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Using Qtractor for large orchestral ensembles
Hi, I am attempting (after many years of running Windows and Linux systems side-by-side) to move all my pro music stuff to Linux. At the moment, Qtractor seems to tick most of my boxes for sequencing, and where I have got it working, it performs well, easily up to the pro studio standards that I need ... except for two features that for me are "deal clinchers". So I'm hoping you can shed some light on this for me.
I do a lot of large score sequencing, involving program changes in the course of the music. (e.g. Switch a track from legato violins to agitato violins for a few bars then back again.) In my old sequencer I just put the necessary [MSB][LSB][Program] combo into the MIDI events list at the required points in the track, using an events list editor. So:
(a) Does Qtractor allow me to change instrument using [MSB][LSB][Prog] mid-track, or does it assume that each track will have one and only one instrument associated with it?
(b) If it is possible to do this with Qtractor, do you have any tips regarding the best way to do it?
(c) Does Qtractor allow me to use the event list window as an editor, or am I stuck with doing edits in the piano roll window?
Any advice appreciated. Keep up the good work.
re. Using Qtractor for large orchestral ensembles
i believe this very same questions have been asked on this linuxmusicians.com forum thread, but nevertheless, i'll repeat answers here, just for the record:)
(a) Does Qtractor allow me to change instrument using [MSB][LSB][Prog] mid-track, or does it assume that each track will have one and only one instrument associated with it?
no. one track, one instrument, one program-change on track setup. you can however load midi files that may have program-changes interleaved in sequence. that would play fine, as long and until you set one instrument/bank-select/program-change on a track's properties, which will command that track and midi-channel to obey to that setting whenever and thereafter.
(b) If it is possible to do this with Qtractor, do you have any tips regarding the best way to do it?
the rule as been said above. make it a another track and channel, dedicated to the other instrument/patch/program-change. of course we're dealing about instruments that support bank-select/program-changes which i believe are most external/outboard/hardware ones. not all, if very few, instrument plugins do have support for bank/program/patch switching in between a performance is rolling (ie. realtime). while it might work, when it works, you shall always expect sound gaps, glitches, and or/or effective delays anyhow.
(c) Does Qtractor allow me to use the event list window as an editor, or am I stuck with doing edits in the piano roll window?
yes, you can change event properties or values on the event list. you can also multi-select and remove one or more of them. however, there is no current way to insert events from there. to create new events, you shall use the piano-roll views. sorry :)
hth.
cheers
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