Creating Composer Tools Pro Presets

Contents

Composer Tools Pro features a rich set of objects you can use to create MIDI controller presets for your virtual instrument collection. Trigger articulations (a.k.a. keyswitches), ride faders, toggles, and more.

In this article learn:

How to edit a preset’s controls.
The settings available for each control.
How to reset controls to their initial state.

For information about how to recall presets, see: Recalling Composer Tools Pro Presets from your DAW.

Beginning Editing

Load a preset from the directory.
Navigate the main menu to Edit.
Tap the control to be edited.

Preset General Settings

Set the preset’s title, recall address, and preferences.

To edit preset general settings, tap the preset title button in the Home Screen navigation bar. You can also edit preset general settings directly in the Directory.

Title – The preset title.
Recall – The recall address for the preset. Click Auto-Assign to assign the next available recall address.
Developer – Used by the Directory to filter presets by developer. Select ‘Add new’ to add a new developer to the list. Importing banks from other users will automatically teach Composer Tools Pro new developer names.
Instrument – Used by the Directory to filter presets by instrument.
User Space – The User Space tab to load when the preset is loaded. For more information about the User Space, see Customizing Composer Tools Pro.
Auto-Scroll to User Space – Automatically scroll to the User Space when the preset is loaded.

Faders

Use faders to control instrument control change and pitchbend messages.

Disable full-screen in preferences.
Tap the fader title button to output the current value. This avoids forcing you to change the fader’s position to send the current value.

Fader Settings

Name – The fader title.
Output – The controller number. Assigning an industry standard controller number will automatically change the fader’s name, i.e. Expression (CC11).
Scale – Adjust fader response curve.
Grid – Snap fader to discrete grid steps.
RTZ – Resets fader back to default height when released.
Default Height – The reset value for the Send Defaults button.

Switches

Use switches to control the on-off state of instrument controls.

Switch Settings

Top Label – The label for the top button
Bottom Label – The label for the bottom button.
Quick CC Assign – Assigns a controller message to both keys, and sets the top key to max value, 127, and bottom key to min value, 0.
Top Outputs – Assign up to 3 custom MIDI messages to the top button
Bottom Outputs – Assign up to 3 custom MIDI messages to the bottom button.

Multi-Ball

Use the Multi-Ball to send multiple control change messages simultaneously. For example, get added expressiveness by simultaneously controlling vibrato and volume.

Disable full screen in Preferences.

Multi-Ball Setup Settings

# Balls on Load – The number of enabled balls on load.

Ball Settings

To edit a ball, tap the ball.

Label – The ball’s title.
X-Axis CC – The controller number for the x-axis.
Y-Axis CC – The controller number for the y-axis.
Default Position – The reset value for the Send Defaults button.

Showing/Hiding Balls

Hold the Setup button and swipe over to the plus sign.
Select balls from the list. Balls must be enabled sequentially.

Controlling Multi-Ball Physics

To enable physics, tap the atom symbol.
To control ball friction, hold the Setup button and swipe over to the U sign.
To control ball velocity, hold the Setup button and swipe over to the V sign.
To stop all balls already in motion, tap Stop.

XY Pads

Use the XY Pads to send multiple control change messages simultaneously. Compared with the Multi-Ball, the 4 large XY Pads have a different feel when controlling with two hands.

XY Pad Settings

Label – The xy-pad’s title.
X-Axis XX – The controller for the x-axis.
Y-Axis CC – The controller for the y-axis.
Default Position – The reset value for the Send Defaults button.

Keyswitches

Use keyswitches to control instrument articulations in piano or grid view.

Cubase Expression Map Converter for macOS/Windows
Cubase users can use the Expression Map Converter to convert Composer Tools Pro keyswitches in expression maps and vice versa.

Keyboard Layout Settings

To edit keyboard layout settings, tap the piano/pads icon at the top-right of the keyboard view.

Keyswitch Layout – Change the keyboard layout from split piano to grid.
Play Piano Key – Mutes the piano so that only custom outputs will be sent.

Enabled – Unmutes the piano. Useful when keyswitches use simple note messages and there is no need to assign custom outputs.
Disabled – Mutes the piano. Only custom outputs will send.
Exclusive – Overrides custom outputs with the piano. Used by the Cubase Expression Map Converter.

Lower/Upper Octave on Load – Automatically scrolls the split-piano layout.
Page on Load – Automatically scrolls the grid layout.
Default Keyswitch – Set the keyswitch to be played by the Send Defaults button.

Keyswitch Settings

Label – The keyswitch title.
Color – The keyswitch colour.

Note: In newer versions of Composer Tools Pro, the full coloured keyswitches have been replaced with coloured bars. This offers a more consistent user experience.

Play Piano Key – This setting does nothing; it is just a reminder of the Play Piano Key setting in Keyboard Layout Setting.
Outputs – Assign up to 3 custom MIDI messages.

Controlling Keyswitch Velocity

The higher you tap on the key, the higher velocity.
To momentarily override tap velocity, hold the velocity slider while you tap.
To lock all keyswitches to the same velocity, double tap the velocity slider.

Inspecting Keyswitch Outputs

To see keyswitch outputs, hold the keyboard settings button, and swipe over to Info.

Custom outputs appear in parentheses.
A star beside the piano key indicates Piano Key Exclusive mode.

Resetting Controls

The Send Defaults button resets all controllers to default values and sends the MIDI out. The button is located in Composer Tools’ navigation bar. Default values can be defined in the edit menu for each control.

Double-tap the Send Defaults button to reset all controllers.
Optionally, hold the Send Defaults button to open a menu allowing you to exclude controllers.

Suggested uses:

Place reset events at the beginning of each track in your template. This ensures that newly loaded compositions don’t play back with values from the previously loaded composition. This is particularly critical when hosting sample libraries on an external slave.
Place reset events after musical passages with many parameter changes to prepare your instrument for a new section of music.