Preset Editor

WARNING

Please note, browser with WebMIDI support is required. WebMIDI is currently supported with Chrome (opens new window) and Edge (opens new window) browsers.

The Preset editor used to build Electra One presets and upload them to the hardware controller.

The Preset editor window is divided into four sections:

1. Top menu
2. Sidebar
3. Grid
4. Tools pane

Top menu

The Top menu provide actions to manipulate whole preset and control the editing process.

Preset name

Shows name of the preset and allows user to edit it. To edit the preset name, simply click on it.

Send to Electra

Uploads the preset to the Electra One hardware controller.

Save a revision

Saves a preset and creates a new saved revision. For more details, refer to Preset revisions section of this document.

Open Toolbox

Opens a Toolbox. A collection of handy tools to edit and debug Lua script and MIDI Console to send and receive MIDI messages.

Undo

Reverts last editing changes.

Redo

Reverts last Undo actions.

Paste

Inserts a content of the clipboard to the Grid. Clipboard content is inserted to the selected position.

Leave the editor

Leaves the Preset editor and takes the user back to the Preset library. All unsaved changes are saved automatically when leaving the editor.

Open the Tools pane

Opens a Tools pane. A sidebar on the right side of the editor window. The Tools pane contains the Toolbox, a set of tools described above.

The advantage of the Tools pane is that the Toolbox can be opened while editing the preset. A wider screen is required to accommodate the Tools pane next to the Grid. The width of the Tools pane can be adjusted with the resize handle - the thin grey vertical bar between the Grid and the Tools pane.

The Sidebar

The Sidebar is on the left side of the editor window. It consists of three panels that allow user to edit controls, devices, pages, and categories. The Sidebar menu is used to switch between the three Sidebar panels.

The Repository panel

The Repository is the default panel. It provides user with information about currently selected device, allows user to edit the device, start/stop the MIDI learn, and offers a selection of Controls to build the preset. The Controls can be dragged from the panel on the the Grid with a mouse.

The device section

The device section is there to switch the currently selected device, edit the device details, and enable/disable the MIDI learn function. The detailed description of the device section is described further below in this document.

The defaults

The defaults allow user to set the default MIDI message type and color for Controls that will be dragged on to the Grid. There is a handy shortcut for changing the default color - pressing keys 1 to 6, while there are no controls selected, will set the default color from the Electra One color palette.

The Repository of controls

The repository of controls is a selection of controls available for currently selected device. User can drag and drop the controls on to the Grid to build the preset. The message type and the color of the newly created control reflects settings of the defaults, see details above.

The Selected panel

The Selected panel is activated whenever user select one or more objects. It can be controls, groups, or pages. The Selected panel allows the user to edit properties of the selected object. If multiple objects are selected, a list of objects is shown and the user can perform actions on all selected objects. Currently, users can cut and copy selected objects to the clipboard, change their color, and delete them.

The Selected panel with one selected object is described in detail further bellow.

The Categories panel

The Categories are meant to organize your controls to logical groups. When control has a category assigned, the category name is shown along with the name of the control, making it easier to get oriented.

Grid

The grid mirrors Electra One controller display. User places the controls from the repository panel to the grid by dragging them with a mouse. Drag and drop is also used to move Controls around the Grid.

Selecting controls

Individual controls are selected with a single mouse click or by navigating the Grid with keyboard arrow keys. Selecting multiple controls is done by clicking on the left-top control of the selection and then the SHIFT-click on the right-bottom corner of the selection. Selected controls and groups are highlighted with a dark-blue background.

Keyboard shortcuts

The grid can be also navigated with keyboard arrows and several handy keyboard shortcuts are supported:

Keyboard shortcut	Action
SHIFT + mouse click	select a continuous range of Controls
CMD / CTRL + C	copy to the clipboard
CMD / CTRL + X	cut to the clipboard
CMD / CTRL + V	paste from the clipboard
BACKSPACE	remove
ARROWS	navigating within the grid
SPACE	will display information about Category and Parameter assignment for all Controls on the page
1 .. 6	set a color of selected controls and groups

The keyboard shortcuts are extremely helpful when multiple controls are selected. The cut and paste can be used to move sets of controls to different pages.

Control attributes

Each Control has several attributes to configure. Some of the attributes are common for all types of Controls, while others are available only for certain types of Controls. The Control attributes are shown on the Selected panel on the left side of the editor window when single Control is selected on the Grid.

