOff 0x0e/0x0f 0x7f = switch DOWN/UP press/release
Channel 13 ControlChange 0x04/0x07
value
= expr.pedal A/B position
With the adapted routing above, the FCB1010 switch presses can be simulated by sending these same
NoteOn/NoteOff messages to the TinyBox from a keyboard connected to MIDI IN, or even from a
computer application, through TinyBox MIDI-USB port 1. It is important to notice that the TinyBox MIDI
mapper is still available in this routing. This means that you can easily map the lowest octave of your
keyboard to MIDI channel 13, note range 0-15, and this way turn this low region of your keyboard into
a remote control for your entire rig. A joystick or other continuous control can be mapped to the
expression pedal movement, and activate any of the sweeps in the TinyBox setup.
This special routing is activated by sending the TinyBox command “
UseKeyboardControl
”. This
command will typically be part of the “
INIT_TINYBOX
” initialization preset, which is triggered as soon
as the TinyBox is powered.
One last important fact: if an incoming MIDI message does not simulate any switch press or expression
pedal movement, it is simply forwarded to MIDI OUT. So you can still play all your synths with the
keyboard as usual, while reserving that one lower octave for remote control.
