Using MidiHub for Creative Midi Processing - Turning One Note into a Generative Ambient Cloud

If you're thinking of grabbing a MidiHub and want to help support the channel you can use this affiliate link: blokas.io/store/ref/oscillato...
The MidiHub from Blokas is a 4 in, 4 out MIDI processor. It can do all of the useful merging, splitting, routing, filtering functions that you'd expect form a modern MIDI utility, which makes it a useful addition to a lot of setups - especially those focussed on hardware.
However, through the highly configurable "pipeline" setup available in its dedicated editor, it is able to create complex MIDI processing "environments" which allow it to reshape or even generate additional MIDI information based on its input - and this is what I personally find very exciting.
In this video I explore some of these features and see just how far the MidiHub can take the most mundane of single-note inputs.
Transparency Notice: The MidiHub was kindly provided to me by Blokas, however they have not had any input into the video's content.
www.oscillatorsink.com
Facebook: / oscillatorsink
Twitter: / oscillatorsink
Instagram: / oscillatorsink

[@jvburnes]

Wow this actually turns MIDI into a creative tool rather than just a standard for interconnection.

[@Shapeplusform]

This was one the most useful purchases of my entire music career.

[@OscillatorSink]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

[@vvveenn]

I don’t need any more gear… Oscillator Sink posts a video… oooh toys! 😄

[@OscillatorSink]

Sorry!

[@jamiestewart1644]

I really didn't like Midi when I first started making music in the 90's. I opted for control voltage via Eurorack because I clicked with the physical and visual feedback. 30 years later and I've just taken delivery of the MidiHub and I'm absolutely loving it. I needed something for my Waldorf M and was tempted by the various Squarp devices but the MidiHub seems more flexible and complete in terms of midi fx - plus I can sequence it with anything. Cracking little box..

[@jockcooper8888]

midihub blows my mind with how much it can do and it's fairly inexpensive too... incredible little device

[@guyjackson1763]

Thanks for this. Inspiring. Mine arrives tomorrow and am eager to get stuck in…

[@jolieuke]

Thanks for this clear, simple and inspiring walk-through. I'm so glad you did it! I bought the Midihub as an early bird and never took it out of the box. I watched many tutorials but none of them was clear like this one. I even thought of selling it but now ... nope! Thanks again, can't wait for the next video. Cheers

[@OscillatorSink]

My favourite thing is to hear that I've helped people get more from their gear. Enjoy exploring it!

[@MatthewHarrold]

This is pretty cool. I've never thrown out my ciggie-packet sized MidiMan MIDI Merge boxes, they still work 30 years later.

[@orphanfrequencyyeah1742]

Got one last year, it blew me away. Seriously considering getting a second one.

[@PrimitiveBaroque]

Wow I'm definitely getting one. Actually TWO.

[@hdsubstance1]

Amazing tool here! Starting to save for one. Perfectly explained

[@rafpollet]

Thank you very much, looking for more ! You are the first one to explain this hub clair and easy

[@markjeffery3237]

Brilliant exposition; bought one an hour later. Thank you👍🏻

[@falazarte]

I just ordered mine!! I can't wait.

[@bonaventura_AKA_ben]

Haha I ordered one about halfway thru. Brilliant box, love your videos

[@TristanBaldi]

This is so beautiful, just with one note! Great demo, thanks a lot!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you for watching!

[@ArcAudios77]

An excellent walk-through, I can see value in using this unit. Well demonstrated as per all your Content. Thanks & Regards

[@OscillatorSink]

Cheers!

[@ubustudio]

Thanks for this. The possibilities here makes my mind explode. Just ordered one. Once again your explorations inspire. Cheers.

[@OscillatorSink]

I hope you enjoy it - it's a box of many interesting uses (and, although I don't really talk about it much in my videos, it's a super useful MIDI problem solver in general!).

[@grandmasterjo1]

Amazingly magical 🧙‍♀️ Thanks to your precise tutorial on implementation, and we’re looking at just one note one instrument. Wish you had combined another ext synth on another midi ch Thank you 👌👌

[@RichardOlpin]

Nice one. Big fan here, I've had mine since day 1 as I backed the original crowdfunding campaign :-)

[@danielpirone8028]

Lovely video as always! Got me thinking about the Bastl MIDI looper too

[@OscillatorSink]

Pairing those two together could be *wild*.

