Starship Krupa Posted May 12, 2019 Share Posted May 12, 2019 I got Instachord and Instascale in the 2-fer bundle deal that Pluginboutique were running a few months back and just now got around to trying out Instachord. I've run into two main issues with it. The first I think I've solved with the help of a YouTube video, and that was how to route it in Cakewalk. Kinda convoluted, but I have it to where I play my MIDI keyboard, the Instachord plug-in's onscreen keys light up, and sounds come out of TTS-1. The second is trickier, and that is I can't quite figure out WTF the thing is supposed to do, apart from making a few people on YouTube super excited that they own a copy. ? From what I can make out based on their gesticulations, it enables you to play arpeggios with only 2 fingers while you talk about music theory. I can't figure out how to switch it into the mode where it plays the arpeggios in the first place, and the manual is little help. If that's all there is to this thing I'm going to be a little bummed because I didn't really need a payware arpeggiator, especially one that you need to apply music theory to set up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted May 12, 2019 Share Posted May 12, 2019 (edited) 11 hours ago, Starship Krupa said: I got Instachord and Instascale in the 2-fer bundle deal that Pluginboutique were running a few months back and just now got around to trying out Instachord. I've run into two main issues with it. The first I think I've solved with the help of a YouTube video, and that was how to route it in Cakewalk. Kinda convoluted, but I have it to where I play my MIDI keyboard, the Instachord plug-in's onscreen keys light up, and sounds come out of TTS-1. The second is trickier, and that is I can't quite figure out WTF the thing is supposed to do, apart from making a few people on YouTube super excited that they own a copy. ? From what I can make out based on their gesticulations, it enables you to play arpeggios with only 2 fingers while you talk about music theory. I can't figure out how to switch it into the mode where it plays the arpeggios in the first place, and the manual is little help. If that's all there is to this thing I'm going to be a little bummed because I didn't really need a payware arpeggiator, especially one that you need to apply music theory to set up. That is spooky Starship! I have recently had a very similar experience having also got it and Instascale in a 2 fer a few months back. I got the Jazz and Blues presets from PluginBoutique last week which made me want to explore Instachord a bit more... It seems to me to be a way of simulating guitar strums or picking (although chords can also have notes played simultaneously) whilst selecting chords to pick or strum using single notes which you assign to chords. So the two columns in the top left part of the display titled Chords will select the chords listed (which can be changed by clicking on them or loading presets). These correspond to the two octaves on your keyboard labelled Chords A and Chords B. When you press any of these keys you are simply changing the chord and won't hear anything until you use the the keys in the octaves labelled Pick A and Pick B. These correspond to the Columns in the top right of the display. The actions for Picks A and B are listed in their relevant column which can also be changed by clicking on them. So by default when you play C in the Picks B octave (for me this defaults to Strum Down Fast 1 2 3) it will play the first 3 notes very quickly one after the other of whichever chord you have selected in Chords A or B. When you play the next note in the Picks B octave it will play notes 2 3 and 4 as a strum up fast and so on until you get to F# which plays a slow strum down for notes 1 to 5. You can change any of these actions by clicking on them. The Picks A octave allows you to play any of the 6 chord notes (kinda like guitar strings) plus a bass note. Like Picks B the actions can be changed. Have you worked out what the hold mode does? I cannot tell any difference between Pick and Pick+ modes and Fret mode makes no sound so not sure on that one. UPDATE: WA Production's website gives the following information for Hold Mode... This feature allows the fretting hand (chord changer keys) to control the sustain. So as long as the chord key is held down any note you play will ring out, just like a guitar or using a sustain pedal. Scroll down on this website for more information https://www.waproduction.com/plugins/view/instachord In all honesty I'm not sure how much use I will get out of this plugin and there are so many other variants which do something more akin to what I actually would use (Cthulu, Obelisk, Chordz, kawachord, Tonespace and probably a few others that I can't recall). Edited May 12, 2019 by ZincT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 So far I can't even get the damn thing to do what it's supposed to do. I play keys on my MIDI keyboard, and they light up on the Instachord plug-in, and I hear the notes coming from TTS-1, but the whole chord and picking and strum thing just doesn't happen. I press a key or keys in the "Chord A" or "Chord B" zone, then a key or keys in the "Picks" zone, and all I get is TTS-1 playing the piano notes you would expect to hear from pressing down those keys. I know that Instachord is listening because the key presses are showing up in its GUI. I'm pretty sure the routing is correct