User guide

PedalCues turns pedal changes into drag and drop. Each tile in the plugin is a preset, a scene or snapshot, a footswitch or effect, the tuner, a looper action or an expression move on your Quad Cortex, Kemper, Fractal, Line 6, HeadRush, Darkglass or Nano Cortex, a tile you made for any other MIDI device, a Whammy V or Whammy DT mode, a Whammy DT Drop Tune shift, or a Whammy treadle move. Drag a tile onto your DAW timeline and it lands as a named MIDI clip at that bar. Press play, and your rig follows the song.

1. Install

You don't need the source code. Download the latest version from the PedalCues website or the Releases page.

On Windows, double-click PedalCues-Windows-Setup.exe:

1. PedalCues isn't code-signed, so the first time Windows says "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.
2. Quit your DAW first (a DAW that has PedalCues loaded keeps using the old version until it restarts). Click through the installer; Choose lets you leave out the plugin or the app. If PedalCues or your DAW is still open, the installer asks to close it.
3. Done: the VST3 is in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\, the app in Program Files\PedalCues (Start menu: PedalCues). Uninstall it from Settings > Apps like any other program.

To update, run the newer installer: it replaces the old version. Your projects and settings are kept.

Installed from the zip before (v0.8.2 or older)? The installer puts the plugin in the same folder, so it replaces it. If you kept PedalCues.exe somewhere else (Downloads, Desktop), delete that old copy and use the one in the Start menu.

Windows without the installer (zip)

PedalCues-Windows.zip has the same files: copy PedalCues.vst3 to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ and run PedalCues.exe from anywhere. To update, quit your DAW and copy the new files over the old ones.

On macOS, double-click PedalCues-macOS.pkg:

1. PedalCues isn't notarised by Apple, so macOS first says it can't verify the installer. Click Done, open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to the PedalCues message (within a few minutes), then confirm.
2. Quit your DAW first (plugins it has loaded keep running the old version until it restarts). Click Continue and Install, and enter your Mac password when asked (the plugin folders are shared by all users). If the PedalCues app is open, the installer asks you to quit it.
3. Done: PedalCues.app is in Applications, the VST3 in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ and the AU in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/. Customize lets you leave out any of the three.

To update, open the newer installer the same way; it replaces the old version.

Installed from the zip before (v0.4.26 or older)? Delete the old copies in your user folder, so your DAW doesn't list PedalCues twice: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/PedalCues.vst3 and ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/PedalCues.component (in Finder, Cmd+Shift+G opens a path).

If macOS still says "PedalCues is damaged and can't be opened", it isn't damaged; macOS is blocking an app from the internet. Open Terminal and run xattr -cr /Applications/PedalCues.app.

macOS without the installer (zip)

PedalCues-macOS.zip has the same files to copy by hand. Clear the download flag once, right after unzipping, or macOS says the app "is damaged": open Terminal and run

xattr -cr ~/Downloads/PedalCues-macOS

(If you unzipped somewhere else, type xattr -cr and drag the unzipped folder into the Terminal window, then press Return.) Then drag PedalCues.app to Applications, PedalCues.vst3 to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ and PedalCues.component to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/.

On Linux (built for Ubuntu 22.04 and newer, Debian 12, Fedora and similar; not tested on every distro yet):

unzip PedalCues-Linux.zip && cd PedalCues-Linux
./install.sh       # VST3 to ~/.vst3, LV2 to ~/.lv2, the app to ~/.local/bin (and your applications menu)

To update, quit your DAW and run ./install.sh from the newer zip: it replaces the old version and keeps your projects and settings. ./install.sh --uninstall removes PedalCues. Prefer doing it by hand? Copy PedalCues.vst3 to ~/.vst3/ and PedalCues.lv2 to ~/.lv2/, and run ./PedalCues from anywhere.

For Sync from QC over USB, Linux needs a one-time permission rule (MIDI cues work without it):

echo 'KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="152a", TAG+="uaccess"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/70-quad-cortex.rules && sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

Then unplug and replug the QC's USB cable. If you try PedalCues on Linux, please tell us how it went.

Finally, let your DAW find the plugin. In Reaper, go to Options > Preferences > Plug-ins > VST and click Re-scan; other DAWs have a similar re-scan in their plugin settings. PedalCues appears under Instruments.

There's also a Standalone app (PedalCues.exe / PedalCues.app / PedalCues on Linux) for testing tiles against the pedal without a DAW. It only needs a MIDI port: pick it in How to connect (at the top of each page, or Help > How to Connect) or in the app's Options > MIDI Output menu, then press Test at the top of a page (or Test all) to check your devices. No audio device is needed. After that, click any tile's round play button and the pedal changes. For treadle moves, set your song's tempo by clicking the BPM pill ("set tempo"), and play your guitar while you test so you hear the bend.

2. Connect your rig

PedalCues sends MIDI from your DAW's tracks to your devices: one cue track per device, each set to the MIDI output its device is on. Your first device is the one on the first tab (a Quad Cortex, a Kemper or a custom MIDI device); the second, if you have one, is the Whammy in our examples, but it can be any MIDI device. Three setups work. Help > Wiring Guide in the app shows the cables for each, with your unit as the example.

A MIDI Thru only passes on MIDI that arrives at the 5-pin MIDI In. MIDI sent to a device over USB is not forwarded to its Thru, so a second device on that Thru never changes. This is confirmed for the Quad Cortex and the Kemper (Kemper: "USB MIDI has no MIDI Thru") and true for most devices. The Whammy V / DT only has a 5-pin MIDI In, so it always needs a MIDI cable from an interface or another device's Thru. The Kemper Player connects over USB, so give a second device its own output.

QC Mini: pick Quad Cortex Mini in the device list. Its MIDI In and MIDI Out / Thru are small 3.5 mm TRS jacks (Type A): use a TRS MIDI cable, or a 5-pin to TRS adapter. Its manual doesn't say whether USB MIDI reaches its Thru, so for a daisy chain send to its TRS MIDI In. See Quad Cortex Mini.

Device settings

• Quad Cortex: Settings > MIDI Settings. Set a fixed MIDI Channel (default 1, not Omni). For the daisy chain, turn MIDI Thru on.
• QC Mini: Settings > Device > MIDI: the same MIDI Channel and MIDI Thru settings.
• Kemper: in the Kemper's System Settings, set the MIDI channel to a fixed number (it's Omni out of the box). For the daisy chain, use its MIDI Thru (on models where one jack is MIDI Out and Thru, set it to Thru; see the Kemper manual).
• Whammy V or Whammy DT: set its MIDI channel (PedalCues suggests 2) as described in the pedal's manual.
• A custom MIDI device, DL4 MkII, HX One...: set its MIDI channel as its manual describes.
• Give the two devices different channels, and set the same number at the top of each device's page in PedalCues (its MIDI channel box). That way both can share one cable without reacting to each other's cues. Every device keeps its own channel: switching to another device shows that one's.
• Do this before you build songs. Every clip keeps the channel it was dragged with, so changing the channel later doesn't change clips already on the timeline (drag them in again). An amp modeler left on Omni also hears the Whammy's cues: in a daisy chain, a Whammy mode change would load another preset or slot.

Until you confirm the channels, the strip at the top of each page says so in amber, with a Done button. Set the channel, then click Done (it's remembered on this computer).

3. Set up your DAW (once)

The clips PedalCues makes are plain MIDI files, so it works in any DAW that can drag in a MIDI file and send a MIDI track to a hardware MIDI output. The steps below use Reaper (tested); the same idea works elsewhere:

In Reaper:

1. Options > Preferences > Audio > MIDI Devices: enable every MIDI output you use (your interface's MIDI Out, and any device on USB).
2. Create one cue track per device, for example QC Cues (or Kemper Cues, or one named after your custom device) and Whammy Cues, with no plugin on them. With one device, one cue track is enough.
3. On each cue track, click the I/O (routing) button and under MIDI Hardware Output choose its output from the table above. Leave it on Send to original channels: PedalCues already puts each cue on the right pedal's channel.
4. Create one more track, PedalCues, and insert PedalCues on it. In its I/O window, Add new send... to each cue track and set the send's audio to None (MIDI stays on All): the tiles' play buttons and the Song Builder's Play then reach your devices through the cue tracks. Keep its master send on, so you hear the Song Builder's click and backing track.
5. Drag QC (or Kemper) tiles from PedalCues onto the QC track and Whammy tiles onto the Whammy track.
6. Turn snap to grid on so clips land exactly on bars. Optional: save the tracks as a track template so every new song starts with them.