[@bahutu802]

I'm stunned by that device. Thanks for sharing! I wonder about its rhythmic capabilities other than delay / probability / random. So for example setting up a rhythmic pattern, so that the output would be for example a syncopated melody with customizable rhythm, or a beat pattern to control a drum machine. I guess one way to set this up would be to use delays with single repeats, so for example a note being delayed by a 3/4 note or so. But a sequencer might come in even handier, so you wouldn't have to change the whole delay configuration when changing the pattern. Would love that being explored in a video, in case it's not covered in your other MidiHub video which I'm looking forward to watch.

[@robertreid8241]

Just what I need Alex! Had one for ages, but haven't been using it, it's just so deep! Awesome tool

[@OscillatorSink]

Happy to help! I'm really just scratching the surface here - once you start to map real-time controls along with all this other stuff - then you're really into some interesting possibilities. Pair it with something with lots of knobs (like a Beatstep Pro?) and it becomes a really powerful centrepiece to a hardware setup I think.

[@robertreid8241]

@@OscillatorSink yeah I think it really opens it up when you get tweaking with the parameters on the fly. Looking forward to the next one!

[@touchclarity]

Just purchased on the strength of this Video ..... :) ..... Very Nice!!...

[@tebi1kurieudidon172]

Reminds me of the MIDI environment in Logic, I don’t use it often but I would if it was standalone, indeed ! Contrats and thank you !

[@BottleMakesMusic]

Fascinating device. Definitely of interest now I have a ton of sequencing options

[@OscillatorSink]

It's very useful - especially as you can tailor it to your specific setup and requirements.

[@pthomas36]

Well here's another piece of gear you've introduced me to that I'm going to really enjoy. I'd love to see you make a video using MidiHub along with the NDLR for more MIDI magical goodness. Cheers!

[@roganferguson]

Neat. I look forward to developing some semi-generative music. I'd like to see Blokas extend the programming environment with some simple variable/array and logic blocks to make some fully-generative music.

[@madmac66]

Yeah some kind of logic block would be awesome. The new midi monitor is huge step forward, so hopefully they have some cool new creative tricks up their sleeves

[@OscillatorSink]

I've made some suggestions for some other pipes that would be useful in a generative patch to the developers. They've made no promises, but they seem to like the ideas in principle...

[@marcocelis2104]

Always grateful for your videos. Very Arovane btw. : ]

[@jantuitman]

Very nice. I dust off my midi hub. I didn’t use it for quite some time because the earlier firmware had bugs with missing notes off messages. But it seems to be fixed. It is also very similar to the transformer pipelines in squarp pyramid. But a little bit more powerful, and the squarp is less bugfixed. The advantage f the squarp is though, that you can have the pipelines per track, so if you switch on / off tracks in sections of your song you can have completely different pipelines running.

[@K.KILLORAN]

I just ordered one so I hope you’re right.

[@avrilcadabra]

This is very intuitive software. Not what I expected at all. Well done Blokas, great use of it Alex.

[@sichtbeton]

Cool, will adapt these concepts to Drambo on iOS.

[@madmac66]

Man, I don’t know how you figured out the Transform pipe because the documentation is WOEFUL. That’s the biggest obstacle to learning this device. I’d never guess the method you used to use note on velocity to map to CC value. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be playing with this tonight

[@OscillatorSink]

The documentation is very "programmer-y" in places - which is the type of documentation I deal with a lot in my day job so I'm kinda OK with it.

[@SynthDad]

Great job! Another fellow Midihub enthusiast here!

[@clydiscope]

Wavestate in a box!

[@Volcaniced]

Oh you lucky guy... A Midihub

[@danishdaycare]

Wow, that's really great! Just tried the same on my Squarp Pyramid and it can do similar things and more hands on controll for live use but sadly there are only fixed measures to chose, no doted or triplets. And only 4 fx slots... If not for the Pyramid I'd definately pick up the midihub!

[@OscillatorSink]

The Pyramid has always been really interesting to me but I've always had enough other stuff that sort of fills a niche (even more so now I have a Midihub). I'd still like to have a play one day though as it seems pretty powerful.

[@danishdaycare]

@@OscillatorSink I hear ya 😉. I have the Digitakt and Octatrack, both did the sequencing for my synths but now I use them for what I think they do best - DT drums and the OT for resampling/samples/fx. Bought the Pyramid mainly for midi sequencing, the polyrytmic seq and now midi delays/arp makes the Pyramid a beast!

