Your fave MIDI fx, arp, mapper, mangler, generator, chorder, controller, utility. VST or MFX

[OneOfManyPauls]

I often wonder if MIDI routing in DAWs could be made easier. Having multiple clips on top of each other and routing one to the software instrument and another to an effect like SILO behind it. MIDI triggering effects will be much more common soon, but routing notes from another track works ok in some DAWs and is a PITA in others.

I know this is an old post, but FL's free minihost modular can be a nice way to get away from the shackles of DAW routings for these midi effects. Can just set up the chain inside this plugin and route freely.

https://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic. ... 9&t=123031

[jules99]

That's definitely a way, thanks for that! But it is still a workaround. Why can't I have layers of MIDI clips on a track and simply connect each layer with a different instrument or insert effect on the track? Also speaking of Ableton, why do I have to have two tracks (I know, you posted a workaround) and can't simply insert Forager or Cthulhu before the instrument as a MIDI plug-in?

[UncleAge]

It's daw dependent. Bitwig and Reaper don't have some of the limitations that Live has when it comes to midi.

[OneOfManyPauls]

That's definitely a way, thanks for that! But it is still a workaround. Why can't I have layers of MIDI clips on a track and simply connect each layer with a different instrument or insert effect on the track? Also speaking of Ableton, why do I have to have two tracks (I know, you posted a workaround) and can't simply insert Forager or Cthulhu before the instrument as a MIDI plug-in?

because forager and cthulhu are vst instruments and you can only have one instrument in an ableton track (other than going down the instrument rack route, but that's parallel not serial)

[jules99]

That's definitely a way, thanks for that! But it is still a workaround. Why can't I have layers of MIDI clips on a track and simply connect each layer with a different instrument or insert effect on the track? Also speaking of Ableton, why do I have to have two tracks (I know, you posted a workaround) and can't simply insert Forager or Cthulhu before the instrument as a MIDI plug-in?

because forager and cthulhu are vst instruments and you can only have one instrument in an ableton track (other than going down the instrument rack route, but that's parallel not serial)

And yet in DAWs like Logic or Bitwig, this works. In Live, it does work with M4L midi devices, but not with external plug-ins. Which is frustrating. And a limitation that does not make sense, given that it works in other DAWs.

Edit: And yes, I do know that this is simply the way Ableton Live works. But it makes working with MIDI plug-ins tedious. Unnecessarily tedious.

It's daw dependent. Bitwig and Reaper don't have some of the limitations that Live has when it comes to midi.

Good call! At least the MIDI plug-ins do work. I couldn't find a way in Bitwig to have separate MIDI clips in the same track going to different plug-ins on that track.

Here is what I'm trying to do:
There is Cthulhu triggering Omnisphere and an instance of Minimal Audio Rift as an audio effect after that. In Rift the pitch of the resonance of the filter can be set and changed with midi notes. Sure, I can use a second empty midi track and route it to Rift, but then I'm back where I started.

I'm not aware of a way to have one midi clip sending notes to Cthulhu which arpeggiates them to Omnisphere and a second midi clip sending different notes to Rift. Both on the same track. And have a simple way to switch between them. If this is possible in either Bitwig or Reaper I'd love to know!

[WatchTheGuitar]

Personally would say multiple tracks are better than combining everything even if you could get it to work because with distinct tracks you can see the generated MIDI on a per instrument basis rather than the melange you inevitably get on one track

[gondii]

Personally would say multiple tracks are better than combining everything even if you could get it to work because with distinct tracks you can see the generated MIDI on a per instrument basis rather than the melange you inevitably get on one track

If I wanted to get the midi data from any point in the chain, I'd just route it out from there. But typically I just want the end result printed as midi, not the various stages. I find the midi/audio routing and chaining of midi devices in Bitwig so incredibly useful, definitely a step up from Live in my opinion. And if for some reason I want to go through different tracks triggering different midi, then I still have the option to do that just like in Live.

