PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums PowerTracks Pro Audio Another dumb question

I'm actually doing most of what I want to do on PT but in a State of almost total ignorance. i have been doing a bit of swatting up in MIDI etc and have not been able to find anything that clarifies the difference between ports, channels and tracks. Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding these fundamental pieces of the midi myre? perhaps a website that can explain the whole thing. I've read all on wikipedia.

cheers

Glenn

In a nutshell-
a track is a track in PT, numbered 1-48
a channel is a midi channel (16 to choose from, 1-16)
a port is a place the midi gets sent to

The port concept is what gets most people.
You can have any midi channel(s) on any track. For instance track 1 in PT could be a track for the drums containing information on midi channel 10...or it could be a piano on channel 1... or a bass on channel 2. *Note that a channel can be assigned to any instrument; these are examples (although drums are almost always channel 10)

So a midi channel is just a way to have 16 different choices for midi information.
The track designation has no bearing on midi except to organize things, and have control over individual midi channels or groups of midi channels.

Now the port-
Every midi sound source you use can have the ability to use those 16 midi channels. So what if you want the piano sound from synth#1, but the drums from synth#2 ?
You *could * send the information to synth1 and thru that synth and on to synth2... but if you had a bunch of available soundsources this would not be practical to send all the information thru all of the synths and then tell each one which channel to obey and which ones to ignore, plus after 'X' amount of daisychaining the signal would start degrading... so in come the ports.

You can have a bunch of different midi in and midi out ports on a system.
Example- output port 1 may go to synth1, and output 2 could go to synth2, and output port three could go to whatever ... etc.
By assigning WHERE the signal on a given track gets sent we can keep things organized, PLUS we can send midi channel 1 from track number whatever out port 1, and then be able to use midi channel 1 again on a different track and send it out a different port, thus allowing us to get past the limit of 16 sounds from 16 midi channels.

So a midi track contains the midi information which can be on any given channel(s) 1-16.
Then that track gets assigned to a port so that the midi information on that track can be directed to whatever synth (or other midi controlled device) it is we want to send it to.

In PT we have 16 available midi output ports (1-16) and 16 available softsynth ports (17-32). In theory this is 16 X 32 available ways to get the midi information to the receiving device. Thats a lot of flexibility! The limit is usually in how many physical midi connections we have to use for the first 16 ports (1-16).
Example- an SBLive soundcard will have a midi port on it usually, as will a lot of the M-Audio cards, and many others... plus we could get a USB-to-MIDI device... these would be considered midi output devices available for use by the first 16 MIDI ports.
To use the other 16 sofsynth ports its simply a matter of right-clicking a track and selecting any available softsynth port (17-32) and then assigning a softsynth to it.

HTH and as I look back at it I see it really wasn't 'in a nutshell'... but hopefully you can fumble through this.

absolutely brilliant!! Thanks for shedding the light. I have another question then I think I should be an expert!! What is the difference between a VSTi and a DLS. Can you use the latter on PT - I already am using a couple of VSTis. Are there any freeware DLS that I can play around with?

cheers

Glenn

VSTi, as you know, is a software synth. DLS stands for Downloadable Sounds. Basically, it's very similiar to a Creative Labs SoundFont. Jennifer Hruska, who is a huge player in sample sounds, wrote an article that would far better explain DLS than I ever could.

http://onstagemag.com/ar/emusic_downloadable_sounds/

Gary

Thanks Gary. I've been trying to play them live as plug ins in PT but only get a piano sound. how do I play the track with the VSTi attached?

Glenn,
A little more detail in your question, please.

As Bob pointed out, tracks, channels and ports are all involved here. Also involved is what VSTi you're using. If you're using a VSTi that is nothing but a piano, then that's the only sound you're going to get. If you're using a full General MIDI VSTi, then you can select from the Track Configure Box/Patch Select Dialog what instrument you want to sound.

Can you give me a little more information? The more *I* know about *your* setup, the better I can help you.

