MIDI
Why Fractal MIDI works differently from everyone else's, and the mapping option that lets a one-message controller drive a scene-based rig.
You choose the CC numbers
There is no reserved list to learn. Every function that can be driven over MIDI gets whatever CC number you give it, in the MIDI/Remote menu under SETUP. The CC number is the address; the CC value is the instruction.
Line 6 do the opposite — a fixed list of reserved CCs you cannot reassign. That is why a controller preset written for a Helix will not work on a Fractal and vice versa. Neither is broken; they are built on opposite assumptions.
Nothing is reserved. Open the MIDI/Remote menu under SETUP and give Scene Select, Channel Select, the tuner and anything else the CC number you want. This is the single biggest difference from every other modeller.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualOnce a CC number is assigned to a function, the value tells that function what to do. The number is the address; the value is the instruction. Confusing the two is the commonest Fractal MIDI mistake.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualOMNI makes the unit respond on any channel, which is the easiest setting for most people and the one to try first when nothing is getting through.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualAutomatically, with no setting to enable. MIDI OUT carries what the unit generates itself.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualFractal devices follow incoming MIDI Beat Clock so delays and modulation lock to a DAW or drum machine. They do not transmit clock, so they cannot be the master. Tempo range is 20–250 BPM.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualTurn on Send MIDI PC and loading a preset fires a Program Change from MIDI OUT. The Scene MIDI block sends messages from within a preset.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualWhat to send once the number is assigned
Value plus one is the scene number. Values wrap, so scene = (value mod 8) + 1.
Assign CC#34 to Scene Select, then send CC#34 with value 2 to load scene 3.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualValue 0 is channel A, 1 is B, 2 is C, 3 is D, and it repeats from there. Each block has its own Channel Select setting.
Assign a CC# to the Drive block's channel select, then send value 1 for channel B.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualAny value triggers a step. Assign each direction its own CC# or switch.
Two switches on a generic controller become scene up and scene down.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualIgnore the 512-row bank table
The manual prints a 512-row table of Bank and Program Change combinations. You do not need it — it is one line of arithmetic. The bank is the preset number divided by 128, and the Program Change is the remainder. Preset 300 is bank 2, PC 44. Program Change alone reaches the first 128 presets, which is why so many rigs never touch bank select at all.
Axe-Fx III Owner's ManualCustom PC Mapping
Most MIDI controllers send a Program Change and nothing else, which selects a preset but leaves you on whichever scene it was saved with. On a rig built around scenes, that is the wrong half of the recall.
Turn on Custom PC Mapping, in the Mapping page of the MIDI/Remote menu. Each incoming Program Change then selects a preset *and* a scene of your choosing, so a plain one-message controller can drive a scene-based rig.
The map holds 128 entries, and while it is enabled Bank Select messages are ignored entirely — so you are trading access to presets above 128 for the scene recall. With mapping off, Program Changes load presets one-for-one and Bank Select works normally again.
Fractal's own MFC-101 transmits CC#11 for expression pedal 1 and CC#16 for pedal 2 by default. Those are useful numbers to know when you are setting up a third-party pedal to behave the same way — and a reminder that even Fractal's defaults are just assignments you can change.
Axe-Fx III Owner's Manual