The Control attributes are divided into four sections, with each section covering different part of Control's functionality:

1. Common attributes, such as name and color.
2. Value attributes that configure how the value will be displayed.
3. Message attributes, that say what MIDI message is associated with the Control value.
4. Text overlays and list values.

Multi-value controls, such as envelopes, have several Value sections present, ie. for an ADSR envelope, there will be Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release value sections.

Examples of Control attributes

The fader

The list

The pad

The envelope

General Attributes

As the name suggests, the general group of attributes covers attributes common to all types of Controls.

The general attributes allow user to assign the Control to a device, set the name, color, variant, and mode. When the preset includes a Lua script, the visibility toggle is shown too.

Device

An identification of the synthesizer, sampler, VST plugin, or any other MIDI device where the MIDI messages generated by the Control will be sent. An example of a device is “Yamaha DX7, Rack 1”. The device represents a particular synthesizer connected to a MIDI port and channel.

Name

The name of the Control that will be shown on the display. The name is shown below the value. For example, a “Filter cutoff”

Color

Color of the Control. It is up to the user how the colors are used. They are meant to improve the readability of the presets and to help to organize controls to logical clusters of parameters. For example, users might want to have all Controls of one device sharing the same color or to have one color for all parameters related to the VCF.

Variant

Variant of the Control. The variant affects how the Control looks like. For example, you can choose between regular and thin faders. Some controls have more variants while others may have only the default variant.

Mode

Mode of the Control operation. The mode affects how the Control behaves. For faders you can choose between unipolar and bipolar functionality. For pads, you can choose between momentary pads and toggles.

• Momentary pads always return to the Off position after they are released
• Toggle pads act as switches between the Off and On values

Value attributes

The value attributes tell Electra One how the values should be displayed on the screen and how they behave towards the user. The values can be considered to be display values that are at some point translated to the MIDI data sent out or received.

The value section also allows user to enter Lua callback functions for processing the display value and for triggering custom Lua programatic sequences.

Fader values

For faders, users can define the minimum, maximum, and default value. The Lua formatter and function attributes are available.

List values

For lists, users can define default MIDI value associated with a list item. The Lua formatter and function attributes are available.

Envelope values

For envelopes, users can define the minimum, maximum, and default value. The Lua formatter and function attributes are available. Envelopes have multiple values, each covering specific part of the envelope. For example, an ADSR envelope consists of Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release values.

Pad values

For pads, users can define whether the pad is On or Off when the preset is loaded. The Lua formatter and function attributes are available.

Min display value

Defines the minimum value of the data range controlled with a fader. The minimum may be negative.

Max display value

Defines the maximum value of the data range controlled with a fader.

Default value

A default value to be pre-filled when the preset is loaded. The default value is set to 0 when not filled in. Double-tap on the Control will reset the current value of the Control to the default value.

Default state

Tells Electra if the pad is set to On or Off state, when the preset is loaded.

Default MIDI value

A default MIDI value is relevant only for lists. It is the MIDI value that identifies the list item to be selected when the preset is loaded.

Formatter

A name of a Lua function that will be used to format the display value.

Function

A name of a Lua function that will be called when the display value changes.

TIP

The "+" sign next to the Formatter and Function fields add an empty Lua function definition to the Lua script source code, making it easier do develop the Lua script.

Message attributes

The message attributes are used to describe the MIDI message associated with the Control value. It means what MIDI message will be send out when user changes the value and how the MIDI message value will be calculated.

Type

The parameter type defines the type of MIDI message assigned to the Control. Whenever the value of Control is changed by turning the knob or with touch, a given MIDI message will be sent to the connected synthesizer. On the receiving side, whenever there is a MIDI message coming from a connected synthesizer and it matches a parameter settings of the Control, the value of the Control will be updated accordingly.

Electra supports the following MIDI message types:

CC

7-bit or 14-bit Control Change MIDI message. The value of 7-bit Control change is restricted to a range of 127 values. There is an option to switch CC to 14-bit Control Change mode. 14-bit Control change follows the MIDI standard which says that the first 32 7-bit control change messages (CC #0 .. CC #31) can be used as 14-bit messages. The parameter that users specify is the MSB part of the control change, LSB part is automatically calculated by Electra. It is always MSB parameter + 32.

