Dear Anyone.
I've got a bunch of lovely synths that don't have CC7 volume control built-in. Unfortunately, that's the only way I've got of automating volume. So I hunted around and found Blue Cat GAIN Free. It let me set the CC channel to 7 and I thought 'Wonderful, I've hit the jackpot.' BUT....
The control doesn't STAY set. You change the automation and the knob flicks over to the correct new setting - and s-l-o-w-l-y slides back to max. The only way to keep it in the right place is to insert a CC change after literally every note even if it's in exactly the same place. Which is INCREDIBLY laborious. (Imagine a 20 minute piece, tons of notes in it and you're putting in a CC change after EVERY NOTE ON EVERY TRACK!!)
So I downloaded Blue Cat's Remote Control 16. Which is even MORE flamin' frustrating. I've downloaded the demo version. Put one of my uncontrollable synths - Deputy - on Channel One. Set the Remote Control to Channel One On and CC 7 on. And it does.... precisely nothing. Zilcheroonie. It flat don't work!! (I know it's the demo but surely the demo should do SOMETHING, no?) I know it's not the plug in because I used Deputy with the GAIN control and the GAIN control works great apart from the hewge bug that won't let it STAY at the setting you set it at. (If they fix that bug, they're on a winner with that one.)
Does anyone know a plug-in, cheap or free, made by ANYBODY, that works with CC changes so you can get an instrument that doesn't have CC built in and control how loud it is? And have it HOLD THE VOLUME AT THAT LEVEL until you tell it otherwise?
Yours hopefully
Chris.
Someone explain Blue Cat GAIN to an idiot newbie.....
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 4 posts since 19 May, 2018
Just an addendum - I've tried to read the manual but every time I click on 'Manual' in the menu I get 'The requested page number is invalid and doesn't exist in this document'. So OK they can't do manuals, that's why I'm hoping someone here's learned the secret of using the products!!
Chris.
Chris.
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Blue Cat Audio Blue Cat Audio https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39981 - KVRAF
- 5819 posts since 8 Sep, 2004 from Paris (France)
If you have any trouble opening the pdf manual installed with the plug-in, an online version is available here.
Anyways, in case you were using MIDI learn to setup the MIDI CC control, have you deactivated it after MIDI learn? Also, have you made sure multi-instances links are not active? Also it is not clear from your post if you are using automation or MIDI or both.
One more thing: which plug-in format (VST/AU/AXX...) and host application are you using?
Anyways, in case you were using MIDI learn to setup the MIDI CC control, have you deactivated it after MIDI learn? Also, have you made sure multi-instances links are not active? Also it is not clear from your post if you are using automation or MIDI or both.
One more thing: which plug-in format (VST/AU/AXX...) and host application are you using?
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 4 posts since 19 May, 2018
Dear Blue Cat.
Thankyou very much for your answers, sorry it took me so long to find this post. But they've got me more puzzled - remember I'm a noob! - than the original question. Especially 'are you using MIDI or automation....' that bit!
What's the difference? I've got a notation package, you select one instrument per stave and can put up to 4 effects VSTs on each stave. So I choose your GAIN controller and put it on the stave. Everything's controlled via CC7, volume-wise. I thought CC numbers were part OF MIDI, therefore I'm using MIDI to automate, no? I don't understand what the difference between MIDI and automation IS, so I can't answer that part I'm afraid. I put in little blue upright lines and depending on their height, the volume changes (or panning, or balance, or whichever CC control number I'm on in the drop-down list! Which includes all the unassigned numbers, if that helps. So 127 numbers, some assigned to things, many not.)
There's a setting called 'Enable Automation' in your control that's permanently greyed out, though ticked, and I can't find any way to activate it. Anyway. I put in a bunch of test lines and the control works fine. But when I come to actually USING it, and putting in lines for-real to turn the instrument up and down in the piece, it'll suddenly stop working. I've tried putting in the CC change number instead of using MIDI learn but it doesn't make a lot of difference - sometimes it carries on working fine, sometimes it'll suddenly 'die' and when it does that, that's it. You can't make it work again for love nor money, unless you start off a brand new piece in a new file and even then chances are it'll stop working again. It's very, very dodgy.
I'm sorry I don't understand your questions in order to answer them but I don't know what the difference between MIDI and automation IS, I've always used this notation package and it's always used CC numbers to control everything but now VSTs seem to use CC less and less and I flat don't understand how you're supposed to control volume without using CC numbers. (I've had to stop using Omnisphere because of this, believe it or not, something as big as that doesn't do CC changes. WHY!?!?!?!?! (Rhetorical howl at the Gods, that!) If I could use your GAIN control reliably, I could start using Omnisphere again.
Yours hopefully - I'm sending this via your SUPPORT line as well, because you've prob. forgotten all about this by now! -
Chris.
Thankyou very much for your answers, sorry it took me so long to find this post. But they've got me more puzzled - remember I'm a noob! - than the original question. Especially 'are you using MIDI or automation....' that bit!
What's the difference? I've got a notation package, you select one instrument per stave and can put up to 4 effects VSTs on each stave. So I choose your GAIN controller and put it on the stave. Everything's controlled via CC7, volume-wise. I thought CC numbers were part OF MIDI, therefore I'm using MIDI to automate, no? I don't understand what the difference between MIDI and automation IS, so I can't answer that part I'm afraid. I put in little blue upright lines and depending on their height, the volume changes (or panning, or balance, or whichever CC control number I'm on in the drop-down list! Which includes all the unassigned numbers, if that helps. So 127 numbers, some assigned to things, many not.)
There's a setting called 'Enable Automation' in your control that's permanently greyed out, though ticked, and I can't find any way to activate it. Anyway. I put in a bunch of test lines and the control works fine. But when I come to actually USING it, and putting in lines for-real to turn the instrument up and down in the piece, it'll suddenly stop working. I've tried putting in the CC change number instead of using MIDI learn but it doesn't make a lot of difference - sometimes it carries on working fine, sometimes it'll suddenly 'die' and when it does that, that's it. You can't make it work again for love nor money, unless you start off a brand new piece in a new file and even then chances are it'll stop working again. It's very, very dodgy.
I'm sorry I don't understand your questions in order to answer them but I don't know what the difference between MIDI and automation IS, I've always used this notation package and it's always used CC numbers to control everything but now VSTs seem to use CC less and less and I flat don't understand how you're supposed to control volume without using CC numbers. (I've had to stop using Omnisphere because of this, believe it or not, something as big as that doesn't do CC changes. WHY!?!?!?!?! (Rhetorical howl at the Gods, that!) If I could use your GAIN control reliably, I could start using Omnisphere again.
Yours hopefully - I'm sending this via your SUPPORT line as well, because you've prob. forgotten all about this by now! -
Chris.
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Blue Cat Audio Blue Cat Audio https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39981
- KVRAF
- 5819 posts since 8 Sep, 2004 from Paris (France)
In many hosts, automation is not using MIDI - the host controls the plug-ins parameters directly. That's it. Can you maybe tell us what this "notation package" is, so that we can maybe gather more information and find out the issue?
