Hi, I’m using Cantabile Performer and trying to work out a way to control different plugins using a single MIDI controller (Akai MPK Mini) I use up to 8 plugin loopers and soft synths. Currently I have the bindings set up so that the MPK pads bypass individual plugins and the knobs control the volume levels, turning the MPK into a rudimentary mixer. The problem I have is trying to control individual parameters for specific plugins. If I assign a MIDI controller knob to say a soft synth parameter it’s already being used to control volume. Just cant figure out how to have bindings for individual plugins that are separate from others. I think assigning the plugins to different MIDI channels would work but you cant change MIDI channels on the fly with the MPK
Hi @auphil, welcome to the forum.
Maybe the information given here:
could be of help (see the complete thread for other suggestions).
You can use filters to change a midi message from volume (CC7) to some other type (e.g. CC4, foot controller). You can also block a midi message at the binding level.
Gabriel
OK.thanks not sure if this will help me but I will look at the documentation, The MIDI filtering makes no sense whatsoever.
Hi, and welcome to the forum.
I am not sure I fully understand what you try to achieve. Do you want to use the same knob for both volume AND a specific parameter in one plugin AND another specific parameter in another plugin? If so, then, your question is if it is possible to somehow see if you can change ‘state’ easily to distinguish what you want to use the knob for, I assume. Is this correct?
Yeah that is exactly what I am trying to achieve. Would be fantastic if I could do this easily and quickly on the fly. So for example, I’m performing soundscapes and have a number of plugins which I control their volume levels continuously using MIDI controller knobs then I switch to a specific soft synth and control a parameter eg a filter cutoff using the same knob but without adjusting the gain. I dont really want a whole heap of MID controller keyboards and there aint enough knobs!
Then it makes sense. I think the first thing is to find out how many different layouts you need, and how you want to switch between them. And probably also have some kind of visual indication of what layout you are using (by ‘layout’ I mean what they knobs are doing, one layout is volume, the next may be synth 1, then synth 2, etc ).
I probably misunderstood this point:
I thought your need was to control some other parameter on a specific plugin (not volume) using a knob which is sending volume messages and without affecting the volume. So my suggestion was changing type of MIDI message from volume to another message (e.g. foot or breath controller) at the routing level using a MIDI filter. In that way you could assign the foot controller to the plugin parameter you wish to control. In the binding page, you could assign the foot controller (or whatever) to control a parameter of a specific plugin. I do this by putting the plugin in a rack and creating a binding within the rack, selecting the plugin as a target and assigning the controller to the plugin parameter I want to control.
However, in this case, the knob would not be available to control volume anymore, at least in that particular state of the rack, unless you want to change the volume and the plugin parameter at the same time. 
Edit: I admit you don’t even need to use a filter to change the MIDI message type. Using a binding you could assign the volume message to change any plugin parameter you want. Sometimes you want to change the MIDI message to match the pre-assigned associations of a specific plugin, but this is not your case.
Gabriel
Edit: using states you can control which bindings are active for each rack state. You could have a state in which your knob is controlling, say, the filter cutoff on a soft synth, and another in which it controls the volume.
I think I have sorted it out. I installed the MPK editor software and realised each pad can be assigned a different program including amongst other things a MIDI channel. So to use the one keyboard to control various plugins and also as a volume control for all the plugins means assigning a particular MIDI channel to a program, filtering out all the other MIDI channels for the chosen plugin, and then assigning the bindings. Repeat for all plugins but use different MIDI channels. In use, to play one synth, select the appropriate prog from the MPK and then only that synth will be affected.
Thanks for the help