I'm using the Spitfire Labs instrument plugins in GarageBand and would like to use a fader or expression pedal to alter the dynamics of the virtual instrument in real time as I record it. The Labs instrument says it can be controlled with a midi controller on CC 1 (which would be a mod wheel on a keyboard). However I don't have a keyboard with a mod wheel to test this. When you open the smart controls window for the virtual instrument there are "knobs" that let you control the virtual instrument, but you have to move them with the mouse. Is there a way to set a midi controller to move these? or is Garage Band hopelessly dumb in this regard?

Hi Doc - AFAICT there's no way to assign MIDI CCs to specific controls in GB. The Smart Controls pane in GB is a simplified version of that feature in Logic -- there you'd find an Inspector panel with an option for assigning external MIDI controls, but it's not present in GB. GB Instruments will respond to some external MIDI CC controls -- for example, the B3 switches Leslie speeds in response to CC64, and the drawbars morph between different preset settings in response to CC1. But I don't see any way to assign or reassign external CCs to other knobs/controls, as in Logic. FWIW, here's a video [from one of our courses] that shows how it's done in Logic..

Thanks, Joe A, for your reply. I was afraid that I was pursuing a lost cause. I was hoping one of those CC messages could be "learned" by the plugin and bypass GB.

Hi Doc - Actually, if the plug-in offers its own direct way to assign external MIDI controllers [that doesn't depend on the DAW] that should work in GB -- I tried it with Falcon [where you can right-click on a parameter within the plug-in window and assign an external MIDI control message] and it worked fine in GB. I can't say if Spitfire's Instruments offer that feature, but if they do I don't see why it wouldn't also work fine in GB..