Chase Bliss Expression Pedal Issue, Recalling Presets

I’ve been trying to configure my MC6Pro to use expression from chase bliss pedals. I used to have a Disaster Areas MIdI controller and saved a lot of presets with exp configurations using the DIP switches and exp output on my cba pedals. Now that I’m using the MC6 and setting the omniport to exp and calibrating, I’m not getting any of the expression.

I’m wondering if have to save all the exp stuff using the editor and that all my old exp settings won’t work and if I have to save new presets with the editor rather than to my cba going forth. Before when I had the Disaster Areas, I always saved presets with the exp pedal connected directly to a cba pedal. Then after saving it, hooked up the exp pedal to the exp pedal jack on the Disaster Areas and worked fine.

Right now, I can get the exp to do stuff when using the editor but it doesn’t reflect any of the settings I saved direct to the CBA pedals w/ DIP switches when I made the presets. I attached screen shots of a sample preset using Tonal Recall. Then I clicked on exp 1, which I see in every bank (I configured omniport 1 for exp) and I used the cc number from didi dictionary to control the delay rate. I’d much rather it recall the expression settings I created within each CBA pedal directly if possible. Also confused with the exp pedal page per bank because say within 1 bank I may want to control the delay level in 1 preset and delay time in another preset.

Anyone who plays CBA pedals, advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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For your Preset A message 3, only Msg2 is selected, which means that you are only enabling Msg 2 in your Exp Preset 1, which is empty. Msg1 in Exp Preset 1 will not send.

You shouldn’t need to use the Select Exp Message message type at all, unless you want to send different CC messages with the same Expression Preset.

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Thank you James. Unfortunately I’m not getting it to work while removing the select exp messages or when I press select exp message and choose msg 1 in exp preset 1.

Hi,
I’m a little confused by your post. Please help me to understand what is going on.

I don’t own any CBA pedals but I believe that the expression ports are expression INPUTS expression outputs would be rather uncommon.

Did you connect the MC’s omniport to the expression input of the CBA? If so that won’t work. You’ll have to set the omniport to ‘midi out’ and ‘ring active’ and connect it to the midi port of the CBA.
Note that there have been issues reported, that in some cases users had to physically disconnect the tip of the cable in order to get it to work
If your CBA pedal has some kind of omniport as well ( a shared port for midi and expression for example) make sure that you’ve configured it for midi as well, otherwise you might damage the MC.

My guess would be ‘no’. Since the MC only sends midi it should not matter what you have programmed to your CBA’s patches. I’m quite sure that the incoming midi will work independant of those settings.

Here is an excerpt of the midi manual of the Tonal Recall.

Let’s say you want to use your expression pedal to control ‘Time’.
Note that the ‘Expression Presets’ of the MC correspond with the omniports. Anything you program to Exp1 will only work with an expression pedal connected to omniport 1. Exp2 = omniport 2 and so on.

Now go to the Expression Preset and program a message just like you did in your second screenshot.
next programm a preset just like you did in your first screenshot but check the box for msg 1 instead of msg2.
Now you can control ‘time’ on the CBA with the expression pedal connected to the MC.

That’s one way to do it. Typing this out I might just have realized what the issue is.
Msg 4 of your first screenshot is programmed with an ‘Use Value from Expression’ message Type.
I believe this doesn’t do what you think it does.
It looks like that it is possible to sort of ‘mirror’ a physical expression pedal by sending a CC# 100 to the CBA in order to control the parameters you have programmed to the CBA’s patches using the dip switches. If that’s what you want to do, all you need to do is to programm an expression preset on the MC just like you would to control ‘Time’, but use the CC# 100 instead of 17.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the help here! Does finally seem to be working the same plugging in the exp to the CBA for the preset (CBA pedals have separate exp and midi connections) and plugging the exp into the morningstar. Seems the polarity is switched up on the Morningstar though. Do you know how to adjust that around?

@hrobertson - you mean when you move to heel, the pedal being controlled is actually in toe position?

Simple fix / bodge would be to calibrate the exp in reverse I guess ie put it in toe when calibration asks for heel and vice versa