[@kobi-kobsen]

Very nice - would be great as Eurorack-Module with more immediate control possibilities.

[@OscillatorSink]

In terms of control possibilities - almost every single parameter in the editor can be mapped to be controlled with a midi CC message (which can be per port / channel) so if you design the patch that way there can be a LOT of realtime control. Add a midi-to-CV layer in there... Well you can see where I'm going.

[@dcashley303]

Super cool, would be awesome to have a version where you can do all this configuration on the device itself. The whole 'effects' feel makes me want knobs and switches too.

[@OscillatorSink]

All of those settings can be mapped to midi CC, so if you have a controller with knobs and switches etc. you're good to go. I'll be showing this in the next video!

[@dcashley303]

@@OscillatorSink Ooh that's amazing!

[@OscillatorSink]

The cool thing is that it works with *your setup* - you're not tied to whatever control surface it would hypothetically come with. Also there are drivers and a version of the editor that works on a RaspberryPi - so if you wanted a screen...you can have one.

[@dcashley303]

@@OscillatorSink Nice, glad they've created such an open system.

[@jamessusbilla]

amazing tech. thank *YOU* what an interesting way to compose. i'm now imagining what if beethoven composed this way. hehe.

[@Notorioustroublemaker]

I just love your accent :))

[@OscillatorSink]

I'd probably classify it as "Very Generic Middle England" - but thank you!

[@briandeady2385]

Hello Oscillator Sink - this has to be the best video about Midi Hub on the internet - thank you for taking the time to make it ..I've only just discovered this after 2 years of fighting with my Isla s2400 , I have a newbie question. Can you advise how to do the following ..I have a midi sequencer connected to a 6 voice drum machine via 1 Midi Din port - how do I split the signal so I can add different midi fx to each channel individually from Midihub? many thanks !

[@OscillatorSink]

You can use either a channel filter pipe (if each drum sound responds to a different channel) or a note range filter pipe (if each drum sound responds to a different note).

[@briandeady2385]

@@OscillatorSink Wonderful - so I can do all that within the 1 preset and not have to use different presets for each channel ?

[@OscillatorSink]

Correct! You run out of processing power eventually, but you can do lots in a single patch.

[@breadwarandcircus]

Not so much just a Swiss Army Knife, more the ACTUAL Swiss Army

[@Volcaniced]

You can even use the midihib as standalone instrument. There is a video on my channel.

[@OscillatorSink]

Yeah, it is a seriously flexible and powerful little box. I've fed back some ideas to the devs that I think that "folks like us" would find really interesting in that regard too.

[@Volcaniced]

@@OscillatorSink completely und underrated ... def. Thank you that you are showing this to your community

[@ProfessorSynth]

More Midihub videos please Mr Sink 👍

[@OscillatorSink]

I plan to 🙂

[@bilonggrisimmeri]

@Oscillator Sink Does MidiHub do what goes on inside an analogue synth, i.e. Voice allocation, of which there are 3 types. Namely Random, round robin and looping numerical order. Round robin always plays the next oscillator in sequence, whereas numerical order always starts on oscillator 1, that is after a silence and a new note is played. Doing this by MIDI would take polyphonic playing from the In port and split it to Monophonic Note on and Note Off messages, sent over MIDI channels 1-4, or 1-6 or 1-8, depending on if you are trying to make a 4,6 or 8 voice synth via MIDI. This makes a maximum of 9 possible settings for MidiHub, which I do not think would be hard to do. THAT IS, if it is actually capable of such a thing! So there's the challenge. Does it or doesn't it do this simple thing?

[@OscillatorSink]

Here's the documentation for the dispatcher pipe: blokas.io/midihub/docs/dispatcher/ It rotates through the available (not currently occupied by a note on) channels in the pipe.

[@stefanherzog]

How does it compare (in terms of use cases) to RetroKit‘s RK-006?

[@OscillatorSink]

I don't have a 006 - one thing that has over the Midihub is that the outputs don't all have to be MIDI (it can do gate and analogue clock), it can also do USB midi hosting, which depending on your setup, might be very useful. However it doesn't seem to be as readily configured for these more creative uses - but it's a nice bit of kit!

