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Biotron is simple on the surface: plug in a plant, open settings.playtronica.com, and everything reacts immediately and dynamically.

But this interface is only the entry level.

Biotron Advanced is where you shape the device like a true instrument — using MIDI CC (knobs, faders, DAW automation) for expressive performance control, and SysEx for deep configuration, preset management, and firmware-level commands.

This document explains how to play the algorithm, not just configure it.

🎛️ Why MIDI CC?

A MIDI controller with knobs and faders turns Biotron into a physical, performable instrument:

• You move multiple parameters at once
• You sculpt the plant’s behavior continuously, not step-by-step
• You can respond instantly to the plant, the room, the crowd
• CC works with DAWs, hardware controllers, automation, foot pedals, sequencers

Where the web app is a control panel, CC is performative expression.

🎚️ CC Workflows: Real-Time Performance Control

1. Playing the Music Engine

Map knobs to these core musical parameters:

• Scale / Key
• Note Length
• Probability (density)
• Velocity

As you turn knobs:

• The music shifts key or mood
• Textures go from percussive → droning
• Density changes from sparse → busy
• Intensity swells dynamically

This is conducting the plant.

2. Shaping Sensor Behavior

Assign faders to Biotron’s sensor logic:

• Sensitivity (how reactive the plant is)
• Threshold (how much change triggers a note)
• Smoothing (jitter vs stability)

Workflow example:

1. Start with low sensitivity → only intentional touches trigger notes
2. Slowly raise sensitivity → subtle micro-movements become music
3. Add smoothing → create meditative slow shifts
4. Reduce smoothing → glitchy fast detail

You’re sculpting the interpretation of biological signals.

3. Studio Automation

In a DAW (Ableton / Bitwig / Logic):

• Automate scale for harmonic transitions
• Automate probability for build-ups
• Automate note length for texture evolution
• Automate velocity to mix Biotron’s MIDI output dynamically

Biotron becomes a MIDI-generating synth module driven by automation.

4. Installations

For galleries, museums, and interactive rooms:

• Lower sensitivity during busy hours
• Raise probability at night
• Change scale throughout the day
• Add smoothing for calm nighttime ambience
• Load specific moods via SysEx presets

This makes Biotron adaptive to changing environments.

🧬 SysEx: Deep Configuration Layer

What SysEx Is

SysEx (“System Exclusive”) is Biotron’s device-specific command language.

It lets you perform actions beyond CC and beyond the web interface.

A SysEx message looks like:

F0 7D <device-id> <command> <value> F7

Documentation in firmware:

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/tree/main/src

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/blob/main/src/midi/SysexService.cpp

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/blob/main/src/midi/SysexProcessorType.cpp

Why SysEx Matters

SysEx is for structural changes, not performance.

✔ Save & Load Presets

SysEx can dump or load Biotron’s entire internal configuration — including scale, thresholds, velocity map, channels, smoothing, and more.

Perfect for:

• Multiple plant profiles
• Tour setups
• Installation presets
• Backups

GitHub parameter structures:

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/blob/main/src/midi/SettingsDescription.h

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/blob/main/src/settings/Settings.h

✔ Remote Control in Installations

SysEx lets curators or technicians control Biotron without touching it:

• Reset nightly
• Load morning preset
• Load “busy hours” preset
• Change personality between events

Biotron becomes a managed instrument.

✔ Developer Mode

SysEx exposes Biotron’s full config structures, so you can build:

• Your own Biotron editor
• A preset librarian
• Software that adapts Biotron to other sensors
• Time-based or generative configuration systems

It becomes an API for the hardware.

✔ Firmware Operations

SysEx handles:

• Firmware update handshake
• Entering bootloader mode
• Restoring factory defaults

Safer and more precise than physical button resets.

Firmware SysEx handlers:

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/blob/main/src/midi/SysexService.cpp

⚙️ SysEx Example Workflows

1. Plant Profiles

Create multiple configurations:

• “Calm Ambient”
• “High Energy”
• “Kids Mode”
• “Dark Mode”
• “Light-only Mode”

Switch between them via SysEx instantly.

2. Auto-Reset for Installations

Set a daily schedule:

1. At 22:00: SysEx factory reset
2. At 22:01: Load “Night Preset”
3. At 10:00: Load “Day Preset”

Biotron stays clean, consistent, and expressive.

3. Hybrid Setup: CC + SysEx

• CC → expressive performance control
• SysEx → preset switching, structural mood shifts

This is how advanced Playtronica installations operate.

📘 Reference Tables

🎛️ CC Parameters

(Check firmware for updates:)

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/tree/main/src/midi

🧬 SysEx Commands

(Handlers in firmware:)

🔗 https://github.com/Playtronica/biotron-firmware/blob/main/src/midi/SysexService.cpp

🧩

CC vs SysEx (Quick Summary)

Together they unlock full expressive control of Biotron.

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