Tracktion Software

urlwolf · Post by **urlwolf** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:15 pm

Is it possible in tracktion to send midi with typing keyboard (as in FL studio)?
Handy for testing plugins.

dRowAudio · Post by **dRowAudio** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:19 pm

If you select a MIDI input for a track you'll see a MIDI keyboard at the bottom of the properties panel. (You can create a virtual device from the MIDI settings page if you don't have a hardware one connected).
If you click on the keyboard to give it keyboard focus you can then play notes with the qwerty keyboard.

gigazaga · Post by **gigazaga** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:04 pm

urlwolf wrote:Is it possible in tracktion to send midi with typing keyboard (as in FL studio)?
Handy for testing plugins.

If you happen to have the book, the setup for this is explained in Chapter 22 - MIDI Setup, Using a Virtual Keyboard. Here's an expert of the text without the images:

If you don’t have a physical MIDI keyboard, you can use your computer qwerty keyboard to play notes. Here is how to set it up:

1. Go to the Settings tab, MIDI Devices page
2. Click *Create New Virtual MIDI Input*
3. Enter a name such as 'Qwerty Piano' into the *Virtual MIDI device* dialog box
4. Back in your Edit create a track
5. Choose *Qwerty Piano* as the input
6. Notice the piano keyboard along the bottom of the screen. To play the keyboard first click on the any key with the mouse then use keys A,S,D,F,G,H,J,K,L as white keys. The black keys are W, E,T,Y,U,O,P. If you are familiar with MIDI, this lets you play in the a range of C4 to E5.

Tip: Click the 'lock' icon in the upper left corner Properties. This locks the Tracktion keyboard to the Virtual MIDI Piano feature. Also, when attempting to record, it helps to start recording using a keyboard shortcut. If you click record, the qwerty piano loses focus until you click a key on the virtual keyboard.

Note: When you are finished using the virtual keyboard, unlock the Properties section by clicking on the lock icon again. It will stay stuck on the virtual keyboard until you do that.

secretkillerofnames · Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:30 am

Ahhh nice tip!

Peter Widdicombe · Post by **Peter Widdicombe** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:14 pm

Cute - didn't realize you could do that. It mimics the graphic keyboard in T5 as well - although you still can't actually RECORD midi events, it appears - unless maybe it just loses focus when you initiate record...

jabe · Post by **jabe** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:30 pm

Peter Widdicombe wrote:Cute - didn't realize you could do that. It mimics the graphic keyboard in T5 as well - although you still can't actually RECORD midi events, it appears - unless maybe it just loses focus when you initiate record...

Just tried it. The focus remains if the Properties panel is locked, but recording didn't work. I didn't get any sounds and the keys just acted as shortcuts for whatever.

gigazaga · Post by **gigazaga** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 2:57 pm

jabe wrote: Just tried it. The focus remains if the Properties panel is locked, but recording didn't work. I didn't get any sounds and the keys just acted as shortcuts for whatever.

It seems like you need to click any key on the virtual keyboard after clicking Record to get back the qwerty mapping.

If the qwerty keyboard is active and I enter Record using a keyboard shortcut, it works fine.

jabe · Post by **jabe** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 5:17 pm

Thanks, that did the trick!

GraziTheMan · Post by **GraziTheMan** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 7:56 pm

Is there any way to use the keyboard as a midi device to do things other than playing notes? for example, switching between and arming different tracks? couldn't figure out how to do this with macros