I’m trying to change banks and patterns on my Erica Synth DB-01 bassline from the A4 via Midi.
Things are working OK for program change, however I’m unable to make the DB-01 switch bank when I change bank on the A4.
The only way this works is when I’m in the A bank. As soon as I go to bank B-E, the DB-01 does not follow the program change.
What is weird is that the DB-01 follows exactly the same bank/patters structure as the A4. (8 banks of 16 patterns). Maybe the bank change message is not formated the expected way for the DB-01? Is there a way to edit the message sent by the A4?
Program changes are 0-127 and again 0-127 banks. Some manufacturers start at prog/bank 1 and end at 128, so sometimes 0 is the first, sometimes 1 is - it’s the same range of 128 programs and 128 banks.
Anyways…if I’m not mistaken, all patterns in one A4 project are in the same bank, A01 is program 0, A02 is prog 1…all the way to H16 which is program 127.
I checked the Erica Synths website, it says:
It really seems to have an unusual implementation, there is no actual need for bank change messages. All 8 banks of 16 pattern can be adressed with program changes (and that’s usually how it’s done - at least all synths I have follow that logic) no idea why they did do it like this, maybe to follow the structure of their remake of the LXR drum machine(?)
In any case, it seems you need to send bank changes, which the A4 can’t do…
Do you have any other device that can send bank changes?
Thanks for the quick reply, and for the clear explanation.
I have the LXR-02, which probably implements pattern/bank messages the same way…
But I have an RK-002, and I think it can be reprogrammed to achieve sending both bank and program at the same time. I will try this and report if this solution works
So the LXR probaply already used that bank/prog structure and they wanted to keep it and thus the DB01 had to follow the same structure. Fair enough, it would have been extra work and we live in pretty hectic times…so makes sense and my remark about that there’s no actual reason for such an implementation was unnessesarily harsh.
Still a little unfortunate, there are synths, grooveboxes, effects devices etc. that can send 0-127 program changes, but no bank change messages, so by implementing this bank structure they only narrowed the range of devices that can adress all patterns on the DB-01.
DB-01: Good news, I wrote a custom RK-002 DFU that achieves program change from the A4 to the DB-01. I’ll submit the code soon on the RetroKit website.
LXR-02: Here it’s another story… My unit only reacts to the first 8 PC messages. No reaction to Bank change (no matter the LSB or MSB). It seems that it’s either faulty, or that they implemented their MIDI interface in a way that I don’t understand yet. Will keep digging, I also notified Erica Synth of this issue.
I got a reply from the Erica Synth support, the LXR-02 PC issue is a firmware bug. It will be added to the list of things to be fixed in the next firmware update.
On a similar topic, does anyone know if there is an “omni” channel on the A4?
The manual says:
PROGRAM CHANGE OUT CHANNEL selects the MIDI channel that will send program change mes-
sages when changing patterns. An AUTO setting will use the AUTO channel. Enable the Analog Four
MKII to send program change messages in the MIDI SYNC menu. For more information, please see
“12.5.1 SYNC” on page 55.
What if you want to send that message on all channels?
You cannot do so directly. The workarounds are to set all your receiving devices to the same channel number, or to have some intermediate MIDI processing device to send messages to the appropriate gear.
