William and Luigi, I don't know how you feel about this but would like to have your thoughts when you have some time to reply... ok here goes:
I've noticed this in Cubase SX but it may well apply to other apps.
Lets say you have a midi file in a track, and are using one of the great vsti's from dashsignature [and they are GREAT!]
Then lets say, you open the List View for that midi file, and insert a few Program Change events. These can be simply thought of as patch changes. What they should do is change the patch for the VSTi at a given time in the midi track... and that works just fine. It's a 'little' tricky to enter these changes, since you can only enter a patch number... not a name... and in many VSTi's there is not a number listed... only a name... so you have to do some manual counting and then test to make sure the desired patch plays at the time you wish.
What does NOT seem to work with these VSTi's is that the name for the currently running patch does not change in the Cubase SX 'patch info field'... the info section at the left side of the actually midi track... [you know... where you set what VSTi, etc. is connected to that midi track.]
It would really be much more friendly IF the patch name DID change, as then you could more easily see if the number you have used truely calls up the right patch change at the right time. See????
Now don't get me wrong... I'm not saying DashSignature VSTi's are the only ones to not handle this as it 'could' be... many other VSTi's don't do it either.... but it can be done and there are some that do include this feature.
If you wish to test this with a VSTi that does include it, I might suggest a free one, Crystal 2.4 VSTi, which you can get from:
http://www.greenoaks.com
Also, since entering the Program Changes into a midi file in Cubase SX is 'somewhat less' than intuitive, I'll try to make a very simple one that you can download to test with.
I'll be back.
thanks for any thoughts
OK hopefully you can download this zip file... which contains a very dumb and simple midi file. It has 3 program changes, which should change the patch for whatever VSTi is assigned to it [IF the VSTi allows for this]
So, load it into Cubase SX or Whatever ... after each set of repeating notes a patch change occurs... IF you assign Crystal VSTi to this file, you will see the patch names change as well as hear them change... If you assign, say daAlpha2, you will hear the change but will NOT see the patch name change. The Program or Patch changes should trigger whatever are the first three patches for a VSTi.
To grab the zip'd midi file go here and click the link for TEST Three Midi File
http://home.comcast.net/~hopi/index.html
[I KNOW it's a dumbass file... but dumb makes testing this point clear
]
