Posted
How that I have read and reread the manual on audio and midi settings and devices, I have come to a conclusion and also a couple of questions.
My conclusion is I do not want to use devices as explained in the manul ... even when I get Synfire Express.
Why?
Because I do not want the program to decide which patch or alternate patch is chosen: I want to do that myself ... and believe I always will. I have built a hardware and software midi studio exactly so I can choose between a rich palette of different sounds. I want to do this through my patch lists in my DAW, not through HN2/ SFE, exactly because I can so easily change the patches and try out different ideas from the DAW. Also, since I use other midi generating midi VSTi instruments in my DAW, I do not want to worry about remembering what ports may be in use by SFP and interfere with my other use of a midi port or channel ... whereas I can quickly and easily see which midi port or channel is in use within my DAW.
First question. I see there is a default GM device type which permits access to the GM instruments. What I want to know is whether when considering all the available phrase parameters if there is any musical operation in the program that only is available if I pick an a GM instrument ... take Violin for example. If I have a phrase in an 'no name' intrument, between all the available phrase parameters and such as interpretaion, variation, etc., can I create exactly the same musical voice as if I simply chose GM Violin from the devices?
Yes or no, and if not, why not?
I know have 8 midi channels available, because I can only have 8 instruments in a HN2 song. When I get SFE, I will have 16.
Between virtual and hardware, i actually have over 30 midi ports available in my systtem, so I could have every instrument on a different midi port. But, no matter, I can only use 8 ... or in the future 16 ... at any one time.
I really only want two types of devices: one for GM that sends GM program change messages; and, one ... GM or not ... that doess not send GM or any other program or bank select message ... just the midi stream. For the second I will set the patch information in the DAW track and the DAW will remember it for me.
Here are my other questions:
1) Do I really need two devices to accomplish this, or can I on an instrument by instrument basis turn on or off whether the device sends program change/ bank select messages? In other words, can I make one 8 midi channel device using one midi port for GM, but simply go to each instrument and change whether it transmits GM program change on a case by case basis.
2) If I need to create two devices so that I can have one that doesn't transmit any program change message and just sends pure midi, how do I do this? I tried to use the drop down box where it states 'midi, shared rack and global instrument, but when I had tried to make some devices 'midi,' sometimes the program would not let me select them, but instead used a midi port that came earlier in the midi ports list on the port change ... even though I saw that port in the drop down box and tried to select it.
3) Given what I want to do, would it be best to simply set up my shared rack this way?
I see from reading the manual, that the way I would like to work is not how HN2/ SFP is 'intended' to work, but it is advantageous to me ... and presumably should be a simpler routing.
This is a long post, so hopefully it is clear what I am asking. It is clear in my mind what I want to do, but I may not have explained well enough. If so, please ask me.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Thank you for reading!
Prado
Di., 23.10.2012 - 08:57 Permalink
You do not need to create devices in advance. When assigning a sound to an instrument of type "Plug-in" or "MIDI", Synfire creates an invisible device for private use by your arrangement anyway. This device is fed with the following information you enter for each sound that you use:
- Port & Channel
- Program (if necessary)
- Category
- Sound Name
- Playing Ranges
The information is stored per each port & channel and saved with your arrangement. At the DAW end you can do whatever you want.
GM is for convenience only. It knows most of the above information already, so you don't need to enter it. GM is not required. You can turn any bank of any device into GM (means: populate it with GM sounds).
If you need a GM device in an arrangement, select type "MIDI", select the port and then insert a copy of the "Internal GM Synth" device using the options menu.
You have a virtually unlimited number of MIDi channels available. The limit in SFE is the number of instruments only that can be used at the same time.
Note that, on the instrument inspector, you can not change the port of a device by selecting a different port. This would simply display the other device located on that port. If you want to move a device to another port, use the "Relocate" command.
Di., 23.10.2012 - 17:36 Permalink
Thanks, Supa T!
I have some digging in to do with these things. I'll spend some time following your instructions. It appears tht I must create a device using #s 3 and 4, category and sound name, and cannot simply stream midi
One thing that is not clear to me ... as far as I understand so far ... is the idea of creating 'default' setup.
By arrangement do you mean sketch/ basis accompaniment or instead the entire content of the song window including progression with the sketch?
I am trying to understand if I can do what I want simply by creating a sketch/ basis accompaniment or whether I need to create a song to open for use as a template with 'Save As' for use when creating new songs.
Prado