KnobbyEd will default to all the knobs un-assigned. [Note: The
Slidemate and Knobby now ship preprogrammed with 120 standard
MIDI controllers set to channel 1]
To check your connection to the Knobby, press any of the GROUP
buttons, and you should see the on-screen image reflect the status of the
Knobby itself. If you don’t, go to the section on troubleshooting.
You can browse the instrument panel on the left of the application for
your particular equipment. When you find something you would like to
control, simply click on the “+” next to the instrument’s name and you
will see a list of all the editable parameters. Drag and drop from this list
onto a knob and it programmed! You can also drop onto the text area
below the knobs if you prefer.
If you are curious about the details of a command and what it’s actually
doing, double-click on a knob or text area. You will see the knob
properties box that has the name of the knob, the type of message, and all
the data necessary in creating the message. The online help has detailed
information regarding this area.
What we are going to concentrate on next are specific areas of Knobby
and KnobbyEd. With all the reference data in the world, sometimes it’s
easier to have a friend explain something to you. We’re going to attempt
that here.
Group Buttons
The group buttons are used to change between sets of knob definitions.
You can press one or multiple buttons at a time, for a total of fifteen
groups. The LEDs will indicate the current group.
Use these group buttons to organize your instrument programming. For
instance, you could set GroupA to be 8 parameters for VCO1, GroupB to
be 8 parameters for VCO2, GroupAB to be 8 parameters for the VCF,
etc. You can think of the group buttons as giving you 15 programs per
controller.
MIDI LED
The MIDI LED indicates MIDI activity. The Knobby has a MIDI merger
built in, and this LED will show incoming activity as well as MIDI data
generated by the Knobby/Slidemate. The brightness will change
depending on the amount of data being generated. The MIDI LED will
not light if you move a knob that is unassigned.
Knob Behavior
In MIDI controllers, there are various methods to implement the way
data is sent when the knob is moved. The 8 knobs on Knobby have a
memory for every group. If you are moving knobs in one group and
switch to another group, Knobby remembers where the knobs were
located in the first group. When you return to that first group, the knobs
probably won’t be in the exact location. As you move a knob, you have
to cross the old location before it starts transmitting data. This prevents a
jump in the parameter you’re controlling. If you are selecting a group for
the first time, Knobby will begin transmitting immediately upon knob
movement. If a knob is unassigned, it will not transmit when you move it
and the MIDI LED will not light.
Scene / Panic
The button near the upper right corner of the front panel is labeled
“Scene.” When the Scene button is pressed, the Slidemate/Knobby will
transmit the current values of all eight knobs in the current group. A
sequencer can capture this so the parameters can be restored in a future
performance.
There is a “hidden” feature of the Scene button. If you hold it for about a
second, it also performs a panic function. What is that, you might ask?