Rapid Composer Key Switch editing new utility!

[BluGenes]

I am happy to announce that this utility will be released very soon as a beta! The utility makes it possible to create articulation control files very easily for use with RC. You no longer will have to edit the control file manually!

At the moment, and this will change, it is only available as a stand alone Windows app. Mac will be available not long after. A VST version is possible, but, maybe at a later time.

The video here, is more or less a rough idea of how it works, and this is the alpha version and things will change by the time the beta is released.

Also, note, I wrote this app, not Atilla, so, please don't bother him with questions, etc..

It will be a free app, so, no worries there.. please, any thoughts welcome! I am still tweaking the "work flow" and fixing bugs..

I call it R-Tic pretty much a play on the word Articulation..

[musicdevelopments]

Amazing name... I have always been bad at naming things, as you can tell...
Can't wait for the release!

Thanks, BluGenes!
Attila

[BluGenes]

When it comes to naming things, that is the one thing that get's my wife agitated.. lol.. I rename stuff just to rename stuff, like, the automatic dish washer tablets or what ever, I call them biscuits.. the TV remote, it's the clicker.. drives her nuts..

anyways, since that video I fixed some bugs, mainly the keys that were being painted wrong, etc. I also added a "midi record" so that when you click on the VST, the utility is updated with the key press/click. Works with any device that is used for the input.

I think that all I need now to get a release out, is finish the edit stuff. The reason I mention this is, I do want to keep the spirit of "Rapid" about this, so, I need to plan it a little bit more, using what I have already as the guide. From that, I can design a "batch" system and probably a "dictionary" system to make creating/editing fast. As an example of what would be in a "dictionary" would be instruments that may have the same "style" articulation, for example, "Sustain ff". Would save typing time, etc. Storing that and presenting that to the user in some way needs to be designed..

this is a pic of the midi record at work..

[BluGenes]

OK, so here is an update video kind of showing the direction I am going for editing.. Nothing is set in stone, so to speak.. If you think it could be improved, please let me know! Of course, not quite finished, but getting there..

[BluGenes]

great news, almost finished! I just have to clean some stuff up, but, basically, I have a working version.

In the next few days, I will have a beta version available.. (unless something is discovered, of course, that needs to be fixed) so stay tuned!

This is a screen shot of the edit work flow I decided to go with. I think this is kind of self explanatory, should be able create new sets pretty fast..

[lulukom]

It's very cool that you are doing something for the RС! But perhaps you will tell in more detail what it is and how and for what it is used? (Maybe I missed something?)

[BluGenes]

It's very cool that you are doing something for the RС! But perhaps you will tell in more detail what it is and how and for what it is used? (Maybe I missed something?)

Well, it's really a cool feature that RC has that no one really uses, because, it's not easy to make it work, because it requires a text file that you would need to create.

Some VST instruments have "articulations" and these are just notes reserved to turn them on or off to use them. All an articulation is, is having that instrument perform that instrument differently.

As an example, you could have a violin play as "sustain", ya know long notes, or the same instrument play as "staccato", short notes.

On a midi keyboard, if the sustain articulation is assigned to C1, you would press the C1 key and all notes from that point would be played as "sustain".

If the "staccato" was assigned to D1, then, when that key is pressed, it would play as "staccato".

Bonus info: This is based on the instruments playable range. All that means is, that a VST instrument _may_ only plays notes in a given range on the piano roll. Usually, they are assigned logically, were bass notes would be low range on the piano roll, violins more to the middle, or flutes or piccolo's, etc., higher.

So, depending on what the playable range is, may determine the key range for the articulations. Or better explained, if it were "flutes" were at the far right of the piano roll, so would the articulation notes be..

So, in a phrase, you could assign notes to do just that, what ever notes you wanted. Maybe it is a melody, the 1st 4 notes staccato, the last 2 could be sustain and so forth.

The phrase would play back using those notes to turn on and off the articulations. You enter these articulations notes in the phrase editor of RC. Just select a note and you would see the drop down to assign an articulation located in the note inspector.

All an articulation control file is, that RC uses, is a text file. Which is called a "controller set".

