Message Types
Contents
Standard
- Program Change (PC)
- Program Change (Multi Channel)
- Control Change
- Note On/Off
- Real Time
- Song Position
- Song Select
- SysEx (System Exclusive)
- MMC
Misc
- MIDI Clock
- MIDI Clock Tap
- PC Number Scroll
- CC Value Scroll
- Multi Engage/Bypass
- CC Waveform Generator
- Sequencer Generator
Device (Morningstar Controller)
- Engage Preset
- Trigger Messages
- Bank Up and Down
- Bank Change Mode
- Bank Jump
- Toggle Page
- Toggle Preset
- Set Toggle
- Set MIDI Thru
- Select Expression Message
- Looper Mode
- Focus Mode (MC8 only)
- Delay
- Utility
- Preset Rename
- Relay Switching
Device (Others)
- Strymon Bank Up and Down
- Fractal Tuner
- Fractal Integration
- Kemper Tuner
- Morningstar ML10X
- Morningstar ML5R
Other
Introduction
Each switch on your Morningstar controller can be programmed to perform any function you want. Out of the factory, all switches and banks are EMPTY and do not send any MIDI messages. It is up to you to choose what messages you want each switch or bank to send or execute.
MIDI Channels
MIDI channels allow you to send MIDI messages and affect only the devices they are intended for. If your receiving device is set to receive MIDI on MIDI channel 1, it will respond only to messages sent on channel 1 and ignore messages sent on all other channels. Set each of your devices to receive MIDI on unique channels, so you can control each of them independently.
For most MIDI messages, you will need to specify which MIDI channel you want to send the message on. There are 16 different MIDI channels. Make sure to select the channel that matches the channel that your targeted device has been set to receive MIDI on.
Program Change (PC)
Sends a PC message to recall presets/patches on MIDI-capable devices.
Send Types
Send Program Change
Sends a specified PC Number to recall a specific preset/patch on the receiving device.
Last Sent PC Number
Recalls last the used preset/patch on the receiving device.
Send Last Sent PC Number and Increase/Decrease
Recalls last the used preset/patch on the receiving device, and continue scrolling up or down through presets with each subsequent switch press.
Increase/Decrease Last Sent PC Number and Send
Scroll up/down through presets on the receiving device.
(Example: %P0 will show the current PC number for MIDI channel 1, %P1 will show it for MIDI channel 2 and so on)
Send PC to all Channels
Sends a specified PC number on all 16 MIDI channels.
Fields
PC Number
Determines which preset/patch you recall on the receiving device. Ranges from 0-127. Typically, PC#0 recalls preset 1, PC#1 recalls preset 2, PC#2 recalls preset 3 and so on.
Program Change (Multi Channel)
Sends specified PC message on multiple MIDI channels of your choice.
Fields
PC Number
Select the PC number you send to the receiving device.
MIDI Channel Checkboxes
Check the boxes to select the MIDI channels you want to sent the PC message on.
Control Change (CC)
Sends a CC message to control targeted effect parameters and functions on the receiving device.
Fields
CC Number
Determines which effect parameter or function you control on the receiving device. (Example: Send CC number 15 to control Reverb Mix on the BigSky.)
CC Value
Determines how the targeted parameter or function is affected. (Example: Send CC number 15 with value 64 to set Reverb Mix to 50% on the BigSky.)
Use Value from Expression
Enable this to use a CC value determined by what position a connected expression pedal is in. Select the Omniport that your your expression pedal is connected to. (Example: With an expression pedal in toe down position, CC value 127 will be used.)
Note On/Off
Sends a MIDI Note On or Off message.
Fields
Note Number
Determines which Note gets sent. MIDI Note 60 → C4 is middle C on a piano.
Velocity
Determines what velocity the Note gets sent at.
All Notes
Enable this to send Note Off for all 128 Notes
Real Time
Sends a MIDI Real Time message. Choose from Start, Stop or Continue.
Song Position
Sends a MIDI Song Position Pointer message to cue a song's playback to a specific beat within a song.
Song Select
Sends a MIDI Song Select message to select a stored song, pattern or sequence on the receiving device.
SysEx (System Exclusive)
Sends a MIDI Sysex message.
