Switch between midi channels while i playing

[צביקה שמואלי]

Hi
I use bandlab sonar and play a control keyboard with vst kontakt.
I want to divide the midi section into 3 parts. and play each section on a different instrument.
For example I setup konkak
piano on channel 1,
Guitar on channel 2,
Saxophone on channel 3.
I want to make sonar change channels automatically, so that I can play each section with a different instrument, and I won't have to remember to switch between channels while playing (if there are several songs, I won't be able to remember when to switch channels in each song)
Thanks

[msmcleod]

Use per-output instrument tracks with Kontakt.

It won't matter what MIDI channel your keyboard is set to, it'll just use the correct MIDI channel for whatever the focused track is using:



Note there is only ONE instance of Kontakt in use here - all the instrument tracks are sharing the same single instance of Kontakt.

[צביקה שמואלי]

Thanks
I know the above part
  I want to make sonar change channels automatically while playing
   So that I can play every section on a different instrument

[Milton Sica]

1 hour ago, msmcleod said:

Use per-output instrument tracks with Kontakt.
 

Hello, I know that the post is about using other channels for Kontakt, but I would like to rely on the forum friend's knowledge regarding the configuration for using it in Cakewalk, as I have experienced a lot of latency whenever I insert Kontakt (5 ).

Any tips?

[azslow3]

1 hour ago, צביקה שמואלי said:

Thanks
I know the above part
  I want to make sonar change channels automatically while playing
   So that I can play every section on a different instrument

I think it is unclear what you want...

Do you want play only one instrument using whole keyboard at any particular time? Then already given answer should help. If you want switch instruments from keyboard, write what you want to use for that (f.e. pedals, knobs/buttons on keyboard, etc.).

If you want play all instruments at the same time, so split your keyboard into several regions, then you can use Drum Map or several tracks with active echo and the same keyboard as input (or just omni), with forced channel and MFX event filter (MIDI FX plug-in) tuned to filter out unwanted regions.

 

[abacab]

3 hours ago, צביקה שמואלי said:

I want to make sonar change channels automatically, so that I can play each section with a different instrument, and I won't have to remember to switch between channels while playing (if there are several songs, I won't be able to remember when to switch channels in each song)

I'm not aware of a way to make them switch automatically, but with separate MIDI tracks set to ch 1, ch2, & ch3, going to each respective instrument in Kontakt you could select them manually (bring them into focus).

And if you have a MIDI control surface set up (such as a basic MIDI controller keyboard with control surface functions), then you could use the track select buttons to switch tracks on demand while playing.

[צביקה שמואלי]

I know I'm not good at the English language
I have on channel 1 a musical section of 6 bar chords in midi.
I connect the control keyboard (kontakt) to channel 2.

I want to fill kontakt with 3 musical instruments for  each channel (piano, guitar, and harmonica).
So I have one control keyboard with 3 channels and each channel is a specific musical instrument.
Channel 1 kontakt piano
Channel 2 kontakt guitar
Channel 3 kontakt harmonica.

I want to play a solo for 2 bar with piano only, 2 bar with guitar only and 2 bar with harmonica only.

I want to make sonar automatically change channels, after I play 2 bars on the piano , sonar will switch to the guitar channel for 2 bars and switch to the harmonica channel for another 2 bars.

So I can play 3 instruments separately on one control keyboard.

Thanks again

[abacab]

There is no auto channel switching in available in Sonar or Cakewalk.

Best workaround for live playing:

1. Set up 3 MIDI tracks, one corresponding to each instrument in your instance of Kontakt.
2. Assign each of the 3 MIDI tracks to output to different MIDI channels 1-3, respectively, so that each one controls one of your 3 musical instruments as you have described, making sure that the proper MIDI channel is also assigned in Kontakt for each instrument.
3. To switch channels (and instruments) all you will need to do is select the desired track manually (by mouse click or using an external MIDI controller). The track will come into focus and the MIDI input echo will switch to the selected track.

For recording MIDI tracks for later playback, the alternative would be:

1. Record a new MIDI track for each instrument and channel #, for just the number of bars required, with recorded MIDI starting and ending on the correct bar #.  Assuming that you are setting the MIDI channels as in the example above for the respective tracks.
2. Arrange them accordingly on the timeline. You would need a new MIDI track for each channel change, stacked vertically in the timeline.
3. The channel changes would then occur "automatically" as the playback moves across the timeline and the correct MIDI plays back each part at the assigned time, just as players in an ensemble would play each part in real time. If you were looking at this arrangement as score notation, the players not playing would be looking at "rest" bars. The "rest" bars in MIDI would just be empty MIDI bars in the timeline.

Edited February 3, 2023 by abacab

[צביקה שמואלי]

 

Thanks

 Too bad it's not possible There is no auto channel switching in available in Sonar or Cakewalk.

[abacab]

1 minute ago, צביקה שמואלי said:

Thanks

 Too bad it's not possible There is no auto channel switching in available in Sonar or Cakewalk.

Actually, I'm not aware of any DAW with that feature, unless there might be some that allow you to assign MIDI channels per MIDI clip on a track, rather than per track.

[Xoo]

I haven't tried this, but Articulations might work (you can re-map channels using one).

[msmcleod]

1 hour ago, Kevin Perry said:

I haven't tried this, but Articulations might work (you can re-map channels using one).

IIRC Articulations don't work for live MIDI input.

Short of a hardware solution to re-map channels,  the only other way I can think of is to use the down arrow key to switch track focus while you're playing.  This won't work for recording though.

Other solutions spring to mind:

1. Record arm all and echo enable all 3 tracks, but use mute automation to mute the tracks you don't want to hear when recording.  Then just trim the clips afterwards to remove the parts you don't want.

2. Use something like TTS-1 with program changes for piano at bar 1, guitar at bar 3, and harmonica at bar 5.  Record your performance on that track, then split/copy the clips on to your Kontakt tracks.  It's less than ideal, as the sounds you're playing won't be the same as what Kontakt is.  However, I have used this technique in the past, except using hardware instruments rather than TTS-1, to avoid latency when recording additional parts in an already busy project, and it's not quite as bad as it sounds.
 

[צביקה שמואלי]

Thanks to your advice ,I created 3 separate kontakt channels and muted them according to the picture , and it worked 

[Guy Allen]

Isn't it as simple as going into event view for the track, have some bogus 0 notes and change the channel at the desired interval?

Edited February 6, 2023 by Guy Allen

[user 905133]

1 hour ago, Guy Allen said:

Isn't it as simple as going into event view for the track, have some bogus 0 notes and change the channel at the desired interval? [emphasis added]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:38 AM, צביקה שמואלי said:

I want to make sonar change channels automatically, so that I can play each section with a different instrument, and I won't have to remember to switch between channels while playing (if there are several songs, I won't be able to remember when to switch channels in each song) [emphasis added]