I tend to play mostly several different virtual pianos with a couple synths thrown in. I want to improve my workflow in how I switch between different pianos or synths. I picked up a Korg nanoKontrol2 hoping that I could switch between different pianos by using the solo button and use the fader to control individual volumes for each piano. For example, I could just turn on GP and enable/disable the different pianos as they are assigned to each of the channels on the nano.
I hope this make sense. Iâm not sure of whatâs the best way to go about this. Should I load up all the pianos in one rackspace and control them using the audio mixer (if I can map it to the nano)? Or should I use different rackspaces for each piano? I donât know what the best way to accomplish this is and Iâm open to other ideas as well. Iâd just say my main goal would be to enable/disable and control the volumes for different pianos I want using the nanoKontrol2. I need some guidance please.
If youâre planning to use all these synths&settings for any song without switching presets or anything you could put all the VSTs in the backpanel, connect the outputs to a 8 or 16 channel mixer. Then (if you name the channels individually) at the front panel you can assign widgets (eg sliders) to the individual channels and midi-learn/link those to the nanoKontrol. Easily done (or check: https://youtu.be/GQyaFJxVzDM).
If youâre planning to use several other/different settings/presets you made, then different rackspaces would be the go-to-method and you still have all the mixer settings linked as stated above.
Muting/unmute is easily done with switch widgets. Or have multiple widgets tied together: https://youtu.be/m_8RqiS--HY
I guess the main issue would be: if you have all the VSTâs playing at the same time and have some with the volume down it could drain CPU (of course, Iâve no idea how many synth or what type of VST-pianoâs youâre using).
With the switches on the NK2 you could mute-unmute the synths too. I feel it could get confusing when you have both widget switches controlling volume and knobs controlling mute/unmute, especially when youâre playing and have to remember (or keep checking the screen) which synth is muted/volume down, etc.
@Dick is correct in the possible CPU usage with having all the VSTs in one rackspace. Iâm not real familiar with the MIDI capabilities of the nanoKontrol, but Iâm thinking with the âKORG Kontrol Editorâ software you can have many possibilities. One Iâm imagining is building your rackspaces with single VSTs or combinations of VSTs you might be layering. If itâs possible to assign PC numbers to perhaps the Solo buttons, that may be a way to choose which rackspace you want. Of course this would limit you to the number of rackspaces you could have. But you could use the fader for one volume control and the knob for the volume of the layered voice.
You can actually get very cute here with GP Script and automatically bypass synths when the volume is at zero. Also, it turns out that many plugins are very good at turning themselves off when theyâre not actually producing any sound.
Iâm afraid the GP scripts are way over my head at this point. Maybe the best thing for me would be to just put each piano into its own rackspace. Iâd just need to figure out if I can switch racks with the nanoKontrol2 using maybe the Solo button. I appreciate everyoneâs comments.
If you decide to put all of your pianos (up to 8, because of your controller) into one rackspace, it should be no problem as long as the unused plugins will be bypassed - they wont use any CPU power then!
So connect all the plugins to a mixer block (hint: naming the channels properly will make things much easier when it comes to assigning the widgets), place a fader widget for each used channel onto your rackspace panel and connect them with the regarding channel gain parameter of the mixer, then also put the same number of buttons on your panel and assign them to the Bypass" parameter of the plugins⊠this way you can activate/deactivate those plugins you need and you can control the volume of each of them⊠generally there is no need for using a script.
But if a plugin is automtically bypassed by a script as soon as a volume widget goes to 0 is of course much more sophisticated, and it will prevent eventual volume jumps, because if a plugin will be bypassed when a note is still played, the volume will be at near zero, so no one will hear anything.
On the other hand, would it be not so easy anymore to level the plugins to each other, because you always had to pull the unused faders downâŠ
Each of the faders is grouped here with a LED button widget which bypasses the associated plugin when the volume is 0. You can also MIDI learn this LED button widget with your nanokontrol2 solo buttons. The only drawback is that if you activate a piano plugin using the LED button or associted solo button, the volume is set to the max. This could probably be improvedâŠ
In order to make the LED button react as soon as the volume start to be higher than 0, its Max parameter scaling was set to 1.
Thanks for the details guys. Iâm having trouble getting started. I canât seem to get GP to learn the button or fader from the nanoKontrol2.
I read this thread here (https://community.gigperformer.com/t/kork-nanokontrol2-fader-1-not-working/767/7) which talked about the nano using a reserved or conflicting CC0 and CC32 for the number 1 slider bank. I used the Korg Kontrol Editor to up mine by 1 as well. Hereâs a screenshot of mine now after rewriting the settings.
Next in GP I edit the front panel and add a Green LED button. Then under the Mapping section I select the MIDI In (nanoKontrol2 1 Slider/Knob) and press the Learn Parameter button. It turns red then I press the Solo button on the nanoKontrol2 but itâs not mapping.
