No MIDI Device Question

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UCG Musician
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2011/01/05 00:08:16 (permalink)

No MIDI Device Question

My church has a spare laptop which I have been invited to use for our music department.  I installed Sonar & MIDI-OX on it intending to use it to drive a digital piano & hopefally an Allen organ.  We do not own the facility where these instruments are located; we rent the hall (actually a church).  Therefore I only have access to the instruments on the days we have services (Saturday).
 
This creates an unusual predicament for me.  I cannot connect the laptop to the instruments except at the hall.  But I need to create new sequences or adapt existing sequences to use with these instruments.  Is there a way to  simulate these instruments (trick Sonar into recognizing them) when they're not even connected?  If not, how might I appraoch a situation like this?
 
I previously conducted choir rehearsals using an old Roland XP-50 which has a 5 1/4" floppy drive.  My MIDI sequences are on these old style disks.  Many of the songs are worth repeating but they need to be adapted for use with the new instruments that I now have available.  I am accustomed to doing the sequences with the instrument connected so I know how everything sounds.  How can this possibly be done if an instrument is not connected?  I suppose a soft synth could be used but that would not sound anything like the actual organ at the church.
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    Kalle Rantaaho
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    Re:No MIDI Device Question 2011/01/05 02:14:32 (permalink)
    I don't know how the actual organs sound, but how unique can the sound be?? I wouldn't be surprised if you could buy sound libraries of the organs of world famous cathedrals and churches. There are thousands and tens of thousands of organ sounds to choose from, anyway.
    Surely there are lots of decent options. The fact that you maybe compose using just headphones limits the sound experience while working, naturally.

    Otherwise, how could your laptop recognise instruments that are not connected? The simulation you mention means a soft-  or hardware synth, obviously, how else could you create a sound  (unless you want to compose using notation without sound)? 

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    UCG Musician
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    Re:No MIDI Device Question 2011/01/05 08:09:28 (permalink)
    Thank you for the suggestions.  I do know of organ programs and sampled instruments and have worked with one of them a little bit using my desktop computer.  But that machine also has other MIDI hardware devices connected to it.  So Sonar recognizes something before the organ soft synth is substituted for the hardware instruments.  The laptop has nothing connected to it so Sonar is not seeing any MIDI devices at all.  I'm hoping there is a workaround.
    #3
    DaGunz
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    Re:No MIDI Device Question 2011/01/05 19:27:50 (permalink)
    Hi UCG Musician,  The Laptop does not need a MIDI device connected to it to be able to use the softsynth; and depending on which version of Sonar you are using, you probably already have a decent organ and piano sound.  Please, tell us which version of Sonar you are using.  We will be glad to get you setup.  Oh yeah, you are probably using Producer or Studio since you posted in this section of the forum.  Go to Insert/Soft synth and select Dimension Pro, if you have it, or select Rapture LE.  I'm not sure what is in Rapture LE, but the full version contains plenty of organ and electric piano sounds.  You can also try Roland GrooveSynth.  It has the sounds you are looking for.  However, you might have problems with Roland GrooveSynth if you are using 64-bit Sonar.  Mine doesn't work right unless I use the 32-bit version of Sonar.  When you select a softsynth, hopefully, the "Insert Soft Synth Options" box will appear.  Make sure "Simple Instrument Track" and "Synth Property Page" are selected.  It should properly setup the track and open the softsynth's GUI, so you can select a sound.  You can then open the Piano Roll for that track to enter notes and adjust things like note length and velocity, or you can use virtual MIDI keyboard, which alows you to use your computer keyboard like a piano keyboard and enter notes and note durations in real time.  Virtual MIDI Keyboard is free and can be downloaded at... http://www.granucon.com/vmk.html.  It does not, however, send velocity information.
    post edited by DaGunz - 2011/01/05 20:23:22
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    UCG Musician
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    Re:No MIDI Device Question 2011/01/09 13:39:09 (permalink)
    Hi, DaGunz.

    You guessed correctly that I'm using Sonar Studio.  Version 8.5 to be exact.  I tried a little work with a soft synth but found it rather confusing and unfamiliar.  In the mean time, I was successful at connecting and controlling the organ and a digital piano using Sonar on a laptop yesterday.  I ran a choir rehearsal and it sounded awesome compared to what we previously had!

    I am experimenting with your suggestions today and will advise what my experience is.
    #5
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