Originally Posted By: MarioD
Joe, your initial message states "...without me having to map or manage or enter many settings - just the one that changes which synth is in use (or close to it)." Thus it appears to me that you are looking for a General MIDI sound source. This would eliminate Kontakt, SampleTank and all of the other best sounding sound sources. Note the best sounding comes from the more expensive, sometimes specialized, sound sources.

What genre of music are you going to play with this sound source? Some GMs have better sounding strings than others, some better horns, or ensembles, or guitars etc. The only GM that allows you to change sounds, AFAIK, are the old soundfonts(sf2). With a free sf2 player and a free sf2 editor you can pick the best patch for you and place it in the GM sound source. But these will only sound as good as some entry level sounds like those that come with BiaB/RB.

Thus my advice to you and anyone else that wants to really get into MIDI is to quit using GM, learn about setting up non-GM MIDI sounds and learn about MIDI controls, i.e CCs. More work, yes. More cost, yes. But one hell of a lot better sounds. DL the free Kontakt player and listen to a few super MIDI tracks through it and you should see what I mean.

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/free-download/




Yep. The synths that are included with most music software like Cakewalk and others are the GM basic synths that use patches.

I never wanted to spend the time to learn how to map midi and use controllers. All I wanted to do was hit a key on my controller and hear the sound of a cello, or a violin, or a piano on a concert stage. I didn't want to program or map anything.

I have Kontakt as I stated. I insert it as a synth into my project. All I have to do is tell the software what channel my controller is sending on.... in my case, channel 6... (yeah I have my reasons for that) ... and it could just as easily be OMNI in which case it would be Insert, select the sample and play. Nothing is fancy or complicated about working with the better synths.

The advice to "quit using the GM synths" was, in my humble opinion, spot on. You get better sound from the better synths. Setting them up is a quick and simple matter once you do it a time or two.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.