Hi-Hat Controller Configuration Overview: HHC States

[cruiten]

This post is meant to provide a general high-level overview about how MegaDrum (MD) interacts with a Hi-Hat Controller (HHC), specifically in the area of recognizing different HHC states.

The following is based on the limited experience and understanding that I gained from configuring my MD with my Roland VH-11 HHC and Hi-Hat (HH) cymbal.

The MD is able to recognize the following five (5) HHC states:

• Closed
• Semi-Closed
• Half-Open
• Semi-Open
• Open

As you know, MD is able to send out different note numbers based on note mappings associated with the five different states.

Before proceeding, it is important to realize that these five states are based on the MIDI Continuous Controller (CC) message values generated by MD based on the input of the VH-11 HHC. I won’t go into the details about how the MIDI CC messages work, but you should know that for our purposes the MD by default sends out MIDI “CC4” Foot Controller type messages based on input from the HHC, and that these MIDI CC message values range from in value from 0 (Open) to 127 (Closed).

So, first things first… How does MD calculate these MIDI CC message values? Well, Dmitri might be the only person qualified to answer this question; however, for the purpose of this discussion all that we have to know is that MD performs some calculation based on the range defined by the following two HiHat Pedal settings:

• LowLevel (pedal.lowLevel)
• HiLevel (pedal.hiLevel)

OK, now we can get back to how the five (5) HHC states are defined. The HHC states are defined based on the MD configuration settings for the following four HiHat Pedal settings:

• ClosedLvl (pedal.closedLevel)
• HOpenLvl (pedal.halfOpenLevel)
• SOpenLvl (pedal.semiOpenLevel)
• OpenLvl (pedal.openLevel))

For me things really started to make sense once I realized that these four settings define the thresholds for the five states. Did that make sense? Maybe not.. I will try to explain this using a more visual approach:

HHC States.jpg

If everything is configured properly then the threshold settings define the ranges of values that correspond to the five HHC states.

To be painfully obvious, here are all the possible combinations:

• If the MIDI CC message value is greater than the Closed Level (ClosedLvl) setting, then the state is “Closed”
• If the MIDI CC message value is greater than Half Open Level (HOpenLvl) but less than the Closed Level (ClosedLvl) setting, then the state is “Semi-Closed”
• If the MIDI CC message value is greater than Semi Open Level (SOpenLvl) but less than the Half Open Level (HOpenLvl) setting, then the state is “Half-Open”
• If the MIDI CC message value is greater than Open Level (OpenLvl) but less than the Semi Open Level (SOpenLvl) setting, then the state is “Semi-Open”
• If the MIDI CC message value is less than the Open Level (OpenLvl) setting, then the state is “Open”

I hope that this information is accurate, and I look forward to any feedback if I have made any mistakes.

I have come to the conclusion that this message board contains so much valuable information, but it tends to be “spread-out” and at times makes generous presumptions as to the reader’s technical abilities. It is my desire that this simple message post will help someone who is trying to configure their Hi-Hat settings with their MegaDrum.

Cor

[angr77]

A nice post!!

Do you have any examples on the levels? Is it possible to assume that the values are connected...e.g the closed state do always have a lower value than the semi-closed etc.

Best Regards

Anders

[cruiten]

Do you have any examples on the levels? Is it possible to assume that the values are connected...e.g the closed state do always have a lower value than the semi-closed etc.

I am at work right now, so I don't have any of my configuration settings.

It is my belief that a Closed state MIDI CC message value always represents a higher value than a Semi-Closed state MIDI CC message value, and that Semi-Closed state MIDI CC message value always represents a higher value than a Half-Open state MIDI CC message value, and so on...

Therefore, it is my understanding that the MD Hi-Hat Pedal level configuration values are logically connected as follows:

• ClosedLvl must be greater than HOpenLvl
• HOpenLvl must be greater than SOpenLvl
• SOpenLvl must be greater than OpenLvl

This seems to conflict with the settings that you are currently using, based on your latest MDS (MegaDRUMV4_9.mds) that you have recently shared, where HOpenLvl is less than SOpenLvl as shown in the following screenshot:

AndersConfig.jpg

I would be interested to find out if your Hi-Hat works better if you change those settings so that everything "flows" logically...

I hope this made sense.

Cor