Can I use effects while sequencing?

As we mentioned in the Basic Concepts Tutorial, only a single effects configuration can be called up at any one time. With the PC2 at its default values, if you are in Internal Voices, KB3, or MIDI Setups Mode, the current Program or Setup is controlling the effects, determining which effects get called up for each bus, along with the routing and wet/dry amounts.

But once you start sequencing, things get a bit more complicated. You need to be able to determine which effects get called up and what the routing and wet/dry amounts for each individual MIDI channel will be. There are several different ways to control the effects in this situation, and we will take a look at the different methods and their advantages and disadvantages.

By going to MIDI Receive Mode, you have the ability to set the FX Routing and wet/dry levels for each channel, and to control those settings via MIDI controllers. This allows you to set initial amounts for each track, or even change the amounts throughout the sequence.

What you CAN’T do via MIDI is select the Effects themselves directly. This must be done either manually from the front panel, or by calling up a program that selects the effect you want.

1. Press the FX Mode button. The display shows the FX Change Mode parameter. It has two possible values, Auto and Panel. Auto is the default. Change it to Panel.

When set to Panel, the PC2 ignores the individual effects settings found in each program and Setup. Instead, whatever effects you choose with the FX Select buttons will be the effects you hear. You can also select the FX Routing and wet/dry settings for the channel you are currently transmitting on (by default, channel 1). The advantage to this method is that it is obviously quite simple – just select the effects you want and you are ready to go.

However, there are a couple of disadvantages to this method. If you are working on several different songs, using different effects, you have to manually set them correctly each time you go to work on the song. In addition, if you have FX Routing or wet/dry settings in your tracks, the channel you are transmitting on will not respond to the FX routing or FX-A and FX-B controller messages while you are in Internal Voices mode. If you switch to MIDI Receive Mode, the channel WILL respond to those messages. (All other channels will respond correctly no matter what mode you are in.) Also, if you go back and forth between sequencing and playing live, you will need to set FX Change Mode back to Auto or you won’t hear the correct effects you have chosen for your Programs and Setups.

2. Instead of manually selecting an effect, you can set things up so that you assign the effects you want to a specific program, then call up that program in the sequence, thereby automating your effects selection.

First set FX Change Mode back to Auto. Then start by editing one of the programs you are using in your sequence and set the effects the way you want them.
Next, press the FX Mode button, then press the >> button to select the FX Channel parameter. This can be set to Current or any MIDI Channel. The default is Current.

When this parameter is set to current, whichever program is assigned to the channel that you are currently transmitting on will be the program that calls up the effects. If you go to MIDI Receive Mode, whatever program is on the Channel currently in the display will call up the effects. And if you go to MIDI Setups Mode, the program on Zone 1 will call up the effects.

With this method, as long as you make sure that the program you saved for controlling your effects is called up on channel 1 (assuming you use the default transmit channel when in Internal Voices mode), you will hear the correct effects for your sequence. One advantage to this method is that if you need to switch back and forth between sequencing and performing, everything will always work. Whatever program or Setup you call up for performing will have its correct effects assigned, and things will also sound correct when you are sequencing, as long as you make sure you don’t change your transmit channel.

The disadvantage to this method is that if you go to MIDI receive Mode and start switching channels, you will stop hearing the correct effect. Also, it does force you to use your transmit channel for playing the program you are using to control the effects, and this might not be convenient in every instance.

3. The final method is to choose a specific MIDI channel for your effects control. You can choose a typically unused MIDI channel and set the FX Channel parameter to this channel number. Channel 15 can be a good option, since people often use channel 16 for a click, and if you start from the lowest channel and work upwards for your tracks, 15 will be the last one you hit before the click channel.

Once you have chosen a channel, you can then edit and save a “dummy” program that has the effects you want assigned to that program. Since you are only using this program to call up the effects settings you want, you don’t have to worry about the actual sounds in the program – just the effects settings.

Finally, in your sequence, you create a track that calls up this particular program and assign the track to the MIDI channel you have chosen for effect control.

The advantage to this method is that no matter what mode you go to, you will always hear the correct effects for your sequence, as long as you have the proper program and bank change info to call up the correct “dummy” program on the correct channel. The disadvantage to this method is that if you go to MIDI setups mode or Internal Voices Mode for performance purposes, you won’t end up hearing the correct effect, unless you have chosen channel 1 for your effect channel. (And this assumes zone 1 of your Setup is assigned to channel 1).

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