Patch Changes with Analog Lab Pro

[BlackFortyFour]

I'm struggling to change patches with Analog Lab Pro and would appreciate any guidance on how to configure things correctly.

If we take an example of a project with a Midi track and an Instrument track, with the Midi track containing the data for an ascending major scale and a descending minor scale. The midi track output is assigned to the instrument track (which is the Analog Lab Pro VST).  I'd like one preset to sound when the scale is ascending and another when descending.

It seems, though, that inserting a 'Bank/Patch Change' isn't actually doing anything so I must be doing something wrong, but can't figure out what. I've tried various combos of the "Bank Select Method" and ,no matter which I choose, the "Bank" is always either "---" or "0-Bank 0" and the patch numbers sometimes produce a change and sometimes don't (my troubleshooting here is inconsistent and I can't reproduce the same results on demand, which is further confusing me).

I've read on the Arturia help pages that Analog Lab is supposed to be based on a "playlist/song/preset" combination with "Bank MSB" being the "playlist", "Bank LSB" being  the song and Program Number being the "song". 

In the Cakewalk document, I read the "Bank MSB" = "Controller 0" and "Bank LSB" = "Controller 32" and so I've been playing with these and, again, they sometimes initiate changes and sometimes don't, so I'm kinda lost.

Am I supposed to be able to import an .ins file into Cakewalk with the Playlist structure from Analog Lab? Am I over complicating things trying to insert 3 "Patch" events (i.e. one for Controller 0, one for Controller 32, one for Patch 100 etc)?.

I'd like to keep things as simple as possible and I fear I'm going down the wrong rabbit hole here, so any pointers on how to initiate a simple patch change from Cakewalk to Analog Lab would be greatly appreciated

 

 

 

 

[Promidi]

Use the VST2 version if you want Analog Lab Pro to respond to Patch Change MIDI Events via Cakewalk.

Also, ins files are only used for external hardware synths not VSTis.

You have to enter the numbers directly into the Bank and Patch fields.  Bank 0 for the first song, 1 for the next.   Within the songs, enter 0 for the first patch in the given song. Also, you have have less that 127 patches in total, you can just keep the Bank at 0 and just use the patch number.

I tested Bank/Patch changes here with Analog Lab Pro in Cakewalk and they work fine.  I just used "normal" for the Bank select method.

Depending on your work flow and resources permitting, you might actually find in easier to just have a separate instance of Analog Lab Pro for each patch.

[BlackFortyFour]

Thank you for the reply.

I've tried the VST2 and it now partially works as it's now recognising the 'Patch' but not the 'Bank'. 

Here's my initial Event List, set to trigger the first patch in the first song, then change to the second patch in the first song:

So far so good, however if I then change the 'Bank' to attempt to trigger the first patch in the 2nd song, it still triggers the 2nd patch in the first song

 

As you mentioned, this would be ok if I had less that 127 patches in the playlist but I have 131, meaning I can't trigger the last few. For the avoidance of doubt, I can trigger the first 127 when the Bank is set to 0.

I've noted the comments around sticking to having one track per patch, but I wanted to try to learn a little more of the mechanics of the patch changes via MIDI and so would like to work this out, even if I wind up never using it.

Thanks again

[Promidi]

4 minutes ago, BlackFortyFour said:

To trigger the first patch in the second song, you would send Bank 1, Patch 0   (you have Bank 1, Patch 1 - which is the 2nd patch)

Remember, with Banks and Patches, everything starts at 0    (0 = 1st Bank, 0= 1st Patch)

[BlackFortyFour]

Sorry yes of course. The point stands, though, that it's not recognising the bank so both examples play the same sounds, despite the bank supposed to be changing from 0 to 1

[Promidi]

4 hours ago, BlackFortyFour said:

Sorry yes of course. The point stands, though, that it's not recognising the bank so both examples play the same sounds, despite the bank supposed to be changing from 0 to 1

Strange it works in the inspector..... but I also had trouble selecting Analog Lab Pro Bank/Patches as inserted MIDI events.

Looks like it’s a strange interaction between Arturia and Cakewalk.

I even tried inserting CC0 events to change to banks like that.....nada!

Bank changes do work in Cakewalk as inserted MIDI events per se as I use them all the time with a Yamaha SW1000XG external synth card and the correct patches are always selected with that - that's with a synth with over 1300 patches.

Looks like with Arturia, the way to go is several instances. 

Some Arturia patches take some seconds to load as they are sample based.  Therefore, even if Analog Lab Pro did respond correctly to bank changes, several instances might still be the way to go.

[BlackFortyFour]

Thanks so much for your time and your feedback, I really appreciate it. 

I think you're right and that I should stick with separate tracks for different patches.

All is not lost though, as even though it does seem there's an interaction issue between Analag Lab and Cakewalk, it seems I was on the right track in troubleshooting so I've still learned something!

Thanks again,