User guide

Tracktion 4 Reference Manual
103
To edit the preset names in bank:
• Find, and click on the MIDI output your hardware is connected to in the list of MIDI devices on
the MIDI group page.
• Click the
edit button.
• A dialogue window will be appear (Fig. 4.3.5).
• Set the
bank name parameter to the bank that you wish to edit (you can also rename the bank if
you want).
• Select the patch that you wish to rename, and enter a new name for it.
• If your MIDI device counts presets from zero, rather than one, you may wish to click on the
op-
tions button and select the use zero based numbering option.
Once you have congured the patch names for your hardware device, you can enter MIDI program
changes into your edit by name. Simply select the clip where the program change should occur, click
the insert program change option, and select your program from the list.
Working With Software Instruments
So now we’ve looked at using external MIDI instruments with Tracktion, but there is another type of
MIDI instrument available to you: software instruments, or as they are commonly known, VSTis.
In Chapter Three we discussed the lter section, and how to add new lters to a track. If you haven’t
read that chapter yet, or you think you may need a quick refresher, you may want to review Chapter
3.4 in particular, as software instruments are just another kind of lter. Because signals ow from left to
right, you should place your software synthesiser before any effect lters on the track. In general, the
only time you would have a lter in front of the synthesiser lter is if you are using a MIDI lter to pro-
cess MIDI notes before they reach the instrument. Such MIDI lters may take the form of arpeggiators,
or transposition lters. For example, Tracktion’s pitch shifter lter can be used to transpose MIDI notes
as well as process audio. As a rule of thumb though, a software instrument should be the very rst lter
in the sequence.
Unlike for external MIDI equipment, there is no need to change the track destination from “default
audio” when working with software synthesisers. In addition, only a few software synthesisers take any
notice of the MIDI channel, so unless you are working with a multi-timbral VSTi, you can usually ignore
that setting also.
Another big difference between software and hardware instruments is that all kinds of controls on vir-
tual instruments can be automated using Tracktion’s powerful automation system. We will come to look
at automation in Chapter Seven.
Figure 4.3.5