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Use Patch Browser in Track View | Patch widget


Panu Pentikäinen

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I had forgotten there even was a patch browser there, haven't used it since the days of owning hardware synths. 

There is the option to  select from the patch list in the track pane but it isn't searchable , it just displays all of them for the current bank. They made it customisable fairly recently as to what is displayed by the Track Control Manager and it's one of the options although I have mine unticked.

It doesn't seem to work with many of the the VTI's  I am using now, just checked in the current project and only Sylenth1 offers a list of patches out of the half dozen I am using. I guess a lot of people would just use the GUI of their VST synths to browse them. If it worked with everything though it could prove rather useful.

What would be really cool is if the Browser had a Master List of all patch names for all your installed VSTi's and knew which instrument they belonged to and allowed you to search that way. Need a Supersaw ? No problem..just type it into the Browser search and have Cakewalk show you a list of matches..drag and drop to select.

We can call it "  SuperBrowser "    😎

Edited by CosmicDolphin
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3 hours ago, CosmicDolphin said:

What would be really cool is if the Browser had a Master List of all patch names for all your installed VSTi's and knew which instrument they belonged to and allowed you to search that way. Need a Supersaw ? No problem..just type it into the Browser search and have Cakewalk show you a list of matches..drag and drop to select.

We can call it "  SuperBrowser "    😎

I call it Akai VIP 3.1. It basically can do all of that while running as a plugin in your DAW.

The only real downside is that it doesn't support VST3 plugins yet. Also a  few plugins seem to have difficulty sharing patch data with a host, making some imports into VIP problematic. But that is not really the fault of VIP as much as a plugin developer not using the best practices for VST design.

Other than that I enjoy having over 22,000+ of my patches scattered across various virtual instruments instantly searchable from one browser.

And then I can create a multi with layers or splits with up to eight of those patches within a single instance of VIP.

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On 2/9/2019 at 12:07 AM, panup said:

It would be cool if Patch Browser would open  directly from the track header pane and not only from the Inspector because Patch Browser has the search textbox to help selecting sounds.

image.png.311c120d349516ddb420e9d3bf34f3e0.png

I have been finding that the DAW based patch browser isn't as useful with most of the VSTi plugins that I use now. It seems that most developers have moved on from the legacy MIDI bank/patch based patch management (limited to 128 patches /bank), and instead use proprietary patch storage and browsers that seem to hold unlimited numbers of patches.

But if you are using MIDI hardware, instrument definitions, and bank/patch change messages,  then the DAW patch browser from the header and inspector would be the way to roll!

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On 2/8/2019 at 5:07 AM, panup said:

It would be cool if Patch Browser would open  directly from the track header pane and not only from the Inspector because Patch Browser has the search textbox to help selecting sounds.

image.png.311c120d349516ddb420e9d3bf34f3e0.png

Don't have to open the inspector, the default shortcut for the current MIDI track patch browser is a semicolon.

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On 2/10/2019 at 5:41 PM, abacab said:

I call it Akai VIP 3.1. It basically can do all of that while running as a plugin in your DAW.

Thanks for heads up on Akai VIP 3 .I have watched the videos and read the reviews and it  seems like it does everything and more I could wish for in a patch browser.

I was already thinking about buying a larger keyboard so when I saw you could get the M-Audio Oxygen 61 key for £135 and get VIP 3.1 included it was a no brainer...should be here tomorrow . I think VIP will be a massive help in my workflow ( which is writing for Music Libraries ) .

Do you have one of the natively compatible keyboards or do you use a 3rd party controller ?  

Edit : If anyone one fron the Dev Team is watching this is the kind of feature that if it was native to the DAW I feel could pull in a lot users and keep them loyal to the brand. I think there are DAWs out there now with better workflows for modern music production . If they could integrate something like this and the Intergrated Sampler I posted about I think Cakewalk could become best in class again for people that mostly make music ITB.

Edited by CosmicDolphin
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1 hour ago, CosmicDolphin said:

 I think VIP will be a massive help in my workflow ( which is writing for Music Libraries ) .

Hope that you will find it useful! It may not be a 100% solution, but I am happy with 90%. The only real alternative at this time is to buy into the Native Instruments NKS system with a compatible keyboard and plugins that are certified to be NKS compatible. NI tossed the plugin compatibility responsibility completely over the fence to the 3rd party plugin developers to make sure their plugins  work with the NKS system.  I have nothing against NI, and I am sure I would enjoy their keyboards, but I do not own one (yet).

The thing about VIP is that they have created an open system, that in theory should work with any plugin. The results in that regard are not always 100%, because of the inconsistent interpretation of the VST2 standards by the multitude of plugin developers out there. So you will encounter various degrees of compatibility with certain plugins. But on the plus side, in some cases you can use plugins that are no longer developed and supported by their original developers.

But  I am just happy with the part that does work, as it is a huge time saver, and creativity booster!

Do you have one of the natively compatible keyboards or do you use a 3rd party controller ? 

I was looking for a replacement for my 1st gen M-Audio Axiom-49, and  found a great deal on a VIP compatible Alesis VX49 with a VIP bundle. That has the same integrated LCD screen and buttons as the Akai Advance, but with a cheaper keyboard. They also made an M-Audio version for a while, the CTRL-49. However, it seems that currently the Akai is the only VIP keyboard  in production.

To be honest, I use the application or plugin window with a mouse on the PC screen 99% of the time, so having a keyboard to browse the patches from is a minor plus for me. If I played live, I could see how that would be useful, not having to use a laptop for everything.   But the patch browser and search functions are what makes it all worthwhile for me. :D

 

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