Miroslav Philharmonik and key switches/articulations

[Kim Lajoie]

Personally, I find it a huge hassle to have to switch between separate MIDI tracks. It eats up so much time just opening and closing the piano rolls as you experiment with different articulations for any given note, and then once you've got each note in the right articulation, everything is disjointed and you can't make sense of what you've just written.

The "separate MIDI channels on one MIDI track" functionality that eXT and apparently Overture 4 have is great for solving this problem, though - it's just as good or better than key-switching if implemented in a quick-to-use and easy-to-decipher manner. If only most other hosts had it (maybe I should just switch to eXT once and for all... I just find the mixing difficult to come to grips with and get a precise balance)

Most of the "big name" sequencers such as Logic, Cubase and Sonar should have this feature. Really, any sequencer that has a history in (hardware) MIDI should have this.

Which sequencer are you using?

Personally, I use Cubase, and (as well as multiple MIDI channels on one track) it has a feature to open multiple tracks in a single piano-roll window. I can see the current track, with the notes in other tracks visible as "ghosts". Switching to another track is as easy as scrolling the mouse wheel over a menu. I expect the other "big name" sequencers to have similar functionality.

-Kim.

[Caleb]

Personally, I find it a huge hassle to have to switch between separate MIDI tracks. It eats up so much time just opening and closing the piano rolls as you experiment with different articulations for any given note, and then once you've got each note in the right articulation, everything is disjointed and you can't make sense of what you've just written.

Is it that hard really though?
Isn't it just a case of slicing your midi parts and dragging them up and down to different tracks set up for different midi channels/articulations?

I haven't done that much of it myself - but conceptually, it seems easy enough....to me anyway.

And if you have folder tracks it's even better because you can hide the messy screen-hogging view of the articulations quite simply.

Maybe I'm just thinking too eXT-like or something.

Caleb

[michael_maberly]

Well, you could go to an internet cafe for that purpose. They usually got a speed high enough to stream videos.

Thanks, Telebunke. I've thought of that -- will have to check if the little town near here (I'm in a very rural area)has hi-speed or better.
- Michael

[michael_maberly]

I've had KeySwitch for a while (guess I got lucky with the download) and it works fine with Miroslav (and other multi-timbral VSTi:s). No noticeable increase in CPU load.

You will need something like MidiYoke to get the Midi data through KeySwitch and into your host.

/Yoss

Thanks, Yoss! Excuse my ignorance, but could you explain what MidiYoke is, please? Currently, I'm using a simple MidiUno by M-Audio.

Thanks again,
Michael

[michael_maberly]

What sequencer/host will you be using with Miro, michael.

Some sequencers allow you to change midi channels by note or clip which will make it easier to sequence multiple articulations in a single track.

Alternatively you can make of split and drag clip functionality to have what was originally one track quite quickly become several tracks - and if you have any kind of group/folder functionality you can package them all up to take up less space.

To tell you the truth, I'm wondering these days whether keyswitching is actually that much more desirable for sequencing. I can definitely see the value for live playing however.

Caleb

Thanks, Caleb!
I'm using Cubase SX3.1, and will have to look into how/whether it can do these techniques. However, I'm wondering just how labour-intensive these methods might be, given that one can easily have three or more articulations/sample changes per short phrase. Multiply that by hundreds of bars, and

However, I'm completely inexperienced with these methods, so I really appreciate your suggestions!

Thanks again.
- Michael

[michael_maberly]

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... highlight=

Caleb - you beat me to the punch! I was about to do an article about using MIDI channel assignments for individual notes to change articulations!

-Kim.

Pray, continue!

[michael_maberly]

Personally, I find it a huge hassle to have to switch between separate MIDI tracks. . .

The "separate MIDI channels on one MIDI track" functionality that eXT and apparently Overture 4 have is great for solving this problem, though - it's just as good or better than key-switching if implemented in a quick-to-use and easy-to-decipher manner.

Thanks for the feedback, Rellik. Do you have any idea if Cubase SX has this feature?
- Michael

[michael_maberly]

I have the YT keyswitch. Not sure whether I can actually distribute it or not (I'll have to check their site) but if it can be done, I have it - I downloaded it about three months ago.

Doug

That would be dynamite, Doug! If you could let us know what YT says, I'd be eternally grateful!

- Michael

[Yossarian]

I've had KeySwitch for a while (guess I got lucky with the download) and it works fine with Miroslav (and other multi-timbral VSTi:s). No noticeable increase in CPU load.

You will need something like MidiYoke to get the Midi data through KeySwitch and into your host.

/Yoss

Thanks, Yoss! Excuse my ignorance, but could you explain what MidiYoke is, please? Currently, I'm using a simple MidiUno by M-Audio.

Thanks again,
Michael

MidiYoke (from www.midiox.com ) is a piece of software that functions as a virtual multi-port Midi interface. The Midi data that's coming from your Midi controller keyboard and into your Midi interface will then first go through the KeySwitch application where you can control on which Midi channel the Midi data will be re-transmitted (by hitting the corresponding trigger-key on your keyboard, C for channel 1, C# for channel 2 a s o).

You then need to get the Midi data from KeySwitch and into your sequencer and that's where MidiYoke comes in. When it's installed on your computer you have access to a number of virtual Midi ports (MidiYoke 1, MidiYoke 2 a s o). So in KeySwitch you would set the input to your Midi interface, the output to MidiYoke 1and in your sequencer you set the input to MidiYoke 1. Hope that answers your question.

/Yoss

[Kim Lajoie]

I'm using Cubase SX3.1, and will have to look into how/whether it can do these techniques. However, I'm wondering just how labour-intensive these methods might be, given that one can easily have three or more articulations/sample changes per short phrase. Multiply that by hundreds of bars, and

Cubase SX is quite flexible for this kind of work. Take a look at my latest entry in the Philharmonik tips and trick thread for one way of managing articulations.

Another way to do it in Cubase is to use multiple tracks, select (or create) clips on each track, and edit all the clips together in a single piano roll (or other) editor. This isn't quite as flexible as using multiple MIDI channels on a single track, because it's not as simple to switch a note from one track to another.

Having said all that, you should experiment with a few different approaches. Try a few things out, and discover what works best for you.

-Kim.

[michael_maberly]

Cubase SX is quite flexible for this kind of work. Take a look at my latest entry in the Philharmonik tips and trick thread for one way of managing articulations.

Another way to do it in Cubase is to use multiple tracks, select (or create) clips on each track, and edit all the clips together in a single piano roll (or other) editor. This isn't quite as flexible as using multiple MIDI channels on a single track, because it's not as simple to switch a note from one track to another.

Having said all that, you should experiment with a few different approaches. Try a few things out, and discover what works best for you.

-Kim.

Thanks, Kim -- I'll definitely look into these.
- Michael

[michael_maberly]

MidiYoke (from www.midiox.com ) is a piece of software that functions as a virtual multi-port Midi interface. . . Hope that answers your question.
/Yoss

It certainly does! Thanks, Yoss!
- Michael

[Caleb]

Yeah - Cubase should be very powerful for what Kim is talking about Michael. I don't think you can fault tools like that as far as midi editing flexibility go.

Caleb

[dougsyo]

Here's another product that looks like an alternative to keyswitching. I ran across it at FX-Max (the people that make FX-Teleport) website when I was looking for something else.

Perhaps they can be convinced to provide a Miroslav config...

Doug