Custom Keyswitching Problem

[Noobinator]

Hi,

I use Reddiesel's handy Multi Channel Midi Keyswitch (https://stash.reaper.fm/v/11328/Multi...DI%20Keyswitch) to create custom keyswitches for my virtual instruments.

However I've encountered a problem. After a couple of modifications to a track (such as arming, disarming, opening the VST menu, drawing automation etc) that is using the plugin, or simply after a small duration, the MIDI channel will revert to the first available channel without prompting. So if the first available channel was sustained brass samples, and halfway through the piece I've keyswitched to staccato brass samples, and I press play after the keyswitch point, the sustain samples will play even if the staccato samples were the last used.

At first I simply extended each keyswitch so that it connects to the next one legato, so no matter where I play from, the keyswitch would automatically trigger. However the moment I press play I get hanging sustain notes that are incredibly annoying, forcing a 'start-stop-start' every single time I press play.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any quick fix to this problem? Or any other way at all to work around it? Does anyone else have the same issue? I'm on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. EDIT: I've found a way to easily reproduce the issue: simply go in to the affected VSTi interface (I'm using both Kontakt and Play) and change any setting on the interface at all, such as the attack in the ADSR envelope in Play, or any parameter on the instrument interface in Kontakt. The channel will instantly reset to channel one.

Any and all help or insight is greatly appreciated! Cheers

[Noobinator]

Any takers?

[ijijn]

Hi,

If I understand your problem correctly, it sounds as if the channel to keyswitch converter is only issuing the keyswitches when a new channel comes in, rather than on every note. You could dig around in the code to make it less nuanced and more aggressive, or maybe try VI Keychaser from VI Folio, which should fix this for you.

[Noobinator]

Wow thanks ijijm, that's a really cool plug in! Although it seems to work and keep the last keyswitch active during playback, it unfortunately seems to be pretty demanding on my CPU when tracks are armed. It seems to be fine when tracks are disarmed, but when tracks are armed I get a lot of artefacts during playback. I couldn't seem to get it working routing to other tracks, so I had to use one instance per virtual instrument.

It's a super cool plug in though, so thanks heaps for linking me to it Just not sure what's going on with the CPU spikes/artefacts when tracks are armed.

I don't really know anything about writing JS script unfortunately, so I have no idea what to look for or what to change in the code of the Multi Channel MIDI Keyswitch. It seems like it may well be an invaluable skill so I might just have to learn it! But right now I'm afraid I'd be quite hopeless trying to edit the script.

[ijijn]

You're welcome.

Thanks for giving it a go and providing useful feedback. I'll have a look at the performance issue you mentioned; things get tricky with record armed tracks because certain optimisations aren't possible. Meanwhile I can probably adapt Reddiesel's plugin or provide another one to help, to make things easier for you.

I have a quick question for you: do you send most notes on channel 1 except those that change articulation, or do you send all notes on the relevant channel? I've used both ways in the past.

[Noobinator]

That would be amazing if you could adapt the plug in or do up another! Of course, only if you can comfortably spare the time

All the notes go through the appropriate keyswitched channel. So if I have sustain samples on channel 1 and staccato samples on channel 2, and I hit the appropriate keyswitch to trigger channel 2, then all the notes I play will be going through channel 2 to get the staccato samples.

Thanks for the reply