Using MIDI In to trigger pad lights?

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The Linnstrument site remarks that "There's little need to connect MIDI IN unless you're using MIDI Sync or want custom MIDI control of the panel lights"

Does this mean it is possible to have the Linnstrument's pads light up (like they do when they are being played) in response to MIDI notes from another source (ie DAW or sequencer)? This would be immensely helpful, especially as a way to visualize how MIDI instrumentation I've written on keyboard corresponds to the less familiar layout of the Linnstrument.

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I found the following in the manual.

Note that you can set any note pad's light to any color by sending LinnStrument a series of three MIDI Control Change messages:

1) CC20: Column number of note pad to change (control key column is 0, left play column is 1, right play column is 25)
2) CC21: Row number of note pad to change (bottom row is 0, top is 7)
3) CC22: Color to change it to (0=as set in Note Lights settings, 1=red, 2=yellow, 3=green, 4=cyan, 5=blue, 6=magenta, 7=off).

First send CC20 and CC21 to select the column and row to be lit, then send CC22 to light it.


Anyone interested in starting a WebMIDI project to create an open source Linnstrument LED control app that runs in a browser?

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Hi greatdismal,
Yes, simply send MIDI Note On and Note Off messages to LinnStrument, and all note pads with the same note number will light for the duration of the note. They will be lit in red, or whatever color you select in 'Per-Split Settings > Color column > Played'.
Also, the MIDI input receives sync for the Arpeggiator, and as Michael pointed out, you can send CCs to light the note pad lights however you wish. (If so, please turn off all note lights in Global Settings first.)

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Hi there.

Just seen this post, it would be useful to have this feature but mine doesn't seem to do it, I've sent note on to both the midi jack and USB and tried all channels on the latter but there is nothing. The Linnstrument sends midi perfectly. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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Either USB or the MIDI jacks can be active but not both at the same time. So if sending MIDI works on USB, the receiving work on USB also.

You might have set a setting wrong, so you could do a full reset in Global Settings > Actions column. If it still doesn’t work, then you must not be sending MIDI to it.

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...yes it works, i use it every day.

there's one caveat though, if you want to update *all* pads in one single swing that's a whole lot of MIDI-messages.
you have to insert a delay (some ms is enough) somewhere or it won't work.

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Thanks Roger, the global reset did the job, this is such a useful feature.

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You’re very welcome, strat. Apparently some setting was wrong.

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EDIT: ***SOLVED***
Had the same issue on my LinnStrument but we're all good now. :)

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I have to revive this thread, as I don't manage to light the played notes from the DAW (Reaper).
Is there a straightforward way to do this with Reaper, because I don't know how.
Thanks

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For Reaper, click the I/O button on the track you want to send MIDI from and select Linnstrument from the MIDI Hardware Output dropdown.

If you don't see Linnstrument among the dropdown options, make sure it's enabled among the output devices in Preferences > Audio > MIDI Devices.

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Thanks for this preferred.nomenclature, I forgot about assigning to hardware. Also had to find the correct channel. Works now!

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I had trouble at first with setting the pad lights via MIDI (over either DIN or USB, on an LS128), and besides the Factory Reset which was helpful once, one thing that helps regularly when it happens, is to unplug the USB power for 1-2 seconds and then plugging it in again.
I send MIDI from a Reaper script, and I have no issues at all with the speed or timing of the messages (did not have to add any delay, or send the messages synchronously, or do any other tricks). I use reaper.StuffMIDIMessage(midi_device_nr+16,...) from the Reaper API, if anyone is interested.

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This sounds very useful, but I can't seem to figure out how to do this in Bitwig 3. To be clear, should notes be lighting up on the Linnstrument when a recorded midi sequence is played?

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Facesauce wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:04 am This sounds very useful, but I can't seem to figure out how to do this in Bitwig 3. To be clear, should notes be lighting up on the Linnstrument when a recorded midi sequence is played?
Yes, sending MIDI Note On messages to LinnStrument on the Main channel will light all note pads that are assigned to the same pitch as the received Note messages. But this forum thread was discussing something different: sending MIDI CC messages to LinnStrument in order to set all note lights to a specific light/color pattern that the Note Lights On/Off function doesn't permit, for example guitar neck dots or patterns using more than 2 colors. This is described in the Panel Settings page, Global Settings tab, under the heading "Setting the note lights remotely via MIDI messages".

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