[@kisho2679]

is there a way of configuring and controlling MidiHib from a mobile app or iPad (instead of connecting it to a computer)?

[@hristiangeorgiev5236]

Maybe a stupid question. How come this separate notes overlap if the NTS 1 is monophonic. It plays lika a polyphonic synth. What am i missing here? Great video btw. Thanks.

[@OscillatorSink]

I'm only using the NTS-1 in the first example with the filter velocity, I switch to using the Opsix for the main chunk of the video.

[@ghost_in_the_robot]

Hey buddy, would you recommend this or the RK-006 MIDI hub or the new RK-008 which is like a Calculator or PO with MIDI recording, playback, MIDI learn, etc.

[@OscillatorSink]

It depends what you're after. The rk008 isn't really the same thing as the other two. The 006 has more connectivity options and has gate outputs which might be important to you, but for creative MIDI processing then the Midihub is very nice, especially with the editor.

[@krzysztofk1936]

Hello I have a question about midi signal splitters Thru I would like to connect 2 sound modules Yamaha MU 100, Vamaha VL 70 via the Pc midi interface which will be managed by the FL studio. In FL Studio, by selecting Midi OUT, you can additionally select the port number 1 or 2 or 3 etc .. and for each selected port we have support for 16 midi channels, thanks to which midi messages will be sent to the device that receives them on the same selected port and not to all connected midi devices. Does the offered midi device have the ability to configure and set the port number for each of the midi outputs so that the signal is directed to the selected midi port? Please reply Thank you and best regards

[@OscillatorSink]

Yes. The midihub presents as 4 USB midi devices and each of those devices are available as pipes in the editor.

[@krzysztofk1936]

@@OscillatorSink thank you

[@tebi1kurieudidon172]

Do you know if it is possible to program it so that what you play in the A input is going out with each note randomly assigned to any of the 4 outs ? To have 4 synths play a random arrangement of a polyphonic input ? I love how this sounds in software, I would love to be able to do that with hardware...

[@OscillatorSink]

You can definitely do it sequentially (with a dispatcher pipe and virtual ports), I'm not 100 percent on how you would do it randomly (I can't recall if channel is a randomization target, if it is then you could probably just do it do it that way).

[@tebi1kurieudidon172]

@@OscillatorSink OK, thank you for your answer ! It looks like a great tool indeed. I would love it if that kind of MIDI tools were available inside the Akai Force, but a small standalone box is a good option too ! Also thank for your OpSix videos, you explore sound with a perfect rythm and resolve, I love it. Right now I feel like the OpSix is probably the best option for "FM and then something more", without having to spend a kidney worth of hard earned money...

[@bilonggrisimmeri]

@@OscillatorSink I think this needs a yes or no answer. After asking same question about the similar Bomebox, they are being evasive, so as not to stop a sale. Tebi is asking if MidiHub does what goes on inside an analogue synth, i.e. Voice allocation, of which there are 3 types. Namely Random, round robin and looping numerical order. Round robin always plays the next oscillator in sequence, whereas numerical order always starts on oscillator 1, that is after a silence and a new note is played. Doing this by MIDI would take polyphonic playing from the In port and split it to Monophonic Note on and Note Off messages, sent over MIDI channels 1-4, or 1-6 or 1-8, depending on if you are trying to make a 4,6 or 8 voice synth via MIDI. This makes a maximum of 9 possible settings for MidiHub, which I do not think would be hard to do. THAT IS, if it is actually capable of such a thing! So there's the challenge. Does it or doesn't it do this simple thing?

[@OscillatorSink]

Here's the documentation for the dispatcher pipe: blokas.io/midihub/docs/dispatcher/ And you can use the editor without the device so you can check to see if it's a randomizer target.

[@bilonggrisimmeri]

@@OscillatorSink Many thanks. I struggle with computers, and frankly expect this kind of stuff not to work. I just downloaded their editor to my eMac, and as expected, it doesn't work. Had Blokas website bothered to say which OS version it needed, it would have saved my time. I may buy it, because of thier returns policy. It's a shame when this apparently simple device is really unfriendly to use. (My opinion, not yours, obviously.)

[@dojoguitare]

What is the black synth top left?

[@OscillatorSink]

Korg Opsix. That's the synth you're hearing. One of my all time favourite synths.

[@mickcarson8504]

Can this MidiHub be used alone on my Yamaha PSR6700 for additional sound effects? I was going to get a sound effect generator.