because I can click on the Instachord GUI's keyboard and the piano will sound. I've tried loading presets and it doesn't change anything. There's this one guy who goes on about this thing in his YouTube video as if it's the cure for cancer. Then he presses a key with his left hand, a chord sounds, presses another key with his right hand and an arpeggio plays. Well, I can play a chord with my left hand and a simple arpeggio with my right hand. This is not revolutionary. I used to have a Yamaha home organ from the '80's that could do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 Okay, for anyone who is having trouble with this plug-in, I vastly simplified the routing over what that guy on YouTube does with his Aux track and all that mess. Just make two instrument tracks, one for Instachord and one for the synth you want to control with Instachord. Configure Instachord's Input to your MIDI keyboard. Enable MIDI output in Instachord. In Instachord's Output, go to Selected Track Outputs... and choose MIDI, and select the synth you want to control. In the synth you want to control, set your Input to Instachord. I had to set it to Ch. 1 to get it to work with the Virtual Controller, but YMMV. And that's it. Just 4 steps. No Aux Track, no Sends, none of that weird crap Mr. YouTube has you do. I'm still kinda underwhelmed. You select a chord with the left hand and then get all notey with the right hand. Maybe I took too many piano lessons for this to seem like a big deal, or maybe I just need to fart around with it. I already know how to improvise over a scale. It's kinda fun, but not OH MY GAWD THIS IS A GAME CHANGER. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syphus Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I know it has been a while since anyone has posted here . . . but: I just recently got a copy of instachord and for the life of me, I can not get it to work correctly from a configuration point. I could get instachord to run the synth by triggering the keyboard display on the VST, but I can not get the virtual keyboard to trigger instachord . . . I have been at this for hours (I keep telling myself it can't be that hard . . . ) the last post explains a simplified version of the youtube video, but it does not work for me (and the youtube video was not that clear). Starship Krupa, Can you detail this out for me perhaps . . . I gotta go lay down due to brainlock - thanks Syphus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadicus Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Cthulhu chords by xfer is also good, and has a challenging setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 5 hours ago, Syphus said: I just recently got a copy of instachord and for the life of me, I can not get it to work correctly from a configuration point. I do not have the plug-in but setup for all plug-ins that generate or pass through MIDI data are the very similar. This may help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syphus Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I will give a try later today - Thanks for info @scook. One question (lol - for now) Since the "instrument" only shows audio type outputs (from complete routing as an instrument track), when I go to connect the synth input should I be seeing something other than the "fake audio outs from my VST"? (i think I see "instachord-1 . . . ouch . . . more brain hurt) I can get the VST (instachord) to run with my controller, but once create the target instrument (i.e. synth), seem to lose the ability to drive the VST. For instance, as soon as the target track is create, my controller will latch on to it, moving things around (trying to get controller back to VST), the VST will no longer connect to the VST. Mull that over and I will get back to it later and verify whether your suggestion works out and report back. Sometimes thing can get a bit frustrating! Thanks for the help . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Plug-ins that scan as synths like Instachord usually need to have a complete synth routing to work even though they do not generate audio. This is a good case for adding them with an instrument track. Their audio output settings do not matter through. What does matter is the "Enable MIDI Output" setting in the VST2/3 drop down (an image in the link above shows the setting). This makes the MIDI data they generate available to the DAW and causes the plug-ins to appear in other Instrument and MIDI track inputs. These are the tracks where the synth(s) need to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 (edited) I just set up Instachord (which I also bought recently) in Cakewalk and already had it up and running in Studio One. To summarize, and just to test : 1. In a new empty Cakewalk project, Insert -> Soft Synth -> XXX twice, the first is Instachord and the second is the instrument vsti plugin you want to play (it'll make the sounds). For both, on the Insert Soft Synth Options page, check : "Simple Instrument Track" , "Enable MIDI Output" and "Synth Property Page" ) 2. For the Instachord track, set Input to <your MIDI controller> (or the Cakewalk virtual midi keyboard), and Output doesn't matter. 3. For your sound generating instrument vsti track, set Input to "Instachord 1 -> MIDI Omni" and Output to "Master". 