6. Linking Parameters and Options

There are 3 methods to link parameters. See video

Mapping/Linking one software encoders to host plugin parameters

Click or touch on the “LINK AN ENCODER” button to activate the Linking Mode, then click on the hosted plugin’s parameter you want to control,  then click on the MPH encoder you want to link or move the encoder you want to link. 

The “Link to Encoder” button becomes not highlighted and now all three, the plugin’s parameter, MPH software encoders and the controller’s hardware encoders are linked. Moving either, will move the other two. 

You will notice that the linked parameter’s name is now set to the encoder linked. You can double click and edit that name. The MPH links parameters that are set to be automatable in the hosted plugin and retrieves the names of these parameters.

You cannot map the same hosted plugin’s parameter to more than one MPH encoder on the same page, however you can remap a hosted plugin’s parameter again on another page. This is handy when you want to control some parameters in every page. For example, you may want to control the filter section of a virtual synth on every page.

When linked, an encoder gets the value of the hosted plugin’s linked parameter.

When you link the same parameter in multiple pages, both on the single and multi hosts, the encoders linked in other pages will be connected to the first encoder linked. 
For example, if you link the Cutoff parameter to encoder 1 in page 1, then link the Cutoff again in page 2, page 3 and so on, all links will be connected to encoder 1 in page 1. 
This is done so that we don't report to the DAW the same parameter multiple times. 
Only the firstly linked parameter will be reported to the DAW as an automatable parameter. 
You can use the encoders in other pages to control the Cutoff and if you record automation it will be recorded regardless of which page you are.

If you unlink encoder 1 in page 1 (the firstly linked encoder), it will automatically unlink all encoders linked with the same parameter in other pages.

In the case of the Multihost, you will notice that you cannot assign an automation ID (it is greyed out) on encoders that have been linked with the same parameter in other pages. This is done to prevent reporting the same parameter to the DAW as an automatable parameter.

How to troubleshoot issues when linking parameters

Some plugins (Waves, Plugin Alliance, Kush and others) may be reporting multiple parameters at once and this will result in the linked parameter to not work when moving the encoders of the controller.

Use the LINK MULTIPLE button to link these plugins and you will see the multiple parameters being linked on different encoders. 

You may also try other formats of the plugin, VST2, VST3 or AU on the Mac.

Additionally, you can enable ABS (absolute mode) on the encoder you are linking and try it with this mode enabled.

Ensure that you have the latest version of the plugin you are using, there have been reports on some older versions of plugins (like PA plugins) that were not reporting their parameters correctly.

UI rendering Issue on Windows with specific VST3 plugins on some DAWs
If you encounter an issue with VST3 plugins (like Plugin Alliance) not updating the UI when moving the hardware encoders, use VST2 plugins instead.
We were able to confirm the issue in Ableton Live 12 with VST3 P.A. plugins, however in other DAWs like Reaper this issue does not occur.

LINK MULTIPLE - Mapping/Linking many parameters at once

Click or touch on the “LINK MULTIPLE” button and it will show a list on the left of the MPH big window. Begin clicking on parameters on the hosted plugin. The parameter names are added to the list. To remove a parameter, double click on a parameter name on the list.

It is possible to assign colors to each parameter to be linked by clicking on the color cell in the parameter row. The selected color will be automatically assigned to all previous rows until a row with color assignment is found. This makes it possible to assign colors to groups of parameters (ie ADSR). To change a color just click on the cell and the color palette will appear.

It is not possible to reorder the parameter in the list. Once you are finished with the parameters you wish to link click on the “LINK MULTIPLE” button again and it will ask to enter the encoder number (0 to 127) to begin linking the parameters.

If you want to link parameters which are already linked again in another page, then you need to be in that page when you initiate the link multiple procedure and enter the encoder number that corresponds in the page. 

How to unlink a parameter

Click on the Unlink button and then click on the encoder to unlink it. See video

16 Pages of available encoders to be linked to parameters

With the April 2024 update, the MP Host has increased the number of parameters that can be controlled, from 128 to 512 parameters, allocated to 16 pages. Each page can carry a title which can be set by "double right clicking" on the lower area of the button, for the text editor to appear.

