FR - Extra options for MIDI export

[ceenda]

At the moment, if you have, say, 5 different MIDI tracks, all outputting to different VSTi, the chances are you're going to stick with Midi Channel 1 for each of them, or at least end up using a similar midi channel for 1 VSTi as you're using on other, completely seperate VSTi.

One of the great things about Tracktion is that you can have MIDI clips with different channels all on the same MIDI track.

However, this ends up being tricky for MIDI export.

In the previous scenario, when importing the MIDI file, you'll end up with 1 midi track with all the channel 1 data super-imposed over itself. This means the note data for all your seperate synth tracks might be all stuck together.

Couple of FRs:

1 - An option to render MIDI files on a 'per track' basis, so what you import looks similar to what you export. Obviously, this would have to strip the channel info out of the midi clips, but it's not to hard to set it up again in the other app.

2 - Track names. In a Tracktion edit I usually name all the tracks, "Drums", "Bass Guitar", etc. etc. It would be nice to have these exported as well.

3 - MusicXML export. Okay... maybe I've taken that too far...

And a couple of BRs...

1 - Has anyone had problems with Time Signature changes not being recognised from Tracktion MIDI exports in other applications?

2 - The new option that appeared in T2, "pass midi data through filters", always seems to result in no midi file actually being created.

[Lunch Money]

For #1, you could always 'merge' your MIDI clips, no? Or if you render the track, you ARE doing it on a 'per track' basis...! Or am I not understanding what you need?

Here's what I imagine: you have done things so that you have 5 separate MIDI clips for, say, drums. Then you've overlapped them in one track and are sending them all to your drum machine. You want to be able to export so that all 5 clips appear as one clip now. Isn't that the current behaviour? If not, just 'merge' them first.

#2 would be cool. A system of parsing exported filenames the same way that you can auto-name newly recorded audio material would be cool.

#3 I don't know what that is. Time to hit Google.

BRs--

1- Sorry, can't comment; never tried before
2- Yes, I've noticed that whenever your MIDI goes through a filter that is an audio effect, the MIDI 'chain' stops there. I've always assumed it was a function of passing through audio, since what the render feature mostly refers to is plug-ins that may end up altering the MIDI data. If you can point me to a plug-in that changes ONLY the MIDI data, I'll give it a try and see if it does the same thing.

Either way, it still seems to be to be a 'bug', but I never think of it. I mean, it SHOULD still pass through all the MIDI data completely unaffected if you don't have any MIDI-changing plug-ins and just produce an export that's identical to the clip that's in your track.

Greg

[ceenda]

Hi Greg, I didn't explain #1 very well.

Imagine you have a 30-track edit with 30 different VSTs. When you export a MIDI file, you're going to have a song with 16 tracks (or less). Doesn't matter how big your edit is, if it's larger than 16 (17 tracks, 30 tracks, 100 tracks), Tracktion is still going to resolve your entire edit in terms of MIDI channels, of which you only have a choice of 16.

There's no limitation in MIDI that says it has to be that way. There's nothing to stop Tracktion taking a MIDI 1 clip pointing at SFZ on one track and a MIDI 1 clip pointing to Absynth on another track and writing them out as completely seperate tracks.

What Tracktion is doing (at the moment), is looking through the midi clips of your entire edit and grouping them together in terms of MIDI channel. It doesn't care that 4 seperate "MIDI Channel 1" clips might be pointing to 4 different VSTs (sfz, absynth, triangle I, eXT) on totally seperate tracks. It just looks at the clips on the timeline, grabs the notes and sticks them all in a single "midi channel 1" track.

In a MIDI file, a single track can make reference to 16 different channels in that one track, so I don't really know why Tracktion does things the way it does. Either way, it explains why it's not writing out the Track names as well.

About #3, I'm just being silly. It's an XML form of music representation.

[Lunch Money]

Ah, so you want to resolved/render the various MIDI of the entire EDIT! Now I see the issue.

Greg

[IIRs]

There's no limitation in MIDI that says it has to be that way.

Well there is, sort of.. Tracktion renders "type 0" MIDI files which are restricted to just one track, so the only way to keep data seperate is to use distinct channels, which does limit you to 16.

"Type 1" MIDI files allow multiple tracks, with 16 channels each.. but Tracktion doesn't export these.

Would the "render each track to a seperate file" option not do?

[ceenda]

IIRS: Aha, that makes sense! Didn't know it was just MIDI 0 export.

I think an FR for MIDI 1 export would be the best option.

The "render each track to a seperate file" works, though some apps won't let you import individual midi files as tracks, instead loading them as entire sessions in themselves.