I’ve created “Chonky” - yet one more option for you to help manage your Matriarch / Grandmother Global parameters. I built it off the chassis of another program that I’ve developed previously. It’s currently Windows only. I’ve fully tested on my Matriarch and would like someone to confirm functionality on the Grandmother (I didn’t have one handy!).
I plan to add other synths to the list of supported options in the future (starting with my Model D!).
Parameter Editor / View – edit your synth parameters showing current / default values and parameter descriptions.
Category and Name filtering – easily find any parameter by selecting a category or entering a portion of the parameter name.
Midi Monitor – view the Midi data transmitted to and from your synth.
Virtual Keyboard – use your QWERTY keyboard to remotely play your synthesizer.
Save To File – save your synthesizer’s parameter settings to a standard Sysex file. This file is in a format that can be sent to your synthesizer via other Sysex software programs.
Load From File – load your parameters from standard Sysex data files.
Load From Synth – load the current synthesizer parameters to the Workspace.
Send to Synth – send the current Workspace parameter values to your synthesizer.
Set to Default – sets the Workspace to your synthesizer default values.
Support for Multiple Synthesizers – Chonky currently supports multiple synthesizers with more coming!
User Manual – access Chonky’s user manual available under the Help menu.
This is great, it’s nice to edit them all at once and have a visual representation of all the settings. I definitely appreciate the extra details you added as well, very helpful
Everything seems to be working fine with my Moog Grandmother as far as I can tell
Thanks for the feedback - glad that you are enjoying it!
If you could do me a favor - I would appreciate it. I want to confirm the Grandmother actual default settings are the same as are listed in the manual. For the Matriarch I had to tweak the default settings in Chonky to match what was coming back from the Matriarch vs. what was listed in the manual.
Could you - 1) save your current settings to a file, 2) use the key commands to set your Grandmother to defaults, 3) Load the settings to Chonky and save and send me that file? After that you can reload your current settings.
Hello John,
I realize that I have not yet thanked you for your software sharing… I have tested it and it works very well with my Matriach, I just need not use my DAW at the same time.
Thank’s a million to you for it,
Nicolas
ps: maybe you could add the group number for each parameter
ps2: Today Chonky works with open DAW… well
I’m not sure if this is true for other DAWs but I found that just disabling the Matriarch track in Reaper (I.e. unselecting the track record button) makes the usb/midi port available for other programs.
Does Chonky have midi thru functionality? I see note activity on the midi input monitor but nothing on the midi output monitor when I play the keys. Also if Chonky is open first and controlling the midi port Reaper does not recognize the Matriarch usb port (as expected). If Reaper is open first and controlling the midi port opening Chonky gives a nasty Microsoft .NET Framework error message .
It doesn’t currently. I really just created a simple Midi monitor so the user could see what is going back and forth to confirm things are communicating correctly. Chonky is designed to be in a loop with the synth - so it can send a request and receive the requested data back. Echoing the data would make a midi loop issue.
What are you trying to achieve? Maybe I could add an additional “Midi Through” port with an option to turn it On/Off and echo the incoming data to that port.
Bug confirmed. I will add some additional error logic and ability to automatically set the saved midi port back to “None” so it will be able to work correctly.
I almost always operate with local keys off. If I want to confirm the parameter change is doing what I want (not just configuring correctly) it helps to be able to play the Matriarch keys without having to switch local on. The thru function should only be for channel data, not sys ex. This should Help avoid any midi loops.
Thanks for the bug fix and for creating this very convenient editor/monitor.
Maybe! I’ve been getting downloads from all over the world. Everything is configuration file driven so it is possible to have multiple languages. If the number of downloads keeps growing, it may make sense. I’ll let you know…
I’ve taken input from several users and incorporated these changes into Ver 1.4:
Auto Load - automatically sync your data from your synth to Chonky on startup.
Data Sync Status - Red / Green indicator showing if the data displayed in Chonky matches your synth.
Quick Port Release - close and open all Midi ports with one button. Use this when running Chonky alongside other Midi programs.
Midi Thru - loops your Midi-Out data back to your synth. Select this when using your synth in Local Off Mode.
Midi Port Open Delay - configurable Midi Port Open Delay / Retry setting. This is helpful when using Chonky alongside other Midi programs that release their Midi Ports when switching applications (i.e. Reaper).
Improved Midi Port Management - intelligent error management of Midi Ports. Useful when running Chonky alongside other Midi programs.
Other cosmetic changes, stability improvements, and tweaks…
Thank you for all of your feedback and support.
A special thanks to Markyboard (Mark) for his input on functionality improvements and for helping me test!
• Matriarch firmware 1.2.3 - new Sysex parameter #74 support
• Bug fix - if you turned off or disconnected the Matriarch / GM prior to shutting down Chonky – Chonky gave you an error on exit.
• Improved timing - in sending data to the Matriarch / GM. Some systems were sending to the synth faster than it could handle.
• Other cosmetic changes, stability improvements, and tweaks…
Big thanks to Markyboard (Mark) on the Moog Forum and David Marks on the Matriarch Facebook Group for helping me test!
• Feature - added Grandmother firmware version 1.1.3 new parameter #47 “Mult Trig Release Speed” support
• Feature - Chonky Auto-Restarts if there is a Midi error due to USB being unplugged or GM/Matriarch being power-cycled
• Bug fix - file save naming error when saving Grandmother sysex files
• Other cosmetic changes, stability improvements, and tweaks…
Big thanks to Pahlin (Pehr) and Markyboard (Mark) on the Moog Forum for helping me test!
