Mark,
I do not have a tutorial and it would take hours for me to make one......
Anyway, I suggest you start by getting a hold on the MIDI implementation specs of the device you target.
Does it use MIDI CC's (or even RPN/NRPN) or also SysEx? Does it support dumps for presets (programs) for all parameters at once?
The Venom fortunately has a good MIDI implementation and documentation.
It uses MIDI SysEx for full-parameter dumps, in both directions: you can load an entire preset "sending" a SysEx dump and you can "receive" a full preset from the onboard synth by requesting such dump. Further single parameters can be updated individually by using MIDI CC (and NRPN) combinations. This is quite classic in the hardware synth world, many synths employ this approach or variations of it.
In the Max for Live case the only special trick is that Live filters MIDI SysEx out. You can't send or receive them.
**BUT** you can work this around in a couple of ways. The trick I used is having OSC (udpsend / udpreceive) between the Max for Live patch and a Max patch (running in Runtime, which you have if you have M4L, and does not require a Max license). In the M4L patch I generate SysEx "strings", send them to the Max patch (Runtime) via OSC and then there, in the Max (Runtime) send the SysEx out. If the device supports dump requests, I do the opposite. Get the dump (which is a SysEx) in the Max Patch (Runtime) and send this as a string to M4L, where I can decode it.
A partial example could be this editor for the Roland Juno106 I co-made with Neil Bufkin:
http://www.maxforlive.com/library/device.php?id=220
There you can see that SysEx dumps are made from the M4L device to the synth, using the Max Patch (in Runtime) to be able to send SysEx out of Live.
At the end it is a matter of understanding the mechanisms and getting some programming done, which will cost time to master.
But is perfectly do-a-ble. Once you get this in place, you will be able to make a consistent editor for any synth which supports MIDI SysEx and CC's combinations.
About the other questions:
- There is no external in use, just standard M4L and Max.
- The Lite version does not make use of SysEx, only CC's and does not do any sync with the synthesizer (therefore it is "Lite").
Good Luck,
Fabrizio
