MIDI Automation

MIDI automation lets you control your synthesizer’s parameters from an external MIDI controller, sequencer, or DAW.

Patch Automator

The Patch Automator module is what links MIDI controller messages to your synth’s controls. Insert it into a container and the controls in that container can be assigned to MIDI CCs.

It is not what makes your controls automatable by a host DAW — they already are, simply by being inside the container you export. The Patch Automator is specifically about MIDI: CCs coming in, and CCs going back out when a control moves.

Setup

1. Insert a Patch Automator module into your container
2. Connect your MIDI source to its MIDI In
3. Take its MIDI Out onward to your plugin’s MIDI output — not into another module
4. Open its configuration dialog to assign controllers

Wire it across the patch rather than through it. Your MIDI source branches: one cord to the MIDI-CV 2 that plays the notes, another to the Patch Automator’s MIDI In. Assigned CC messages arriving there get translated into parameter changes for any control in the same container.

The MIDI Out side is the half that’s easy to miss. The Patch Automator transmits a MIDI message whenever a parameter changes, so a knob moved on your panel sends its assigned CC out — to the host, or to external hardware. Running that output on to your plugin’s MIDI output is what makes the Patch Automator span the whole plugin: MIDI in one side, MIDI out the other.

Never feed another module from the Patch Automator

Its MIDI Out should reach your plugin’s MIDI output and nothing else. Do not run it into a MIDI-CV 2, or into any other module — putting your note stream through the Patch Automator is abnormal wiring, and not what the module is designed to do. Branch your MIDI source instead, as above.

Assigning Controllers

The Patch Automator’s configuration dialog provides:

• Learn — Move a physical MIDI controller, then click a parameter to assign it
• Unlearn — Remove a controller assignment
• Edit — Manually specify MIDI controller numbers

MIDI Controller Types

You can automate parameters using:

• Standard MIDI Controllers (CC 0–127)
• RPN / NRPN messages for extended control ranges

SYSEX Support

For advanced MIDI hardware, the Patch Automator supports SYSEX messages with special characters:

• LL — LSB of parameter value
• MM — MSB of parameter value
• vv — 7-bit value
• SS — Checksum

VST Automation

A DAW can automate your controls whether or not a Patch Automator is present — they are exposed as plugin parameters because they sit inside the exported container. What the Patch Automator adds is the MIDI layer on top: your CC assignments keep working in the host, and parameter changes are transmitted back out as MIDI. See Creating VST Plugins.

Important Notes

• Avoid feedback loops: Don’t connect controls or Patch Memory modules back into the Patch Automator’s MIDI input — this creates a feedback loop.
• Exception: A simple List Entry connected to the Channel pin is safe.
• Keep it out of the note path. Branch your MIDI source to it; never wire its MIDI Out into another module.
• The Patch Automator sends MIDI messages when controls change, which is useful for controlling external MIDI hardware.