Why not put PedalCues on the cue tracks? The clips on a track pass through its plugins on their way out, and a VST3 plugin can't receive Program Changes (the format has no way to hand one to a plugin), so preset changes would be lost while scenes, which are Control Changes, still work. The AU version (macOS) passes them on, but a plugin-free cue track works in every DAW and format. If your cue tracks already have PedalCues on them, remove it there (or bypass it) and add the PedalCues track.

Check it works: click the round play button on a scene tile, and the QC should switch scene (on the Kemper page, a slot tile). Click one on a Whammy mode, and the Whammy's mode LED should move. Then drag a preset tile onto the QC track and play it: the QC should load that preset.

With the daisy chain, a single cue track would also work, since both pedals share one cable and their channels keep the cues apart. Two tracks keep the arrangement easier to read and let you mute one pedal.

How to connect (at the top of each page, or in the ☰ menu) shows the same steps for your devices:

4. First launch: the quick tour

The first time you open PedalCues, a quick tour walks you through every area. It dims the window, highlights one part at a time, and explains it.

• Move through it with Next / Back or the arrow keys. Esc or Skip tour closes it.
• Open it again any time from the ☰ menu in the top-right corner (the Help menu in the standalone app).

An early step, Choose your device, shows where to pick what you play through (the ▾ on the first tab), and one explains the Load 1A first switch:

5. Quad Cortex

The first tab is named after your amp modeler. Click the ▾ on it (or the tab itself again) to open the device list: Quad Cortex, Quad Cortex Mini, Nano Cortex, Kemper Profiler, Kemper Player, Fractal, Line 6, HeadRush and Darkglass units, templates such as the Boss GT-1000, your own MIDI devices and more. Type to search it. Effect pedals (Whammy, Strymon, Boss, Meris, Chase Bliss and more) are on the Effects & Pedals tab. With a Kemper, the tab turns green and shows the Kemper page instead. Your QC presets stay in the project, so you can switch back any time.

Presets vs scenes: a preset is a whole rig on the QC (often one per song), such as Clean Rig or Drop C Heavy. Scenes are the parts of the song inside that preset, such as Intro, Verse and Chorus. Load the preset once where the song starts, then switch scenes as the song moves on.

Search your presets

With a long list, type in Search presets above it. The search is forgiving: letters in order find a name (drpc finds Drop C Heavy), one typo is fine (hevy), and several words must all match (lead rig). You can also type a location as the QC shows it, like SL2 or 3B. The best matches come first. Return opens the first one, Esc clears the search. The Kemper's performance list and custom MIDI devices have the same search.

Every tile:

• Drag it onto the timeline to create a named MIDI clip, for example QC Scene D - Chorus.
• Click the round play button to send it to the pedal immediately.
• Double-click to rename it. Right-click for colour, reorder, duplicate, delete, or Send to pedal now.

Which preset do scenes and stomps act on?

The Load 1A first switch at the top right of the Scenes header decides this for both scene and stomp tiles (it names the preset you have open). The header hint says which way it's set.

• On (the default). A scene or stomp tile first loads its own preset, then switches the scene or footswitch 1/16 later. It works whatever preset the QC is on. Scene tiles read 1A > Scene B and the Stomps header says after loading 1A.
• Off: the current QC preset. A tile sends only the scene or footswitch change, and the QC applies it to the preset it already has loaded. There's no preset reload, so no audio gap. Use this for scene changes inside a song, after a preset clip. Scene tiles read Scene B - current preset.

The clip names show the difference on the timeline too: QC Clean Rig > B - Verse loads the preset first, while QC Scene B - Verse switches only the scene.

Timing: scenes right after a preset

With Load 1A first, the scene (or footswitch) comes 1/16 after the preset change, so the QC has time to load the preset. It lands a sixteenth after the bar you dropped it on. Two ways to have it exactly on the beat:

• Drop the tile 1/16 early. Set your DAW's grid to 1/16 and drop the tile one step before the beat: the preset goes out just before, and the scene lands on the beat. The QC still gets its loading time, so this is safe even if a different preset is loaded.
• Inside a song, switch Load 1A first off. Once the song's preset is loaded (by a preset clip, or the first Load 1A first scene), scene tiles with Load 1A first off send only the scene change, exactly on the beat, with no reload.

The same 1/16 applies to Expression clips with Load 1A first.

Projects saved with PedalCues 0.4.2 or older keep their old choice. If Load 1A first is off in yours and you want the new behaviour, switch it on once.

Sync your presets from the Quad Cortex (USB)

Instead of typing every preset, let PedalCues read them from the pedal:

1. Connect the QC's USB port to the computer and switch the QC on. Name sync only works over USB, but your cues can still go over any cable (5-pin MIDI, the daisy chain, or USB).
2. Quit Cortex Control: it keeps the USB connection to itself.
3. Click Sync from QC (USB) under the preset list.
4. PedalCues lists your setlists with their preset counts. Tick the ones to import and check each one's setlist number: the QC doesn't report its setlist numbers over USB, so PedalCues guesses new ones (My Presets first, then A-Z). Set each to the number it has on your QC; the Factory Presets are 0 and your own setlists start at 1. PedalCues remembers the numbers you set, so the next sync gets them right. The Factory Library is unticked by default.
5. Leave Send the setlist with every preset change on (it's on by default here; it's the same switch as Switch to the preset's setlist under the preset list). It sends the setlist number (CC#32) before each preset, so the QC switches to the right setlist even when it's on another one. Preset clips you dragged into your DAW before turning it on don't have it: drag them in again.
6. Optional: tick Also read scenes, colours and stomps for every ticked preset (see below).
7. Click Import. New presets are added at their bank and slot; presets you already have at the same setlist, bank and slot are renamed. Tick Replace my current preset list to start fresh instead.

What it reads:

• Always: setlist names, every preset's name, bank and slot, and the scene names, scene colours and stomp (footswitch) names of the preset that's loaded on the QC. This only reads: nothing on the QC changes.
• With "every ticked preset" on: the scene names, colours and stomp names of every preset you import. To read a preset the QC has to load it, so PedalCues loads each one in turn (the audio cuts each time, a few seconds per preset), then goes back to the preset and scene you were on. Do this at home, not on stage. It won't start if the loaded preset has unsaved changes (loading another preset would throw them away), and the QC's Recents list may change. It never saves, creates, deletes or edits anything.

Scenes the QC leaves unlabelled keep the name they had in PedalCues. Scene colours come straight from the QC, so the tiles match the pedal.

This uses the QC's private USB connection (the one Cortex Control uses), which Neural DSP doesn't document. It follows the community's reverse-engineering in pyquadcortex. Tested on a Quad Cortex; a CorOS update could break syncing until PedalCues is updated, but your MIDI cues keep working regardless. On the QC Mini it should work but isn't tested yet.

Looper X

Click Looper under the screen for the Quad Cortex's Looper X (from the Quad Cortex and QC Mini manuals, CorOS 4.1.1). It only works when the loaded preset has a Looper X block on the grid.

• Looper X: Record / Overdub (CC#53), Play / Stop (CC#54), Undo / Redo (CC#56), One Shot (CC#50), Reverse (CC#55), Half Speed (CC#51), Duplicate (CC#49) and Punch In / Out (CC#52). Each clip works like pressing the button: drop Record / Overdub where recording starts and again where it should overdub, Play / Stop where it plays or stops.
• Looper X settings: open or close the Looper X screen (CC#48), Quantize off / 4 / 8 / 16 beats (CC#58), Duplicate Free or Sync (CC#57), MIDI Clock Start Free or Sync (CC#59), and the Perform or Parameters view (CC#60).
• The Utilities (tuner, tap, Gig View, footswitch mode) stay below, as on the other views.

The Looper view works on the QC Mini too. Not tested on a Quad Cortex yet: if a tile doesn't do what it says, please tell us.

Expression: swells, fades and wah

Click Expression under the preset screen. Its tiles move whatever you assign to an expression pedal on the Quad Cortex: a volume block for swells, a wah, a delay or reverb mix, drive, a filter. PedalCues sends CC#1 (Expression 1) or CC#2 (Expression 2), which is what the QC listens to for its expression pedals, so you don't need a physical pedal plugged in.

On the Quad Cortex (once per preset): assign the parameter you want to move to Expression 1 (or 2), the same way you would for a real expression pedal, and set its range: heel is the lowest setting, toe the highest. Save the preset; the assignment is stored in it.