NRPN

NRPM MIDI message type is used to send a standard MIDI NRPN message. The parameter and the value are both 14-bit numbers.

RPN

RPM MIDI message type is used to send a standard MIDI RPN message. The parameter and the value are both 14-bit numbers.

Sysex

SysEx MIDI message type is used to send templated MIDI SysEx messages. Users are allowed to specify an array of bytes that will be sent whenever the Control’s value is changed. The fact that the message is templated means that users are not restricted to sending constant bytes only, instead, they can insert Variable, Checksum, Parameter placeholders to the message. The placeholders will be transformed to values at the time of sending the templated SysEx MIDI message. More detailed information about SysEx templates can be found in Writing SysEx templates.

Note

Note is used to send note on and off MIDI messages. The note type is supported only by pads. The note on is triggered when pad is pressed and note off is send when the pad is released.

Program change

Program change type sends a standard MIDI Program change message.

Aftertouch poly

Aftertouch poly type sends a standard MIDI polyphonic pressure message.

Aftertouch channel

Aftertouch channel type sends a standard MIDI channel pressure message.

Pitchbend

Pitchbend type sends a standard MIDI pitchbend message.

Song position

Song position type sends a standard MIDI song position pointer message.

Start

START type sends a standard MIDI real-time Start message. The start can be used only with pads.

Stop

STOP type sends a standard MIDI real-time Stop message. The stop can be used only with pads.

Continue

STOP type sends a standard MIDI real-time Stop message. The stop can be used only with pads.

Tune request

TUNE type sends a standard MIDI Tune request message. The tune can be used only with pads.

Virtual

Virtual is a special type of message. It is not associated with any MIDI message type. Instead it just sets the value Electra's internal parameter map storage. Virtual parameters are used in combination with Lua scripts.

Parameter

Identifier of the parameter to be assigned to the Control value. When control is used to send CC MIDI message and parameter is set to 56, the value of the Control will be sent as CC #56 MIDI message. There are situations when there is no real parameter identifier, for example, if the parameter is represented only by a few bits with a byte of a SysEx message. In such situations, users must invent their own Parameter Ids. More information on this can be found in Writing SysEx templates.

When working with NRPN and RPN Controls, the MSB and LSB fields are shown. These fields make it easier to enter the parameter Id if the synthesizer manual uses MSB and LSB notation. The MSB and LSB must be entered in decimal notation.

Min MIDI value

Defines the minimum midi value mapped to the Min display value. A typical example is mapping Min MIDI value of 0 to the Min display value of -64. In such a case, the Control will show negative figures while it will still send out positive data in MIDI messages according to this setting.

Max MIDI value

Defines the maximum MIDI value mapped to the Max display value.

On Value

A MIDI value to be sent when the pad goes from the Off state to the On state. If the field is left empty, no MIDI message will be sent.

Off Value

A MIDI value to be sent when the pad goes from the On state to the Off state. If the field is left empty, no MIDI message will be sent.

Bits

When the control is set up to send CC MIDI messages, you can specify whether it will be a simple 7-bit message or a two-byte 14-bit message.

Bits order

14-bit CC, NRPN, and RPN MIDI messages send the value of the parameter in the form of two 7-bit bytes. These two bytes represent MSB (most significant/coarse) and LSB (least significant/fine) part of the 14-bit value. Although the MIDI standard says what part is the MSB and what the LSB is, some synthesizers do not follow the standard. Bits order option gives you a chance to swap MSB and LSB part of the 14-bit value.

Two's complement

When the display value configuration allows going below zero to negative values, the Two's complement option tells Electra One controller if two's complement representation of the negative numbers should be used.

No reset

It has become quite a common practice that each NRPN or RPN message is followed by the Reset instructions (sending CC #100 and CC #101). If this is not appropriate for your instrument, set No reset to Yes.

Edit Sysex Data

The Edit Sysex Data button opens a Sysex Template editor, a tool to create sequences of Sysex bytes with message values and Lua function calls included in them. The Sysex editor is described further below in this document.

List items / Overlays

The List items / Overlays are text labels that can be assigned to specific values of fader and lists. List items are required to be used with List Controls. They define the actual entries on the list. Overlays are used for faders. Detailed information about List items / Overlay editor is described further below in this document.