On an unrelated now, Orb Producer Suite 3 just dropped, checking it out now.

[BluesMuse]

Freebie from AudioModern. Not tried it yet (downloading now!)


Our Brand New Creative Gate Sequencer

Gatelab is Here! (and it's free)

We're thrilled to announce that our new gate sequencer plugin is now available! ..and it's awesome.

a modern sequencer, volume Modulation generator and beyond..

Gatelab randomizes a unique combination of parameters and is delivering endless rhythmic effects. It can also send MIDI data, giving it the ability to randomize parameters in other plug-ins.

https://audiomodern.com/free/

[BluesMuse]

A bit more info on the MIDI data provided by AudioModern's free Gatelab. My quick take- auto-generate midi data for two parameters (stereo). I use Bitwig modulators for this kind of thing, so not much here for me, but some might find it useful. Clearly the bulk of functionality is directed at fiddling with audio as an FX plug-in.

From the manual:
(apology for the formatting- PDF grab)

MIDI Control
Set your Instrument's MIDI input to "Gatelab" in order to be able to receive the MIDI
messages that Gatelab sends.
Gatelab can send out 2 MIDI Channels, that can control different instruments or audio
effects within your project. Click the "MIDI" Button to open the MIDI Options tab
MIDI Channel No.1 and MIDI Channel No.2 correspond to the 2 MIDI Channels Gatelab has
in Stereo mode. The steps of each channel, send MIDI information to another instrument,
or another effect within your project.
Turn the MIDI Channel ON
Select which message Gatelab will send out
Set the MIDI Input of any of the parameters within your instrument or effect, to be the same as Gatelab (CC3)
Adjust the minimum and maximum values that the messages will be sending out:
Reset to default

[nonstatic]

Can anyone who regularly uses Harvest confirm that it does *not* have swing/shuffle? I love the concept of the plugin but this is an essential feature for me and I don't see any mention of it in the manual.

[OneOfManyPauls]

No swing, but there is a humanize effect to loosen things up a bit - it can be triggered via host automation too (param #33) for continuous variation.

[Tj Shredder]

Good call! At least the MIDI plug-ins do work. I couldn't find a way in Bitwig to have separate MIDI clips in the same track going to different plug-ins on that track.

Here is what I'm trying to do:
There is Cthulhu triggering Omnisphere and an instance of Minimal Audio Rift as an audio effect after that. In Rift the pitch of the resonance of the filter can be set and changed with midi notes. Sure, I can use a second empty midi track and route it to Rift, but then I'm back where I started.

I'm not aware of a way to have one midi clip sending notes to Cthulhu which arpeggiates them to Omnisphere and a second midi clip sending different notes to Rift. Both on the same track. And have a simple way to switch between them. If this is possible in either Bitwig or Reaper I'd love to know!

That is actually pretty easy, the secret tool is called „note receiver“. One placed before Omnisphere, and one placed before Rift while blocking whatever was sent to Omnisphere…
In each you define to which clip they should listen to…
Of course there is no DAW in the world which would play two clips at the same time on the same track. If you wanted to play them one after another and switch destinations, let them send on different Midi channels, but I guess its easier to give them separate tracks…

[briefcasemanx]

Is there a midi arp that does negative octaves? Every arp it seems the octaves travel upwards in pitch. Note that I'm *not* talking about the notes in a chord, which can go up, down, or up/down in most arps.

[OneOfManyPauls]

ableton's built in arp does that - just set the distance to -12st and the steps for how many octaves you want it to cycle down.

Likewise cubase arpache sx - set transpose to a downward slope, pitch shift to 12 and repeats for number of downward cycles

With phrasebox you can enter the chord note number(s) per step, and the octave offset, so you could manually enter a repeating arp pattern and have it drop down an octave for each iteration. same deal with cthulhu's octave page and chord potion.

[borisdes]

A very exciting arpeggiator that can also do this is molecular by mididope (unfortunately only ableton m4l).