In PedalCues:

• Exp 1 / Exp 2 (header) picks which expression pedal the tiles move.
• Set to tiles put it at a fixed spot: Heel, 25%, Half, 75% or Toe. Drop one at the start of a song or right after a preset loads, so you always start from a known position.
• Moves, with a Length (1/16 to 8 bars) and a Curve, written in beats so they follow the project tempo:

• Draw sketches your own move, the same way as the Whammy's drawn moves, and you can save it in My drawings, shared with the Whammy.
• Back to heel after move (off by default) puts the pedal back to heel when the move ends. Leave it off for a swell that should stay up.

Which preset do they act on? By default, the one the QC has loaded at that moment, like the Utilities: expression clips don't load a preset, and what a move does depends on that preset's own assignment (the same Swell In can swell the volume in one preset and open a wah in another). So place expression clips after the preset clip they belong to.

Switch on Load 1A first (right of the Set to tiles; it names the preset you have open, like the one in the Scenes header) to make every expression clip load that preset first and start its move 1/16 later, like scene tiles do. The clips are then named like QC Clean Rig > Exp 1 Swell In 1 bar. It's off by default because the QC may cut the sound for a moment when it reloads a preset.

If a preset might get changed by accident on stage (a stray foot on the QC): keep scenes and stomps on Load 1A first (the default), so the next scene cue puts the right preset back. For an important expression move, either switch on Load 1A first in Expression, or drop a scene clip just before the move and a Set to tile (for example Heel) right after it. Listen for a short gap when the preset is re-sent; if your QC has a MIDI setting to ignore a repeated Program Change, turning it on avoids reloading a preset that's already loaded.

Expression clips go on the QC Cues track, like your other QC cues, and are named like QC Exp 1 Swell In 1 bar.

Example: volume swells. In a preset, add a Volume block after your drives (before delay and reverb, so the tails ring on) and assign its level to Expression 1 with the range from silent to full. In PedalCues, set Length to 2 beats and drop Heel at the start of the passage, Swell In where you strike each chord, and Heel again just before the next chord. Play each chord while the volume is still at heel, and it fades in in time with the song.

Don't let two expression clips on the same pedal overlap: both would send values and the setting would jump between them. If you also have a real expression pedal plugged in, the last value wins, so leave it alone while the clips play.

Adding a preset by hand

1. Click + Preset.
2. Type its name, setlist number, bank (1-32) and slot (A-H), exactly as the QC shows them. For example, Setlist 1, bank 3, slot B is shown as SL1 | 3B. A factory preset is setlist 0 (shown as Factory | 3B).
3. Click the preset in the list, then double-click each scene to give it the same name as on your QC.
4. Right-click a scene to give it the same colour you use on the pedal.

Quad Cortex Mini

The QC Mini has four footswitches, A-D, on two footswitch pages. Each preset still has 8 scenes and 8 stomp assignments: Page II holds what the Quad Cortex has on E-H, so presets and MIDI are the same on both. Pick Quad Cortex Mini in the device list and the page shows them by page:

Everything else (presets, setlists, Load 1A first, Looper, Expression, tuner, tap, Gig View, footswitch mode, Sync from QC) works as on the Quad Cortex. The Mini has one EXP jack; Expression 2 works over MIDI only. The numbers come from Neural DSP's QC Mini manual, which lists the same MIDI as the Quad Cortex's.

Nano Cortex

Built from the Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0 (Incoming MIDI CC List). Pick Nano Cortex under Neural DSP in the device list.

• Presets: the 64 slots under ALL PRESETS are Program Change 0-63 (the app's PC/CC button shows the numbers). No banks, setlists or scenes over MIDI.
• Slots: Input Gate, Capture, Cab/IR and FX 1-5 on or off (CC#34-41).
• Utilities: tuner on / off (CC#43) and tap (CC#42). Expression: CC#1, with the shapes, Set to tiles, Draw and Wave. There's no looper over MIDI.
• Connection: USB-C MIDI, or TRS MIDI Type A into the EXP/MIDI jack: set EXP/MIDI INPUT MODE to MIDI in the Cortex Cloud app (then the jack can't take a real pedal, which is where the Expression view helps). Set MIDI CHANNEL there to the channel at the top of its page.
• The Nano has no MIDI Out, so it can't pass MIDI on to a second pedal: give a Whammy or other pedal its own MIDI output (the wiring guide shows Separate outputs).

6. Kemper

Pick Kemper Profiler (Head, Rack, Stage, Player... every Profiler model, in Performance mode) or Kemper Player with the ▾ on the first tab. The page works like the Quad Cortex page: a list on the left, a screen for the one you opened, and tiles below.

Performances and slots: a performance on the Kemper holds up to five slots (rigs), often one performance per song with a slot for each part, such as Intro, Verse, Chorus. On the Kemper Player the list is called Banks (10 banks of 5 slots, its 50 slots).

Clips are named like Kemper Opener > 2 - Verse (performance and slot) or Kemper Slot 2 - Verse (slot of the current performance).

Program numbers: in Performance mode, the Kemper counts its slots from Performance 1 Slot 1 upwards, 128 to a bank: PedalCues sends the bank (CC#32, 0-4) and the Program Change for you, so you only type the performance number. On the Kemper Player, the 50 slots are Program Changes 1-50.

Pedals: wah, pitch, volume and morph

Click Pedals under the screen. The tiles move one of the Kemper's pedal inputs over MIDI, so you don't need a real pedal plugged in. Pick which in the header: Wah (CC#1), Pitch (CC#4), Volume (CC#7) or Morph (CC#11). The pedal moves whatever the rig on the Kemper assigns to it, like a real pedal would.

It works like the Quad Cortex's Expression: Set to tiles (Heel, 25%, Half, 75%, Toe), ready-made moves (Swell In, Fade Out, Rise & Fall, Slow Rise, Wah Rhythm, Rise to Bar, Toe Down, Heel Down) with a Length and Curve, Draw your own with My drawings, and Back to heel after move. Pedal clips act on the slot the Kemper has loaded, so place them after the slot clip they belong to.

Names and setup

Type the performance and slot names in PedalCues, as they're shown on the Kemper. Unlike the Quad Cortex, the Kemper can't send its performance names and colours to another program, so there's no sync. The Kemper's MIDI channel is at the top of its page: set the Kemper to the same fixed channel (it's Omni out of the box).

Tested against Kemper's MIDI documentation, not on a real Kemper yet. If something doesn't switch as expected, please tell us.

7. Fractal, Line 6, HeadRush, Darkglass and more (beta)

These units have their MIDI numbers defined, by Line 6, HeadRush and Darkglass or as Fractal's factory defaults, so each gets a page like the Quad Cortex: your presets in a list, scenes or snapshots named per preset, and the unit's own footswitches or blocks, utilities, looper and expression. Pick yours from the device list (the ▾ on the first tab; type to search).

The Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3 and VP4 have no default MIDI numbers, so they come as templates instead.

Built from the manuals, not tested on hardware. Every number on these pages comes from the manufacturer's manual (Line 6 firmware 3.80, POD Go 2.50 and Stadium manuals; Fractal owner's manuals). The page says so next to the view switch, and About this unit gives the manual, what to check and the unit's connection facts. Please tell us what works on your unit.

Presets: click + Preset and enter it the way your unit shows it: Helix USER 1 > 01A, HX Stomp 01A-42C, Axe-Fx II bank A-F + 000-127, AX8 01:1, FX8 A1. Search presets finds one fast. On units with setlists (Helix, POD Go, Stadium), Switch to the preset's setlist (under the list) makes each preset also select its setlist (CC#32). It's off by default, like the Quad Cortex's, and a Setlists not sent: turn on button appears when your presets are in more than one setlist.

Scenes / snapshots: named per preset, like the QC's scenes. With Load (preset) first on (the default), a tile loads its preset first:

• Line 6: the snapshot goes out with the preset. Line 6 documents that a snapshot sent during a preset load waits until the preset has loaded.
• Fractal: the scene follows 1/16 later, like on the QC.

The views:

Good to know:

• The Helix tuner and tap tiles act on any value: each tuner clip toggles the tuner, and one tap tile is one tap (drop it on each beat).
• HX Stomp: the manual says three snapshots per preset (its MIDI table also lists a fourth value); the page uses three.
• POD Go takes MIDI over USB only: no 5-pin MIDI, so no daisy chain.
• Helix Stadium uses a different MIDI map from older Helix units, and a second MIDI channel for block bypass that this page doesn't cover. With MIDI Over USB C on, its MIDI Thru also passes on USB MIDI.
• Fractal pages use the factory default CCs. If you changed them on your unit, use a custom MIDI device instead. On the Axe-Fx II, "Ignore Redundant PC" is off by default, so loading the preset that's already loaded reloads it. MIDI over USB reaches the 5-pin MIDI Out only with USB Adapter Mode on.

