New Tool (3.4.3) MIDI Universal Controller (+ Wave Builder) v3.2 build 374 (January 2023)

I understand, in fact MUC is programmed for this, precisely: it controls a lot of parameters with very few physical knobs.

I will try to briefly explain the MUC control to understand the concept, clarifying several points:

  1. Range of values of a parameter. Each parameter has a specific range of values. This range can be small, or very high. This directly influences the control of each parameter. A slider or a limited turning wheel (travel limited from 0 to 127 values) is not the same as an infinite turning wheel (no travel limit). The best physical control is always the unlimited spinning knob!

  2. Ordered distribution of parameters. Each Renoise device, be it an effect chain or modulation device, or a VSTi plug-in, has a certain number of parameters, which will always have the same order, always starting with the index “1”.

  3. MIDI mapping. Look at your MIDI controller, having 8 physical controls, for example. Mentally, you number your sliders (or wheels), starting with 1: 1,2,3 … 8. Map each of these controls to the first 8 parameters respecting the order.

  4. Navigation. With the drop-down lists on the top bar of the MUC, you can previously select which device you want to control. All MUC controls are MIDI mappable. Select the desired device first. Then you control the parameter with the sliders or knobs.

  5. Direct control with Sliders 1,2,3…8…. Slider 1 will always control the first parameter of the selected device (of any device). Slider 2 will always control the second parameter of any device … Slider 8 will always control the eighth parameter of any device. This way of controlling is especially useful for a MIDI Controller with multiple physical knobs or for several MIDI controllers, strategically routed.

  6. Indirect control with “Slider Master” + two buttons. Now, MUC also has the Slider Master (top right), which is a great control. This slider has two buttons to its right to change the parameter index (and other negative value indexes, for navigation for example). By mapping this slider and its two buttons, you can control all the parameters you want. With these buttons you will only have to change the index of the parameter previously. That is, with only 3 MIDI mappings, (1 slider + 2 buttons) you can control any parameter! This is especially useful for USB MIDI controllers with few physical controls. Also suitable for reaching very high index parameters, for example.

For more information, MUC has a basic guide in the options panel (upper right button). Then go to the last tab on the right, in About MUC and Guide. Here you can complete the information.

MUC is probably the best MIDI routing tool available for Renoise, intended for any MIDI controllers, especially effective for MIDI controllers with infinite spin wheels (by turning the wheel continuously, it is possible to control a very high range of values.). If you understand how to navigate from the tool first (change area, change device … etc.), You will quickly understand the routing of the parameters and all the control.

Basically the top part of the tool is for navigation. Move there! The main drop-down list is the first (top left), Area Chooser (then change the rest of the drop-down lists). Depending on the work area, you can control one type of device or another. Select “Instr. Plugin” first, and you can control your VSTi Plugin device (all parameters supported).

Most VST / VSTi plug-ins do not allow direct MIDI routing. They are not programmed for it. MUC allows to unify the control of the parameters of all the plugins. Map your MIDI controller once, save the mapping, and control everything the same way, every time, for any session.