Fields
Length/P1
In the first message of the array, the first part, P1, contains the value that sets the length of the SysEx array.
The maximum length for a SysEx array differs depending on whether you have a PRO or Standard series controller. PRO controllers offer a maximum SysEx length of 128 and Standard controllers, 63.
P1, 2, 3 ... x
The subsequent parts contain the values you want to send. The values are in decimal (base10) format and not in hex. In the Morningstar SysEx message type, multiple messages are sent and grouped to form a single SysEx message.
This gives you a maximum SysEx length of (16x 4) - 1 = 63 for Standard controllers, and up to 128 for PRO controllers (use 7 messages x 18 values + 2 more in the 8th message).
The values are spread across multiple messages. For example, if the length of your SysEx message is 5 and the message you want to send out is {0, 4, 25, 54, 23}, you will need to use 2 messages for this SysEx message where:
Msg 1 contains:
- P1/Length = 5
- P2 = 0
- P3 = 4
Msg 2 contains:
- P1/Length = 25
- P2 = 54
- P3 = 23
The actions assigned to each message must match. For example, if your SysEx message requires using 3 messages on your Morningstar MIDI controller, the 3 messages need to have the same action (eg. Press.)
The length should not include the SysEx start and end bytes (i.e. 0xF0 and 0xF7).
MMC
Sends a MIDI Machine Control message. Choose to send Stop, Play, Deferred Play, Fast Forward, Rewind, Record Strobe, Record Exit, Record Pause, Pause, Eject, Chase or MMC Reset commands.
MIDI Clock
Sends MIDI Clock data to sync your time-based effects to a common BPM.
Types
Start MIDI Clock
Start sending MIDI Clock with a specified BPM or use current BPM.
MIDI Clock Menu
Opens the MIDI Clock Menu on your controller but does not start sending MIDI Clock until you press Start.
The MIDI Clock Menu allows you to tap in or increment/decrement BPM on-the-fly, on the controller itself. You can then use the new BPM temporarily, or save and overwrite the previous BPM for future use. Use the Increase and Decrease switches to change BPM. Pressing Start will allow you to tap in a new tempo.
Press Exit to exit without overwriting previous BPM. Hold down Exit to exit and overwrite previous BPM.
Load BPM from Next/Previous/Selected Slot
Loads and sends MIDI Clock BPM from one of the MIDI Clock Slots. You can store pre-set BPMs under Controller Settings > MIDI Clock Slots for you to recall any time. Next or Previous will allow you to scroll through MIDI Clock Slots. Selected will load BPM from a specified slot.
Fields
BPM
Input your desired MIDI Clock BPM.
Use Current BPM
Use current BPM.
Stop MIDI Clock
Select Yes only if you wish to stop sending MIDI clock data.
MIDI Clock Tap
Footswitch will function as a Tap Tempo switch for sending MIDI Clock. BPM will be set based on the average of the last 2 BPMs (3 taps).
PC Number Scroll
Sends a PC message with a PC Number determined by a Scroll Counter value. Scroll Counters can be found under Controller Settings > Scroll Counters. They are used to store and keep track of values as you scroll through them using the PC Number Scroll and CC Value Scroll message types.
Scroll Type
Send Only
Sends PC number based on current value of the selected scroll counter.
Increase and Send
Increases the value of selected scroll counter by 1 and sends PC message.
Decrease and Send
Decreases the value of selected scroll counter by 1 and sends PC message.
Increase/Decrease Only
Increases or Decreases the value of selected scroll counter by 1 but does not send PC message.
Update Only
Updates selected scroll counter to a specified value and does not send PC message.
Reset Only
Resets selected scroll counter start value and does not send PC message.
Fields
Counter
Select the scroll counter you want to use for sending this particular message.
Wrap-around
When enabled, scroll counter will loop back to the min value once the max value is passed.
Example: %E0 displays the PC number for Counter 0, while %EF displays the PC number for Counter F.
Using %F instead of %E will offset the counter by +1, so numbers 1-128 instead of 0-127 will be shown.
CC Value Scroll
Sends a CC message with a CC Value determined by a Scroll Counter value. Scroll Counters can be found under Controller Settings > Scroll Counters. They are used to store and keep track of values as you scroll through them using the PC Number Scroll and CC Value Scroll message types.