Preset names from HX Edit (Helix, HX Stomp, HX Effects)

On a Helix Floor / LT / Rack, HX Stomp, HX Stomp XL or HX Effects page, Import from HX Edit... (under the preset list) reads a file you exported in HX Edit: a setlist (.hls), a bundle (.hlb, all setlists) or a single preset (.hlx). Pick which setlist from the file goes to which setlist on the page; PedalCues fills in the preset names in their slots and each preset's snapshot names and colours (from the snapshot LEDs). Empty "New Preset" slots are skipped unless you untick that. It only reads the file: nothing is sent to your unit, and footswitch names stay as they are.

Read preset names from the unit (beta)

Some units answer a read-only MIDI request with their preset names. Read names from the unit (beta)... asks for them and fills in the list:

• Pages: Strymon TimeLine, BigSky, Mobius and Boss DD-500, RV-500, MD-500 (the button is under the preset list).
• Template devices: Boss GT-1000, Fractal Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3, VP4: in the device's ... menu (it adds or renames a tile per named preset; on the Axe-Fx III family it can also show the loaded preset's scene names).

Pick the MIDI Out and the MIDI In your unit is on (it has to answer), then Read. PedalCues only sends read requests (Roland RQ1, Fractal's name queries, Strymon's preset request): nothing is loaded, saved or changed on the unit, and you can cancel at any time. Choose Only presets with names (on) and, on pages, whether to replace your list. These reads come from the makers' documents and Strymon's open-source librarian but aren't tested on hardware yet: please tell us if it works with yours. The Kemper, HeadRush, Darkglass, Nano Cortex and most pedals don't report their preset names, so type them in.

HeadRush (beta)

HeadRush publishes one fixed MIDI map, so each unit gets a page. It works a little differently from the others:

• Presets are your rigs' MIDI PROG numbers. HeadRush has no bank select or setlists over MIDI: each rig has a MIDI PROG number that you set in the rig's settings. Set it on the rig, then enter the same number in PedalCues (+ Preset). Core, Prime and Flex Prime show it as 1-128, Pedalboard, Gigboard and MX5 as 0-127; the page uses the numbers your unit shows. Turn Prog Change Recv on in the unit's Global Settings > MIDI.
• Scenes (Core 10, Prime 8, Flex Prime 6): each scene has its own CC, from CC#21. With Load (preset) first on, the scene follows the rig 1/16 later. Pedalboard, Gigboard and MX5 have no scenes over MIDI, so their page shows blocks only.
• Blocks: Block 1-14 (11 on Pedalboard, Gigboard and MX5), CC#75 and up, as numbered in the rig. HeadRush only toggles a block: each clip turns it on if it was off and off if it was on. Rename the tiles after your blocks.
• Utilities and looper: tuner (CC#92, toggles; not on Pedalboard, Gigboard or MX5), tap, next / previous rig, Rig and Stomp footswitch modes; looper record, start/stop, insert, peel, mute, reverse, speed and length.
• Expression: Core CC#1 (external pedal); Prime and Flex Prime CC#1 (built-in) and CC#2 (external).
• Footswitch tiles (Core, Prime, Flex Prime) press and release the footswitch (127, then 0 1/16 later), like your foot: they do whatever that footswitch does in the current mode. The older Pedalboard, Gigboard and MX5 guides don't give the values, so they have no footswitch tiles.
• Connection: use a MIDI cable from your interface. The manuals don't mention MIDI over USB from a computer, so the wiring guide shows MIDI cables only. Flex Prime and MX5 have 3.5 mm TRS MIDI jacks (Type A): use a TRS MIDI cable or a 5-pin to TRS adapter.

Darkglass Anagram (beta)

Built from the Anagram manual (KosmOS 1.17, MIDI Support). Darkglass says its MIDI is still being developed, so newer firmware may add more.

• Presets: 01A-42C, loaded with a Program Change. The Anagram ignores value 0, and its MIDI Style numbering (001-126) matches the Program Change, so 01A = Program Change 1. If 01A doesn't load on your unit, please tell us.
• Scenes A-C (three per preset): CC#107 = 1, 2, 3. The manual's table lists values 1-126; PedalCues sends 1-3 for the open preset. Tell us if your Anagram needs something else.
• Footswitches A-C (the Stomp mode bindings): CC#17-19, ON or OFF with the header switch. With the Anagram's Toggle Logic setting on Value (the default), 0-63 = off and 64-127 = on.
• Utilities: tuner (CC#86), Preset / Stomp / Scene mode (CC#85 = 1 / 2 / 3), next / previous preset and scene. Looper: play/stop, rec/dub, undo, redo, next / previous slot and the looper screen (never clear: PedalCues doesn't send it) (CC#110-115).
• Expression: the expression pedal binding (CC#89) and knob bindings 1-6 (CC#20-25). The footswitch, knob and expression numbers are the default binding CCs; if you changed them (Bindings > Edit CCs), use a custom MIDI device.
• Connection: 3.5 mm TRS MIDI In and Out (Type A) and USB MIDI (turn USB MIDI on). Set MIDI In Chan to the channel at the top of its page.

Darkglass Infinity 500 Combo and Exponent 500 (beta)

Both amps' manuals publish a default MIDI mapping, so they get pages. If you changed the mapping or the switch type in the Darkglass Suite, use a custom MIDI device instead.

• Presets 1-5 = Program Change 2-6. Bypass (PC 0) and Mute (PC 1) are in Utilities.
• Infinity 500 Combo: Effects switches the noise gate, octaver, compressor, drive and FX loop on or off. Utilities have the compressor position and the four drive modes (Leo Bass, Vintage Microtubes, B3K, Alpha Omega). The second view is IR slots (IR bypass, slots 1-7). The Expression view moves drive amount, tone, blend and level, the compressor, octaver and gate, the tweeter, the six EQ sliders and the preset level.
• Exponent 500: Footswitches 1-5 (CC#106-110) switch the effect bypasses bound to each Darkglass MIDI Footswitch button in the preset. The Expression view moves Quick-Pots A-E (CC#0-4) and the master volume (CC#5).
• Switch values: both use the Per-value switch type by default, so the effects send 0 = on, 1 = off (the tiles show the value), the FX loop 1 = on, 0 = off.
• Connection: the back-panel MIDI In takes a 5-pin cable (the 7-pin connector is only for the Darkglass MIDI Footswitch), or USB MIDI. They listen on every channel (Omni) out of the box. Neither has a MIDI Out, so a second pedal needs its own output.

The Microtubes Infinity pedal has a template from a community chart. The ADAM and Alpha·Omega Photon pedals take MIDI (TRS Type B, USB), but Darkglass publishes no MIDI chart for them, so use a custom MIDI device and its manual or the Darkglass Suite.

8. Custom MIDI devices (beta)

Not on a Quad Cortex, Kemper or one of the Fractal, Line 6 and HeadRush pages? Any device that takes MIDI works, including units where you set up the MIDI mapping yourself:

• Templates give you a head start for units with their own MIDI mapping: the Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3, VP4, Boss GT-1000 and Darkglass Microtubes Infinity come with tiles from their manuals (or a community chart) and notes on what to set on the unit.
• Anything else (another Boss, a synth, a looper, a lighting controller): make the tiles yourself, once, from the device's MIDI chart.

Either way it's an ordinary MIDI device you can edit, give expression moves and share.

Make one: click the ▾ on the first tab (or click the open tab again) and choose a template (an Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3, VP4, Boss GT-1000 or Microtubes Infinity) to start from its manual, or click + New MIDI device under the list and give it a name: it starts with example tiles to edit, and the tab takes its name. Import device... next to it adds one from a file.

The device card (left):

• Name: double-click to rename. The ... menu has rename, colour, duplicate, delete and New MIDI device.
• Programs count from 0 / 1: how the device's manual numbers presets. Some count the first preset as 0, others as 1; Program Change tiles use the same counting.
• Notes: anything worth remembering: which manual page the numbers come from, and why it's set up this way. Notes travel with the device when you share it.
• Export device... / Import device...: save the device (groups, tiles, notes and its expression CC) as a .pedalcues-device file, to back it up or share it. One person sets up a device and everyone with the same gear imports it.

Search tiles (above the groups) finds a tile by its name, messages, note or group; groups without a match are hidden while you search.

Groups and tiles (right): name groups however your device works, for example Presets, Scenes, Snapshots or Switches. + Group adds one, + Tile adds a tile to a group, and each group's ... renames, moves or deletes it. Tiles drag, play and right-click like every other tile; a clip is named after the device and the tile, for example My Rig Verse.