You set the "controller set" in the RC track inspector. Most of the time, when you add a VST to RC, you choose "general midi" for the controller set.

The "general midi" controller set just has the CC info that is general basic settings for velocity, modulation, stuff like that. It is the information you see when you change or add CC info in RC via the track inspector.

With articulations, it's the same info as "general midi", but, with the names and notes of the articulations added.

You can look at the general midi file with note pad on Windows or a text editor for your OS. But, be careful, it has to be done with an editor that reads and writes plain text. It can not have any formatting characters in it, or, it will not work in RC. Then, if you opened a different controller set (files ending .rcCTRL), you would see the difference. ( also note that the way the file looks is important as well, for instance, the line space between groups of instruments has a meaning in RC)

R-Tic allows you to create that text file using a UI, so, you don't need to know anything about the file structure. You can connect a stand alone VST to R-tic and capture the notes you need and assign them to articulations for RC to use. ( I wrote this app with Kontact in mind )

I had made a video a while back on how to edit that text control file, if, you would rather not try looking at that file on your own. The video explains it a bit further and shows just how tedious it really is doing it that way..

As an example, load RC and load the Philharmoik 2 CE control file on a track, even if you don't have the VST. (This file is installed with RC, you would have to buy the VST from Ik Multimedia, of course, to use the VST, but, you don't need the VST to see the control file in RC)

It has 62 instruments, and each instruments has it own set of articulations in that one file. It took me about 3 weeks to create that control file, manually.

[BluGenes]

I edited the above post to make things clearer and added more RC info on how to assign the notes in RC.

[lulukom]

Thanks a lot for the explanation, it's really interesting!

[BluGenes]

Also, note too, I will only have a Windows version at first. A Mac version will be available not long after it gets released..

Plus, I am now finding things that need to be addressed at the last minute.. so, trying to fix that stuff now.

[BluGenes]

Ok, so, it's finished! Atilla has the release version, so, how and when it's all up to him..

screen shot and then, watch the video as it's pretty easy to use, but, some things may not be obvious with the work flow..





enjoy!
Gene

[BluGenes]

and it is delayed.. Atilla found a bug I need to fix, so, back at it..

[BluGenes]

Ok, so the bugs squashed and all.. I am almost finished with some new stuff as well.. This wouldn't be a complete editor without the ability to also have "change control" information. So, I am adding this in..

All change control is, is the ability to set a note in your composition to have your VST change a performance value. This wouldn't be a "key switch note", but, and actual note in your performance.
You would assign the articulation just like for a key switch note, to the performance note.

All this means is, it can temporarily add some sort of "nuance" to the play back of that instrument on that note. An example would be a key click sound, or air flow noise, or maybe a flutter with a flute. You would have to consult the documentation for your VST to see what is offered.

With that, it is possible to have an articulation that doesn't use a note key. This is what I am addressing at the moment.

This is what the new stuff looks like...

[lulukom]

[BluGenes]

hey all.. just an update on what is what with R-Tic.. Well, I added something that wasn't really planned, but, decided it was really needed.. Now there is the ability to add custom CC lanes to tracks in RC, based on your VST instrument of choice.

What this means, is, with your VST, listed in the usage manual, should be a listing of CC "numbers" and what they can trigger for your VST. (This is actually known as "Continuous Change")..

You should already be familiar with the "standard" ones, like, Expression, Modulation, Velocity, etc.

Well, you may be able to actually do more than just the "standard" ones. Using Garritan Jazz and Big Band VST as an example, in the documentation, it says that CC 18 is used to make trumpet instruments use a flutter-tongue effect on the note being played.

R-Tic supports Articulations and now CC lanes, so, in the example instrument above, I can now set an Articulation AND a CC lane for that effect.

And just so you understand, an Articulation can be a Key Switch (note number) OR a CC number and value, OR BOTH at the same time..

So, pictures help here..

This is the JAbb Trumpet and the Articulations set



This is what a default, nothing set yet, set of CC's you would first see in R-TIC..



This is what you enter for enabling the effect for the Flutter Tongue...



And when that is saved, this is what you would see in Rapid Composer..



So, that is were I am so far.. Doing some clean up on it and then I will personally test it, before it goes any where.. of course..