Scroll Type
Send Only
Sends CC value based on current value of the selected scroll counter.
Increase and Send
Increases the value of selected scroll counter by 1 and sends CC message.
Decrease and Send
Decreases the value of selected scroll counter by 1 and sends CC message.
Increase/Decrease Only
Increases or Decreases the value of selected scroll counter by 1 but does not send CC message.
Update Only
Updates selected scroll counter to a specified value and does not send CC message.
Reset Only
Resets selected scroll counter start value and does not send CC message.
Fields
Counter
Select the scroll counter you want to use for sending this particular message.
CC Number
Specify the CC number for this message.
Step Value
Determines how much the CC value increases or decreases with each step.
Wrap-around
When enabled, scroll counter will loop back to the min value once the max value is passed.
Multi Engage/Bypass
Engages and Bypasses multiple devices with a single message. 🎬 Watch Multi Engage/Bypass video tutorial.
Fields
Device Checkboxes
Check the boxes of the devices you want to engage or bypass.
Type
Engage
Checked devices will be engaged. Unchecked devices will be unaffected.
Bypass
Checked devices will be bypassed. Unchecked devices will be unaffected.
Set
Checked devices will be engaged and unchecked devices will be bypassed.
Controlling More than One Pair of Engage/Bypass Messages within a Single Device
Some devices may have more than one effect, and you may want to control each effect individually with the Multi Engage/Bypass message. For example the Strymon Flint with Reverb and Tremolo sides, or Strymon Sunset with A and B sides.
You can remap an unused MIDI channel to function as the second effect your device. For example if you wanted to independently control both Reverb and Tremolo sides on the Strymon Flint (that has been set to MIDI channel 1), you can remap MIDI channel 2 to channel 1 (under MIDI Channel Settings). That way you can use 2 slots on the Multi Engage/Bypass message for each effect on the Flint.
CC Waveform Generator
Sends MIDI CC Waveforms.
A continuous flowing stream of CC messages oscillating between minimum and maximum CC values set by you. Think of it as an automated expression pedal. Or if you hired someone to to continuously rock your expression pedal back and forth with your desired sweep and speed. A MIDI waveform allows you to modulate different effect parameters, creating tonal effects such as vibrato, tremolo, sweeps and phasing. Similar to what an LFO does on a synth.
Waveform Engines
MIDI CC Waveforms are generated by Waveform Engines, which you can access in the Editor (Controller Settings > CC Waveform Generator Engines).
Here you can set the Waveform Shape (Sawtooth Up/Down, Triangle, Sine, Square or Random) and the Minimum and Maximum CC values.
Fields
Start/Stop
Choose to start or stop a Waveform Engine.
Engine
Select which Waveform Engine you want to use (access Waveform Engines under Controller Settings).
Once/Perpetual
Determines whether a waveform will run only once or run continuously until told to stop.
Follow MIDI Clock BPM
Determines whether a waveform runs in tempo with the controller's MIDI Clock BPM or independently.
When following MIDI Clock BPM, you can also set the Note Division (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, Triplets etc.)
Cycles Per Minute
Determines the speed/frequency of a Waveform.
Speed Multiplier
Multiplies the speed set in the Cycles Per Minute field.
Reverse Waveform
Reverses the direction of the Waveform.
CC Number
Set the CC number to target your desired effect parameter.
Sequence Generator
Sends a sequence of PC or CC messages with the same number but varying CC values based on what is set in the Sequencer Engine.
Sequencer Engines
Sequences are generated by Sequencer Engines, which you can access in the Editor (Controller Settings > CC Waveform Generator Engines).
Here you can set the Sequence Length (number of steps) and value for each step (PC Number or CC Value).
Send Type
Program Change
When selected, a sequence of PC messages will be sent. The PC number for each step is determined by the selected Sequencer Engine.
__Control Change __
When selected, a sequence of CC messages will be sent. The CC value for each step is determined by the selected Sequencer Engine.
Fields
Start/Stop
Choose to start or stop a Sequencer Engine.
Engine
Select which Sequencer Engine you want to use (access Sequencer Engines under Controller Settings).
Once/Perpetual
Determines whether a sequence will run only once or run continuously until told to stop.