Expression moves on any device

Switch the right side from Tiles to Expression for pedal moves on your device: the same swells, fades, rise & fall, wah rhythm and drawn moves as on the Quad Cortex page, plus Set to tiles (heel, 25%, half, 75%, toe). They're tempo-synced Control Change curves, so they work with anything that takes a CC.

• Pick the CC in the box at the top: the one your device's expression pedal listens to, or the one you assigned to a parameter on the device (its manual says how; on many units it's an "assign" with a MIDI CC as the source). CC#11 is the MIDI standard Expression controller and the default. The CC is saved with the device, so it travels when you share it.
• Length, curve and Back to heel after move work as on the other pages, and Draw saves your own moves to My drawings, shared by every page.

The tile editor

+ Tile or a double-click opens the editor:

• Start from fills in a typical tile to adjust: Preset (one Program Change), Bank + preset (bank select, then the Program Change, for devices with more than 128 presets), Switch on/off (one Control Change, 127 = on, 0 = off) and Set a value (one Control Change with the value from the device's chart).
• MIDI messages: one row per message, sent together in order. Pick Program Change, Control Change or Bank select (CC#0), then set the numbers with − / + (or drag them). Control Changes have On (127) and Off (0) buttons. × removes a row; + Add message adds one.
• The line under the messages says in plain words what the tile sends, for example "On channel 1: select bank 1, then load program 5."
• Note (optional) shows in the tile's tooltip.
• Test on the device sends the messages before you save.

A preset, then a scene: drop the preset tile first and the scene tile just after it on the timeline, so the device has loaded the preset before the scene arrives.

Templates (beta)

Some units have no fixed MIDI numbers: you set up the mapping on the unit, so the numbers differ from player to player. For those, PedalCues has templates: pick one in the device list (marked template) and you get an ordinary MIDI device filled with tiles from the manual, plus About this unit with what to set on the unit. Adjust the tiles to your numbers, add your own, and share it.

These four Fractal units have no default MIDI CCs: you assign scene select, tuner and the rest on the unit (SETUP > MIDI/Remote), so the numbers differ from player to player. That's why they come as editable MIDI devices rather than a page like the Axe-Fx II. Pick one from the device list and it arrives filled with tiles from its manual: presets (CC#0 bank + Program Change, ready to use) and scenes, tuner and looper with suggested numbers (the Axe-Fx II's old defaults: Scene Select 34, Tuner 15, looper 28-32). Set the same numbers on the unit, or change the tiles to yours.

• FM3: it can't be controlled over USB MIDI (Fractal: "unpredictable behavior"). Use a 5-pin MIDI cable.
• VP4: 104 presets (A1-Z4), 4 scenes (the tiles use CC#17, the manual's example). MIDI is on 3.5 mm TRS jacks: you need a Type A adapter.

Boss GT-1000 / GT-1000CORE: it has no fixed MIDI CCs either: it reacts to a CC only through an ASSIGN that uses it as its source (CC#1-31 or CC#64-95), and which patch a Program Change loads is set in its PROGRAM MAP. The template is set up for that:

• Presets: on the GT-1000, set MENU > MIDI > MAP SELECT to PROG and fill PROGRAM MAP BANK1 (PC#1, PC#2... = the patches you want). The tiles BANK1 PC#1, PC#2... load those (bank select CC#0 and CC#32 = 0, then the Program Change, counted from 1 like the GT-1000). Rename them after your patches.
• Expression: switch the device to Expression; it starts on CC#11. On the GT-1000, make an ASSIGN with SOURCE = CC#11 and the TARGET you want to move (foot volume, a wah, a delay level...), ACT LOW 0, ACT HIGH 127.
• Switches: Switch 1-4 on / off send CC#80-83 = 127 / 0. Make an ASSIGN for each with SOURCE = that CC, MODE = MOMENT, and the target (an effect's on/off).
• Set RX CHANNEL (MENU > MIDI > MIDI SETTING) to the channel at the top of the device's PedalCues page.

Darkglass Microtubes Infinity: Darkglass doesn't publish its MIDI chart, so this template comes from a community chart (Morningstar's openmidi database), and the card says so. It has no preset tiles, because no Program Changes are documented.

• Tiles: distortion mode (CC#13: off, clean tube, Vintage, B3K and the multi-band versions), cab sim on / off (CC#14, assumed 0 = off, 127 = on), and a few set-value tiles. About this unit lists every control: Compression CC#0, Drive 1, Character 2, Blend 3, Level 4, headphones 5, EQ sliders 6-11, compression ratio 12.
• Expression starts on Drive (CC#1); pick any other control there for moves.
• Its MIDI jack is TRS Type B, unlike the Type A on most gear: use a Type B cable or adapter (or a controller that switches to Type B). USB MIDI works too.
• CC#0 is a control here (Compression), not bank select, so PedalCues never adds a spare CC#0 to this device's clips.
• The device card says in amber that the numbers come from the manual, not tested on hardware. About this unit (from the manual) shows what to set and check; it's kept by PedalCues (updates keep it current), while Your notes below it are yours to write.

Custom MIDI devices are a beta: tell us what your device needs, or share a device file, in a GitHub issue.

9. Build a song, step by step

This example covers a song with a clean verse, a crunchy chorus and a Whammy solo.

1. Load the preset at bar 1. Click Clean Rig in the list, then drag the Loaded preset screen to bar 1.
2. Set the intro scene. With Load 1A first on (the default), dragging the Intro scene tile to bar 1 loads the preset and the scene in one clip. With it off, drag the preset first, then the scene just after it.
3. Mark every section. Drag Verse to bar 3, Chorus to bar 9, Solo to bar 13, and so on. Each clip is named after the scene, so the arrangement reads like a setlist.
4. Whammy mode for the solo. On the Whammy tab, drag Oct Up to one beat before the solo.
5. Treadle move. Set Length to 2 bars, then drag Rise & Fall to the bar where the bend starts. Optional: for a delay that swells into the last chorus, assign the delay's mix to Expression 1 on the QC, then drag Swell In (Quad Cortex page > Expression) a few bars before it.
6. Test. Press play in your DAW and watch the QC and the Whammy follow. To check a single cue, click its tile's play button.
7. Tuner between songs. Drop Tuner On at the end of the song and Tuner Off before the next one.

Clips are ordinary MIDI items. You can move, copy, split or delete them like any other item. Their names come from your tiles, so renaming a scene before you drag it keeps the timeline readable.

Song Builder (beta): build the whole song once

Instead of dropping cues into the DAW one by one, you can lay out a whole song in PedalCues and drag it into the DAW in one go, or export it for a backing-track player (no computer on stage). Click Song Builder at the top right (or ☰ > Song Builder (beta)...): it opens in its own window, next to the main one.

The arrangement always shows a few bars after the song's end (dimmed, with the rest of a backing track's waveform): drop or paste a cue there and the last section grows to hold it.

1. + Song, then set the sections along the top: click a section to edit its name, bars, time signature and tempo (any time signature, like 7/8 or 37/8, and 10-960 BPM), recolour, duplicate (with its cues), move or delete it. + Section adds one at the end. Changing a section's length moves everything after it.
2. Tracks: + Track adds one for the device on Amps & Modelers or Effects & Pedals, any other device PedalCues knows (by brand), one of your MIDI devices, or an empty one. Or skip it: drop a tile on Drop here for a new track and a track for that device appears.
3. Drag tiles in from the Amps & Modelers and Effects & Pedals tabs, exactly as you'd drag them to the DAW, onto a track. A .mid clip from your DAW or Finder works too. Cues keep the MIDI they had when you dropped them.
4. Edit: drag a cue to move it (also onto another track). Click to select (Shift adds), then ⌘C / ⌘V (Ctrl on Windows and Linux): click a spot on a track first and the cues are pasted there, with their spacing. ⌘D duplicates, Delete deletes, right-click for the same and Send it to the device now.
5. Play (or Space) plays the ticked tracks to your devices from the song position (click a spot, or the bar numbers, to move it), following each section's tempo. Start from a spot with a preset cue: the preset before it isn't sent first.
6. Get it out: Drag song to the DAW drops the ticked tracks as one MIDI file with the tempo map, time signatures and a marker per section, plus the click and the backing track as WAVs when they're ticked. Drag a track's name for that track alone. Export MIDI file(s)... saves files for a DAW or a backing-track player (see below).