Groups

Groups are meant to improve the visual layout of the preset and give it more structure. They can be used to make collections of Controls that are related to a specific type of parameters, for example, parameters of VCF section. Groups, however, do not impose any functionality. It is fully up to users how the groups will be used.

To add a group, drag it from the Repository panel on to the Grid.

Each group can be customized to suit your needs. The following can be adjusted:

• Name of the group
• Color
• Width of the group

TIP

The size of the group can be changed by dragging the corners of the group directly on the Grid.

Devices

As it is important to understand the concept of devices, their meaning is fully described in a separate chapter of this User Guide. The following paragraphs just describe how to manage devices in the Preset editor.

The new controls are always picked from the Repository panel in the context of currently selected device. The currently selected device can be seen at the top of the Repository panel. All Controls you pick and place on the grid will be always associated with that device.

If your preset uses more than one device, you can switch between them, by clicking the device name in the sidebar. A list of all available devices will be shown. You can choose the device that you want to work with.

If you need to adjust the settings of a device, for example when the MIDI channel of the device was changed, click the Edit device icon in the device section. The device details will be shown.

You can set here:

• Name of the device
• MIDI port
• MIDI channel

Users, who wish to create a preset that supports exchange of Patch data between the Electra One controller and the MIDI device, can use the Patch editor in the main part of the device edit window.

MIDI learn

The MIDI learn function is another tool that makes the preset development less tedious. The MIDI Learn is activated by clicking the MIDI Learn (microphone) icon.

Enabling the MIDI learn switches Electra One controller to a special mode when it listens to the incoming MIDI data and reports it to the editor. If the MIDI message matches currently selected devices (MIDI port and MIDI channel), a new Control with a corresponding MIDI message is created and shown in the MIDI learn panel.

The MIDI learn icon is pulsating when the MIDI learn is enabled. Note, Electra does not process MIDI messages in an ordinary way when it is in the MIDI learn mode. It merely collects the MIDI learn information for the Preset editor.

The best approach to let Electra One controller and the editor to understand the MIDI implementation of your instrument is to twist the knobs of the instrument for various parameters while the MIDI learn is enabled.

That way MIDI learned Controls are created for each parameter and shown in the MIDI learn panel. The MIDI learn does not detect MIDI message type and parameter number only, it can also detect the minimum and the maximum MIDI value.

TIP

Always try to twist the knob all the way to the left and then to the right. That way Electra One will be able to detect the full range of the values of given parameter.

The Controls collected in the MIDI learn panel can be dragged on to the grid as any other Control on the Repository panel. The CLEAR button removes all MIDI learned Controls from the sidebar so that you can start the process of learning all over again.

Page selection

Pages are an important element of Electra One. They multiply the number of available Controls in the preset. It is up to the user how the pages will be used. They do not provide any other function, they are merely a tool to organize the controls within the preset. Usually, users use pages to hold sets of related Controls. Other uses are possible too, for example, a page may represent a set of Controls for each song or a scene of your performance.

The Page selection at the top of the editor allows users to switch between the pages. Clicking on the page name will switch the active page and the Page detail will be shown on the Selected panel. The Page detail allows you to rename the page and define its default active set of Controls.

Pages can be rearranged by dragging them to different page location with a mouse.

If better overview of the pages is needed in order to rearrange them, a bird view can be activated by clicking the Pages overview icon on the right side of the window (tiles icon). Drag and drop can be used to change order of the pages in the preset.

Page attributes

The pages come only with two attributes. The name and the default active control set.

Name

Name of the page that will be shown in the Page selection window on the controller.

Default control set

An identifier of the default control set, a row of 12 controls assigned to the knobs. Setting a default control set allows you to change what section of the page will have knobs assigned when the user opens the page.

List Item / Overlay Editor

List items and Overlays are texts to be used wherever a numeric value of the Control does not have a real meaning for the user. A text label and image may be assigned to such values and displayed instead.

Two types of lists

The editor is used to edit both, the List items and the Overlays. Both types of lists share common functionality but there are a slight differences between them too.

List items

The List items represent discrete entries of the List control. They represent the data that List control allows to choose from. The value associated with each list item is the MIDI value that will be sent and received, when the list item is selected.

