<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 1:25 PM, Ken Restivo <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ken@restivo.org">ken@restivo.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div><div></div><div class="h5">On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 05:56:46PM +0100, Alessandro Preziosi wrote:<br>
> i need to do something relatively simple, but i cant figure out how to do<br>
> it, or what software i need...<br>
> basically i have to play a certain song where i need to switch between<br>
> different sounds (say, a piano at the beginning using qsyinth and then a<br>
> synth created with zynaddsubfx). I want to be able to switch between one<br>
> setup to the other quickly, possibly using the program change from my<br>
> keyboard. How do i do that???<br>
><br>
> On my keyboard i can create different programs, each using different sounds<br>
> (patches) and switch between them with the click of a button. I want to use<br>
> that, but I want to generate the sounds with my computer.<br>
> I think I need a way to 'map' midi channels to different programs or midi<br>
> patches to specific programs (like, when i select piano on the keyboard<br>
> (patch0, bank0) it uses qsynth, and when i select a synth it uses<br>
> zynaddusbfx).<br>
> Any ideas?<br>
><br>
<br>
</div></div>I had to set up my system to do exactly this thing, and did so almost 4 years ago, and have been using it ever since for many dozens of gigs and sessions.<br>
<br>
I had to write a custom C daemon and some scripts to do it. It's not terribly well-documented, but it is here:<br>
<a href="http://www.restivo.org/blog/archives/midi-splitter" target="_blank">http://www.restivo.org/blog/archives/midi-splitter</a><br>
<br>
There are some other, more user-friendly tools available to do this though.<br>
<br>
I used a CC not program change, but I guess I could just as easly have done it with program changes, yes.<br><br></blockquote><div><br></div>I do this with channels. I run a B3 on Bristol on channels 1-2, then use fluidsynth on channels 3-9 for various soundfonts (set the regular piano to channel 3, the D6 to channel 4, the Rhodes to channel 5, the distorted D6 to channel 6, etc.)</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">This has worked fine with only a few small annoyances (e.g. changing the channel with a note depressed doesn't release the key and if I do this on the organ I have to change the channel back down to kill outstanding signals; gain issues between patches, etc). </div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">At my last show I decided to experiment a bit and use a Rock Band 3 keytar via a MidAir wireless midi adapter. The RB3 controller is midi-compliant but completely undocumented, and while I have figured out how to do most useful things on it such as octaves, pitch bend, and modulation, I cannot figure out how to use any channel except channel 1 (and splitting to channel 10 on the lower half of the keyboard by pressing one of the buttons -- I forget which). So I ended up playing the B3 with my keytar, but had to sit back down at my controller to play anything else, which is a bummer.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">I otherwise would've had to shut down Bristol and manually assign a new patch to Channel 1 in fluidsynth.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">
The RB3 keytar DOES allow for program changes. So I'm looking for a few hours to figure out how to change from channel control to program change control. The problem with that is program change has a specific meaning in Bristol, so I may have to switch over to Beatrix for my organ if I can't figure out how to de-assign program change from changing programs in Bristol. OR I may simply choose a more keytar-y synth to put on Channel 1 and just shift everything else up to 2-10. Somehow the idea of jumping around on stage with a DX-7 voice is not as much fun as (but maybe more appropriate than) delivering the enormous B3 sound through a tiny keytar and a netbook plugged in via DI while making drawbar adjustments with my controller.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">Arg.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">It sounds like Ken's solution may be right on the money. Will have to try it out this weekend.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">-----<br>Luke Peterson</div>