Tempo. Each section starts at its own tempo, and the Tempo lane under the bar numbers shows the tempo through the song as a line. Like Reaper's tempo markers, a tempo change can sit at any beat inside a section, even partway through a bar, and the bars don't move: double-click the lane to add one, then drag its dot like a point in an envelope: up or down for its tempo (1 BPM a pixel, Shift for 0.1), left or right to move it along the grid. Drag the line itself up or down (point right at it: the cursor turns to up / down arrows) to change that stretch's tempo, a section's own tempo too. The tempo shows next to the mouse while you drag. Double-click a dot to type its tempo, Option / Alt-click it to delete it, right-click for the menu. Tick Gradually transition to the next tempo on a change (or on a section's start, in Edit section or the lane's right-click menu) for a ritardando or accelerando: the tempo glides evenly to the next change or the next section, the section header shows it (120 → 90 BPM), and Play, the click, the backing track and the exported tempo map follow it (a MIDI file stores a glide as small tempo steps).

Shortcuts. The ? button at the right end of the arrangement's header (or the ? key) lists every mouse and key shortcut: cues, the song position, the tempo lane, the view and the lanes. Keep it at the bottom keeps the list open under the tracks; Hide (or ? again) puts it away. PedalCues remembers your choice on this computer.

Song position. The violet line is where Play starts and Paste lands. Click or drag along the bar numbers or the click lane to set it, or grab the line itself and drag it when the song isn't playing.

Grid, snap and zoom. Grid sets where cues snap, where the song position snaps, the grid lines and the ticks on the ruler (Beat follows each section's time signature; or Bar, 1/2 to 1/32 and triplets); Snap turns it on or off (hold Alt while dragging for the opposite). Zoom with - / + / Fit, the - and + keys, or Alt / Option + mouse wheel. Track height (- / + above the track names, ⌘ / Ctrl + mouse wheel, ⌘ / Ctrl + - / +, or drag a track name's bottom edge) makes room for more cues stacked on a track.

Click track and count-in. The Click track lane under the bar numbers counts each section: right-click it to pick the section's click (Beat, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, triplets, bars only or off), or the same for every section. Like the bar numbers, a left click or drag on it sets the song position. Metronome plays it through PedalCues' audio output while the song plays; Count-in (1 or 2 bars, in the first bar's time signature and tempo) clicks before the song starts. Click... sets the sound (beep, click, wood block, cowbell, or your own samples for the accent and the beat), the accent on each bar's first beat, the volume and the output: both sides, or the click on one side and the backing track on the other (e.g. click to your in-ears, backing track to the front of house). Changes are heard right away, even while the song plays. Drag the Click track name into your DAW for the click as a WAV, lined up with bar 1.

Backing track. Click the lane under the tracks to add an MP3, WAV, AIFF or FLAC: it plays with Play, after the count-in. Drag the waveform sideways to line it up with bar 1. Its name has M (mute), a tick (include it when you drag the song), a volume slider and ..., which opens the backing track settings: the file (Replace..., Remove), the volume, where bar 1 is in the file (type it, nudge it by 10 ms, or put it at the file's start) and the song's length. If the recording runs past the song's end, Play keeps going until the recording ends (and its WAV, dragged or exported, runs to the end too). PedalCues offers to add the missing bars to the last section when you add it, and the settings have the same button, so the song is as long as the recording. Right-click the waveform at a downbeat for Bar 1 starts here in the audio or Bar N starts here (fit the tempo)... (every section's tempo scales so the bars line up with the recording). The file stays where it is: the song links to it. Drag the Backing track name into your DAW for it as a WAV lined up with bar 1. To set a section's tempo by ear, right-click it > Tap its tempo... and tap along (T or Space).

Practice. S solos and M mutes a track while playing (export follows the tick). Right-click a section > Play from here, or Loop this section while playing to repeat it until you stop (a green band marks it; pick it again to stop looping).

Songs and setlists. The Songs list is also your setlist, in its order. Click a song to open it; ⌘ / Ctrl-click or Shift-click selects several, then ⌘C / ⌘X / ⌘V / ⌘D / Delete (or right-click) copy, cut, paste, duplicate or delete them. Right-click a song > Play the setlist from here plays the songs in order, with the Gap between songs you pick in the same menu, and Export the setlist as song packages... writes a numbered folder per song.

MIDI channels per track. Each track shows the channel its cues use (Own channel (1)). Right-click a track > MIDI channel (or pick it in the export window) to put every cue on that track on one channel, now and for cues you add later. Two players with the same changes: right-click the track > Duplicate, then give the copy the other rig's channel.

Export. Pick the tracks and their channels, then what to save (hover a choice to see the files it writes):

• One file, all tracks: Song.mid with the tempo map, time signatures and section markers, and a MIDI track per ticked track.
• A file per track: Song - Track.mid for each ticked track, in the folder you pick.
• Song package, for a backing-track player: a folder with Song - cues.mid, Song - click.wav and, when the song has one, Song - backing.wav lined up with bar 1. They all start together (48 kHz, 24-bit WAVs).
• Start with a count-in puts the count-in (the song card's length, or 1 bar) at the start of every file.

One file or a file per track? A single file keeps each message's channel. That's all you need when all your devices hang off one MIDI output (a daisy chain, or a backing-track player with one MIDI Out): give each device its own channel. In Reaper, keep the track's MIDI output on Send to original channels. If your DAW sends a track on one channel only, or each device is on its own port, use a file per track and set each DAW track's output.

Import song... adds a song from a song file (.pedalcues-song, from Save song..., e.g. sent by a bandmate), from a MIDI file with its cues (the map becomes sections, each MIDI track a track, its messages cues grouped by timing), or a MIDI file's map only (markers, tempo and time signatures; export the project from your DAW, or the song from Guitar Pro, with the tempo map and markers included). Every bar lands where it is in the file: each tempo change comes in as a tempo change at its exact beat (also one partway through a bar), and a section that stops partway through a bar ends with one short bar (for example 3/8), so nothing after it shifts. Songs are also saved with your project.

Beta: the Song Builder is new. Please tell us how the exported files land in your DAW or player.

10. Effects & Pedals: Whammy, Strymon, Line 6, Boss, Meris, Chase Bliss and more

The first tab, Amps & Modelers, is for your amp modeler; the second, Effects & Pedals, for an effect or pedal. It shows the DigiTech Whammy V until you pick another device: click the ▾ on the tab (or the tab itself again):

• Whammy V and Whammy DT (DigiTech): two devices sharing one page, described below. The DT adds Drop Tune and has no Chords.
• Line 6 DL4 MkII and HX One (beta): ready-made pages, below.
• Strymon, Boss, Meris, Chase Bliss, Walrus, Source Audio and EHX (beta): ready-made pages, below.
• Templates for effect pedals: the Fractal VP4, the Darkglass Microtubes Infinity, the Eventide H9 / H90 and the Boss RC-500 / RC-600 (templates). Templates for amp modelers stay in the Amps & Modelers list.
• Your MIDI devices: any custom MIDI device (a delay, a looper, a synth...), with its tiles and expression moves, or + New MIDI device / Import device... under the list. A device belongs to one tab: to move it, use Move to Amps & Modelers (or Move to Effects & Pedals) in the device's ... menu.
• The tab takes the pedal's name and colour. Each pedal keeps its own MIDI channel, set at the top of its page and saved with your setup.

Switching pedals doesn't change clips already on the timeline: each keeps the pedal and channel it was dragged with.

Line 6 DL4 MkII and HX One (beta)

Laid out like the Fractal and Line 6 pages, built from Line 6's owner's manuals and not tested on hardware yet (About this unit lists every number):

• DL4 MkII: presets A-F (Program Change 0-5) and 7-128 (PC 6-127, only reachable over MIDI). Controls: the delay's note value (CC#12), preset on / bypass, tap, Classic Looper mode on / off and the reverb-delay routing. Looper: record, overdub, play, stop, play once, undo, redo, reverse, half speed (CC#60-66). Expression: the expression pedal (CC#3; make the assignment first with a pedal on the EXP PEDAL jack) and the knobs (time, repeats, tweak, tweez, mix, reverb decay, predelay and mix). Models: the 15 MkII and 15 Legacy delays (CC#1) and the 15 secret reverbs plus Reverb off (CC#2) of the loaded preset. Changing a model clears the preset's pedal assignments, as on the pedal.
• HX One: presets 000-127 (PC 0-127). Switches: ON (toggles) and FLUX; Engage / Bypass, tap (CC#93, as in the manual's table), Home, Preset List and Tuner. Looper (Simple Looper models) and Expression on the pedal (CC#3, with Pedal Jack set to ExpFS4), parameters 1-24 and the FLUX times.
• Both use MIDI channel 1 out of the box, the same as most amp modelers: set the pedal to another channel (PedalCues suggests 3) and pick the same at the top of its page. The DL4 MkII's MIDI Thru is off out of the box; turn it on in its Global Settings if another device is after it.

