OSC support for Behringer X-Air mixers

[Phil Smith]

And here's the profile !
I've added all 16 channels, either /.../mix/06 and /.../mix/fader. Also /rtn/aux is there.
Don't know what mix/06 means, but if you used it then I guess it's some sort of level control.

Just had a read through again, Im not sure how you derived these particular commands. /ch/01/mix/06 wont do anything as its not the full command. The Xair has 10 mix busses available, 1-6 are busses that are normally assigned to the 6 XLR aux outs on the front (monitors), mix 7-10 are the mono sends for the fx buses.
The command /ch/01/mix/06/level would let you adjust the amount of channel 1 going to mix (monitor) 6.
/rtn/aux/mix/fader is used for the stereo channels 17-18, its not a mix bus. (Imagine it being called /ch/17/mix/fader)
Hope this helps.

[gmint]

@mcallegari

(I know this isn't probably the best place for this, so my apologies, but it's kind of an extension of our earlier conversation so I thought I would continue it here)

I've been testing 4.10 with the custom MIDI feedback and, as promised, it works great to drive my Behringer CMD DC-1 controllers. It's such a relief to finally have blue lights that flash orange instead of just solid orange lights That said, I'm wondering if the custom MIDI feedback might be a good fit for inclusion in the input profiles. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like this is the kind of thing that would naturally go in the input profiles, potentially save a lot of work for people, and make things function just a little nicer out-of-the-box so to speak. I understand that there could potentially be different desired settings for different controllers (like the AKAI) but even having one default configuration that enabled MIDI feedback in a useful way would probably be really nice for a lot of users.

Just my $0.02.

[janosvitok]

It's planned, but there was no time for it in this release.

[mcallegari]

It's planned, but there was no time for it in this release.

Well, actually no
It was your idea to have feedbacks per-button, so every button could have a different behaviour, and I liked the idea.
At this point, setting feedback values in the input profiles would break backward compatibility and I'm pretty sure our choice of values will not be OK for everyone.

I believe what we have right now is a very flexible solution, however it requires to customize each single feedback.
Perhaps what we can do is setting "base" values in the input profiles, and "override" them with the custom feedback selection. (and save into project)

[gmint]

I believe what we have right now is a very flexible solution, however it requires to customize each single feedback.
Perhaps what we can do is setting "base" values in the input profiles, and "override" them with the custom feedback selection. (and save into project)

That seems like it would be the best of both worlds. I'm not complaining, but it was definitely tedious to go through and setup feedback for every button. It wasn't too bad for the project I use with the CMD DC-1 but I'd hate to have to go through the process for the project that I use with my Maschine controller...

[mcallegari]

Back on the topic....you haven't updated us with news about what you're able to do with the X-Air now that we figured out about OSC messages !

Any exciting feature to share ?

[gmint]

Back on the topic....you haven't updated us with news about what you're able to do with the X-Air now that we figured out about OSC messages !

Any exciting feature to share ?

@macallegari

Unfortunately, I just haven't had the time to play with it. I purchased another small bar (quite unexpectedly) and I've been super busy with that. Also, I'm off to LDI tomorrow so I'll be out of town for the rest of the week! Soon though...

[mcallegari]

Also, I'm off to LDI tomorrow so I'll be out of town for the rest of the week! Soon though...

Don't forget to show QLC+ to everyone you meet there !

[gmint]

Also, I'm off to LDI tomorrow so I'll be out of town for the rest of the week! Soon though...

Don't forget to show QLC+ to everyone you meet there !

I definitely dropped your name a few times!

[Phil Smith]

Hi, I've stumbled across your site whilst googling for OSC things and the XR18. Ive never used your software before but Ive had a little play and got some things working.
I added a few commands to your profile, Im afraid I didnt understand the assigned checksum numbers bit, I just 1,2,3,4 and it worked. Ive attached a file with a virtual console that has channel 1 fader, pan and mute and also a DCA 1 fader. I also had trouble getting a button (mute) to work properly, the only way I managed it was to use the blackout style, Im sure this is just my ignorance of your software and you could adjust it to use a normal button.
Ive attached my modded profile and the file with my virtual console, I hope it helps someone on their way.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/730 ... R18QLC.zip

I would imagine bidirectional communication is possible with some tweaking. If you are interested in this, you need to send this OSC command /xremotenfb to subscribe to updates from other clients. This command must be refreshed every ten seconds.

[Phil Smith]

Hi, I posted this earlier and it threw my post and the thread back in time to Oct 3rd! Weird...

Just had a read through again, Im not sure how you derived these particular commands. /ch/01/mix/06 wont do anything as its not the full command. The Xair has 10 mix busses available, 1-6 are busses that are normally assigned to the 6 XLR aux outs on the front (monitors), mix 7-10 are the mono sends for the fx buses.
The command /ch/01/mix/06/level would let you adjust the amount of channel 1 going to mix (monitor) 6.
/rtn/aux/mix/fader is used for the stereo channels 17-18, its not a mix bus. (Imagine it being called /ch/17/mix/fader)
Hope this helps.

[chrissi]

hi there,

ist there also a profile for the xr12 anywhere? i´m new to this forum and did the search with no results...
In Phil´s XR18 profile it´s written:
<Channel Number="28208">
<Name>/ch/01/mix/06</Name>
<Type>Slider</Type>
</Channel>

how can you find out the channel numbers?
thanks a lot

[janosvitok]

this viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8983#p39385 is the process how to create new profile.

[chrissi]

this viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8983#p39385 is the process how to create new profile.

yes, i read it...but this is not the answer to my question.

is there a way to MUTE channels? I can do it, but the only way is a "BLACKOUT" button which also blacks out all lights?

