vArranger Forums

Quote from: agaton on September 11, 2019, 01:05:54 PM
It is the Sound Bank with all Ketron SD1000 sounds (512 Melody Sounds and all Drum Kits)
inclusive original Ketron Audio Drum and Percussion Loops.

Sounds awesome!  I'm very interested in getting my hands on this sound bank, as actual Ketron modules are basically impossible to come by, here.  Is it for sale?

Hi Dan, thanks for the prompt reply!

Quote1) Why do you need the arranger to be slave to your kb midi clock? What is your external KB?

Bear with me, I'm going to try and be thorough!

Reason A: Instead of a hardware sound module such as the SD2 (too difficult/expensive to get here in Brazil) I intend to use a full software solution composed of a VST host (Cantabile Performer) with plugins such as Kontakt or Kore for my melody and Yamaha's own S-YXG50 for the accompaniment (connection to vArranger would be made through a virtual MIDI cable such as Midi Yoke).  The thing is that some of the tempo features of the VST host and plugins (such as arpeggiation) can be slaved to a main MIDI clock source: for this, I can choose my hardware arranger, the VST host, or any other MIDI-capable software.  However, I find that the most practical choice is the arranger, for the simple fact that I get a dedicated beat display and hardware buttons!  Which brings me to the next reason:

Reason B: I'm trying really hard to control everything with my hardware arranger.  It is an old Yamaha PSR 6300 (http://m.matrixsynth.com/2011/05/yamaha-psr-6300-portatone.html) that sounds really dated, but is absolutely perfect as a MIDI controller.  Since there are dozens of neat buttons, I don't see why I should need another control scheme.  I don't have much love for touch screens, and using a separate computer keyboard when I have so many buttons would be a waste.

QuoteIf needed, I will separate the control for START and STOP functions with 2 different midi messages.

Hm, it seems this is also related to the clock.  My arranger actually sends MIDI System Realtime messages for START, STOP and the beats themselves (see http://www.gweep.net/~prefect/eng/reference/protocol/midispec.html#Real).  It would be nice if vArranger was able to handle at least START/STOP.

QuoteThis will limit the selection to 128 styles. Also need to think about how to decide that this style is Program change number 5...

Just as a suggestion, LiveStyler solves it by letting you configure presets and then assigning program changes to them.

QuoteYou can load a 2nd style while the first one is running.

Excellent news!

I hope I was able to communicate my use-case successfully.  I don't know if it's a common one (possibly not so much in the arranger crowd), but it seems to me that clock-syncing is an important MIDI feature that many hardware and software vendors implement.  In any case, I may have to settle for something less.  Too bad you don't provide a demo anymore, I would be more comfortable buying it if I could see for myself how vArranger stacks up against the competition.

Your response is stellar, though.  Thanks a lot!

Hi folks!

I've been trying to get my software arranger up and running for a few months now, and the missing piece of the puzzle is a good styler.  I've bought and tried both OMB and LiveStyler,  but neither do everything I need them too.  Specifically, I'd love to have a software arranger that can all of the following:

1) Be a slave to my external keyboard's MIDI clock, including handling start/stop messages (OMB does it; LS doesn't)
2) Respond to MIDI program changes (on channel 15) to select preset styles (OMB doesn't do it; LS does it)
3) Support changing styles in the middle of a song (OMB doesn't if it's set up as a MIDI clock slave; LS does it)

In other words, I want to control everything from my MIDI keyboard.  You think vArranger could do it?

Also, it would be nice to have a piece of sofware that has a usable user interface (that seems to be the case), is being actively developed (so it seems), *and* has an active community around it!  Looks good so far!

Thanks!