The Pages are divided into groups of 4 pages per group, a total of 4 groups.

Group 1: Pages 1 -4, Group 2: Pages 5 - 8, Group 3: Pages 9 - 12, Group 4: Pages 13- 16

Each Group carries the following encoder IDs:

Page 1: 0 -31, Page 2: 32 - 63, Page 3: 64 - 95, Page 4: 96 - 127 

Each page can carry its own background image.

Here are video 1  and video 2 on how to link parameters of plugins

Link Multiple parameters via Link Groups

See here for the Link Groups method for linking parameters.

Learn from Encoder

When you open MPH, the default preset has already mapped the controller’s encoders to the MPH encoders, from CC 0-31 in page 1, CC 32-63 in page 2, CC 64-95 in page 3, CC 96-127 in page 4, and this repeats for the next groups of pages (ie page 5 has encoders with CC 0-31 and so on). 

To see the CC numbers right click on the controller window and choose the ENCODER OPTIONS from the right click menu. 

The CCs are editable and you can change the numbers as you like. You can have the same CC on more than one encoder. This allows you to create macros and control more than one parameter per encoder.

See video on controlling multiple parameters using one encoder.

The Learn From Encoder button allows you to control a parameter that has been linked to another encoder. 

Let's say you have linked 3 parameters on 3 encoders and then you want to control all 3 parameters using one encoder.

One way of doing it is by manually going and changing the encoder CC IDs

If you set on all 3 the CC to 0, then the first encoder (encoder 0) will be controlling all 3 parameters.

The other way of doing this is by pressing the button Learn From Encoder, click/touch on the parameter's virtual encoder on the screen and then turn the encoder you want to use.

The linked parameter learns and has now assigned the CC from the encoder you have turned.

When you do this on multiple parameters you control multiple parameters with that one encoder.

Furthermore, you can adjust the Range, Polarity and Resolution on each linked parameter so that they behave differently when you turn an encoder. 

An example would be to control the Resonance and Cutoff parameter with one encoder. However, you want the resonance to perform a less change in value than the Cutoff. In this case, you increate the Res (resolution) on the Resonance and it will change in value less in comparison to the Cutoff when you turn the encoder. 

Single MPH Control and Display (the Controller icon on the small window) 

With MPH, you can control what you see on the controller’s screen. When you press the Control and Display button of an MPH (the Controller icon), the control is transferred to that selected MPH instance. The controller icon gets a yellow highlight and it means this is an MPH instance that interacts with the controller. When you click on another MPH instance, the button gets a yellow highlight  and the controller is now interacting with that selected MPH instance. 

When you close the MPH plugin small window, the MPH stops receiving any communication with the controller.

When you have multiple MPH instances open in the same DAW project and you click on the Control and Display one MPH instance, it will sync the controller by sending to it all the parameter values and page number of the MPH Instance.

When the small MPH plugin window in the DAW is closed and you open it, it will automatically open the plugin in the controller’s screen. This means you don't need to click Control and Display to open it in the controller.

Sending CC messages to hosted plugins

The MP Host plugin can now send CC messages to hosted plugins. This is useful as some plugins make certain parameters to work only with CC messages, for example changing the presets. CC messages unlike automatable parameters are not bidirectional (from/to the plugin). A plugin can only accept CC messages, therefore when moving a parameter with the mouse or when changing presets on the hosted plugin will not update the MP Host and the controller. This is because plugins don’t have MIDI interfaces to transmit CC messages. 

To activate sending CC messages per encoder select ENCODER OPTIONS from the right click menu and check the yellow box.

If the hosted plugin can accept CC messages and has MIDI Learn functionality you can send CC messages from the MP Controller. The CC message ID sent to the hosted plugin, is the same as the CC ID in the ENCODER OPTIONS per encoder. Note that CC ID 0 may not be received by certain plugins.

When CC sending is active, the M-P-R and Resolution options do not apply to the encoders.