Planet Z

BC Modular is a collection of over 150 modules for the Creamware/SonicCore Modular 2 & 3 devices. Envelopes, Filters, Oscillators, Switches, Mixers etc. provide all the basic building blocks you need for the most complex of modular patches while compatibilty with existing modular modules means that BC Modular can be easily integrated into your patches.

Almost every module parameter has an input socket for extended control and modulation. Each module features a pop-up panel, where the name & colour of the module can be edited for easy recognition. In addition, many of the modules feature slider controls for the various module parameters.

A collection of control modules provide extended MIDI control of modular patches. The days when Modular patches were restricted to 120 parameters of MIDI control are finally over!!.

5 BCM modules are included which can be combined to follow the layout of Behringer BCR/BCF MIDI controllers. However, since the BCM modules send & respond to standard MIDI control change messages, they can also be used with other MIDI controllers. Each of the encoders / buttons on the BCM's can be fully edited to output value ranges suited to the various modules within the BC Modular environment.

Every BCM encoder & button features an editable display for accurate parameter readout and can be labelled so that you always know what you are controlling. Settings for individual encoders / buttons can be stored & recalled. Factory presets are also provided to get you started. Each BCM module can be assigned it's own MIDI channel and CC numbers can be edited by the user, allowing for up to 2048 parameters of midi control.

Furthermore, additional control modules are provided to make even more MIDI control possible. The NRPN2Val module supports the full 14-bit range (0-16383) of incoming NRPN messages and translates the selected message to a user-editable value range. The ABS14 module offers support for Behringer B-control Absolute-14 Control Change messages. Finally the 'KeyP 2 Val' module allows for response to incoming MIDI Key Pressure messages. In theory more than 5000 modular parameters can now be addressed from your MIDI controller.

As always, any suggestions for improvement are more than welcome.

HAVE FUN!!

great idea, modular lovers here's your chance
fantastic looks!

Very nice!! I will try this for sure!

thanks

1 st step toward BCR 2000 like for modular to replace the MRC.

A 108 control version of it with pre-assigned midi mapping to one BCR 2000 preset ?

Great job !!!

CheerZ

Sharc,

this looks excellent! The concept of repeating the module is very clever, my compliments. In the same line of thinking, you could also build a controller strip mimicking the on/off buttons, or one with the eight sliders.

thanks again for keeping up the excellent work!

This looks great!

Just throwing out a question here, could something similar (the 14-bit trick) be done for the Novation Zero SL?

really strong controller, sharc !!!

and also very nice gui poti ! well designed.

Does this thing work in both directions?
I mean when you move a knob on the BC Modular, does the BCR2000 update the colour led around the knob?

I don`t have a bcr2000, so I m asking.

But it is so dirt cheap that I should go for one.

external controlling is very useful....., especially synth tweaking.

Whats the trick behind the 14 bit for behringer only ?

Wow, this thing's more popular than I thought it would be



That would be very cool The best thing about the MRC is the ability to map it directly to controls. Unfortunately, there are some parameters in the modular which you just can't patch a cable to. Not sure how feasible it would be to actually create an MRC replacement as it would probably involve developing a new modular shell which would more than likely have to be based on Mod III. Then there's the issue of actually figuring out how the MRC works ....big job



For the moment I've gone for just the 8 controls as it's quite flexible. you can load up to 16 of them for 128 controls ...OK, you could only get 56 rotaries in a single BCR2000 preset (but you could always buy another one or two ) Also, 128 sockets would make the module rather large, not to mention the edit panel.



good idea breitner Should be easy enough.



It should be possible. The reason I've gone for the BCR is that it's the only controller I have which supports 14-bit midi control. The Zero SL does look like a nice controller. As I don't have one, I can't test it as this end, but I just had a quick look at the manual and it might be compatible. Try setting one of the rotary encoders on the SL to NRPN mode and set the MSB to 21 & the LSB to 53. This should give you control over rotary 1 on the BC MODULAR. If it doesn't work, try the same settings in RPN mode. If you get it working just make the same settings for the other 7 encoders, each time adding 1 for MSB&LSB (ie. 22&54, 23&55 and so on up to 28&60).

EDIT: My guess is that the SL is using a standard NRPN / RPN spec, meaning that with the above settings, if you were to check it out on the Scope midi monitor you would see 4 control change messages - cc98(NRPN LSB) with a value of 53, cc99(NRPN MSB) with a value of 21, cc6(Data MSB) & cc38(Data LSB). It might be possible to create a module which supports the full NRPN spec, but it wouldn't be easy. Like I said, I don't have an SL here to test it and apart from anything else, to be honest I would be a little reluctant to spend so much time on a module which I couldn't make use of myself. I could however produce a more generic 7-bit midi controller module for modular. That would be relatively easy .



Yes, I should give a big thanks to <~Shroomz~> for that one



For this first release, I've disabled on-screen mouse editing of the controls as it was messing with parameter feedback when you change between modular presets. I'm hoping to be able to put that feature back in, but it will probably involve a circuit redesign. As it stands, you can switch between modular presets and the BCR2000 will update correctly. I figured this was more important as you can always edit the modular with the mouse using a constant val module or similar.

Stardust - The Behringer 14-bit control change option is similar to the Data Entry side of NRPN (It uses 2 CC's). However instead of being fixed at cc6 and 38, you can specify the MSB cc number and it'll set the LSB cc number accordingly, hence cc's 21(MSB) & 53(LSB), etc.

Thanks for the feedback & suggestions folks - keep 'em coming!!

Oops, I forgot to mention that if you want to use more than one BCM at a time in the modular, you should set the Midi in module to 'OMNI'. If your modular patch is set to a specific midi channel instead of OMNI just use the midi output from one of the BCM's set to that channel instead. This way you can use up to 16 BCM's (128 controls) at a time in any modular patch.

Thanks sharc. Ithink I understand it. So both sides (Behringer controller and the scope app) have to understand the 2 cc signalling. Thanks sharc

That's right stardust

One option if you don't have a behringer controller and want to check it out, would be to use standard control change messages. If you set up your controller to output cc's 21-28, that'll give you the 8 controls ...at 7-bit of course

thats what i wanted to know...
great....

Sharc, this is absolutely fantastic stuff !!

Do you think it would work with the faders too ?

Now if only there would be a standalone Scope module which could provide the same amount of control for the Scope synths.

But I guess this may technically unfeasible - there probably isn't a 14 bit input into the synths you could link with - other than the GUI ?

This kind of thing is one of my main reasons I got the SDK, to build some stuff for making Scope control a lot more transparent... Now if I only had any time at all

ok - I wanted to try it out with my Zero SL but I'm getting a "problem":

"Can't find DSP file MIDI through - Please check installation"

can anyone please direct me to that file?

Cheers!
Thomas

Thanks for letting me know petal

Here it is....

does the BCR/F have to be in a special mode for it to work in 14 bit? or can you just assign a knob as usual? i have been using a BCF with live/scope combination for a bit and i really like it.. i geting a bcr as well, and maybe even another bcf!

It uses the Absolute 14-bit mode (A14) for each encoder you set up. AFAIK you should be able to setup the faders of the BCF for this mode, although I'm not sure if the faders are full 14-bit resolution. You'll find full setup instructions in the included readme. I've also got a couple of .syx preset files for the BCR which I'll try and post later on today.

Gone?

...but not forgotten