BobF3 wrote:more clutter (automation lanes I won't be recording)
I'm not sure how it is with other DAWs, but at least in Reaper you don't have to open automation lanes, and you don't have to deal with any clutter. Here's how I do it:
With the Amplitube VST window in focus in Reaper, you just click the gray Reaper Param button at the top right, then hover over FX parameter list, then hover over Parameter modulation/MIDI link, then select, e.g. Param 1, and a window will appear for that parameter.
Check the Link from MIDI or FX parameter checkbox.
Click (none) in the box immediately below.
Hover over MIDI.
Select your incoming MIDI signal (I have always just used a CC for this).
If you have the MIDI signal sent to your track, you'll actually see a green bar appear showing your signal. Play around extensively with the Baseline setting at the top as well as the Offset and Scale, and you can really do anything 7-bit MIDI will allow in Amplitube. I will often set one stomp to send, e.g., CC#0 with a value of 127, then another with CC#0 with a value of 0. But you can set a Note ON/OFF for a momentary (as opposed to latch) control of any parameter. Really, the options are unbelievably extensive. I also love to use Bome MIDI translator, because I think of weird setups and that allows even more powerful controls, although some of that can also be done with the no longer developed (but maybe still available) Insert PIZ Here MIDI control plugins, which I used before I ponied up for the Bome software.
To your point about the Learn feature, if you prefer that, simply select Learn under the Reaper FX Parameter list submenu.
This allows full automation without the extra clutter. Once your settings are set, you can close your Parameter Modulation/Link window to reduce visual clutter further. Just make sure you save this as its own Reaper project, because those automations will only be stored with that project, of course!
Furthermore, Reaper has available the free SWS Extensions, which include "Live Configs," which is another perfectly find option. I used that for a time but ended up just sticking with plain old parameter modulation/link in the end.
You can, e.g., set a CC to control the gain knob on your amp, and with the Baseline, Offset, and Scale knobs set to the correct settings, you can set the gain knob to go from one setting to another without switching presets. Of course this will work with most any parameter on any VST, but I've just found it really fun and useful with Amplitube. Especially since latency is a factor with switching presets, if you're just going back and forth between two amps, e.g., you can use this kind of automation for switching with zero perceptible latency by assigned a CC, e.g., to mute one amp while unmuting the other, where you've used the Number 2, 4, 6, or 7 Signal Routing setup in Amplitube. And of course, if you mainly like to switch between pedals, this is the way to do it with zero perceptible latency, again by avoiding preset switching. Since Amplitube has every pedal and amp model open in your preset constantly, there is no audible click, and it really is as good as it gets for guitar tone MIDI control, in my experience, not just in Amplitube, but in any guitar amp sim.
Enjoy!