Plugins Not Working in Waveform

[granolaalex]

I am a complete beginner to using a DAW. I have managed to figure out how to get a MIDI input and output, and have a program with a soundfont attached to it, however any plugins I put in (guitar, bass, etc.) don't change the instrument and leave it as a piano. I want to use the soundfont to make a short theme but I can't seem to make it into anything except a piano.

[mikoatkvr]

Hi, what is the soundfont player you are using and it might shed more light on the problem
? I haven't used soundfonts in a long time so I forget the MIDI spec of the SF2/SFZ format.
IIRC You have banks and patches ( e.g piano violin etc ) in some multi sample SF2, maybe your SF2 file is only piano? Maybe something is locking it to the piano channel like an automation track that is baked in, for example a MIDI file could have this or maybe you are starting from a new MIDI track? As i say I'm not too sure of how SF2 works tho.

[mikoatkvr]

Ah just read your issue ( properly this time ) again, I think I know what is going on, Waveform is using a builtin MIDI piano the way it works on previewing samples from Waveforms browser. Are you sure you actually have these soundfonts and the instrument is not just showing the general MIDI spec that was used in older soundcards?

[Peter Widdicombe]

Yeah, nature of the MIDI track, player, and how you've selected the patch can prove frustrating. Piano tends to be the first instrument; or the instrument that plays on midi channel 0. Soundfont player, Soundfont itself, and method of selecting the patch you want are all key.

Setting the patch IN the player itself tends to work best for most.

SOME (very few) work by selecting the VST on the right, then input on the left, and then changing the patch in the properties panel at the bottom center - typically for those that don't have a patch browser in their own GUI. Use the Gui of the Soundfont player will be more logical and work.

[granolaalex]

Ah just read your issue ( properly this time ) again, I think I know what is going on, Waveform is using a builtin MIDI piano the way it works on previewing samples from Waveforms browser. Are you sure you actually have these soundfonts and the instrument is not just showing the general MIDI spec that was used in older soundcards?

Well even without using the soundfont, just using the built in plugins like guitar, it still doesn't work the way it is meant to

[jabe]

Could you get some screen shots and post them?

[pough]

I'm sorry but it seems like you are using different terms than we expect and it's making it difficult to work out what you're doing. I get the impression you are using the word "program" where we would use "plugin" and "plugin" where we would use "preset".

Examples of instrument plugins are Multi Sampler, 4OSC, or Collective. All of those have presets that you can choose. For example Multi Sampler has drum, organ, piano and guitar presets. 4OSC has a number of synth presets. Collective has a lot of everything. All of those plugins load a single preset.

It would be very helpful to know which plugins you are trying to use because they can behave very differently. For example, a 3rd party plugin like Kontakt or sforzando can load more than one preset and allow you to play them using different MIDI channels. They can also have multiple outputs, which will require you to use a Rack to set the correct outputs to tracks.

It would also help us to know if you are using the free or pro version of Waveform because they have different stock plugins.

[Peter Widdicombe]

We still don't know what soundfont player you are using, nor the soundfont package, so hard to help you there.

Meanwhile, try using 4OSC, which I believe is included in the free version of Waveform. It has a number of good pre-built patchess, and patch selection works properly. Not all are great, but it is a fairly capable synthesizer.

No guitar in there, but try the following in 4OSC:
Strings WMF
Section 2
Basic Bass
Don't Fret
Rubber Basee
Soft Brass
Tonewheel WMF

Also, as a starter, K1v_x64 is a free version of a Kawai K1 which will give you lots of stuff to use as a starter pack. IT has lots of "ROMPLER" sampled and synthesized electric, accoustic, 12-string patches, as probably sounds much like the old K1 did. IT does have a somewhat unique (but large) patch library arranged in pages, like the old patch-cards, so don't miss out and only use stuff on the first page of that VST. Something like 24 banks with 32 patches in each, although a lot of useless stuff there as well.

[pough]

With regards to sforzando, it plays only one instrument at a time. You can import a soundfont into it that technically has multiple instruments (like a General MIDI thing) but you only get one instrument. It defaults to the first one. After the soundfont has been imported, you can choose the instrument you want through the menus (it shows up in Converted -> sf2 -> "name of soundfont").

I've never heard of VirtualMidiSynth before. My guess is that if you want to use something other than the first instrument (usually piano) you will need to send MIDI on a different channel. Waveform might not handle MIDI in a way that you are expecting. The MIDI channel is a property of a MIDI clip. You can't have multiple MIDI channels in one clip.

One track, one instrument. If you try anything else you will be fighting Waveform. It might technically be possible to get Waveform to work in that old-school MIDI way where all notes in all channels are in one place and one plugin loads 16 instruments but it's the kind of thing that would be difficult to do, not a beginner type activity.

[Peter Widdicombe]

Further to the above - yes it works, but it is quirky. The MIDI input CAN then trigger a patch via channel, but MIDI channel will not be recorded. You THEN have to go back and set the channel output of the clip to match the input of the external or multi-channel VST on a separate track.

Yes, you will be "fighting" Waveform, so highly recommended NOT to try to use a single VST with multiple input channels - do yourself a favor and put several instances of that VST, one per track !