Gary

Hi Gary

I'm trying to use a single instrument VSTi - Hammond B3. I want to use it live. I have a small programme that allows me to use the VSTi on its own which works OK but I think it doesn't go through ASIO4ALL so I still get some lag. Thought I could accomplish the same end result by using PT and I know that I can route it through ASIO4ALL on that.

I also have a Roland XV3080 synth that I would like to route some tracks to. I think I know how to assign them as I have the bank numbers for the patches I want. No doubt if I can't get that to work I'll be back on line. You'll have a chuckle at this - I've owned the Roland for about 2 years and read the manual when i got it - couldn't understand a thing - I have just discovered the >500 preset patches that whoever owned it before me had set up and there are some amazing sounds which I'd like to use. I'd bought it originally as a GM sound module and didn't realise it's true potential.

cheers

Glenn

Glenn,
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Unfortunately, it's late at the moment. Can you give me until about Wednesday to come up with an answer for you?

Gary

Absolutely no problem. getting late here too now. I've hooked PT up to the XV 3080 and I can get it playing back on GM ihtout any problem but can't see where to select the pre-programmed Roland patches. On each track I can see a place to select MSB and LSB but not the final patch No. Patch I want is MSB 87 LSB 64 and item (??) No 112 which should be a 12 string guitar with some effects. Can't get it so going to bed!

Good night

Glenn

Look at the Classic Tracks Window and enter trhe 12 String Patch number in column "Prg", MSB in Column "Bank" and the LSB in Column "LSB".

Lyn

Thanks Lyn. I see that and figured that there would be a way of doing it. Don't know whether you are still on line but I guess the next step is to use some VSTi,s on some tracks running through the DXi and some running through the Roland. I'd run them through my mixer. Is this possible? To run the DXi I have to set it as the default in the Options menu and if I do that how do I select the Roland?

To use multiple synths, uncheck "Re-route Midi Playback to Default DXi" in the Miidi Driver Setup". Look again at the Classic Tracks Window and then click on the column PT (Port) for Track 1. You will see a Panel listing all the output ports available 1 to 16 being reserved for NON VSTi or DXi synths and 17 to 32 for VSTi or DXi synths . The selection for ports 1 to 16 depends on the order in which the synth drivers are listed in Options > Midi Devices. To select a specific synth enter the number (numbered 1 down successively from the top of the list) for the required synth driver in the column PT for a specific track.

For DXis or VSti select the track, then the DXI Icon, click on the first Plugin Box and select from the Listing. The Plugin is then associated with that track.

I hope this helps

Lyn

Thanks Lyn. I think I understand.
I've had a look at the Classic track dialogue box and I know how to get a track working with the DXi and plugins etc. I am using a Yamaha USB midi interface which is listed in Options>Mididevices when its connected(I'm not at home at the moment so can't check). I presume it'll show up on ports 1 through to 16 on the Classic track dialogue if I have it selected in Options > Mididevices. I'll give it a go. I'll be an expert soon!!

Glenn,
I'm sorry, I spent most of yesterday sleeping. I think I'm sick, so I didn't get to your solution. I am so sorry. I'll try to get to it this weekend.

Gary

No need to apologise. Another quick question. When I have my keyboard hooked up to PT and am using the Roland how do I select which patch number the keyboard should be playing?

Glenn,
I now feel like a cad. Band In A Box and Real Band will not recognize DXi and VSTis in Vista 64 bit. I have Sonar Studio installed on my computer, and have DXis in it, but neither BiAB or RB will see them, so I can't help with the original question. My deepest apologies.

As to the second question, you must know the 'address' of the sounds in the synth, i.e., the program change, bank and bank lsb.

These links are for older versions, but may help you understand the concept somewhat.

http://www.catsmeowcafe.com/patchesini.htm

http://www.catsmeowcafe.com/basicintro.htm
(some of the information here is wrong, but I haven't taken the time to update it and correct it. Again, it refers to an older version)

http://www.catsmeowcafe.com/midibasics.htm

This information may help you somewhat.

Finally, there are already created patch maps on this PG Music page, including one for the XV3080.
http://www.pgmusic.com/support_miscellaneous.htm

Gary