Strymon, Boss, Meris, Chase Bliss, Walrus, Source Audio and EHX (beta)

Ready-made pages from each maker's MIDI chart, on the Effects & Pedals tab (pick them with the ▾). Like the Whammy, each has a faceplate in the pedal's own colour, with the loaded preset in its display (drag it onto the timeline to load the preset). They're built from the manuals and not tested on hardware yet; About this unit on each page lists every number, what each tile sends and what the manual doesn't say.

• Strymon: TimeLine, BigSky, Mobius (presets 00A-99B / 00A-99C), TimeLine MX and BigSky MX (000A-149B), Volante, Sunset, Riverside, Compadre, Iridium, cloudburst, Flint V2, El Capistan V2, Deco V2, DIG V2, Lex V2, blueSky V2, Brig, Olivera, Ultraviolet and Zelzah (presets 0-299). Every preset clip sends its bank (CC#0) and Program Change. The small pedals' fixed programs show their meaning: Manual mode (PC 127), Favorite and the MultiSwitch presets. Controls: bypass, tap, on/off for each effect side, infinite / hold; Looper on the TimeLine (MX); Expression on CC#100 and the knobs (on the Compadre, which has no expression CC, the view is called Knobs); Models with the type tiles (TimeLine MX delay types and dual mode). On the TimeLine, BigSky, Mobius and BigSky MX, the type knob's tiles are numbered Type 0-11: Strymon's manuals give the numbers but not which one is which machine, and an amber line in the group says so. Try them on your pedal (and tell us the order you find).

• Boss DD-500, RV-500, MD-500: patches 01A-99C, effect on / bypass, the DD-500's phrase loop, and the knobs as expression moves. The CC numbers are the ones in Boss's tables: if you changed them in the pedal's MIDI menu, use a custom device. If a preset tile loads another patch, check the pedal's PC MAP.
• Meris: Mercury7, Ottobit Jr., Polymoon, Enzo, Hedra (16 presets; PC 0 = bypass), and the X series LVX, MercuryX, Enzo X, Ottobit X (with their block types under Models).
• Chase Bliss: MOOD MKII, Blooper, Dark World, Thermae, Habit, CXM 1978, Preamp MKII, Generation Loss MKII, Lossy, Brothers AM, Onward, Clean. Live (PC 0) returns to the knobs. The Blooper's programs are loops, so its list says Loops (Loop 1-16, PC 0-15). PedalCues never sends their factory-reset or save commands.
• Walrus Audio MAKO D1, R1, M1, ACS1 (MKII; the MKI pedals use different numbers), Source Audio Nemesis, Ventris, Collider, and EHX POG3, Oceans Abyss. The MAKO pedals and the Nemesis have no expression CC in their charts, so their third view is Knobs: each tile turns one knob or parameter over its own range.
• Templates (you assign the CCs on the pedal): Eventide H9 and H90, Boss RC-500 and RC-600 loopers. Their preset tiles work right away.
• Footswitch tiles press and release the pedal's footswitch (down, then up 1/16 later), like your foot. Expression lists every knob and parameter; parameters with a small range (Boost 0-60, Smear 0-18...) move only over their own range. Settings that belong to one machine or reverb type say so ("dTape: ...") and only act when that type is loaded. Views scroll when there are more tiles than fit.
• Set each pedal's MIDI channel on the pedal and at the top of its page. Several of these take MIDI on a TRS jack (the EXP jack on Meris and some Strymon pedals, a MIDIBox for Chase Bliss): About this unit says which cable.

Switching pedals doesn't change clips already on the timeline: each keeps the pedal and channel it was dragged with.

PedalCues works with the DigiTech Whammy V (5th generation) and the Whammy DT. Pick Whammy V or Whammy DT in the tab's list (the ▾). The red faceplate then shows the pedal's name, and on the DT the Drop Tune tiles appear. Your choice is saved with your setup (Save as default setup, Export setup).

Modes

The 21 Whammy modes are laid out like the pedal's panel (the Whammy DT has the same modes on its left knob):

• Top row: the Whammy modes, from 2 Oct Up to Dive Bomb.
• Middle row: each Harmony mode sits right below the Whammy mode that shares its row on the pedal (Oct Up/Oct Down below 2 Oct Up, and so on).
• Bottom row: Detune Shallow and Deep, on their own row as at the bottom of the pedal.

The modes are grouped by colour: Whammy (red), Harmony (green), Detune (blue). Each tile shows its Program Change number from the DigiTech manual. Drag a mode tile to switch the Whammy.

• ... (Modes header): Program numbering. Leave it on As printed in the manual (1 = first); switch to Zero-based only if every mode lands one position off on your Whammy.
• Chords (Whammy V only): uses the polyphonic Chords program range (43-84) instead of Classic (1-42). The Whammy DT has no Chords mode, and on the DT those numbers select Drop Tune, so the switch is hidden there.
• Load bypassed: selects the mode without engaging the effect. The tile LEDs go dark to show this.
• Heel first: sends CC#11 = 0 before switching, so the new mode starts from heel with no pitch jump.

Whammy DT: Drop Tune

On the Whammy DT, the Modes card has a Whammy | Drop Tune switch. Drop Tune shows the pedal's right knob as two rows of tiles:

• Shift Up (raise your tuning): +1 to +7 semitones, +Oct, and +Oct + Dry (an octave up mixed with your dry signal, a 12-string sound).
• Shift Down (drop your tuning): -1 to -7 semitones, -Oct and -Oct + Dry. For example, -1 gives E-flat tuning and -2 a whole step down.

Drop one where the new tuning starts, for example -2 at the start of a song in D standard. With Load bypassed on, a tile picks the shift but leaves it off (its LED goes dark), ready to switch on later. Drop Tune can be combined with a Whammy, Harmony or Detune mode, like on the pedal, so you can tune down and still bend with the treadle.

These are the Program Change numbers from the Whammy DT manual. The DT's Momentary footswitch has no MIDI message, so it can't be sent from a clip; drop a shift tile where it should start and the same tile with Load bypassed where it should stop.

Treadle moves

Treadle moves are CC#11 automation written in beats, so they follow your project tempo. Each tile shows its curve. You can also draw your own.

• Length: from 1/16 note up to 8 bars.
• Curve: 1.00 is linear, lower values start fast, higher values start slow.
• Early by (in the Treadle moves header: Off, 10 to 50 ms): the Whammy's pitch shifting takes a moment, so a bend can sound a little after the beat. Players used to move their automation a little to the left; with Early by, every treadle move (shapes and drawn ones) plays that much earlier inside its clip, and you still drop it on the beat. The clip's first point stays at its start, and mode changes aren't moved. No one has measured the Whammy V or DT yet (reports for older Whammys say roughly 15-30 ms): try 20 ms and adjust by ear. It applies to moves you drag from then on.
• Return to heel after move: adds a CC#11 = 0 at the end.
• Loop (↻, next to a move's play button): plays the move again and again, in time at the song's tempo, so you can try it with both hands on the guitar. Click it again to stop; starting another loop stops the first. Edits to a drawn move are heard on the next pass. It's on every move tile, on every page with moves (treadle, expression, the Kemper's pedals, your own devices).

Draw your own move

When no ready-made shape fits, click Draw in the Treadle moves header. The pad works like a DAW's envelope editor (Reaper's, for example): points joined by lines. Bottom is heel (0), top is toe (127).

1. Pick the length first, and the Grid next to it: points snap to it in time.
2. Click to add a point, drag a point or a line to move it (Shift: off the grid, ⌘ / Ctrl + Shift: one direction only). ⌘ / Ctrl-drag draws freehand: one point on each grid line the stroke crosses, at its height there, however the mouse wobbles in between (hold Shift too to draw off the grid). Double-click a point to type its value. Option / Alt-click a point deletes it.
3. Shape the lines: right-click a line for its shape (square, linear, slow start / end, fast start, fast end, bezier; Bezier starts with a medium curve). To curve a line, drag the diamond that appears in its middle when you point at it (or Option / Alt-drag the line); Option / Alt-double-click straightens it.
4. Several points at once: ⌘ / Ctrl-click adds to the selection, right-drag selects an area, ⌘ / Ctrl + A selects all. Arrows nudge them, Delete removes them, and the selection box scales them (drag its top or bottom edge) or tilts them (a top corner). Right-click also has Invert and Scale / compress....
5. ⌘ / Ctrl + Z undoes, ⌘ / Ctrl + Shift + Z redoes. Clear resets the pad to heel; Smooth rounds off sharp edges.
6. Drag the Drawn move tile onto the timeline where the move should start, or click its play button to try it on the pedal.

