Overview

The MidiBUD user interface is organized into pages, listed below in the order they appear on the device.

• Rotate the encoder to move to the next or previous page.
• Click the encoder to activate parameter editing mode; the parameter’s value is shown in brackets ([]) while editing. Click the encoder again to confirm the selected parameter’s value.
• Double-click the encoder at any time to save the current program settings to persistent storage.
• On pages that edit per-scene settings, hold shift and press switch 1 to save the current settings as the defaults applied to new programs; hold shift and press switch 3 to reset the current settings to those saved defaults. On the Main page, this only works while in edit mode (see below).

The device has 5 switches: switches 1-4 correspond to the 4 scenes, and switch 5 is a shift key held down to access secondary functions.

• Press and release shift key alone, at any time, to silence notes: a quick tap (under 1/4 of a second) sends note off for all currently held notes; a longer hold sends an all-notes-off/all-sound-off panic on all 16 channels.

Main

Browse and load programs, edit the current program’s name, and choose which of its 4 scenes are active.

• Line 1 shows the current program number and its name; line 2 shows one slot per scene: on if that scene is active, xx if not.
• Press switch 1-4 to make the corresponding scene the sole active one; hold down more than one switch together, or hold shift while pressing, to combine several scenes as active at once instead of replacing the selection.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode; while editing, the name is shown in brackets and the encoder browses programs, loading each one (and its scenes) as you go.
• While editing, press switch 1-4 to start editing the name’s text instead of browsing programs: switch 1/2 moves the cursor left/right, switch 3 inserts a blank character at the cursor, switch 4 deletes the character at the cursor.
• While editing the name’s text, rotate the encoder to change the character at the cursor.
• Hold shift and click the encoder while editing the name’s text to cancel the text edit and go back to browsing programs, without leaving edit mode.
• Click the encoder again to leave edit mode, committing any name change to the loaded program.
• Saving/resetting scene-active defaults (shift + switch 1/3, see Overview) only works while in edit mode; outside edit mode, shift + switch 1-4 combine scenes instead, as described above.
• While in edit mode, hold shift and press switch 4 to reset the current program to the saved defaults.

Scene note hold

Toggles note hold (sustain) for each of the 4 scenes.

• The screen shows one slot per scene: on if note hold is enabled, -- if not.
• Press switch 1-4 to toggle note hold for the corresponding scene.
• Click the encoder to silence any notes currently held by scenes with note hold enabled.

Scene transpose

Sets the note transpose, in semitones, for each of the 4 scenes.

• The screen shows one slot per scene with its transpose value in semitones (-48 to +48, i.e. 4 octaves down or up).
• Press switch 1-4 to select the corresponding scene’s slot for editing.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode for the selected scene; while editing, the slot is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to change the selected scene’s transpose by one semitone at a time.
• Hold shift while rotating the encoder to jump by a full octave (12 semitones) instead.
• Press the selected scene’s switch again to jump its transpose up by an octave, wrapping back to -48 past +48.

Scene channels

Sets the output MIDI channel for each of the 4 scenes.

• The screen shows one slot per scene, either a channel number (1-16) or --, meaning the scene passes MIDI through unchanged on whatever channel it receives.
• Press switch 1-4 to select the corresponding scene’s slot for editing.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode for the selected scene; while editing, the slot is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to change the selected scene’s channel.
• Press the selected scene’s switch again to step its channel to the next value.
• Play a note on your MIDI keyboard while editing to set the selected scene’s channel directly from the channel that note arrived on.

Scene velocity

Sets the note velocity curve, or a fixed velocity, for each of the 4 scenes.

• The screen shows one slot per scene, either a curve name or a fixed velocity number:
  • -- passes the incoming velocity through unchanged.
  • s1/s2/s3 are progressively softer curves.
  • h1/h2/h3 are progressively harder curves.
  • w1/w2 are progressively wider curves.
  • A number (1-127) forces every note in the scene to that fixed velocity.
• Press switch 1-4 to select the corresponding scene’s slot for editing.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode for the selected scene; while editing, the slot is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to step through the curves, then continue rotating past w2 to dial in a fixed velocity number.
• Press the selected scene’s switch again to step to the next curve/value.
• Play a note on your MIDI keyboard (on the configured MIDI channel) while editing to set the fixed velocity directly from the velocity of the key you pressed.

Scene aftertouch

Sets the aftertouch curve, or a fixed aftertouch value, for each of the 4 scenes.