Follow MIDI Clock BPM
Determines whether a sequence runs in tempo with the controller's MIDI Clock BPM or independently.
When following MIDI Clock BPM, you can also set the Note Division (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, Triplets etc.)
Cycles Per Minute
Determines the playback speed of a sequence.
Speed Multiplier
Multiplies the speed set in the Cycles Per Minute field.
CC Number
Only applicable if Control Change send type is selected. Set the CC number to target your desired effect parameter.
Engage Preset
Engages another switch preset in the same or different bank.
Fields
Bank Number
Select the bank from which you want to engage a switch preset.
Preset
Select preset you want to engage.
Action
Select which actions from the selected preset you want to trigger.
Trigger Messages
Trigger messages from other presets within the same bank. This allows you to send more messages than the message limit allows, by utilising unused messages in another preset.
Fields
Trigger Messages From
Select the switch preset that you want to trigger messages from.
Message Checkboxes
Check the boxes of the messages that you want to trigger.
Bank Up and Down
Bank up or down on your Morningstar MIDI controller. Use this if you prefer not to use dual-switch presses to bank up/down.
Bank Change Mode
Puts your Morningstar controller into Bank Change Mode, where you can scroll through banks with dedicated switches and select the bank you want to use.
Bank Jump
Jumps to any bank of your choice.
Fields
Bank Number
Select the bank you want to jump to.
Go to Page
Choose which page within the selected bank you want to jump to.
Ignore Bank Preset on Exit
You may have Bank Preset messages programmed to be executed when you exit your current bank. If you do not wish to execute these messages when jumping out from it, enable this.
Ignore Bank Preset on Enter
You may have Bank Preset messages programmed to be executed when you enter the bank you jump to. If you do not wish to execute these messages when jumping to it, enable this.
Go to Last Used Bank
When enabled, jumps to your last-used bank. (Example: If you bank jumped from Bank 3 to Bank 7, and you use Bank Jump with Last Used Bank enabled, your controller will jump back to Bank 3.)
Last Used Bank Only
Jumps back to page 1 to your last-used bank without considering which page you came from.
Last Used Bank & Page
Jumps back to the last-used page of your last-used bank.
Last Used Bank & Page OR Page
Jumps back to the last-used page without considering which bank you came from. Use this if you want to jump back to the last-used page within the same bank.
Toggle Page
Scrolls through pages within the current bank or jumps to a page of your choice. Choose to page up or down, or jump to a specific page.
Toggle Preset
Toggles a Switch Preset between Positions 1 and 2. Use this if you want to toggle a preset using only a specific action. In the typical Toggle Mode, any action will toggle a preset. This allows you to toggle a preset with an action of your choice.
Set Toggle
Changes the toggle states of selected switch presets within the same bank.
Fields
Device Checkboxes
Check the boxes of the presets you want to affect.
Toggle Positions
Disengage
Checked presets get reset to Toggle position 1. Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Engage
Checked presets get set to Toggle position 2. Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Toggle
Checked presets get set to the opposite toggle position. Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Set Toggle
Checked presets get set to Toggle position 2. Unchecked presets get reset to Toggle Position 1.
Shift
Checked presets get set to the Shift position. Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Shift+
Checked presets get set to the Shift+ position (In the Shift+ position, messages in the current Toggle position + messages in the Shift position will get sent). Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Shift Hold
Checked presets get set to the Shift position and will stay in the Shift position until explicitly Unshifted. Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Unshift
Checked presets get Unshifted. Unchecked presets are unaffected.
Set MIDI Thru
Turns global MIDI Thru on your Morningstar controller On or Off for all ports.
Select Expression Message
Selects which expression MIDI messages from an Expression Preset gets sent. With this, you can send only certain expression MIDI messages and filter out others, allowing a connected expression pedal to perform different functions depending on which footswitch is engaged.
Fields
Expression Input
Select the expression input that your expression pedal is connected to.
Message Checkboxes
Check the boxes of the messages you want to send. Unchecked messages will be filtered out and won't be sent.
Looper Mode
Puts your Morningstar controller in or out of Looper Mode.
What is Looper Mode?
