Define Instrument not enabled

[Roy Slough]

I use define instrument to make midi entry easier when using Ample Guitars - It allows changes to the note names shown on the piano keys in piano roll view.

I wanted to update some of my previous entries to allow for new things I discovered (Silent press etc..)  However, the define instrument button is not enabled in the preferences/Midi Instrument section (see screenshot) You can see I have previously defined entries for Ample Guitar non strumming and strumming modes

I cannot think what I am doing differently or wrong since I last entered some values.
The only thing I have done is install the latest patch upgrade (Version 2024.12) Could this have affected this?

Any advice please. I can continue without this but it does make things easier.

[User 905133]

Do you have any midi outputs selected [MIDI Devices]?

PS: As an alternative for the time being would you be comfortable editing copies of the older instrument definitions in Notepad?

Edited Friday at 06:33 PM by User 905133
to add a PS

[Roy Slough]

14 hours ago, User 905133 said:

Do you have any midi outputs selected [MIDI Devices]?

PS: As an alternative for the time being would you be comfortable editing copies of the older instrument definitions in Notepad?

Thanks, yes  connecting a midi device for output enabled the define button.
 

[Roy Slough]

18 hours ago, User 905133 said:

Do you have any midi outputs selected [MIDI Devices]?

PS: As an alternative for the time being would you be comfortable editing copies of the older instrument definitions in Notepad?

Thanks for solving my earlier problem, Do you know much about the editing of instrument files - I am finding it confusing and I don't want to mess things up.
As you can see in the screenshot I have added Note Names in the right hand window and have Created one for stumming mode and one for non Strumming mode.
I cannot find where these are stored (e.g. If I wanted to edit with notepad) (I also want to add one for Ample Bass Lite)
But I can select these note names from the piano roll = All good for me, but while they are in an unknown file/location there is always the risk an update may destroy the work I have done.

Now in the left hand window I added an Ample Guitar Instrument file and exported it, and it appeared in the Cakewalk Content/Cakewalk core/instruments folder
But initially this was just a template file with no useful information in it.
I the dragged the Note name "tree" I had created in the left window (Both of them) and exported again.
Now the .ins file has the note names in it.
However, This is not selectable from the piano roll window as note names, So what is the point.

It may be there is a way to assign an instrument .ins to a synth but this too has complications.

The reason I am exploring this topic more is so that I may upload something useful for others using ample guitars. I do appreciate different Ample guitars may have slightly different controls (e.g. only those with Riffer have the riffer controls) but the work I have done may assist others.

 

 

[msmcleod]

Here's a quick demo of creating a new instrument definition from scratch (in this case for a Yamaha P200 piano).

I'm pressing the "Ins" key to add each new patch entry:

[User 905133]

39 minutes ago, Roy Slough said:

Thanks for solving my earlier problem, Do you know much about the editing of instrument files - I am finding it confusing and I don't want to mess things up.

Glad to hear!  I used to edit my own using notepad for hardware sound modules (romplers and samplers).  I never got into using the built-in tool. Personal preference--I just found it had been easier to cut and paste pages of preset names from manuals and to add the note numbers using cursor keys and the edit buffer rather than looking back and forth from paper to screen typing all those names.

12 minutes ago, msmcleod said:

Here's a quick demo of creating a new instrument definition from scratch (in this case for a Yamaha P200 piano).

Thanks for posting the mini video.