Using a BCR2000 midi controller with the Kronos (How To)

Ojustaboo · Post by **Ojustaboo** » Wed May 08, 2013 10:47 pm

X-Trade wrote:Oh my god. That's brilliant.

I am going to have to buy one of these after all.

Ah, great minds think alike.

So are you the person bidding against me on eBay

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Thu May 16, 2013 1:44 am

I posted in the USB confirmed to work thread about this thread. I wonder what other usb items that didn't work might actually work now when set up through the editor!

My problem now is deciding what will be more useful, one of these items or a sl25mkii. I will have another thread for that question. I'm just excited it worked out so well! All those extra knobs or some extra sliders and knobs!

Ojustaboo · Post by **Ojustaboo** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:56 pm

I thought I finally had one tonight, previous bid £42, I put in £52 five secs before the end and someone else bought it at the last second for £87 ???

Wouldn't pay anywhere near that for a used one.

Past few weeks they've gone for £46, £50 etc.

I'll get one one day

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:50 pm

If the BCR2000 can accomodate sysex then you should be OK for CX-3. BCF2000 might be better as it has faders but you only get eight and CX-3 needs nine (or you can use a rotary for the ninth). I have a B4D so I made a little box which translates the midi to sysex. Also works nicely with the Axiom 61.

Bryan

Ojustaboo · Post by **Ojustaboo** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:58 pm

Finally won one, mint condition £58 plus £10 p&p

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:52 pm

Unfortunately the BCR2000 won't work with everything on the Kronos as it only appears to transmit values from 0 to 127 and no negative values. So it won't work properly with the Polysix for example as it requires values from 0 to 999. There's a few editors for the BCR2000 on the net but they all seem to be MIDI only so I'm writing my own editor to generate Kronos sysex. However, there's an awful lot of Kronos sysex so I'm doing it in bits and pieces to see how I get on. So far I've got it working with the CX-3 drawbars and a few EXi parameters. I'll keep you posted and make it available when it's in better shape. Meanwhile the learn function works though it takes some time for the BCR to learn (at least on my computer). Incidentally, you don't need the Kronos to learn the sysex as the Kronos editor can load the default factory sysex from the installed files.

Bryan

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:34 pm

Why would you need to write a program for sysx when the b r wil learn it from the editor?

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:20 pm

The problem with Learn is that you get what the BCR gives you. For instance, if you learn from the Polysix you get the wrong values because it truncates them to a max of 127. However, I can set the values from 1 to 16383 with the editor and they function correctly on the BCR. The problem is trying to persuade the BCR to transmit those values as it will only allow a max of 127 in a byte. This stems from the fact that if the upper bit is set it's a MIDI control message even though sysex ignores that. So far I've got the carry bit into the upper byte. Gives the wrong value but I'm working on it. There's a whole range of commands for the BCR that are useful and which you'll never be able to take advantage of without a BCL language editor.

Success! I now have the BCR operating the Polysix (well, some of it). Had to up the encoder resolution quite a bit as it took for ever with the original resolution. So that means I can control most things on the Kronos. A lot of work ahead though.

As an aside, it's been reported that the BCR has an iffy USB controller, and a number of people have had to return their BCRs. I found this out when it screwed up my working preset. Couldn't load or do anything. I resorted to standard MIDI and that cleared the fault. That was on the computer. Seems to work OK on the Kronos though since you're only transmitting the sysex one way. So I would recommend using regular MIDI unless you need USB.

Bryan

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:56 pm

LOL thanks for the reply, I sadly only understand it rudimentarily but every little bit I learn gets me closer to understanding it better!

SeedyLee · Post by **SeedyLee** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 3:36 am

Is there any reason the editor has to be used from programming, rather than connecting the bcr2000 directly to the KRONOS and programming from there? The Kronor should send the same Sysex as the editor when the relevant parameters are adjusted.

I've ordered one from overseas today, and with any luck it should be here next week. Looking forward to seeing how it works!

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:57 pm

The BCR2000 needs a reply from whatever it's talking to so it can confirm what it's trying to learn. I don't think the Kronos is doing that so that's why you have to use the editor.

Meanwhile I've been working on my editor and I've come up with a very elementary one. After much consideration that's the way it's going to stay. Currently it just does the Polysix and has a subset of 40 parameters, each of which has five subfields, the bare minimum Could use more subfields. That's bad enough but the Polysix has over 300 parameters so it will be a nightmare to come up with a useful interface. The Kronos has over 50,000 parameters as a whole and that would be a lifetime's work. I now understand why the Kronos editor took so long to write. So I'm just going to do subsets of the other synths. What I really need is something like the Kronos editor PLUS the BCR protocol.

Trouble is, the BCR will only learn positive values up to 127 so you need some sort of editor. For instance, the Polysix has values up to 2400, positive and negative. I can do the positive values but negative ones only up to -127 because of the way the BCR works and the Kronos sysex format.

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:34 pm

Has anyone tried an Elements Dual80 Bundle with the Kronos or any other keyboard?

http://shop.lividinstruments.com/elemen ... 80-bundle/

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 6:44 pm

The problem with controlling the Kronos is that almost everything is System Exclusive. Very few controllers allow for sysex. I had to design a box to translate midi to sysex for my Axiom and B4D for that reason. The BCR2000 can handle sysex which is what makes it useful, especially because it can learn. However, the BCR treats sysex as a simple message and it only has control over the value. Hence my editor. There is an editor which can be used if you understand BC control language and Kronos sysex. Look around the net for bcfredit. You can edit all the BCR parameters and the sysex but I can't guarantee its reliability as I had a few problems with it. Worth a try though. And use standard MIDI instead of USB.

Bryan

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:24 pm

Lemur on the iPad is excellent! Direct USB connection with the camera connection kit!

SeedyLee · Post by **SeedyLee** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:55 am

Qucik question for anyone using the Kronos with the BCR.

If you connect the BCR to the Kronos directly via 5 Pin DIN MIDI connectors, does it become possilbe to do the programming directly from the Kronos without the editor, and do the indicator lights on the BCR respond to parameter value changes on the Kronos?

The Kronos sends SYSEX to a device connected via MIDI, but won't to a device connected to the KRONOS' USB A porrts as far as I know.