The mapping section is to link the widget with the plugin parameter you want to control e.g. Plugin Bypass.
To control this widget from an external controller, go to the âMidiâ tab in the widget settings and at the top there will be a Learn button.
Thanks for the help everyone! I managed to get my first piano mapped out they way you described. So Iâm on my way adding the others.
I just have one other question related to this. Is there a way to force the nanoKontrol2 solo button light to stay on when pressing the button? Right now the solo button enables/disables the Bypass Plugin but the actual solo button on the nano doesnât stay lit up like the widget does in GP. It only flashes red when I press it. Does this make sense?
I donât have the NanoKontrol but iâve read that you can change the buttonâs behaviour with the (Korg) editor from âmomentaryâ to âtoggleâ, which is what you want.
I think the nanokontrol can sync its LEDs with GP so they will update if you click the widget in GP. Do you have that working? The GP widget needs the âSyncâ button clicked (Midi tab), and I think in the Korg editor itâs called âLED Modeâ which you would need to set to âExternalâ.
I have the same setup and the advice here is good. Edit the nanokontrol buttons to use toggle mode. You can use a single rackspace with multiple plug-ins. Assign LED button widgets to the plug-ins and the Mute buttons on your nanokontrol. I setup variations of the rackspace that enable the plug in I want and mute the others. Since the muted plug-ins are bypassed there is no CPU spike.
I also assigned knobs for scrolling through rack spaces and variations. Itâs blazing fast.
One thing I learned the hard way: do not assign widgets in your rackspace for sending program changes to a single plugin instance. It introduces latency and even worse, in my case, caused a VST to crash GP on initial load.
You donât need the variations since the buttons are assigned to the nanokontrol. I just found it faster to jump to the variation I need.
Hi rang13, you bring up a good point I didnât know was possible. Iâm trying to sync the solo button with the GP widget as you suggested. Using the Korg Kontrol Editor I changed the LED mode from Internal to External.
I enabled the Sync on the MIDI tab but itâs backwards for what Iâm really wanting. Meaning that when I press the GP widget LED button to âonâ the solo button on the nano goes to âoffâ. And when the GP LED button is âoffâ the nano solo button goes to âonâ. At one point, I was able to get them syncâd by not inverting the value but if I donât do that the plugin is by passed when the GP LED widget is in the âoffâ position. Again, Iâm trying to view the pianos as they are enabled when the LED widget is âonâ. From my point of view Iâm considering the plugin by passed if the GP widget LED button is off.
There are two very different ways to âinvertâ the behavior of a widget in its properties:
in the MIDI tab (independently from what happens at the plugin side): move the assigned MIDI controller and use âinvertâ if the widget doesnât move the same way
in the Value tab (independently from what happens at the MIDI controller side): move the widget and âinvertâ its value if the assigned plugin parameter doesnât change the same wayâ
In your situation I donât think you need to use INVERT the MIDI tab. It should work without.
I noticed in your screenshot that you assign a NanoKontrol SLIDER/KNOB to the ON/OFF button? The idea was to MIDI learn the Slider widget to the NanoKontrol Slider, and the ON/OFF widget LED button to the solo button. Is it what you have done?
Hi David, to answer your question - Yes. Under the MIDI tab I did âLearnâ for each of the nanoKontrol2 items (slider and solo button). GP automatically shows it as ânanoKontrol2 1 (SLIDER/KNOB)â.
I find that in the Value tab, if I donât enable the âInvert Valueâ checkbox then the widgetâs on/off doesnât show correct. For example, the plugin will NOT be by passed when the LED widget is âoffâ (un-pressed) and by passed when the LED widget is in the âonâ position. In my mind it would be the opposite since Iâm âsoloingâ the piano. When I press LED widget button Iâm actually un-by passing the plugin. It seems that if I donât invert it on the Value tab isnât not showing the correct representation.
Again, Iâm new to GP so maybe Iâm going about this the wrong way. For me, I think I have everything working the way I want except the syncing of the LED widget and the nanoKontrol2âs solo button. When I press the LED widget in GP to turn it on, the solo light on the nano goes off and visa-versa.
The two points of my previous post have been o be very clear for you, if it is not the case, please tell me what is not.
At the plugin side you are right, the idea is to invert the value (thatâs how I did it in the original gig file you modified).
At the MIDI side, I donât understand why you use the INVERT option, I donât think you should. If you would need it together with the sync option, you would have a problem as there is a bug in GP which already on the list of the developers.
Regarding the âmomentary to latchingâ option I donât think it is what you want and it is probably the source of your confusion. With this option you need to press the nanokontrol2 button once to activated the GP button, and a second time to release the GP button. You need this only if you midi controller is momentary.
