Re: [MMM] Fractal Tune Smithy: Is it MULTI-timbral?

Usually one instrument uses all the midi channels so it can play notes simultaneously (polyphony), since you can only have one pitch bend per midi channel. There might be a way to configure it otherwise.

----- Original Message ----
From: klergstudios <klergstudios@...>
To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 10:55:02 PM
Subject: [MMM] Fractal Tune Smithy: Is it MULTI-timbral?

I use Midi Yoke Junction for my loopback MIDI cable and Sonar 6 Pro as

my sequencer under XP Home SP2. Whenever i relay FTS 2.4 to Sonar i

can only get ONE patch (instrument) to sound on ANY of the 16 MIDI

channels. That is, if CH.1 is a hammond organ, then CH.2 will also be

a hammond organ, even if i choose another patch in Sonar. I read the

lengthy manual, and i was advised to goto the 'Parts' menu of FTS, and

inside there i am supposed to assign patches via the 'Voices' dialog

box. I did this, but it made NO difference.

The one exception however, is CH.10 it is assigned as the percussion

drum kit. That makes FTS, for lack of a better word, DI-Timbral. I'm

trying to retune my Audigy 2 ZS soundfont synth, by the way. Unless i

can make FTS work properly, i may resort to a 'microtonal' soundfont

player, if one even exists. It makes no sense to buy FTS unless it's

capable of being MULTI-timbral, since i'm sure there are freeware

alternatives that are least monotimbral. Some help would be most

appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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klergstudios wrote:

> Whenever i relay FTS 2.4 to Sonar i can only get ONE patch
> (instrument) to sound on ANY of the 16 MIDI channels.
> ...
> It makes no sense to buy FTS unless it's capable of being
> MULTI-timbral,

You probably need to upgrade to FTS version 3. I'm not sure it's even been
released by Robert, but, you can probably get the beta, which works fine.
FTS 3 has the features you need. Try looking at this page for some info...

http://rm-and-jo.laughingsquid.org/FTS-HowTo/MicroOrchestra.html

(Currently this doc isn't indexed by anyone like Google.)

Rick

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Rick McGowan <rick@...> wrote:
>
> klergstudios wrote:
>
> > Whenever i relay FTS 2.4 to Sonar i can only get ONE patch
> > (instrument) to sound on ANY of the 16 MIDI channels.
> > ...
> > It makes no sense to buy FTS unless it's capable of being
> > MULTI-timbral,
>
> You probably need to upgrade to FTS version 3. I'm not sure it's
even been
> released by Robert, but, you can probably get the beta, which
works fine.
> FTS 3 has the features you need. Try looking at this page for some
info...
>
> http://rm-and-jo.laughingsquid.org/FTS-HowTo/MicroOrchestra.html
>
> (Currently this doc isn't indexed by anyone like Google.)
>
> Rick
>

Thanks for this informative, excellent article. So, lemme get this
straight, FTS 3 still will NOT let me hear a MULTI-timbral, POLY-
phonic piece? BUT just a multi-timbral, MONO-phonic piece? If that's
the case, then'll stick with Scala. The last version i tried (can't
recall which one it was) barely had a GUI, let alone a MIDI relay
feature. However, a helluva lot has changed, in Scala 2.22o. Now,
not only can i create scales from scratch, but it has a mature MIDI
relay option. It works wonders, i've uninstalled FTS, and from your
article, it seems Scala provides the same amount (if not more)
functionality than FTS.

In any case, Scala flawlessly retunes and then relays multi-timbral,
polyphonic music to Sonar 6. I haven't tried scales with > 12 notes
per octave, nonoctave scales, or anything of that ilk, yet. But i'm
assuming it should still work fine with those, too. I'm guessing
most problems come from GPO, thank goodness i DON'T use that, and
rely on soundfonts and/or sample libraries. I'm hoping that
in Scala i can use "more than one Tuning Table", as you stated in
your article, for selected MIDI channels. I'll have to look in the
docs for that.

klergstudios wrote:

> from your
> article, it seems Scala provides the same amount (if not more)
> functionality than FTS.

Well, there's actually a bunch of stuff that FTS does far beyond what
Scala can do in relaying. E.g. the keyswitches and various configurations
it can handle. It also can handle multiple MIDI cards simultaneously, with
different tunings on each channel. It really has lots of bells and
whistles.

> FTS 3 still will NOT let me hear a MULTI-timbral, POLY-
> phonic piece?

That limitation is in MIDI pitch bend. All the sounding notes on a channel
are bent simultaneously when you apply pitch bend. So if you have a
polyphonic channel playing chords, for example, all the notes in the chord
are going to be pitch-bent by the same amount. Nothing you can do about
that: the problem is in the MIDI spec.

With FTS you can, however, assigne one input channel to map to several
output channels, and if you set those output channels to the same timbre,
then effectively you *can* have some lightly polyphonic parts.

You'll have to experiment with it... FTS 2.4, as I've said, doesn't cut
it; you need FTS 3.

Rick

Rick McGowan wrote:

>Well, there's actually a bunch of stuff that FTS does far beyond
>what Scala can do in relaying. E.g. the keyswitches and various
>configurations it can handle. It also can handle multiple MIDI
>cards simultaneously, with different tunings on each channel. It
>really has lots of bells and whistles.

What do mean by "keyswitches" and "various configurations."? My
Audigy 2 ZS has TWO separate MIDI devices BOTH with 16 MIDI
channels. Since they're on ONE card, could Scala retune ALL the
32 channels individually? Most of the "bell and whistles" to me seem
like a bloated, cluttered UI and Algo-comp stuff I do NOT need.

>That limitation is in MIDI pitch bend. All the sounding notes on a
>channel are bent simultaneously when you apply pitch bend. So if
>you have a polyphonic channel playing chords, for example, all the
>notes in the chord are going to be pitch-bent by the same amount.
>Nothing you can do about that: the problem is in the MIDI spec.

Well, unfortunately, Scala actually won't play sustained chords on a
MIDI channel. The sustained chords are cut off. So, that would mean
Scala also does NOT allow polyphonic music to playback on a SINGLE
MIDI channel. Unless, of course, there is some workaround for it.
So, is it just the pitch bends that won't allow polyphonic music on
a MIDI channel? Indeed, the MIDI spec is in dire need of an overhaul.

>With FTS you can, however, assigne one input channel to map to
>several output channels, and if you set those output channels to
>the same timbre, then effectively you *can* have some lightly
>polyphonic parts.

I suppose you can do this in Scala, right? I hope by 'lightly
polyphonic parts' you mean at least sustaining notes on a single
MIDI channel.

>You'll have to experiment with it... FTS 2.4, as I've said, doesn't
>cut it; you need FTS 3.

Where can i get FTS 3? I can't find it anywhere, do know of a direct
link to it?