Overlays

Overlays are used with Fader controls. They are replacement text labels for specific fader values. For example, a text "Zero" can be displayed instead of numeric value 0. Overlays usually cover only a few specific values of the continuous value range. The value assigned to an overlay item is the display value, it means not the MIDI value to be sent or received, but the value displayed on the controller screen.

The editor

The editor is used to assign text labels, values, and optionally images to the list items and overlays. The editor window is composed of three sections:

1. List of items
2. Item detail
3. Bitmap editor

List of items

The list of items can be used to add new items and reorder existing ones.

To add a new item, simply fill the text label and associated value in the Add new item section of the list and click the ADD ITEM button. Please note, when editing the text overlays the wording is different. The field for adding a new overlay is named Add a new text overlay and the button ADD OVERLAY.

The order of items in the controller is identical with their order in the editor. The list of items can be rearranged by dragging the items to new locations on the list.

Item detail

Text labels and values can be reviewed and edited in the item detail section. The DELETE button is used to permanently remove the item from the list.

Bitmap editor

A bitmap image can be optionally assigned to a list item. Such an image is displayed instead of the text label wherever it is possible.

The bitmap images can be drawn using the mouse as a painting tool. White dots represent dots that will be displayed on the controller.

Images can be copied and pasted to other list entries. The arrow buttons allow moving the image around on the grid.

The CLEAR button, clears all drawings. It does not, however, delete the list item.

Sysex Editor

The Sysex Editor simplifies working with outgoing Sysex messages. It can be used to compose sequences of Sysex bytes that will be sent out when Control values change. The sequence of bytes is not limited to constant numbers only. Instead, user may inject bytes that are generated dynamically. This adds enormous potential to controlling Sysex based device parameters.

The Sysex editor window is composed of two sections:

1. The Sysex message
2. The Sysex byte detail

Sysex message

The Sysex messages is a list of individual bytes of the Sysex message to send out. Each row represents one byte of the Sysex message. New bytes chan be added by choosing a byte type and clicking the ADD button.

The F0h and F7h Sysex bytes may be included in the beginning and end of the Sysex message. If they are not present, Electra One controller will add them automatically when sending the message.

Clicking on the Bin icon removes the byte from the Sysex message.

When the byte record is clicked, it becomes selected and the detailed information about the byte is shown on the right side of the window.

There are four types of bytes to be added to Sysex messages:

1. Constant numbers
2. Parameter values
3. Lua function calls
4. Checksum calculations

Each byte type comes with different editor in the byte detail section

Sysex byte detail

Constant number

The constant number is the most simple Sysex message entry. It represents a plain number to be sent out. The number can be entered in Hexadecimal, Decimal, or Binary format.

Parameter value

The parameter value is one of Electra One's hidden gems. It allows users to create Sysex bytes out of parameter value of preset Controls. The final Sysex byte can be either an assignment of single parameter value or a product of complex transformation of several parameter values or their parts.

The parameter value detail section consists of two parts, the Sysex byte detail and the list of all available parameter values in the preset.

Parameter value byte detail

It shows how the Sysex byte is composed out of the one or several parameter vales. The Byte to send represent individual bits of the Sysex byte. The bits marked with blue highlight are linked to a parameter value. Each group of highlighted bits corresponds to one linked parameter.

An example of a Sysex byte composed of whole value of 7-bit parameter value:

An example of a Sysex byte composed of combination of values of two parameters, 4 bits taken out of the first parameter and 3 bits taken out of the second parameter:

The user can specify how many bits are taken out of the parameter value, from what position within the parameter value, and to what position they (the bits) should be placed in the Sysex byte.

Width

The width specifies number of bits to be copied from the parameter value to the Sysex byte.

Parameter position

The position of the LSB (least significant bit) of the bits to be copied from the parameter value to the Sysex byte.

Byte position

The position of the LSB (least significant bit) of the Sysex byte where the bits identified with Width and Parameter position will be placed.

A few examples to ilustrate it:

Width: 7
Parameter position: 0
Byte position: 0

Tells Electra One to use all 7-bits of the parameter value and place them to the Sysex byte.

Width: 4
Parameter position: 0
Byte position: 0

Tells Electra One to copy 4 lowest bits of the parameter value and place them to the 4 lowest bits of the Sysex byte.

Width: 3
Parameter position: 0
Byte position: 4

Tells Electra One to copy 3 lowest bits of the parameter value and place them to the Sysex byte at position 4, ie. bits 4, 5, and 6.