Looper Mode increases the sensitivity of your switches to the maximum, so that messages sent out are instantaneous with no latency. This is useful if you are using your Morningstar controller to control time-sensitive functions such as Record/Play/Stop on a Looper.
Fields
Looper Mode
Choose if you want the switch to Engage or Disengage Looper Mode, or Toggle in and out of Looper Mode.
Disable Looper Mode Message on LCD
When enabled, your controller will not display any visual feedback when you enter or exit Looper Mode.
Focus Mode (MC8 only)
Removes Bank Name, Bank Number, Page Number and Preset Long Name from the display.
Delay
Adds a delay between between messages.
Used when the receiving device is unable to process MIDI messages sent in quick succession fast enough.
Utility
Controls various utility functions.
Functions
Set Message Scroll Counter
If Message Scroll is enabled for a preset, this will cue the selected message to be executed next.
Clear Global Preset Toggles
Resets the toggle states of all presets in all banks to Toggle Position 1 (including those in Toggle and Toggle Reset Groups).
Increase/Decrease MIDI Clock BPM by 1
Increases or decreases the current MIDI Clock BPM by 1.
Set Scroll Counter Values
Resets the toggle states of all presets in all banks to Toggle Position 1 (including those in Toggle and Toggle Reset Groups).
Set MIDI Output Mask
Enable or disable selected MIDI outputs for sending messages. Messages below the Set MIDI Output Mask message will be affected by it. You can also use multiple messages to affect different messages.
In the example below, Msg 2 will send out through the DIN5 MIDI Out only, and Msg 4 through USB MIDI Port 1 only.

Manage Preset Message Scroll
If Message Scroll is enabled for a preset, you can change message scrolling direction and set how many messages each scroll step contains.
Below is an example of how to scroll through 2 messages with each press of the switch.

Set Current Bank Background/Text Color
Changes background and text color for the current bank.
Set Current Preset Background/Text/Strip Color
Changes background, text and strip color for this preset.
Set Selected Preset Background/Text/Strip Color
Changes background, text and strip color for a selected preset.
Preset Rename
Temporarily changes a Preset name. You can choose to rename Short, Toggle, Shift and Long names.
Relay Switching
Controls Relay Ports on the MC6 PRO for relay switching for controlling non-MIDI devices like amps, analog tap inputs, JHS Red Remote etc.
Relay Ports can short Tip to Sleeve, Ring to Sleeve **or **Tip + Ring to Sleeve for 3 unique combinations.
🎬 Watch Relay Switching Tutorial Video.
This message also controls the the Morningstar Omniport Relay Interface if you have one connected to an Omniport on your controller.
Select Relay
Choose the Relay Port you want to control. If you have an Omniport Relay Interface connected, select the Omniport you have it connected to.
Select Tip/ Ring Action
Tap-NO
Momentarily closes then opens the relay, acting as a momentary tap switch.
Tap- NC
Momentarily opens then closes the relay, acting as a momentary tap switch.
Engage
Closes the relay, if relay is set to Normally Open. Opens the relay, if relay is set to Normally Closed.
Disengage
Opens the relay, if relay is set to Normally Open. Closes the relay, if relay is set to Normally Closed.
Toggle
Toggles the relay between Engaged and Disengaged states.
Sync Clock 8 Taps
Sends 8 "taps" in succession, in time with the controller's currently running MIDI Clock BPM. Perfect for syncing delays with analog tap inputs.
Strymon Bank Up and Down
Banks your Strymon Timeline, Möbius and Bigsky up or down.
Fractal Tuner
Engages the tuner on your Fractal device and displays the Fractal tuner readout on your Morningstar controller's screen.
Model
Select the model you want to engage the tuner on. This feature works only for AxeFX III, FM3 and FM9.
- Turn off MIDI Thru on your Fractal device.
- Enable SysEx send on your Fractal device.
- Connect your Fractal device MIDI Out to your Morningstar controller's MIDI In
Fractal Integration
Pulls Preset and Scene names from your Fractal device and displays them on your Morningstar controller's screen. You can then select Presets and Scenes with the corresponding switches.
Model
Select the model you want to engage the tuner on. This feature works only for AxeFX III, FM3 and FM9.
Integration Type
Preset Select
Pulls Preset names from your Fractal device and displays them in running order on your Morningstar controller's screens, starting with your selected preset.