The ? button in the tools row lists every shortcut, grouped (points, lines, freehand, several points, undo); the larger editor shows the same list under the pad. Larger editor opens the pad in its own window, with the same tools, for detailed work. The pad's labels show the values: TOE (127), HALF (64), HEEL (0).

The drawing stretches to whatever Length you pick. Return to heel after move works here too; Curve only applies to the shapes, so in Draw mode its place holds Wave.... Click Shapes to go back to the ready-made moves.

Wave...: generate a wobble, a trill or a build-up

Wave... (in Draw mode, in the tools row) writes a wave into the pad as you set it, like the CC LFO in Reaper's MIDI editor:

• Type: Sine, Triangle, Square, Saw up or Saw down.
• Waves: how many across the move (½ to 8). The move follows Length, so 4 waves over 1 bar is a steady quarter-note wobble.
• Phase: where the wave starts: 0° at its low point, 180° at its high point.
• Shape: tilts each wave: a triangle leans towards a saw, a sine rises fast and falls slowly (or the other way round), a square gets a shorter or longer high part.
• Low / High: the range the wave moves in (0 % = heel, 100 % = toe), for example a gentle wah between 30 % and 70 %.
• Grow: above 0 the waves build up from Low to full across the move; below 0 they die away (Reaper's amp skew).
• Speed: above 0 the waves speed up across the move; below 0 they slow down (Reaper's frequency skew).

Each change replaces the drawing. Fix it by hand afterwards, Smooth it, or Save it in My drawings. Wave... is in every Draw mode: the Whammy treadle, the Quad Cortex and Kemper expression, the Fractal, Line 6 and HeadRush pedals, and custom devices.

Import MIDI...: reuse a move you made in your DAW

Drew a treadle bend or an expression swell as CC automation in your DAW and want it again in other songs? Export (or drag) the clip as a .mid file, then click Import MIDI... in Draw mode (or drop the file on the card):

• PedalCues reads the card's own CC (CC#11 for the Whammy, the expression CC elsewhere); if the file has another CC, the one it uses most (never bank select), or else pitch bend.
• The move keeps its timing: it starts where the clip starts, and Length becomes the shortest length that holds it (up to 8 bars), with the last value held to the end. Longer clips keep their first 8 bars.
• It then asks for a name to save it in My drawings (the file's name is suggested), so you can drag it into any song, as often as you like.

It's in every Draw mode, like Wave....

My drawings: save and reuse your moves

Keep the moves you like and use them again in any song:

• Save keeps the drawing on the pad under a name, for example Big Bend. The tile and the clips you drag take that name (Whammy Big Bend 1 bar).
• My drawings (the list above Save) loads a saved drawing onto the pad, ready to drag or to edit. Pick New drawing to start from a clear pad.
• Edit a loaded drawing by drawing over it, or with Clear and Smooth. The tile shows edited until you click Save again, which updates that saved drawing.
• … has Save as new drawing (keep the original and save a copy), Rename and Delete.

My drawings are saved on your computer, not in one project, so every project, every PedalCues track and the standalone app see the same list, and updates keep them. The same list appears in the Quad Cortex page's Expression Draw mode, so a drawing works as a treadle move and as an expression move. Clips you've already dragged onto the timeline never change when you edit or delete a drawing. To take them to another computer, use Export setup (it includes My drawings) and Import setup there, which adds them to that computer's list.

11. MIDI channels, How to connect and your setup

The strip at the top of each page (set once, required):

• MIDI channel: the channel the device on this tab listens on. Set the same on the device itself (the hint next to it says where) and give each device a different one. Every device keeps its own channel: the Quad Cortex, a Kemper, each Fractal / Line 6 / HeadRush / Darkglass page, each custom device, the Whammy V and the Whammy DT. Every cue is sent on it, and each clip keeps the channel it was dragged with, so set it before building songs. Until you click Done, the strip reminds you in amber.
• Test: sends a quick check to the device on its channel and says what it sent: the amp modeler opens and closes its tuner (CC#45 on the QC, CC#31 on the Kemper; preset 1 or a tap on units without a tuner over MIDI), a custom MIDI device sends your first tile, the DL4 MkII and HX One load their first preset, and the Whammy steps through Oct Up, 5th Up and 2 Oct Up half a second apart. In your DAW it goes out of this track's MIDI output; in the standalone app, to the port picked in How to connect.
• How to connect > opens the Connect your rig window (also ☰ > How to connect, Help > How to Connect in the standalone app).

Connect your rig:

• Test your devices (standalone app only): the MIDI port the app sends to (a port you plug in appears by itself) and Test all, which tests both devices at once.
• Set up your DAW: with two devices, pick how they're connected: Each device on its own output (the simplest) or One cable through the amp modeler (a daisy chain through its MIDI Thru; only offered when it has one). The daisy chain needs a MIDI cable into the amp modeler, not USB: an amber note says what your unit does with USB MIDI (the QC and Kemper never pass it on to their Thru; some units do only with a setting, named there; a few always do). With one device there's nothing to choose. The steps make one cue track per device (add more the same way), with your devices as examples. Pick Your DAW (Reaper, Ableton Live, Cubase / Nuendo, Logic Pro or Other) to see where that DAW sets a track's MIDI output. Wiring guide: cables and diagrams opens the wiring guide: one device, a daisy chain or separate outputs, with the cables and signal flow for each and the setup that doesn't work.

Saving: automatic

Every change is saved automatically, a moment after you make it. The right end of each page's MIDI strip (and the Song Builder's song card) shows Saving..., then ✓ Saved, then rests dimmed:

• Plugin: it says ✓ In your project. Everything is kept in your DAW project, and PedalCues tells the DAW the project changed, so save the project in your DAW as usual.
• Standalone app: it says ✓ Saved: your changes are written on this computer, not only when you quit.

Just looking around (opening another song, preset or view) isn't a change: it's remembered with your next edit, so your DAW doesn't ask to save a project you only browsed.

Your setup: save, share, start new projects with it

Your setup is your preset, scene, footswitch and Whammy names and colours, every device's MIDI channel and the other MIDI settings, and your playing preferences: the Whammy's Chords, Load bypassed and Heel first, Return to heel / Back to heel after move, and Expression's Load 1A first; your amp modeler or MIDI device, your custom MIDI devices, and the Kemper's Load P1 first, Keep tails and Back to heel after move. It's stored inside each DAW project automatically. (Length and Curve change from song to song, so they stay in each project.) From the ☰ menu (the File menu in the standalone app):

• Save as default setup: new PedalCues instances start with it.
• Load default setup: brings it back into this project.
• Export setup / Import setup: a file to back up, move to another computer, or share with your band. It also carries your wiring choice (Daisy chain or Separate outputs) and your saved drawings; importing adds the drawings to your list and never removes any.

Settings that belong to one computer stay there and aren't exported: the standalone app's MIDI port and tempo (port names differ between computers), Check for updates automatically, whether you've seen the quick tour, and whether you've confirmed your MIDI channels.

Updates

Under the title, PedalCues shows your version and whether it's Up to date. When a newer release is out, it says Update to vX.Y.Z: click it to see what's new and download it: the installer on macOS and Windows (quit your DAW, run it, and it replaces the old version), the zip with install.sh on Linux. It says Couldn't check when you're offline. The round arrows next to it check again.

PedalCues asks GitHub for the latest release when it opens; nothing else is sent. To turn that off, untick Check for updates automatically in the ☰ menu (in the standalone app: the PedalCues menu on macOS, Help on Windows). See what changed in each version on the What's new page (☰ > What's new in the plugin, Help > What's New in the standalone app).

The standalone app

• Menus: File saves, loads, exports and imports your setup; Options > MIDI Output picks the port; Help has the quick tour, the user guide, the wiring guide, What's New, Report a Problem and support. On macOS, About and Check for Updates are in the PedalCues menu.
• Tempo: there's no DAW, so click the BPM pill (set tempo) to type, drag or Tap your song's tempo. It only affects how long treadle moves last when you test them.

12. Troubleshooting

Still stuck, found a bug or have an idea? Use ☰ > Report a problem in the plugin (Help > Report a Problem in the standalone app). It opens a short form on GitHub with your PedalCues version and computer already filled in (you need a free GitHub account). You can also start from the Help page, or suggest an idea.

Enjoying PedalCues? It's free; if you'd like to support it, you can donate via Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal or Revolut, or sponsor it on GitHub Sponsors, or from ☰ > Support PedalCues in the plugin. Completely optional.

PedalCues is free software by Thanasis Kostopoulos, released under the MIT License. Source: github.com/thankost/pedal-cues. In the plugin, open ☰ > About PedalCues. Not affiliated with any device maker. All product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners.