Automate Axe Fx III Patches and Scenes Using MIDI with Logic Pro! "DO IT LIVE" Edition

[@Kmachman72]

Thank you so much. Ive tried this watching other videos, but they didnt explain what to set the AXEFX III's settings at. Yours video was very straight forward and works awesome. Thanks again!!

[@QuestionSpencer]

Super helpful! Got the whole band and light show on rails with your help! Bonus points for ol’ Bill “we’re gonna do it live!” pop-in 😂 Cheers!

[@spete34]

Thank you for this! This has been the clearest video I could find on how to make this happen with Logic. Same principle applies to other external gear.

[@GregSummersMusic]

Glad you found it useful ;-)

[@rs703]

Thank You Greg This video helped me set up automating Helix Native for changing snapshots while playing.

[@GregSummersMusic]

That’s great to hear! Enjoy

[@halflink9298]

Very Informative man, this helped me set up my bands Set list and put it above the rest of the locals. Cheers

[@GregSummersMusic]

Nice!!!!

[@OscarSalasOfficial]

Great tutorial and great song!

[@GregSummersMusic]

Thanks Oscar ;-)

[@Jesse_Marseille_Music]

Is there a way to automate switching between live instruments? Like if I want to record a live set and switch between guitar and keyboard, can I automate the live track switching?

[@GregSummersMusic]

Guess I’m confused on this one. What’s the keyboard running through?

[@Jesse_Marseille_Music]

@@GregSummersMusic thanks for the reply. I’d like to be able to film play through videos where I play multiple instruments as the track records, all on one take. I might have a midi keyboard playing a virtual instrument in one track, and a guitar running DI into another track. I’d like to be able to play the intro on the piano and then move into the rhythm guitar as the song plays/records without having to click the mouse.

[@GregSummersMusic]

@@Jesse_Marseille_Music so you could have that separate midi track that is controlling scenes, etc and then tracking the guitar and keyboard. Seems like it would work. I have never tried that before though but I don’t see why it wouldn’t. The midi track changing is separate from the 2 armed tracks.

[@INSYTEOFFICIAL]

Great video! Would this work with the axe fx II mark 2?

[@epade]

thanks for this!

[@ourmail9044]

Great video but unless I’m mistaken you’re doing it wrong: Instead of creating a CC instruction followed by a PC instruction, just create a PC I structionvand WITHIN this you will see the option to add a MSB and LSB value which corresponds to the CC commands you mentioned. For example for my Voicelive 3 I put an MSB of 1 (it’s always 1), LSB of 0, 1, 2, 3 etc with 0 corresponding to bank 1 and then the preset number.

[@berndkiltz]

Anyone know why this does not work with the FM3? Or am I just too stupid... Thanks for the Tutorial, @gregsummers EDIT. Found it. FM3 has no usb midi. A real shame!

[@GregSummersMusic]

I don’t think I realized this but truthfully being a compact unit I would only really want this with the axe fx personally, but it’s still a bummer.

[@berndkiltz]

@@GregSummersMusic Just imagine you are doing a guitar clinic where you fly to or go by train. You have your jamtracks in logic and want to be as small as possible - fm3 fits better in your bagpack than an axe3, which would also be overkill for that clinic. So now you have to pack a midi interface... really a shame.

[@GregSummersMusic]

@@berndkiltz Yep not ideal for sure, but the FM3 is an amazing tone machine otherwise. I get it though

[@berndkiltz]

@@GregSummersMusic Yes, I love it - it is just a very unfortunate and senseless limitation.

[@Mesatallic]

Could try the 5 Pin MIDI Out on a USB Audio Interface. (Maybe a 3rd-Party MIDI interface would work. Mentions the MIDI Sport on the FM3 Wiki page)

[@DavidMacVicar]

I got this working, but would love to export the midi so that I can use the patch changes in Ableton, but I can't figure that part out (I like working out of Logic for the song projects, but using Ableton live)

[@matthaislip3541]

Once you set up midi automation does anything have to be switched to use the fc or can it be plugged in and used just the same still?

