Automatic Instrument Display on Track Selection

[Canopus]

A feature that I’d love to see is an option to have the VSTi associated with a track (if any) to automatically open its GUI when that track is selected.

In my workflow, I can easily switch to the next or previous track in CbB using dedicated buttons on my MIDI keyboard/controller. But in order to see the instrument I’ll also have to stretch out for the mouse and click the tiny track header icon to make the GUI visible. This is something I think could be made more streamlined.

And better yet, to be able to toggle that behaviour on or off through MIDI CC and/or keyboard shortcuts. Well, I can dream, can’t I?

As for anyone afraid that this should impact performance, the ongoing transition from HDD to SSD storage along with faster graphics (even integrated ones) should over time make it a non-issue. Also, it would only be an option to be turned on by those that wants it.

Edit: I think this feature is missing in Cubase as well, but present in both Logic and Studio One.

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Canopus

[Xoo]

There is a shortcut you can assign:

Which means it would (should!) be MIDI-key bindable too.

[Canopus]

Thanks for your comment. In fact, I already have a dedicated button on my MIDI keyboard/controller called “Inst” that’s supposed to open the instrument on the current track in Cakewalk. And it does, the first time. But if I change selected track and click “Inst” once more, nothing happens.

However, my thought was to reduce the mouse-clicking/button-fiddling to a minimum by having the option to display the instrument on the selected track automatically, as a function built into CbB, and having that option possible to bind.

[Glenn Stanton]

is the alternative track you switch to using the same instrument? if not, that would explain why it's not working as expected when you switch tracks...

[Canopus]

No, I’ve got different instrument on each track so that doesn’t matter.

But yet again, the idea was to reduce the manual interaction by having Cakewalk display the GUI of the instrument attached to the selected track automatically.