Topic by feline1

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Topic: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

On page 31 (Appendix 2) of the Pianteq User Guide,
there's a handy list of the which MIDI continuous controller messages are mapped to the main pianoteq controls by default.

However I am wondering if this list is exhaustive?

It's just that you also seem to be able to right-click on the 8 overtone level controls in the "spectrum profile" panel, and set cc's for each other those?
Also for the 'dynamics' controller?

For those of us who'd like to really go to town on using external MIDI control,
it would be good to see a 'Standard MIDI Implementation' format chart of everything Pianoteq can respond to.
Also it might be handy to have a config page where all the MIDI controller assignments can be seen and adjusted all together, rather than having to always right-click on each one?

Reply by doug

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Well, in Logic (which lists available parameters), I count 34 parameters plus 31 values for the equalizer and 22 values for velocity. I don't actually feel like writing them all down but I think it's pretty much everything, including such esoterica as lid position, whoosh volume, reverb duration/size/weight etc. etc.

I don't think you can control anything that's not in the standard Pianoteq interface (such as harmonics above the 8th) though. And I also know that some of these parameters are not available to MIDI using just the ptq interface (anything under 'options' for example).

Reply by feline1

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Cheers -
for the extra info -
although I now feel I know even less than I did! :-)

How does Logic know about all this?
What's a ptq interface?
Are these things I can tweak using SysEx?

Reply by creart

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Hey Feline

It think Doug means the P(iano)T(e)Q interface....

In Logic a plugin can be edited by using curves on which you set control points for certain values. If a parameter is available within the plugin there is access to it thru Logic's curve editing.... no need for sysex there.

In Pianoteq it seems that all values that can be chaged using sliders, can also be assigned to controller values....

I want to assign lots of variables to my Behringer BCR2000 so I will be able to do tweaking of sounds a lot easier.
What do you want to use to edit the controllers with?

cheers
Hans

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Reply by feline1

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Well I have various boxes, such as the Doepfer Drehbank,
and a Kenton Control Freak... both of these can send any MIDI message, not just cc's.

I'm intrigued to know if, for instance, I can change the EQ curve with a series of sliders, as if it was a graphic EQ.

Reply by creart

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

for completeness (sort of..) here are the lists as jpgs as they show up in Logic....
one is the 'control view ' of the plugin (I left a lot of equalizer sliders out to keep a list a bit shorter) - the other is a list as show in the Automation window in Logic

http://pzl.creartgraphics.nl/images/PTQ_interface.jpg

http://pzl.creartgraphics.nl/images/PTQ_2.jpg

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Reply by feline1

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

I see - looks like you effectively have a 8-band parametric EQ if you mapped that to some knobs.

Reply by creart

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

it seems that way - but problem is that Logic works with these plugin values thru its internal 'Automation Fader' system...
I've just been doing some checking to see if sysex messages would be visible for these parameters but I'm afraid they are not.....

I'm at work right now so can't really search in-depth but will investigate further...

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Reply by feline1

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Aye maybe they're available through some VSTi API? Which isn't the same as MIDI?
(I'm just guessing here)

Reply by creart

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

yep the 'fader' values are sort of Logic internal Midi messages....
I could convert the Automation values to controller events but instead of Midi controller values they are just visible as 'Fader' events...
It must indeed be an internal plugin-API thing...

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Reply by Jake Johnson

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Different sequencers allow you to control the parameters of a VSTI to different degrees and in different ways. Unless you're locked into Logic, you may need to just wade in and explore what each can do. I know that's time consuming, but it may be worthwhile.

What sequencer\wrapper are you using?

Reply by feline1

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

I use "Reaper" these days,
but I am more interested in seeing what I can make the Pianoteq stand-alone program do with hardware MIDI knob/slider boxes.

Reply by doug

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

(sorry for the silence--I was sleeping then offline)

In that case, you're limited to what you can right-click on the interface and get the 'learn' , which is pretty much everything but the various 'options', lid, output, diapason, temperament, velocity and eq.

I've mapped mine to an x-station and have found it very useful. I mapped 'unison width' to my (unsprung) mod wheel, 'cutoff' and  'q factor' to the xy pad, the spectrum profile to the sliders and the rest to various knobs. Very handy in performance.

Reply by feline1

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Just going back to this thread -

I was programming up a little Doepfer knob box to use with Pianteq tonight.

It struck me that it would be handy if the Pianteq user guide had one of those standard format "MIDI Implementation Charts" in it, listing exactly what Pianoteq can respond to -

i was on the MIDI Manufacturers Association site,
and I noticed they've actually changed the format of the standard chart
it's on http://www.midi.org/techspecs/
as http://www.midi.org/techspecs/midichart2.pdf

I was gonna fill one out for my own reference (it soooo much handier to compare how devices will commicate when you have dozens of them in your studio!)
but it would be good to have an official one in the Pianoteq user guide for the next release.

Reply by hyper.real

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Re: Exactly which parameters of Pianoteq can you control by MIDI?

Hmmm. I'm interested in this for the trivial objective of using a pedal to control the volume of the Pianorga preset, and perhaps mapping another sound timbre element to aftertouch - that's a timbrally rich and interesting synth sound.

My guess would be as feline1 - the VSTi interface lets software interrogate the VSTi for a list of controllable things, and their parameters, and ranges. I should make the effort to read the spec, but with "learn" modes appearing in software and hardware, I'm getting lazy.

Novation's Nocturn control surface http://www.novationmusic.com/products/m...l/nocturn/, especially the software side, looks very interesting - for use with a computer though. And the product is inexpensive too. Were it not for the two dozen contols on my Fatar VMK-88+ sitting idle I would probably get one. But I'm getting lazy.

Well, not exactly. The more I create, the more I take the view music is not about sound or timbre in themselves, but about notes and the way they are expressed, of which timbre variations are one part. Hmmm.