[@michaelcarlson6752]

Thanks, A TON!

[@GregSummersMusic]

You’re welcome ;-)

[@josephwhite9130]

Hey Greg, quick question. How do you have this hooked up to the axe-fx? Is it a midi cable or is it via usb cable?

[@GregSummersMusic]

Just the usb cable. Midi over usb ;-)

[@josephwhite9130]

@@GregSummersMusic WONDERFUL. Thank you! How are you running it live? Is it the same way? I'm wanting to do the same thing but I'm running a fractal and my other guitarist is running a Kemper and what's getting me lost is figuring out how to send the two midi lanes through one unit and then to the fractal and Kemper. Any advice or gear I should look for?

[@GregSummersMusic]

I don’t use it live. Just did the video to show the capability. With the kemper involved I’d have to research that as well. Always been something I’ve wanted to do in a live situation but just can get to that comfort level yet.

[@josephwhite9130]

@@GregSummersMusic Also, do you know if the midi bank and program change numbers are the same for the 2 xl+ as they are for the 3?

[@josephwhite9130]

@@GregSummersMusic Gotcha. So, I'm having an issue where I'm setting the value to 0 and it keeps jumping to presets in the 640's. I also tried changing the scene and it turns out that the way it's set is that 1=scene 2, 2=scene 3, etc.

[@heromyr]

Super helpful. Thank you.

[@AlexBortnikov]

Hi! Really useful video, thank you! Could you help me? I can't choose my FM3 as a MIDI Port in the drop box menu. It's not there! But I can do records in Logic with FM3. What can I do?

[@GregSummersMusic]

FM3 cannot do this unfortunately. Only one way communication and that's just for FM3 edit. FM9 and Axe 3 have 2 way midi comm. Bummer I know.

[@lemauvaistemps]

thanks very useful. but I wonder, how do people coordinate this system on stage? Like, you play with your DAW click, but what if the drummer is not exactly aligned with that click? then your patch changes won't happen in the right moment, right? and does this takes away 'improvisation' moments where you might to stay on a patch for longer than what is set on the track, but you cant cause MIDI is gonna fire away... And do you have a person backstage that is manning the system like click play on the tracks etc? hope my questions are clear. Cheers

[@GregSummersMusic]

Yea generally stuff like this is well planned out if you are doing things like this (controlling patches, etc). Lots of times the drummer or keyboardist are controlling everything and the drummer may even have pads with midi to start and stop certain sections. Ableton is used a lot in click environments and will also have queues as well and someone in the band can lead things and if they want to improvise they can control that with a pedal to loop certain sections of the song so if those midi queues are in there then looping that section would keep you on that scene. Very powerful stuff but lots of planning and rehearsal for those spontaneous moments.

[@aifrmedia]

can you do this with channel strips in Logic or do you have to use an external machine like Axefx?

[@GregSummersMusic]

Sorry. Not sure I understand the question. What are you wanting to automate with externally. This video is more for geared towards using a DAW to automate external gear.

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

this is especially helpful for me because I use Logic Pro X and I don't care how similar Reaper or Studio One is it just makes more sense seeing someone explain the process in Logic.. so thanks!.. by the way.. one thing I've noticed in my implementation of MIDI changes is there are a couple beats of latency to the actual Program and/or Controller changes.. easy enough to move the MIDI region ahead a bit.. but do you know how I can eliminate the latency?

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

I just checked the timing of my AF3 hardware unit and there's zero latency.. the latency is with the Axe Edit GUI only.. so no issue.

[@zymegaucillama8611]

Is this feature available in axe ultra?

[@GregSummersMusic]

I don’t have the ultra but if I can send and receive then I would imagine and this is pretty common for bands to do in complex situations. Probably a better question in the fractal forum but I would bet it can. Maybe start with the user manual.

[@Nig6tWalker]

cool tutorial!!thank you.

[@DavidMacVicar]

I followed this to the T and cannot get this to work at all - so frustrating. FM9 Turbo using Logic Pro X :( Just nothing happens on my unit at all.