4. Make sure Input Echo = ON (blue) for both tracks. Clicking the keyboard outline in the Instachord plugin should now generate sound, as should playing the same notes on you Midi keyboard (or the virutal midi keyboard). Edited July 24, 2019 by Paul P 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syphus Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Ok Folks . . . I got it working ! Thanks to @scook and @Paul P for guiding through this and providing me the info I need. I believe I can say my problem is solved for now - great job guys! Syphus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 My apologies to the forum, I just tried following my own recipe and now I can't get it to work either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syphus Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 No problem Starship Krupa , I did get it to half work via your instructions. I think eventually I would have figured out (maybe - LOL). I think I have a better understanding of the configuration (for synths) in cakewalk than when I started this endeavor. I have messed around with various synth type VSTs and never ran into this configuration . . . Now we all know . Syphus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 On 5/12/2019 at 7:12 PM, Starship Krupa said: I'm still kinda underwhelmed. You select a chord with the left hand and then get all notey with the right hand. Maybe I took too many piano lessons for this to seem like a big deal, or maybe I just need to fart around with it. I already know how to improvise over a scale. It's kinda fun, but not OH MY GAWD THIS IS A GAME CHANGER. Instascale is even weirder. Like two-finger typing and the machine picks the letters that come out, you can only tell it which direction to go in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 I can't help feeling that there's something I'm missing with it, because obviously the developer put a ton of work into it, the UI is beautiful, it has all these options, there are the people raving about it on YouTube, there are announcements about add-on packs, etc. So I take all that trouble and time to get it to work and it seems like a tarted-up arpeggiator. If I had put in the same amount of time and effort running scales on my piano.... Well, if anyone here sees the white light and can tell me what it is about Instachord that makes intelligent-seeming grown men froth at the mouth, please do. The guy I'm thinking of seemed to know some music theory, so it wasn't just excitement over finally making his synths sound like someone good was playing them. I know I sound down on Instachord, but I wouldn't be disappointed if I hadn't been interested in it to start with, and if anyone reading this wants to try it out, the price isn't too steep. Pluginboutique has the bundle of both Instachord, Instascale, and the 3 preset packs, all for $10. This runs through August 4, 2019. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadicus Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (edited) PaulP setup works Is the "H" home always suppose to sound? There is a unison effect happening, InstaScale sounds more like Instachord. you can see the midi ALSO whats the deal when posing images? there all low res! Edited July 25, 2019 by sadicus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (edited) 20 minutes ago, sadicus said: PaulP setup works Is the "H" home always suppose to sound? There is a unison effect happening, InstaScale sounds more like Instachord. Do you have by any chance Instachord also present in your project with Input Echo = ON ? They'll both sound at the same time if you do. Other than that, I only hear a single H note in Instascale each time I play the note either directly in the plugin or on my virtual keyboard. I have yet to seriously learn either Instachord ord Instascale so can't be of much help. Edited July 25, 2019 by Paul P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadicus Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 in the image it's just instascale and Kontakt 5 with a piano patch. input echo is on both tracks and it clearly shows and plays 2 notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 35 minutes ago, sadicus said: ALSO whats the deal when posing images? there all low res! The forum has a 50MB per user quota on uploaded images. As a result, it downsizes uploaded images. To avoid this use an image service (ex. imgur.com) and embed links to the images instead of uploading them to the forum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadicus Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (edited) Does Cbb AUX sends and Patch Points work the same as Blue Cat's PatchWork? So the lower keys are similar to traditional Key Switches? (Violins> Sustain, Tremolo, Staccato, etc.) No offense to the person that made THIS, people smarter than me also found it confusing. TRACKSTrack 1 [ SL-Electric Piano ] *IN = set this to whatever your controller keyboard is Omni or Channel 1 Omni (Do not use All input Omni) OUT = Master SEND = Aux 1 Post = ON Track 2 Aux 1 (volume = 0) IN = [ TruePiano ] OUT = Master Track 3 Instachord 1 IN = All Inputs Omni OUT = Master SEND = Aux 1 Post = OFF * setting this to the actual keyboard fixes the "doubling of notes"Chromatic notes White/black pressed from external keyboard will play the Instachord + the black keys (a doubling effect) PRV keyboard only triggers the correct sounding Instachord (no doubling or black key notes) Edited July 26, 2019 by sadicus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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