KVR Audio

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:05 am

I was messing with the FL5 demo and finally figured out how to do basic stuff in it, and understand where it's coming from now ie how you build a song. I still don't like the UI and workflow, but I can now see why many do. Before now, I just thought it was the UI on crack. Now I could see myself warming up to it over time, maybe even making music with it if I tried. But I found one deal breaker for me: only one midi input can be used at a time. Is this true? I have 4 midi devices hooked up at any given time, and would never use a host that didn't support them all. Orion looks to have this same issue.

Also, how is FL for recording live audio?

If I'm wrong about this, let me know.

smart · Post by **smart** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:22 am

I think you can use more than one controller if you use something called midi ox and midi yoke, but i've never done it myself.

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:31 am

smart wrote:I think you can use more than one controller if you use something called midi ox and midi yoke, but i've never done it myself.

I guess you would have to route all your controllers to the same MidiOx channel, but that wouldn't allow you to use different controllers for different synths. Right now in Live, I'll have one keyboard drive one VSTi, another drive another, have my midi guitar drive another, and my control surface control the mix. I can set multiple tracks to record and play a bassline and synth line on two controllers in real time. With MidiOX all the controllers would be coming in the same port, only letting you control one VSTi/channel. And even though FL5 saw my StudioMix and showed it by name, it didn't do anything.

nuisance sonore · Post by **nuisance sonore** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:10 am

Just guessing here, but what if your controllers were set to send at different midi channel, wouldn't that work?

You know, post like theses remind me every time why I love Tracktion so much

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:18 am

Ezy Ryder wrote:Just guessing here, but what if your controllers were set to send at different midi channel, wouldn't that work?

You know, post like theses remind me every time why I love Tracktion so much

And why I love Live too.

I just like to know 'what's up' with all the DAWs and soft studios, and I hated the fact that Fruity was such an enigma to me, especially when some people swear by it. At least I can do all the basic stuff in it now. If I run into someone using fruity I'll be able to relate a bit better from now on.

advaya · Post by **advaya** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:26 am

braj wrote:
Ezy Ryder wrote:Just guessing here, but what if your controllers were set to send at different midi channel, wouldn't that work?

You know, post like theses remind me every time why I love Tracktion so much
And why I love Live too.

I just like to know 'what's up' with all the DAWs and soft studios, and I hated the fact that Fruity was such an enigma to me, especially when some people swear by it. At least I can do all the basic stuff in it now. If I run into someone using fruity I'll be able to relate a bit better from now on.

Heh, you're not alone in thinking FL is a little awkward (especially if your experience is primarily with linear sequencers aka: (Cubase, Reason).

I like the pattern editor or piano roll in FL, but the pattern sequencer seems a little strange to me (I think its the one-row-per-pattern design)... I guess when I think of pattern-based sequencers, Orion's method of pattern sequencing seems to make more sense... a1-a2-a1-a3 etc...

But don't get me wrong here... I think FL is a very solid DAW... I guess I am secretly jealous of those who get its workflow!

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:48 am

WTF! MIDI has 16 channels so you should have no problem at all using 16 different controllers through one MIDI port. I dunno about Fruity but ORION has Easy and Advanced MIDI modes. In Easy the currently selected instrument takes the MIDI input from wherever its coming. In Advanced mode instruments receive MIDI from a specific channel, regardless of whether they have focus or not.

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:02 pm

BONES wrote:WTF! MIDI has 16 channels so you should have no problem at all using 16 different controllers through one MIDI port. I dunno about Fruity but ORION has Easy and Advanced MIDI modes. In Easy the currently selected instrument takes the MIDI input from wherever its coming. In Advanced mode instruments receive MIDI from a specific channel, regardless of whether they have focus or not.

But you'd still have to have them coming in thru a Midiyoke port, at least with Fruity, from what I could tell. I like how other DAWs like Live and Tracktion let you use all ports connected to your system without some external configuration. Especially when you use more than one music app. I don't have to change midi channels on anything this way either. Works beautifully in Live.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:18 pm

Not if the're coming through a single port. You only need shit like that for routing other MIDI on your PC or maybe to wrangle multiple physical ports but that's at least as big a problem in hardware so I admit that it would never occur to me to try to plug more than one MIDI-In into my PC, even if I had more than one port. On top of that, I can't see any reason why you might need to [he says, clutching his trusty PocketMerge in his left hand as he hits the "Submit" button with his right].

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:25 pm

First, if the workflow doesn't suit you, then it doesn't really matter a whole lot about flexibility.

When you say you have four MIDI devices - are they all on one MIDI channel/interface? Or does each have its own interface?

If you string three devices together via MIDI thru - say keyboard->knob box->drum pads->MIDI interface, that counts as "one input" to Fruity, although you have to configure them to not fight with each other (different MIDI channels, different CC's, etc)

If each has its own MIDI interface (ie appears as a separate device in Windows) then you have to do chicanery with MidiOX and MidiYoke, or use some sort of hardware or software MIDI merger.

Producer edition can record audio just fine, although it's not my tool of choice (I also have Sonar 4P and Sound Forge Studio, among other things).

Doug

braj · Post by **braj** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:31 pm

Three midi interfaces, four devices. Prodikeys, Oxygen8, Midisport 2x2. Why I would use two at once? Both the Prodikeys and Oxygen8 are short keyboards, I may want to play bass/solo parts at the same time, recording them simultaneously on different tracks. Anyway, it's academic, I'm happy with Live. I just thought it was limiting to only allow one interface to be active at a time.

Finally 'got' Fruity