Hi everyone. I’m trying to get Cakewalk automation to change the sound of the Electric R-MK I piano in EZkeys2 (I want to be able to switch between the 1970s and Soft Ballad presets as part of the song’s arrangement). I think I’ve done what’s required in EZkeys2, i.e. toggled ‘Allow MIDI Bank Select’ to On and set ‘MIDI In Channel’ to Any (Default).
If I open the relevant parameter drop-down on the Cakewalk instrument track associated with the EZkeys2 plug-in, I’m offered the options Clips, Audio Transients, and Automation. Automation has sub-options including EZkeys2, which in turn has sub-options comprising Bypass, Param [1 thru 16], and MIDI CC 0|0.
If I enable Read automation on the instrument track and create an envelope (i.e. horizontal line) for the MIDI CC 0|0 parameter, I find that dragging the envelope up and down during playback changes the instrument selection in the EZkeys2 plug-in (I’ve got the default piano, two electric pianos, Mellotoon and the String Machine). However, I can’t see any way to keep the instrument the same and change only its sound.
I’ve found when working with EZmix that Cakewalk automatically ‘knows’ which of the plug-in’s parameters are automatable, making it simple to create the required envelope, but I’m still quite inexperienced with using MIDI. Is there a way to achieve my objective, other than having a second instance of EZkeys2 with the other sound preset? Can you somehow associate the EZkeys2 instrument’s sound settings with the numbered parameters (i.e. Param [1 thru 16]) that Cakewalk recognises, the way you can in a plug-in like Amplitube? Thanks in advance for any help!
Hi everyone. I’m trying to get Cakewalk automation to change the sound of the Electric R-MK I piano in EZkeys2 (I want to be able to switch between the 1970s and Soft Ballad presets as part of the song’s arrangement). I think I’ve done what’s required in EZkeys2, i.e. toggled ‘Allow MIDI Bank Select’ to On and set ‘MIDI In Channel’ to Any (Default).
If I open the relevant parameter drop-down on the Cakewalk instrument track associated with the EZkeys2 plug-in, I’m offered the options Clips, Audio Transients, and Automation. Automation has sub-options including EZkeys2, which in turn has sub-options comprising Bypass, Param [1 thru 16], and MIDI CC 0|0.
If I enable Read automation on the instrument track and create an envelope (i.e. horizontal line) for the MIDI CC 0|0 parameter, I find that dragging the envelope up and down during playback changes the instrument selection in the EZkeys2 plug-in (I’ve got the default piano, two electric pianos, Mellotoon and the String Machine). However, I can’t see any way to keep the instrument the same and change only its sound.
I’ve found when working with EZmix that Cakewalk automatically ‘knows’ which of the plug-in’s parameters are automatable, making it simple to create the required envelope, but I’m still quite inexperienced with using MIDI. Is there a way to achieve my objective, other than having a second instance of EZkeys2 with the other sound preset? Can you somehow associate the EZkeys2 instrument’s sound settings with the numbered parameters (i.e. Param [1 thru 16]) that Cakewalk recognises, the way you can in a plug-in like Amplitube? Thanks in advance for any help!
I totally missed that this is different in the VST3 version of the plugin
Well, I did specify in one of my first posts that “the ‘Allow MIDI Program Change’ toggle is now labelled ‘Allow MIDI Bank Select’” (i.e. it differs in the actual plug-in from what is shown in the EZkeys2 documentation), and if it had been possible to send a Program Change command I did find myself wondering why no-one would/could tell me what the program numbers were for the individual sound settings in a given EZkeys2 instrument/library (e.g. Electric R-MK I > Soft Ballad). Even if I could have worked out the difference between a Program, a Bank, and a Patch, and how Cakewalk communicated them to its plugins, I’d still need to have known the numbers involved.
Hi Patrick,
I am sorry I didn’t catch that right away. I rarely use the VST3 version at all since I work mainly on macOS, which means I tend to use the AU version even if I’m using cross-platform hosts like Reaper, Studio One Live or FL Studio.
Anyways, there are are some significant changes to VST3, compared to VST2, which in Steinberg’s view is for the better and for a lot of users and developers is worse. MIDI Program Change is such a thing. I stumbled upon several conversations regarding this, e.g. this one with developers and Arne from Steinberg:
https://forums.steinberg.net/t/vst3-and-midi-cc-pitfall/201879
But had Program Change worked for you, as it does with other plug-in formats, the Program Change number would have been ‘8’ to select ‘Soft Ballad’. You still would have had to select the right Bank for the Library first, which depends on how many libraries you have installed. In my case the ‘Electric R-MK I’ library would be: MIDI CC#0 (Bank MSB), 9.
In your case: MIDI CC#0 (Bank MSB), 1.
BR,
John
John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor
No probs, John, and thanks again for all the replies. In a way, it’s a relief to find out that, under VST3, EZkeys2 can’t receive the required command, as it means I don’t have to learn a new method! I’ll just carry on using my old solution, i.e. separate instances of EZkey2 for each instrument/sound combo.
verified – i can use my VST2 version of products like AAS Lounge Lizard, but not the VST3 version. also, apparently Steinberg made the no RAW MIDI decision for VST3:
“The program change messages are not received by the VST 3 (this is because Steinberg wanted to abstract all midi messages with VST parameters and prevent the plugins from processing raw midi events). It is a limitation imposed by Steinberg, there is no workaround, except by loading the plug-in as a VST2 instead of VST3.”
No Program Changes in VST3 – regrettable decision — steinberg.net forum
Glenn
www.runnel.com
www.reverbnation.com/fossile
so, with the new update, EZK has the option for program change in the standalone version but not in the VST3 (which has this handy information 🙂 )
any thoughts on perhaps enabling program change on the VST3? it has been done by a number of other product vendors. or perhaps a VST2 version then?
Glenn
www.runnel.com
www.reverbnation.com/fossile
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