• The screen shows one slot per scene, either a curve name or a fixed value number:
  • -- passes the incoming aftertouch through unchanged.
  • s1/s2/s3 are progressively softer curves.
  • h1/h2/h3 are progressively harder curves.
  • w1/w2 are progressively wider curves.
  • A number (1-127) forces every aftertouch message in the scene to that fixed value.
• Press switch 1-4 to select the corresponding scene’s slot for editing.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode for the selected scene; while editing, the slot is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to step through the curves, then continue rotating past w2 to dial in a fixed value number.
• Press the selected scene’s switch again to step to the next curve/value.
• Apply aftertouch on your MIDI keyboard (on the configured MIDI channel) while editing to set the fixed value directly from the incoming aftertouch pressure.

Scene N zone

Sets the note range (zone) that one scene responds to.

• The screen shows one scene at a time (N is the scene number); the low and high boundary notes are shown as note names.
• Rotate the encoder to switch between scenes 1-4.
• Press switch 1 or 2 to select the low boundary for editing; switch 3 or 4 to select the high boundary.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode for the selected boundary; while editing, the boundary is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to change the selected boundary note; hold shift while rotating to jump by a full octave.
• Press switch 1 or 3 again to jump the selected boundary up an octave; press switch 2 or 4 to jump it down an octave.
• Play a note on your MIDI keyboard (on the configured MIDI channel) while editing to set the selected boundary directly from the key you pressed.
• Saving/resetting defaults (shift + switch 1/3, see Overview) applies only to the currently displayed scene, not all 4 at once.

Scene N filters

Blocks specific MIDI message types from passing through one scene.

• The screen shows one scene at a time (N is the scene number) with 4 slots: NT (notes/pitchbend), AT (aftertouch), PC (program change), CC (control change).
• Uppercase means the message type passes through normally; lowercase means it’s filtered (blocked) for this scene.
• Rotate the encoder to switch between scenes 1-4.
• Press switch 1-4 to toggle the corresponding filter (NT/AT/PC/CC) for the current scene on or off.
• Saving/resetting defaults (shift + switch 1/3, see Overview) applies only to the currently displayed scene, not all 4 at once.

Scene N program

Sends a bank select and/or program change on entering a scene.

• The screen shows one scene at a time (N is the scene number): a bank number (bnk:) and a program number (pgm:), or -- for either if not set.
• Rotate the encoder to switch between scenes 1-4.
• Press switch 1 or 2 to select the bank for editing; switch 3 or 4 to select the program for editing.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode for the selected field; while editing, the field is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to change the selected bank/program number; hold shift while rotating to move in steps of 10.
• Press switch 1 again to step the bank up, or switch 2 to step it down; press switch 3 again to step the program up, or switch 4 to step it down.
• Send a bank select and/or program change from your MIDI keyboard while editing the corresponding field to set it directly from the incoming message.
• Changes are sent out as live MIDI bank select/program change messages shortly after you stop adjusting, so you can hear the result.
• Saving/resetting defaults (shift + switch 1/3, see Overview) applies only to the currently displayed scene, not all 4 at once.

MIDI Channel

Sets the incoming MIDI channel the device listens to. Messages on this channel are processed through the scenes; messages on any other channel are passed straight through to MIDI out unchanged.

• The screen shows the current input channel (1-16), or -- for OMNI mode, in which the device responds on all channels.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode; while editing, the value is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to change the channel setting.
• Play a note on your MIDI keyboard while editing to set the input channel directly from the channel that note arrived on.

Root Note

Sets the root (tonic) note of the current scale, used together with the scale setting to determine which incoming notes are considered in-scale.

• The screen shows the current root note name.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode; while editing, the value is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to change the root note.
• Play a note on your MIDI keyboard (on the configured MIDI channel) while editing to set the root note directly from the key you pressed.

Scale

Sets the scale used, together with the root note, to determine which incoming notes are considered in-scale.

• The screen shows the current scale’s name; names longer than the display scroll automatically to reveal the rest of the scale name.
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode; while editing, the value is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to step through the available scales; scale 0 is Chromatic (all notes are considered in-scale).

Quantize to

Sets how a note outside the current scale gets snapped to an in-scale note.

• The screen shows the current quantize mode: nearest note (snaps to whichever in-scale note is closer), root note (snaps up toward the root note if below it, down if above), next note (always snaps up), or prev note (always snaps down).
• Click the encoder to toggle edit mode; while editing, the value is shown in brackets.
• Rotate the encoder to step through the quantize modes.

Monitor

Shows incoming MIDI messages live, useful for troubleshooting cabling and connections.

• Notes are shown as channel, note name, and velocity in hex; note off shows -- in place of velocity.
• Aftertouch, control change, program change, and pitch bend are shown with their channel and value(s) in hex.
• SysEx messages show a running byte count while being received (SoX:) and once complete (EoX:).
• Clock ticks show as a moving mark; Start/Continue/Stop are shown as text.
• Channel mode messages (all sound off, reset all controllers, local control, all notes off, omni/mono/poly mode) show their channel and a short label.
• Click the encoder to clear the display.