MIDI Patch change messages
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:15 pm
I just got Notion as part of a Sonar offer and I am very impressed so far. I have only scratched the surface. However I do note a glaring omission with regard to programming external MIDI devices. I make a lot of use of my aging Kurzweil ME-1 and Roland XP-30 sounds and this is handled readily by Sonar. However when I use Notion (either via rewire or standalone) I cannot define more than MIDI Port and Channel. This gets me to the correct device but the device uses whatever patch is currently on that channel. Generally it is not the desired patch so I have to fiddle with hardware buttons. Manually setting the patches using the device's hardware interface is not really an option for a DAW. I often switch between several works in progress.
Why doesn't Notion include MIDI Bank and Program meta data on the staff? The Staff Settings window could at least support numerical values for Bank and Program. Better yet, it could support mnemonic labels using a mechanism similar to Sonar's instrument definition files. This information could then be sent when playing a score.
I do have a work-around. I find that when I use Rewire, I can get Sonar to perform patch changes but it is a tedious work around. For each Notion staff I create a MIDI track in Sonar that corresponds to the same port and channel as the staff. I then define the patch values for each track. Even with an empty track Sonar will send the patch change messages to the MIDI device each time the piece is played. It works but it is tedious.
Is there an item on the Notion road map that would address this?
Regards,
Mike
Why doesn't Notion include MIDI Bank and Program meta data on the staff? The Staff Settings window could at least support numerical values for Bank and Program. Better yet, it could support mnemonic labels using a mechanism similar to Sonar's instrument definition files. This information could then be sent when playing a score.
I do have a work-around. I find that when I use Rewire, I can get Sonar to perform patch changes but it is a tedious work around. For each Notion staff I create a MIDI track in Sonar that corresponds to the same port and channel as the staff. I then define the patch values for each track. Even with an empty track Sonar will send the patch change messages to the MIDI device each time the piece is played. It works but it is tedious.
Is there an item on the Notion road map that would address this?
Regards,
Mike