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Universal keyswitching solutions

hazza

hazza

Active Member
So where are we at with universal key switching solutions? Just upgrading to Logic Pro X, adding a slave and doing a template rebuild, good time for a rethink!

TransMIDIfier - impressive programming / customisation capabilities, how well does it work with Logic and multiple IAC channels? (I always thought IAC was flakey). Complicated to set up?

Ski Switcher - nice to have it incorporated into Logic's environment, the divisi via MIDI channel ability look really useful. Rock-solid solution?

Spitfire UACC - is this still at the concept stage or has it actually made it into any products yet?

Logic Articulation IDs - does this look like just an internal Logic protocol or is there some hope it could be adopted by 3rd party developers? Could LPX's new MIDI scripting functionality open the door for other 3rd party solutions (LASS auto-arranger built into Logic anyone?).

Who's got the dream keyswitching setup?! 8)

(p.s. I hate note keyswitches with a vengeance :evil: )

Harry
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Not sure what you mean by universal - there are the keyswitches that are included with every library, which will never be universal, then there are DAW-based solutions to deal with those keyswitches.

Expression Maps are the best approach I've seen to deal with multiple articulations but they only work with Cubase. They've been around for a while - it's surprising they haven't been copied elsewhere.

rgames
 
Yes by universal I mean ones that can be customised to deal with any library, eg using program changes to overcome Play's one articulation per channel limitation.

It sounds like you Cubase guys are sorted with expression maps, just trying to work out the current best solution for us Logic users.
 
There's always Mind Control using velocity from a good PAT controller like these.

(broken link removed)
 
I'm setting up a template too (but in Cubase). I've made several expression maps for libraries + lemur templates for them. It's fancy-seeming and gratifying to see it realized, but I'm beginning to believe that the limited patch-layering is an overlooked pitfall of the keyswitching approach.
They both have their strengths – many a past thread has covered this.

To truly have the best of both worlds, could one build a keyswitch-based solution AND have each articulation represented by a MIDI track in the template?

For example: Five 3x LASS (ABC) ensemble-style patches (one for each section), with all articulation (NV-vib, Spic, Stac...) keyswitched w/ TransMIDIfier, using TouchOSC/Lemur/whatever. Then make individual tracks to access each patch individually (A NV-vib, B NV-vib, C NV-vib, A Spic, B Spic...). Resulting in:

1. A single track in your DAW triggering an ensemble-style combi, which is switchable on-the-fly. In LASS' case, is superior to the old ensemble patches because you can tweak the timings of each section to make it sloppier, among other things. I'm sure you can do this in auto-arranger but I never tried -_-
2. Maximum flexibility to create deeply-layered sounds.

Let's identify the 'timesucks':

With a keyswitching approach, one could layer any number of tracks @ once. In practice, however, routing via dropdown menus and MIDI channel #s is cumbersome and so experimentation gets limited. Compare that to ctrl+clicking a few tracks in your arrangement and then playing in your part, as discrete MIDI regions for further tweaking. Basic Transform features (xpose, timing) can be bridged using with MIDI-track options and plugins. Not nearly as 'clean' of a solution because it increases your track count quite a bit. It may afford the user maximum control over the sound.

If the templates on Cubase, individual expressions (legato, unison, etc...) should have their own ... expression maps! :lol:
Traditionally, I've used the maps as a keyswitching-program in concert with the individual instruments expressions. The setup time is long and tedious work, as the expression map window isn’t optimized for repetitive tasks, outside of the Remote keys dropdown: which dangerously, affects every single map in your project without notice.

To access the switches, you must also devote some time to building a TouchOSC/Lemur/etc template. The more libraries you use, the more this bloats. Unless you’re buying more iPads or making a custom touch panel solution, you’re going to be cycling through different pages of buttons/faders. To simply play the instrument you want, this extra step can be burdensome. Expression map chasing helps a lot here. You may have to select the page anyway, to use expression controls for instance.

Compare this to finding a MIDI track w/ the articulation you want in a folder: a step you must do regardless if you’re keyswitching or not (among fewer tracks, albeit).

On the fly COMPOSING seems to favor the dedicated MIDI tracks.
On the fly PERFORMNING seems to favor keyswitching.

I've mostly worked the latter way and I've had little or no issues. But could it be better? I will soon find out.

Jeff
 
Hi jeff, thanks for the reply. I can't say I share your desire to duplicate each of the articulations across a ton of separate tracks, my template is unwealdy enough as it is! If I want to mix say a spicc doubling a LASS legato patch I can layer it in from a different library.

I'm interested to know why you would use TransMIDIfier to keyswitch LASS rather than using LASS's built-in functionality? Does it offer additional flexibility?

I only got onto this because I wanted to find the best keyswitching solution for Hollywood Brass, but if people are doing clever things with other libraries I would love to hear! I seem to have an unhealthy obsession with perfecting my workflow :).
 
I have all of LASS and LASS Sordino in 5 keyswitched tracks, and in one instance of Kontakt. I do have to do the keyswitch housekeeping, which can be a bit of a pain if you forget to write your keyswitches in the appropriate places, but it saves so much real estate it's worth it for me.

I've been thinking about how I can convert the KS notes to CC#'s so that the key switches will chase. Hmmm.......
 
You can do them as program changes in LASS Stuart, which will chase.
 
Cuabse also chases them if you set them up as expression maps. You can use keyswitch or CC or program change - doesn't matter.

rgames
 
I've been working with Spitfire's UACC and I feel it has a lot of potential. It's very easy to implement into a control surface like Lemur, so hopefully a few other developers will utilise it once it has been fully fleshed out.
 
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