Questions & Answers

Cannot connect an Alesis Crimson II Hi-Hat Pedal to Impact XT in Studio One 4.

+1 vote
1,186 views
asked Jul 14, 2019 in Studio One 4 by [email protected] (250 points)
I have gotten my Alesis Crimson II kit hooked up to my computer via the USB-MIDI option, as I only have one MIDI cable.  I am monitoring it with my Tascam Celesonic 20x20 interface in S1 v4.14.  I have created my external instrument, titled "Alesis I" being sent to my Alesis.  I have also created a keyboard titled "Alesis II" which is sent from my Alesis.  I'm doing this only for the hi hat, as I cannot use "Alesis I" in Impact, as apparently I can't operate external instruments inside S1's software instruments.  Anywho, I have both set to channel 10, and have corrected all of the pad assignments so they are triggered accordingly by each drum in Impact.

My problem is that it is only a closed hat sound.  Now, I have created pads for the pedal, closed, half open and open hats being triggered on G#- -2 (the pedal is different, A# -1).  I wanted to originally start doing choke groups, but that didn't work well and won't help me trigger multiple sounds on the same G#-2 note (the closed, half open and open sounds, of which there are 4 sounds to each pad).  Now, I only got one knob after using the MIDI learn on my keyboard "Alesis II", and somehow got it to adjust to the FootController on the instrument "Alesis I".  That being said, it no longer goes up or down for whatever reason.  I thought I could use automation to mute/unmute pads in Impact based on the values I was getting from the pedal.  I went through the settings for the pads but did not see any type of volume control or muting options, and then realized I had no idea how to map three pads to one pedal knob, as that math makes no sense whatsoever after I thought about it for twenty minutes or so.

I also created a seperate keyboard connected from my kit's MIDI OUT to my Tascam's MIDI IN.  This gives me the same result as above, without the pedal values obviously.  I thought the USB option would serve as a MIDI IN/OUT, but apparently it doesn't.  I have nothing working in the MIDI monitor either, despite recording with them both fine.  Not understanding how that works, or rather doesn't, but I find it rather interesting that despite RECORDING MIDI data there is no data visible.  I would like to know why that is, if anyone knows.  If anyone can help me create a virtual drum set with a workable hi-hat pedal within Impact XT and has a Crimson II kit connected through the kit's USB cable to their computer I would be greatly appreciative.  Even if anyone can post a video link from Youtube or something that's better than what I'm going on now.  Thank you.

-Brandon

Computer: Intel Inspiron

OS: Windows 10, 64-bit

S1 Version: 4.14

Interface: Tascam Celesonic 20x20

E-Kit: Alesis Crimson II

2 Answers

+1 vote
answered Feb 5, 2021 by greggifford (160 points)
This is purely a drum mapping issue. I found videos about this on youtube. You can either look through your VST to find a way to re assign the midi note to match your drum brain, or you can re-assign the one in your brain to match the drum mapping of your VST.
0 votes
answered Oct 31, 2023 by joshcurry (250 points)
even the latest Alesis Strike Pro e-drum kit doesn't send different midi notes for the open/closed hi-hats. I think only the high-end Roland kits do that. The DAW or VST plugin is supposed to examine the value of CC#4 to determine if the hi-hat is open/closed when it receives a hi-hat note (bow or edge) and change the midi-note if necessary.
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