[@GregSummersMusic]

It’s been a while since I’ve messed with this on the axe fx. Probably when I made this video. I will see if I can break out my fm9 and get it to work. the capability should be there. Fm3 doesn’t support it but the axe fx and fm9 should.

[@DavidMacVicar]

@@GregSummersMusic Turns out it was because I didn't "pause communications" while using FM9 Edit! Preset changes are working, but I cannot get scenes to change - super close! haha

[@GregSummersMusic]

@@DavidMacVicar It's all working for me and I dont have to pause anything. You can hit me up on Facebook and I can help you easier if you want. You should be able to find my Greg Summers music page and message me there

[@DavidMacVicar]

​@@GregSummersMusic Thanks for the offer Greg. Just to add here - the only way I was able to get this to work was to go into the Midi-Other settings in the unit, set the Scene change value to #CC34 (I have no idea why? I just found this on the internet) and then I was able to make scene changes happen by entering in similar values to yours (based on the video).

[@joaquinpiriz7301]

Hey Greg, is there a way to automate patch changes within Logic? I mean, using logic stock amps and plugins instead of using external gear such as Fractal. Cheers!

[@GregSummersMusic]

I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. I can verify here soon though.

[@Mesatallic]

I’m using this method with an AX8, though ‘Scrubbing’ through the Timeline forces the AX8 to switch between Scenes for a few seconds eg. 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2. Any idea what’s causing this, do you have this problem with the Axe-FX III? 🤔🤘

[@GregSummersMusic]

Not sure about that. I don’t do this on a regular basis and it’s been a while. It definitely has its quirks but that could have been my fault. I just don’t have much need for this in my workflow but it made for good content on the channel. Maybe one day when my church goes to ableton I can experiment live.

[@joey20112]

Can you post up a link to the tables you show in the video?

[@GregSummersMusic]

If you are talking about the note I pulled up around the 3 min mark, that’s straight from the axe fx 3 manual pg 193

[@joey20112]

@@GregSummersMusic Found it after some digging, thanks! Also discovered the bank values range from 0-127 before continuing on to the subsequent bank- not 199.

[@GregSummersMusic]

@@joey20112 yes correct. My words get mixed up often. ;-)

[@joey20112]

@@GregSummersMusic Not a problem, I figured as much! Thanks a ton for such a helpful video! Now I just need to figure out why it's not working lol

[@GregSummersMusic]

Yea believe it or not I make a lot of my videos so I can refer back later. I always forget, especially with this topic. There’s a setting on the axe Fx for program changes. Make sure you are setting things correct on the unit as well. It’s been a while so I’d have to dive in again and do it all over again.

[@makkstudio6275]

great

[@yurichen3651]

Hi Greg, I changed my cc to 34 why it does not change the scene?

[@GregSummersMusic]

Make sure that you are going into the axe Fx itself under midi in the setup menu and set scene CC to 34. I don’t think it’s 34 by default.

[@yurichen3651]

@@GregSummersMusic Thanks Greg that was helpful, but I found out that whatever I do now the preset stays on 128, should I reset the firmware?

[@GregSummersMusic]

Make sure that you have the program change at the beginning of the track. Sometimes logic can be weird and you have to start the track from the beginning to get it to change the preset. It’s been a while since I’ve done this video and I don’t mess with it often so I’d have to go back and mess with it again to help more. Sorry. My brain stays full and I forget a lot of things. ;-)

[@yurichen3651]

@@GregSummersMusic That's still tips I could use mate!! Thanks for the help, I found that I fausibly turned the pc mapping on and that created my problem. Thanks for the help and looking forward to your next vid man.

[@GregSummersMusic]

Ah ok yea that makes sense. Glad you are headed in the right direction! Have a great week.

[@Mesatallic]

I use 2 MIDI Tracks. One for the Patch changes and the other for the Scene changes.🤘😀🤘

[@GregSummersMusic]

Great idea

[@Mesatallic]

@@GregSummersMusic Yeah, much easier to visualize when you’ve got several patch/scene changes. I used to use one full track, but two separate tracks and your segmented method makes it much easier to que up the changes! 🤘😁🤘