Scene Select
Pulls Scene names from your Fractal device and displays them in running order on your Morningstar controller's screens.
Preset + Scene Select
Pulled Preset names will first be displayed. After a Preset is selected, Scenes for that particular Preset will be displayed and be available for you to select.
Exiting Fractal Integration Mode
Press A+B to exit Fractal Integration mode at any time.
- Connect your Fractal device's MIDI Out to your Morningstar controller's MIDI In
- Connect your Morningstar controller's MIDI Out to the Fractal device's MIDI In
- Disable MIDI THRU on your Morningstar controller to prevent a MIDI loop.
Kemper Tuner
Engages the tuner on the Kemper and displays the Kemper tuner readout on your Morningstar controller's screen.
Morningstar ML10X
A dedicated message that controls the ML10X, for quick and flexible switching.
Type
Set Loops
Selected loops will be engaged, and unselected loops will be bypassed.
Engage Selected Loops
Selected loops will be engaged, and unselected loops will be unchanged.
Bypass Selected Loops
Selected loops will be bypassed, and unselected loops will be unchanged.
Toggle Selected Loops
Selected loops will be toggled to the opposite of their current state, and unselected loops will be unchanged.
Scroll Up/ Down
Scroll up or down through ML10X presets.
Select Preset
Jump to a specified bank and preset.
Device ID
If you are using multiple ML10X switchers, you can assign each one a unique device ID, for independent control over each ML10X.
If Omni is selected, messages will be sent to all Device IDs.
Morningstar ML5R
A dedicated message that controls the ML5R, for quick and flexible switching.
Loop Bypass
No Change
Leaves loop bypass states unchanged. Useful for if you only want to change the order of your effects, but not their bypass states.
Engage Selected Loops
Selected loops will be engaged, and unselected loops will be unchanged.
Bypass Selected Loops
Selected loops will be bypassed, and unselected loops will be unchanged.
Set Selected Loops
Selected loops will be engaged, and unselected loops will be bypassed.
Fields
Loop Order
Set your desired order for the ML5Rs five loops.
Loop Trails
Enable bypass trails for a selected loop so that it's trails will spillover to the next preset.
Device ID
If you are using multiple ML5R switchers, you can assign each one a unique device ID, for independent control over each ML5R.
If Omni is selected, messages will be sent to all Device IDs.
Keystroke
Sends keyboard commands to a USB Host such as a computer, phone or iPad.
Fields
Action
The default selection for this should be Press/Release. This mimics you pressing and releasing a key on your keyboard.
If you want to mimic a key being held down, use Press. However, do make sure you have a Release action you can trigger as well. If you do not, this could hang your receiving device.
Modifier 1 & 2
These are optional, additional keys that are held down before the actual keystroke, such as Cmd, Cntrl, Alt, Shift etc.
Keystrokes
The keyboard commands you would like to send.
PC Scroll Up and Down [Deprecated]
Sends an incremental message each time the preset is activated. There are 16 counters in your Morningstar MIDI controller internal memory. The Select Slot parameter selects one of this counters for your PC Scroll message. Hence, each time the preset is activated, your Morningstar MIDI controller will send a PC message which number is based on that counter. The Increment parameter determines if the counter will be increased each time the preset is engaged. The Lower Limit and Upper Limit parameters lets you set a range where the counter will scroll between.
Let's go through this scenario: If you are trying to scroll through 2 devices (on channel 1 & 2) at the same time with the same preset, first select a counter you want to use. In this example, let's set Select Slot to 1 for Msg1. Increment should be set to Yes, since we want the counter to increase (only for the first message). Thereafter, set your lower and upper limit and channel. For Msg2, select the same slot number as Msg1. Increment should be set to No, since the first message already increased the counter once.
It is possible to display the PC Scroll number in the Preset name by entering a placeholder %E0 to %EF . Since there are 16 slots in the PC Scroll function, %E0 will display the number in the first slot, while %EF will display the number in the 16th slot. %E1 will display the number in the second slot.
The count goes as such: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F
If you use %F, this will offset the counter by 1, so the name will indicate 1-128 instead of 0-127.
Updated on: 25/11/2025
Thank you!