<Channel Number="28208">
<Name>/ch/01/mix/on</Name>
<Type>Button</Type>
</Channel>

the osc code is: /ch/01/mix/on ON or OFF
if i switch the button to flash/scene it does not work. any solution? or is there a solution to write a custom script for the MUTE-functions? no idea how to do this...

[janosvitok]

You've asked wrong question, the answer is correct.

Muting a channel:

If you want to mute/park/set to zero a channel, you need to be able to do it directly in virtual console, without OSC.
If you can't do it directly, OSC will not help.

Currently it is not possible* to override a channel except by using Simple Desk, that overrides everything.
You can go to SimpleDesk tab, and if you move fader, the value is forced until you click the X button over the fader.
* See this thread: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10004 - possibility to override channel using a fader will be added to the next version.

OSC channels:

The channel number is a number (unless you want to know specifics, let's say arbitrary) assigned to the OSC path. Since QLC+ internally doesn't distinguish
where does the input signal come from, and works with DMX channels and values, we need to have a way to map OSC paths to DMX channels (though as you see,
it's been a bit extended, the number may be larger than 512).

You don't want and don't need to know how is it computed (if you are curious, the code is here: https://github.com/mcallegari/qlcplus/b ... r.cpp#L225).
You just enable the learn function and let QLC+ compute it as the linked post says.

[chrissi]

ok thank you for the information.

i found a much more easy and better way to control the behringer xr12 (or xr16 / xr18 / x-air).
i make a custom script which loads DHSendMidi https://github.com/DouglasHeriot/DHSendMIDI and this sends a CC command to mute the channel or do anything i want. (Midi-Commands see here: http://downloads.cdn.re-in.de/1300000-1 ... GITAL_.pdf

Midi Commands for Behringer XR12 XR16 XR18 XAir

Because QLC does not seem to like argumtents with blanks and to make it more easy i wrote some little AppleScripts:

Code: Select all

do shell script "/Applications/DMX/DHSendMIDI.command --channel 2 --cc 0 127"
do shell script "/Applications/DMX/DHSendMIDI.command --channel 2 --cc 1 0"

(Explanation: first line mutes mixer-channel 1, second line unmutes channel 2.
If you use other midi devices you should make shure they start in channel 4 not 1-3 (behringer!) or use a different midi-output and assign a special midi-out for the script (see GitHub readme)


I saved it as an app which i can start from my QLC-Script directly:

Code: Select all

systemcommand:/Applications/DMX/SCRIPTS/packed/XR12-mute-master.app

I assigned a button and keyboard shortcut to it and now i´m very happy.
In my opinion its even better than OSC because the OSC connection is not very stable and midi works even when the osc interface crashes....

[bix]

@chrissi
Thank you very much for your work you kindly share and, in advance, for the help you maybe can give me.
I totally agree about simplicity and reliability of midi versus osc but unfortunately I'm not so skilled to understand your tricks..
My purpose is to get control of volume virtual faders of my X18 ( and mutes too if more than one channel is allowed ) using faders inside the Virtual Console.
Could you please guide me step by step in how to achieve my goal?
It would be great for me, when and if you'll find te for me.

Currently I'm using vers 4.10.5b on windows xp and an enttec usb pro mk2 with midi capabilities, but I own a Roland um simple usb to midi interface and I plan to switch to mac soon.

[chrissi]

Hi Bix,

yes there is a midi-solution (you have to adjust channel count for the xr18 because i only have the xr12 but this should be easy)
For your request see my next post with Solution B viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8983&p=46513#p46514

Solution A: Automation / Simple Desk View MIDI-Control of the Behringer X-Airs for QLC+
Note: with this settings you can use the Behringer just like a fixture and programm volume fades into the scenes!
But: You can either control the volume OR mutes OR Panorama with one midi-device. If you want to control more, you need extra midi-devices or maybe configure all in the same universe with following adresses (1-31, 32-62...) and if possible route 1-31 to midi channel one, 32-62 to midi channel 2, and the rest to channel 3.

1: Create a new fixture(s). Use "generic" -> "generic"

i named it XR12 VOLUME, Adress 1, Channels 31 (more for the XR18...)

2: Create channel group(s)

3: Select your midi-output device for the universe you created the fixture in. Double click on the midi-device and select channel 1 for Volume-Control, Channel 2 for Mutes, Channel 3 for Panorama Control. Set mode to Control Change

[chrissi]

SOLUTION B: Virtual Console View MIDI-Control of the Behringer X-Airs for QLC+
Note: You can easily use faders / knobs to change volume / mute / panorama.
But: You can not use (or i don´t know how!?) a button to mute channels. you can use a knob or fader instead, low values = unmuted, higher values = muted, exact value doesn´t matter.
And you can only control one thing, volume OR mutes OR panorama! or use multiple midi-devices see my post above. Anyone has a better idea how to ouput different midi-channels in QLC on the same midi-output device? You have to decide one channel, right? or use midipipe, but how? or virtual cable? but how?

See also this post: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8983&start=20#p46460

1: Go to your Input/Output tab and select your midi-device. Select INPUT (!important. midi connection cable not required) and FEEDBACK (not Output!).

2: Go to profil tab and create new. I named it Behringer XR12, select type: MIDI
Create the channels, see screenshot.

3: Go to virtual console and create faders. Select external input the created behringer profile

have fun

[bix]

Thank you very much!
As soon as possible I will try and give you a feedback if you want.
( And maybe I will try even to understand the way you launch the commands to change the scenes inside X mixer).
Very happy . Very kind from you. Thanks