Re: Import a MIDI file

[Tim Janik <timj gtk org>]

On Mon, 2 Jul 2007, Stefan Westerfeld wrote:

>   Hi!
>
> On Sun, Jul 01, 2007 at 03:25:20AM +0200, Tim Janik wrote:
> > On Tue, 29 May 2007, Stefan Westerfeld wrote:
> > > On Tue, May 29, 2007 at 12:54:52AM +0200, Tim Janik wrote:
> > > > On Mon, 28 May 2007, W.Boeke wrote:
> > > > > I imported a MIDI file and got all the channels listed correctly
> > > > > in the beast window. I then mapped each channel to an existing
> > > > > synthesizer, however then the show stopped. What can I do further?
> > > >
> > > > hm, testing it out it seems you still need to assign the tracks
> > > > to at least the Master mixer bus for playback.
> > > >
> > > > beast also has a script that is meant to be usable for this, however
> > > > it currently doesn't work for me.
> > > > Stefan, does Tools/Song/Assign-Tracks-... work for you? it doesn't
> > > > seem to work after a MIDI file import or a new project with a single
> > > > unconnected track here. can you reproduce that or do you need a bug
> > > > report about it?
> >
> > > It works the way I designed it, that is, it only reassigns those tracks
> > > that are connected to master, and no other bus. It does this because:
> >
> > > So: just the midi import needs to be fixed, the script does the right
> > > thing.
> >
> > i don't agree with that statement. granted, the midi import needs to be
> > fixed, but there are other ways to end up with an unconnected track.
> > in such a case, the script name is simply misleading when it says
> > "assign tracks to individual mixer busses". it should either be renamed
> > (according to your description, to: "assign _connected_ tracks to
> > individual mixer busses", but that triggers the question of where an
> > *unconnected* script variant is) or be fixed to reconnected
> > disconnected tracks as well. i'd say the latter is the obvious choice
> > and fail to see a good reason for the script to not connect currently
> > unconnected tracks.
>
> I often use modulation-only tracks (assigned to the same midi channel),
> like
>
> Track-01   Master    [ Part1 ] [ Part 1 ] [ Part1 ] [ Part 1 ]
> Track-02     -       [  Filtersweep Up  ] [ Filtersweep down ]
>
> This allows me to sequence notes and controls individually, i.e. repeat
> the same notes over and over again, while changing the frequency of the
> filter within the instrument. Of course, I don't want that these
> modulation only tracks "waste" a mixer channel, so I made the script
> only reassign those tracks that are assigned to master.
>
> You can see the effect in "Party Monster" - the synth bass modulation
> track (which is such a modulation only track) gets ignored by the script
> if you run it.
>
>
> So as far as I can see there is a use case for the behaviour I
> implemented, unless we find a way to express seperate modulation in
> beast with the same elegance but in a different way than I do it right
> now.

fine, what about adding a checkbox to the script then that preserves
your use case behavior?
  [ ] Only assign tracks connected to 'Master' bus

> But I've personally never encountered a use case for reassigning
> unconnected busses other than the midi importer,

yes, i know. that's why i keep telling you that *others* are 
encountering these cases. so the use case exists, even if it 
isn't exhibited by your personal usage patterns.

> which could be
> relatively easy solved by assigning all imported tracks to the master
> bus, which is consistent to where manually created tracks get assigned
> to.
>
>   Cu... Stefan

---
ciaoTJ