human-usable instruments list

[fretski]

Hi

I've been using Zyn for a couple of years in conjunction with Rosegarden. I am continuously working on 50 or so songs while learning guitar. Zyn is GREAT but I have a problem each time that the ZASF plugin package gets upgraded and all the instrument #'s change. At such times I have to load each song into Rosegarden and then spend hours re-assigning the instruments.

The latest package I got with openSUSE 'Tumbleweed' has them up to over a thousand and I can't even find what folder the banks are stored in. Almost all the numbers are different, it's hell.

I don't know how the package is _designed_ to work but Rosegarden sorts the lists by the numbers and not by the names, this makes it very difficult to find a given instrument.

Is there anything I can do to make at least the transition easier? Ideally I'd like to list instruments by name, like so

Guitar Acoustic Nylon
Guitar Acoustic Steel
Guitar Dist. #5
Bass El. Picked
Piano Concert Grand
Piano Saloon

This would allow me to go immediately go to the instrument section in the list where all the variants of that instrument would be found in one place.

TIA

[fundamental]

Does rosegarden support sublists or some similar functionality?
I can see how a giant linear list would be a PITA to deal with.

[fretski]

thanks for responding

I'm 72 and not a developer and wouldn't know. But I took up the topic with the rosegarden devs on that mailing list when the zyn instrument list rose to around 900. The answer I got was just short of arrogant, something to the effect hat 'let the Zyn folk fix their own bugs'. And yes, it *is* a helluva PITA but I once chewed my way through it.

As just recently I upgraded to OpenSUSE-Tumbleweed I almost broke down to cry when I saw that the list had been redone again, this time to over 1100. More, as soon as rosegarden is launched it complains that it cannot find the ZASF plugins, yet when I go to assign a track the ZynAddSubFX synth is right there (maybe not as as plugin, that stuff's over my head).

I'll be happy to poke into whatever might be of help though, limited only by my enviable ignorance

It would be nice if a Guitar.Distorted.5 would after its first appearance always remain listed by that same name with new additions getting their own descriptors as they arrive. My 2 cents.

[fundamental]

Hm, looking at their site they mention LADSPA/DSSI/VST plugin support. Zyn has a plugin version for DSSI and VST with the VST being more fully featured, though their documentation seems pretty sparse about what aspects of those plugins they fully support (VST UIs being an important feature to this discussion).

It's been quite a few years since I've used rosegarden, but last time I used it I recall using the ZynAddSubFX standalone with it.
If you're doing that then you have access to the fltk/ntk UI which compartmentalizes everything into different banks (which are somewhat organized). The 3.0/Zyn-Fusion UI which was recently released takes that another step further and lets you search for things more directly, but either option is a huge improvement over manually going over the list directly.

Have you tried using the standalone version of ZynAddSubFX before?

[fretski]

Yes I am using the standalone as well most times in addition to qSynth and Hydrogen mostly because I had that figured out before how to use the dssi plugin. Other synths I haven't figured out yet. The reason I prefer using plugins (so long as all else remains equal) is that I can set the track volumes all in one place. I take snaps of mixers and things so as to be able to duplicate rosegarden sessions down to a T when I make newer versions of backing tracks with rosegarden.

I mislead you in the other reply, I was using my laptop and rosegarden in that installation complains about not finding the ZASF plugins, this desktop doesn't (both are Tumbleweed). Both show them regardless in the dssi dropdown list and their use is otherwise not problematic.

One of the things I like less in the standalone Zyns is the name lengths, when I consider that in a rosegarden track placard for instance I dispose of only so may visible characters, two yard names don't help

I'm not sure I know what ASTi is, attaching something new with buttons that I spotted:

zyn-rose-ui.png