One thing I noticed (which I am sure some of you have been through before) is that if one uses MIDI Learn directly within the synth, the labels for the automations that show up in Logic (or I assume any DAW) probably won't be correct for that synth -- they'll be whatever the universal setup between the MIDI Controller and DAW named them.
That leaves me with 2 options, as far as I can tell (unless you can recommend alternatives):
1. Use MIDI Learn in each synth, and just accept the fact that I'll need to make a note of the actual parameters that I automate (which, I assume, will be just a few per track).
2. Use the Smart Controls in Logic, and create a mapping between the synth parameter names and the internal MIDI controls, so that my automations have the right label in Logic.
AFAICT there are pros and cons to both. If I go with #1, obviously I won't know the names of the automations, but the advantage is that I can have all the parameters I'd ever want to control mapped and ready to write data from the controller. If I go with #2, I get the right names, but I will be limited to the max # of smart controls that Logic provides (which seems to be 12 -- though, as noted, that's probably more than enough). Also, if I want to preserve these settings, I would need to create a template with them (or else I'll be futzing around with this every time I make a new track).
I'm sure I'm overthinking it, but since I am also trying to get my head around MIDI workflow, I thought it would be worth asking folks what they think is best. Maybe there's an alternative using Option #1 that actually puts the right names for each synth?
Thanks!
Note: I am using a really old M-Audio Axiom 49 Gen 2 -- so I suppose there may be some capabilities that newer keyboard/controllers have that I am lacking. But I can't really justify replacing a perfectly good (though old) keyboard