Preset parameter value list

The preset parameter list is used to select the parameters to be linked to the Sysex byte bits. Users use the list to find the parameter they wish to work with. The parameter is selected by clicking on it. Once the parameter is selected, all the work of linking the parameter bits to the Sysex byte is done using that selected parameter.

The list provides information about:

• The name of the Control where the parameter is used.
• The name of the Value within the Control where the parameter is used, eg. Sustain for envelope.
• The name of the Page where the Control is located.
• The name of the category that the Control has assigned.
• Information about the MIDI messages associated with the parameter.
• Information whether or not the parameter value is used in the Patch parsing (the check off mark). Detailed information about the Patch parsing can be found further below in this document.

The list of parameter values can be filtered to make it easier to find the parameter values.

Lua function

The Lua function is another handy tool to calculate the Sysex byte. Electra One calls the Lua function when it needs to send given Sysex byte. The value returned by the function is sent. More information on using the Sysex byte Lua functions is available in the Preset Lua extension document.

The Lua function form is used to enter the name of the Lua function to be called.

Checksum calculation

The checksum calculates the Sysex byte value using one of the well-known checksum calculation algorithms.

In order to calculate the checksum user must tell Electra One controller the position of the first byte of the block of bytes used for the checksum calculation and the total length of the block of bytes.

Checksum type

A list of all possible checksum calculation algorithms.

Start position

The position of the first byte of the block of Sysex bytes to be used for the checksum calculation. The position 1 corresponds to the first byte after the F0h leading byte.

Length

Total number of bytes to be included in the calculation.

JSON editor

Users may opt to define their Sysex messages using the JSON formatted source code. The JSON editor allows editing of the raw JSON file. The work in the visual and JSON editor can be freely combined.

Detailed information about developing Sysex templates in JSON format can be found in Writing Sysex Templates document.

Patch Editor

The Electra One Patch editor is one of the most advanced Sysex editors around. The Patch editor and the Toolbox provide powerful toolset to build presets that fully cover Sysex implementation of complex MIDI devices.

The Patch editor is part of the Device detail. It can be opened by clicking the Edit device button in the repository panel.

The Sysex communication is based on protocol of exchanging Sysex data messages in request - response manner. It means that the MIDI device responds with a Sysex data response upon receiving a Sysex request. There can be, of course, situations when a Sysex request just makes changes in the MIDI device and the device does not respond with any response. There are also situations when a MIDI device sends a response even if there was not any Sysex request sent to it, for example upon a user action, such is pressing a button on the MIDI device's panel.

The Patch editor is built around the idea of defining the Sysex requests and their responses. They are referred as to Messages in the Patch editor.

The messages

The messages can be organized in hierarchical structure, where one request may have none, one, or multiple responses.

The request

The request is a Sysex message composed of constant or dynamically calculated bytes. The requests are sent out when the [PATCH REQUEST] button is pressed on the Electra One controller or programatically with Lua functions, see the Patch (opens new window) section of the Lua Extension documentation.

In the Patch editor, the request always has a name and it is associated with a Sysex message. New requests can (be):

• Added with the + Request button.
• Deleted with the Bin icon.
• Have name edited by clicking the Edit icon.

The Sysex message editor is identical with the one used in the Sysex editor. It allows users to enter constant bytes in the Hexadecimal, Decimal, or Binary format.

The Lua functions can be be used as well. When Lua function is used, it is expected to return a byte value that will be send as part of the request Sysex message. For more information about Lua functions to generate Sysex bytes, visit Sysex byte functions of the Preset Lua Extension guide.

The response

The response is a Sysex message that a MIDI device sends back to the Electra One controller. The responses are identified with so-called header bytes, a sequence of leading bytes of a Sysex message. When there is an incoming Sysex message with its leading bytes matching the header bytes, it is accepted for further processing. Such processing is either a parameter value parsing or a Lua function can be called to process the response Sysex message.

The responses can (be):

• Added with the + Response button.
• Deleted with the Bin icon.
• Have name edited by clicking the Edit icon.

The Sysex message editor is identical with the one used in the Sysex editor. It allows users to enter constant bytes in the Hexadecimal, Decimal, or Binary format.

The value mappings

Once the requests and responses are defined, the response Sysex message bytes can be mapped to the preset parameter values.

