Help: Can't Map Pitch Wheel to CC11 Expression in FL Studio + EastWest

Lab KeyLab Essential
#1

I’m composing an orchestral piece with strings in FL Studio using EastWest OPUS Hollywood Strings. I’m able to use the modulation wheel to change dynamics but the pitch wheel doesn’t change expression.

I’ve mapped both wheels to FL Studio as it does detect when I move the pitch and modulation wheels. However, if I go into my EastWest OPUS VST, only the modulation wheel seems to map to CC1 while the pitch wheel doesn’t change CC11 Expression.

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I went to the Arturia MIDI Control Center and see that although I can change the modulation wheel to CC anything, the pitch wheel only allows me to select keyboard or a MIDI channel.

How can I get my pitch wheel to correctly affect the expression controls in FL Studio? I’ve tried reading the MIDI Control Center and Arturia Keylab Essential manuals and couldn’t find a solution.

Most YouTube videos only discuss how to get FL Studio to detect that I’m moving the pitch and modulation wheels. The official Arturia Keylab Essential FL Studio tutorial doesn’t mention the wheels at all.

Here are some of the YouTube videos I already watched and didn’t seem to solve the issue:

  • Al Be: How to Map Mod Wheel FL Studio 20

  • itsGratuiTous: Fix Pitch Wheel and Mod Wheel in FL Studio

  • warbeats: How to fix (and use!) the pitch wheel in FL Studio

According to ChatGPT, there’s some way to add a MIDI Out channel and route pitch bend to CC11 with another plugin, but I haven’t tried this yet.

Thanks for your help!

#2

Hi @ElizaZhang. Welcome to the community.

Pitch bend is not Expression.
Pitch bend is not a Control Change - midi CC control. This is why you can’t set a control change for Pitch bend in your Midi Control Center.
Pitch bend is a “speciel” midi control sending out high resolution values. Normally a Pitch bend control can’t be assigned to anything else than for Pitch. But It can happen. This is what’s normal. If you need Pitch bend to do something else, then it’s possible you can find a way.

By normal standard and what most applications are set up to use, then Pitch bend is set for pitch bend.
Midi CC#01 is used by the mod wheel, and it can modulate everything the applications it affect allow the mod wheel to control. Very o
Midi CC#11 is used for Expression that’s normally a pedal, and it does like the mod wheel does.
Very often controls like mod wheel and expression is used in applications modulation matrixes and such using those midi CC’s.

Here is a link to a midi CC chart with normal standard assignments:
Midi CC chart
Many applications use this standard midi CC setup by default.

Perhaps you can have an interest in reading things like this:

This is about various forms of midi messages - including Pitch bend.

#3

Thanks for the response LBH! For now, I’ve mapped Modulation and Expression both to the CC#01 mod wheel on my Arturia keyboard as a temporary workaround. I do have a sustain pedal that I could use.

I have seen others such as this EastWest Academy video where you can adjust CC#01 and CC#11 separately using what looks like the pitch and modulation wheels on the Nektar Impact LX88+. The instructor gives a walkthrough from 11:06 to 23:47 on how he does it.

Because of that, I’m wondering if this is a limitation of the Arturia keyboard or if there’s another solution that I’m just not aware of yet. Thanks!

#4

What limitation?

You can set your Keylab Essential to any midi CC you wan’t - including midi CC#11.

Keylab Essential do not have a Expression pedal input. But any controls that can be set to midi CC’s can be set to any midi CC.

What those midi CC’s control is about the instrument you use.

EDIT: You can say it’s a limitation the pitch wheel can’t be set to control midi CC’s compared to controllers that perhaps can have this option. if that’s what you mean. EDIT END

EDIT 2: The Pedal input for Keylab Essental MK3 can actually also be used as Expression pedal input. EDIT 2 END