[@OscillatorSink]

The Midihub won't add "sound effects", it can process the midi signals that tell the Yamaha what to play in creative ways, but it won't generate new sounds or add effects like reverb.

[@OscillatorSink]

But nevertheless, yes it can be used stand alone - once the settings have been chosen, you don't need a computer nearby any more.

[@particle-dots]

very nice - not available in USA? (because i want one now)

[@OscillatorSink]

I believe that blokas themselves ship worldwide? blokas.io/store/

[@ProfessorWes]

@@OscillatorSink Yes they do...I ordered one and I received it in three days...from Lithuania to NJ...to the tune of $226 US. I'm still working up the nerve to dig in...lol.

[@SergioBelloGarcia]

Can this device merge two inputs to one output?

[@OscillatorSink]

Yes. And you can apply filtering on each of the inputs if you need as well.

[@agamemnonc]

Is it possible to route the midi out of the Midihub back into the midi IN of the KSP to record sequences? In that case, is there a way of recording in the sequence only the incoming MIDI notes and not the ones played on the keyboard?

[@OscillatorSink]

The KSP can have separate input and output MIDI channels, so with those set appropriately, that should work.

[@agamemnonc]

@@OscillatorSink Thanks for your reply, I was just wondering whether you have tried this, as I didn't manage to make it work with Ableton Live? I guess the issue here is that the MIDI out will send MIDI data to both the Midihub (for processing) as well as to the instrument (eg synth). So whenever I play on the KSP the notes that I 'd like to process with Midihub, these are also sent to my instrument. Am I missing something obvious here?

[@OscillatorSink]

I didn't think the problem through fully originally, sorry. Removing the played note would be tricky. The only obvious answer I can think of is to use a different track (with a different channel) to send the note to the Midihub for processing and transform the channel of the note messages before sending them back out.

[@chitlun]

Ah man, I’ve not heard of this device before. That’ll be me £150 lighter then… Bargain! Cheers dude, peace ✌️

[@OscillatorSink]

There certainly is a lot to recommend about it!

[@derekcrockett6214]

Can I buy this in the U.S. ?

[@OscillatorSink]

I think blokas ship worldwide, but you'll need to speak to them (they're very helpful and friendly) if you're asking if they have a US Distributor.

[@michael7018]

What’s that green pedal?

[@OscillatorSink]

It's not a pedal, it's a Thingamagoop.

[@michael7018]

I’m waiting for my midi router .., can it be powered with a battery pack like 5v

[@OscillatorSink]

It's powered over USB, so yes.

[@Spherical_El]

Is there an android app for the controller? (I have an iCM4+ which I control with a old ipod but the OS is very old on the ipod and i would prefer to use my phone).

[@Spherical_El]

Edit : I'm still learning to use the internet 🙃 and realised I could google it myself - couldn't see anything on mobile apps.

[@jvburnes]

But it can't create a SYSEX message? A lot of Synths use SYSEX for custom settings, like my Arturia Keylab's pad colors, so what's the point? When I go to their site all I see are excuses from their developers saying like we'll get to that after we take care of all of these other important things. SYSEX is a critical feature of the midi protocol, so almost and thanks for playing. It looked promising. I'm more concerned with the attitude of their devs than this particular feature though. Guess I'll build my own from Teensy.

[@OscillatorSink]

Sysex is vendor specific and unstructured beyond the start and end byte. How would you envisage this working with the pipeline paradigm in the UI? You would probably have to embed some kind of scripting language no? I've built stuff for controlling synths with sysex, but it's had to be pretty domain specific each time. Do you have a use case in mind?

[@jvburnes]

​@@OscillatorSink You just tie the SYSEX stage into a simple pipeline from any button, which gives you a one-shot sysex message. Every time you hit a selected key or pad it pipelines to the SYSEX event. Can't get much simpler. Of course there are sysex messages which could be used to upload entirely new firmware images to a synth, but I don't see that having much use for typical uses like configuration changes, mode switches, bank selection, LED colors etc. Its primary use is for MIDI event creation and automation.

[@OscillatorSink]

For one shots I guess that makes sense. I can't think of anything I own that I'd use that for, but I guess it might be cool in some setups. All the stuff I've wanted to do with sysex has needed more logic, scaling, packaging of parameters, etc.