How’s it ST3 friends, just wanted to add a thread for future “quad cortex (QC)” search results in the forum. Was able to configure the QC via the midi “Assign Actions” menu to control ST3. I use ST3 more like a virtual loop pedal with unlimited loop banks (ie. verse, chorus, bridge) as opposed to a pre-programmed backing track (ie. played start to finish w/ no loops) so constant interaction with ST3 is necessary to continuously move between regions then eventually fade out. Instead of adding another pedal to the rig (eg. morningstar, airturn, etc), QC has the functionality to send midi commands to the iPad via the USB out, so it made sense to integrate it. It wasn’t straightforward as there’s a few changes needed in the settings so for anyone interested, here are the steps:
- Connect QC to iPad via the USB-B port (you may need additional accessories/cable to connect to the iPad lightning or USB-C port)
- You must be in STOMP mode in the QC for this to work
- Go into the preset settings and choose “Preset MIDI Out”
- Select a pedal A-H and enter these values for each stomp:
TYPE=CC
CHANNEL=1
CC#=1 (This value must be unique for each pedal, eg. A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.)
VALUE=127
- Tap the checkmark/done, then tap to save the preset (you must save the preset in order for the midi CC commands to work, I had a few headaches trying to figure out why it wasn’t sending the midi command into ST3, and it was because the preset wasn’t saved yet)
- In ST3 go to the “Assign Actions” menu, tap on a function to start the midi listening, then stomp on a corresponding pedal on the QC…and there you go, now you can control ST3 with the QC.
Some possible issues:
- In the QC global settings under the “MIDI Settings” menu, ensure “MIDI over USB” is set to “On”
- Depending on the iPad USB accessory, sometimes the iPad drops its connection to the QC when disconnecting/reconnecting connectors. I’ve had to disconnect/reconnect, and in some cases hard reboot the iPad to get it re-established. This has never happened during a gig, once the connection is established it’s fairly solid, but I noticed that the order in which the connectors are plugged seems to matter (ie. connect QC first, then accessory, then connect to iPad), but it might just be my USB-C accessory. If you’re having trouble getting the QC connected to ST3, just ensure you see the “Ethernet” menu appear in the iPad settings, this is an indication it’s successfully connected to the QC.
Hope this helps someone in the future, cheers!