Wout Blommers
Joined: Sep 07, 2003
Posts: 4529
Location: The Hague - The Netherlands
Audio files: 123
G2 patch files: 12
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 Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:14 am Post subject:
That strange implementation of Midi on the NordLead Rack |
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Hi
Maybe the next text is an explanation 'why'?
| electro80 in http://electro-music.com/forum/post-206537.html&highlight=#206537 wrote: | ... However, if you choose a sound module + a midi controller keyboard instead of a "full featured" keyboard synth you will often find that the interface is more messy and you will have to spend a lot of time menu diving. Sound modules were traditionally rack modules with very few controls. By the mid/end of the 90s a new class of modules became popular: the desktop module. These have something that resemble a sensible interface.
So... if you go for rack mounted sound modules you won´t have access to certain workflows and styles of playing. Adding a nice midi keyboard controller to the module won´t fix that. Buying a desktop module can often fix some problems, but then you don´t really have a self contained keyboard synth. Sometimes that is a huge issue and sometimes not. ... |
When designing the NordRack Clavia realized this problem. Using just a single Program didn't bring much troubles: just one Slot active and controlled by one Midi channel could do the job perfectly. This worked the same as on the Keyboard version. Playing a Performance was easily too, because mostly more then one Slot were constructed all used Slots to the same Midi channel. The messy thing showed up in what Clavia called a 'Layer': more then one Slot to be sound but not saved as a Performance yet, which would happen during a session of the sound designing.
What was the trap? As soon as a second Slot is activated to complete the sound generated in the first Slot in a Keyboard version both Slots would react to the keyboard, which has a kind of global function. In a Rack version the Midi keyboard would control only on its assigned Midi channel, so the second Slot has to be changed to the first Slot's Midi channel. Mostly by pressing [Shift+Midi Ch > second Slot > cursor down > Shift] When using the second Slot as a dedicated to another Midi channel again the action had to be done in reverse. Not nice for a synth designed in the concept to have an as much as possible 'open' User Interface without drop-down menu's. And after all in the studio a musician wouldn't like to change things in the set up to much...
The designers choose to use the same concept as on the Keyboard version: the left most Slot's Midi channel was to be seen as the global keyboard, so every sound in an active Slot would always react to it. If the user didn't want to see this behavior he just had to deactivate that particular Slot.
If the second Slot was active it would react to the Midi keyboard controller at the left and to its own Midi channel, because this was never changed. In this way the normal studio set up wasn't changed either, so after a session of sound design the user couldn't forget to set back the Midi channels and wouldn't have to search a few days later for ages to find out why the Programs wouldn't sound at all… And a Rack is mostly used in a studio set up, isn't it?
This concept is still in the Leads available, so when playing any keyboard just activate those Slots you want to hear!
Wout |
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