The general idea of the mapping is very similar to how the Sysex editor works. Each mapping represents a rule that tells which bytes and bits of the response Sysex message are translated to particular preset parameter values. It is just done in the reversed direction.

The window with mappings consists of four sections:

• Menu
• List of preset parameter values
• Response Sysex message bytes
• List of captured Sysex messages

Menu

The menu allows user to navigate between the requests and responses. There are also buttons to manage the captured messages.

Request selection

Request selection list changes current request. Upon changing the request the selection list of Responses is updated.

Response selection

Response selection list changes current response.

Clear marked bits

Clears marks identifying changes in the Sysex messages.

Clear Sysex message

Clear currently shown Sysex messages by setting all bytes to 0.

Clear Captured messages

Clear all captured messages.

Enable / Disable MIDI learn

Enable or disable the MIDI learn function on the hardware controller. The MIDI learn icon is pulsating when the MIDI learn is active.

Preset parameter value list

The preset parameter list is used to select the parameters to be associated with the response Sysex byte bits. Users use the list to find the parameter they wish to associated with the Sysex byte. The parameter is selected by clicking on it. Once the parameter is selected, all the work of linking the Sysex byte bits is done using that selected parameter.

The list provides information about:

• The name of the Control where the parameter is used.
• The name of the Value within the Control where the parameter is used, eg. Sustain for envelope.
• The name of the Page where the Control is located.
• The name of the category that the Control has assigned.
• Information about the MIDI messages associated with the parameter.
• Information whether or not the parameter value is already associated with any byte of the response Sysex message (the check off mark)

The list of parameter values can be filtered to make it easier to find the parameter values.

The list of parameter value mappings is shown when a parameter value is selected with the mouse:

The above example tells Electra One that bits 0 .. 3 of the Sysex byte at position 0 (within the response Sysex message) are copied to the parameter value at the LSB (least significant bit) position 0.

The position where the parsed bits will be copied can be changed by using the selection list on the right side of the mapping rule.

Parsed value field calculates value using currently selected captured message and all mapping rules of given parameter value.

The Bin icon can be used to remove a mapping rule.

The Response Sysex message

The Response Sysex message allows user to review the Sysex messages received from the MIDI devices - captured messages.

The Response Sysex message is a view of currently selected captured message. If there are not any captured messages available, the response header bytes are shown instead, and the user is advised to enable the MIDI learn function by clicking the START LISTENING... button.

The data bytes of captured messages are shown only if selected captured message matches the response header bytes.

Captured messages

The right-most section of the Mapping provides a list of all Sysex messages received from the MIDI device.

When there have not been any captured messages received yet, the Patch editor instructs the user to enable the MIDI learn by clicking the START LISTENING... button.

When a captured message is selected and its leading bytes match the response header, the data bytes of the captured message are shown in the Response Sysex message section in the middle of the window.

Mapping the parameters

Once the Response Sysex message is successfully matched and shown, a process of assigning the Sysex bytes values to preset parameter values can be started.

Start with choosing the parameter you want to map:

Locate corresponding bits in the Sysex message and assign them to the mapping rule by clicking on each bit. All consecutive bits will form one mapping rule:

Should the parameter value be composed of bits from more than one Sysex byte, mark all bits in these bytes too.

TIP

When you have more captured messages available for one parameter, eg. you twisted the parameter knob, the Patch editor will highlight the changing bits with green background. This makes it possible to easily reverse-engineer Sysex messages even if there is not technical documentation available.

JSON editor

Users may opt to define their Patch parsing definition using the JSON formatted source code. The JSON editor allows editing of the raw JSON file. The work in the visual and JSON editor can be freely combined.

Detailed information about developing Patch parsing mappings in JSON format can be found in Parsing Sysex messages document.

The Toolbox

The Toolbox is a set of handy tools to develop and debug Lua scripts and to work with MIDI messages. The Toolbox is displayed either in the dedicated Toolbox window or in the Tools pane sidebar on the right side of the Preset editor window.

The Toolbox consists of:

• Lua Editor
• Lua Debugger
• MIDI Console
• Preset JSON

Lua Editor

The Lua editor is a programmer-grade text editor for editing Electra One Extension Lua script.

The editor consists of two sections. The editor and the log window. The editor is in the upper part while the log window is below the editor. There is a handle to resize the editor window between the editor and log window.

