Katana - Laymans terms-how can I control my Boss Katana combo via midi?

Started by Ari, March 02, 2017, 08:17:21 PM

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Ari

Hey all...I see a lot of technical stuff here about Midi-conversion-I'm waiting for Sam Ash to get my GAFC in stock. I'd love to control the katana via midi for now. How can I do it? Do i need to sodder? I have a rocktron midi mate...thanks

CodeSmart

The only amp with 5-pin MIDI is the Katana Head.
The others need to be controlled via USB. This USB is a bit special requiring "tweaked" software.

To my knowledge there's three ongoing projects on this forum to cover this, and none of them I think is 100% completed.
- Primova MIDX-20 box
- Condors Android app
- Snhirch's RPI (Raspberry Pie)/Beaglebone software

But I got more gear than I need...and I like it!

vtgearhead

I'm wondering if it's worth documenting a "quickie" solution to MIDI control of the USB-only Katana amps.  Setting a small computer up as a dumb 5-pin to Roland USB bridge is simple and requires no software other than what's available from the Debian repository (comes "free" when you run a Raspberry Pi or Beaglebone).  Hardware costs:

RaspberryPi 2 Model B:  $35
MidiPlus TBox:  $30  (Is there a cheaper USB<-->5-pin converter that's not complete garbage?)

Plus misc. cabling, wall wart supply if needed.  Not pretty, no fancy box, no formal support.

Elantric

QuoteI'm wondering if it's worth documenting a "quickie" solution to MIDI control of the USB-only Katana amps.

It was requested by many folks

Member "ScataBrain" at TheGearpage has loaded

Snhirsch's Katana MIDI Bridge for Raspberry PI / BeagleBone

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=19782.0


on a Beaglebone Black SBC and uses it with a Behringer FCB-1010 MIDI control of his Katana Amp

(sure which there was a step by step guide )

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/23928466/

vtgearhead (SNHirsch) said: ↑
QuoteI am continuing to plug away at my katana bridge code. Version 3.0 is now available on the master branch:

https://github.com/snhirsch/katana-midi-bridge

See README for details. Main point of this update was to ensure compatibility with "sneaky" settings discovered by Robin Van Boven and accessible through Gumtown's 'FxFloorboard' tool. I have tied the volume CC to the internal pedal rather than the amplifier volume and operation is much more consistent.

I am using this code for performance and it works quite well. Patch change takes about 50-60 msec. with only a brief audio dropout. Not quite as smooth as the internal "Tone Setting" changes, but quite usable.

The various software tools for Katana cover different feature sets. Mine may be spartan in terms of CC# mapping but it supports an operation that I find critical: live capture of amplifier panel knob tweaks. I can craft settings to my heart's content in my practice room but this does not always translate well to ensemble playing. With the bridge I'm free to tweak amplifier volume, tone controls and presence to put on the finishing touch, then overwrite the stored virtual patch with a few pedal taps. Note: This won't work for amplifier type, gain or effects controls (since those force a number of deep parameters into states you probably don't want), but for the ones that play nice it's invaluable.


ScataBrain wrote>

Big shout out to @vtgearhead ! I just updated to the new version of the katana midi bridge that supports sneaky amps. After doing a git pull and deleting the old data files (version 1 was incompatible - version 2 can be converted to 3 with a provided tool), it worked great! I use a BeagleBone Green Wireless and a FCB1010 foot controller. Awesome stuff!



QuoteWould you need the beagle bone with the head version of the katana?

Yeah because the bridge AND the storage code are on the beaglebone. So you may not need the bridge like with the combo but you need the storage / retrieval code called by the fcb. I suppose it's technically possible to stuff equivalent sysex into the fcb but I doubt that would be a good path.

I bet the way the code works you do need the bridge.

Here is my FCB setup with the beagle bone. Basically each bank is setup with the following:

10 - tap 3 times to start save - then select 1 - 5 to store
1-5 call up a patch
6, 7, 8, 9 toggles like on the ga/fc in effects mode (not select channel mode)

Then I can switch to a new bank and be able to group 5 related patches there and have the above row for switching effects on and off. Since 10 is save patch on each bank, I don't have to switch banks endlessly to organize on the fly.

FYI: This is a work in progress as the switches only toggle off. The toggle function isn't working. I haven't had any time to fix that yet.

;===============================================================
;===== FCB1010 setup =====
;===== =====
;===== Filename : Katana.txt =====
;===== Created : 14/04/2017 =====
;===== Version : 5.0 =====
;===============================================================
Enable MIDI Merge : true
Enable RunningStatus : true
Disable TapTempo : false
Block repeating PCs : false
Direct Select mode : off
Stompbox mode : off
Stomps on lower row : true
Relay 1 mode : toggling
Relay 1 actuation : normally open
Relay 2 mode : toggling
Relay 2 actuation : normally closed
Note velocity : 100
MIDI channel for PC1 : 02
MIDI channel for PC2 : 02
MIDI channel for PC3 : 02
MIDI channel for PC4 : 02
MIDI channel for PC5 : 02
MIDI channel for CC1 : 02
MIDI channel for CC2 : 02
MIDI channel for Note: 02
MIDI channel for EPA : 02
MIDI channel for EPB : 02

Index | Preset name | PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 | CC1:val/alt CC2:val/alt| Note| ExprA:min-max ExprB:min-max | SW |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
00.01 | PRESET 001 | 011 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.02 | PRESET 002 | 012 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.03 | PRESET 003 | 013 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.04 | PRESET 004 | 014 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.05 | PRESET 005 | 015 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.06 | PRESET 006 | ... ... ... ... ... | 016 127 127 016 000 001 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.07 | PRESET 007 | ... ... ... ... ... | 017 127 127 017 000 000 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.08 | PRESET 008 | ... ... ... ... ... | 018 127 127 018 000 000 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.09 | PRESET 009 | ... ... ... ... ... | 019 127 127 019 000 127 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
00.10 | PRESET 010 | ... ... ... ... ... | 003 127 ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.01 | PRESET 011 | 016 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.02 | PRESET 012 | 017 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.03 | PRESET 013 | 018 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.04 | PRESET 014 | 019 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.05 | PRESET 015 | 020 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.06 | PRESET 016 | ... ... ... ... ... | 016 127 127 016 000 001 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.07 | PRESET 017 | ... ... ... ... ... | 017 127 127 017 000 000 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.08 | PRESET 018 | ... ... ... ... ... | 018 127 127 018 000 000 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.09 | PRESET 019 | ... ... ... ... ... | 019 127 127 019 000 127 | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
01.10 | PRESET 020 | ... ... ... ... ... | 003 127 ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
02.01 | PRESET 021 | 021 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
02.02 | PRESET 022 | 022 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
02.03 | PRESET 023 | 023 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
02.04 | PRESET 024 | 024 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |
02.05 | PRESET 025 | 025 ... ... ... ... | ... ... ... ... ... ... | ... | . ... ... ... . ... ... ... | .. |