The editor has wide variety of commands mapped to keyboard shortcuts. All available commands can be shown by pressing the F1 key or right-clicking the editor window and selecting the Command palette.

The log window shows a stream of log messages from the hardware controller. When mouse pointer is hovered above the log window an input field on filtering and clearing the log messages is shown.

Lua Debugger

Lua debugger is a tool to interact with the Electra One Lua script interpreter. Please note, the Lua debugger can be used only if the preset has Lua script defined and running.

The Lua debugger consists of two sections. The log window and the Lua command prompt. The log window is in the upper part while the Lua command prompt is below the log window.

The log window shows a stream of log messages from the hardware controller. When mouse pointer is hovered above the log window an input field on filtering and clearing the log messages is shown.

The Lua command prompt allows users to type in Lua commands and call Lua functions. The commands and function calls are executed by pressing the Enter key.

An example of a Lua command to enter is:

print ("variable X = " .. x)

MIDI Console

The MIDI Console is a tool to send MIDI messages and monitor MIDI communication between the Preset editor and the MIDI devices, including Electra One controller.

The MIDI Console consists of three sections:

• Menu
• Monitor window
• Message prompt

Menu

The menu allows user to select the MIDI device / port to interact with and filter and clear MIDI messages in the monitor window.

Filter

Configures the MIDI message filter. MIDI messages that are not chosen are completely ignored by the MIDI console.

Clear

Clears the content of the Monitor window.

Message prompt

The message prompt is used to enter the MIDI messages, MIDI commands, and load files with MIDI messages.

The MIDI messages can be entered either as MIDI command with the syntax inspired by the sendmidi tool, or as raw strings of MIDI data.

There are three actions associated with the Message prompt:

Load message file

Loads raw MIDI data from a file and executes them.

Send the message

Sends MIDI messages currently present in the Message prompt to selected MIDI device. Clicking the Send button has the same function as pressing the Enter key.

Clear the Message prompt

Clears content of the Message prompt.

Commands syntax

The raw MIDI messages can be entered in decimal and hexadecimal format. The decimals use format of whole numbers (0, 10, 12, 127, 240). The hexadecimals must have 'h' letter attached to them (01h 10h 1ah 2Bh F0h).

Notes can be entered as numbers, in both decimal or hexadecimal format, or as a text strings (a4, g#3, db2, c-1, f#-1).

Next to that messages can be entered using a simple syntax much inspired by the sendmidi command line tool:

• ch <nn> channel selection
• on <note> <velocity> note on
• off <note> <velocity> note off
• cc <ctrl number> <value> control change
• pc <program number> program change
• pp <note> <pressure> poly pressure
• cp <pressure> channel pressure
• pb <msb> <lsb> pitch bend (this needs doing)
• syx <byte1, byte2, ...> sysex, do not include F0h and F7h
• start
• stop
• cont
• tun - tune request
• spp <msb> <lsb> song pointer position
• ss <song number> song select

a few examples of MIDI Console commands:

cc 1 64
ch 2 cc 1 127
syx 43h 00h 01h 1bh
syx 10 20 30 10h 20h 30h
ch 4 on c4 127
off 3Ch 64
start
b0h 1ah 10h
f6h
82 60 100

Please note, when channel is not set, it defaults to channel 1

When lua style comment is added at the end of the MIDI console command, it will be shown in the stream of MIDI messages in the Monitor window.

eg.

syx 43h 00h 00h 01h 02h -- Performance data request will result in:

Preset JSON

The Preset JSON shows source code of current preset. All changes done in the Preset editor are immediately reflected in the JSON source code. It is important, however, that all changes made to the JSON source in the editor are ignored. The Preset JSON is meant for debugging and observing the raw preset JSON.

Revisions

The Preset editor supports a system of saved Preset revisions. Whenever there are unsaved changes in the preset and the user:

• Saves the preset.
• Sends the preset to the Electra One controller.
• Closes the Preset editor.

The preset is saved and a separate saved revision is created. The saved revisions can be later browsed and managed in the Account application. For more details, please refer to Preset detail - section Preset revisions.

When saving a preset, user may provide a description of the revision, ie. a short annotation of what was changed. The annotation is always showed along with the revision number. When the description is not provided, the Preset editor will use a default annotation.

It is possible to review earlier preset revisions before saving a new revision.