One of the things I liked most about my old SoundBalster (everybody rubbished them but they were ground breaking and cheap in those days) cards was the extensive NRPNs.
 
My favourite one was the one that allowed me to set Attack etc for EGs on the fly. My most common use of this was with guitar, where I could create glisanndos by setting a very fast attack for notes, so it better emulated the lack of a pluck for each note as the "player" slid over the frets.
 
Dementia Pro and presumably Raptor do not handle NRPNs well, and AFAIK cannot actually use them. All I can think to do there is have the same programme loaded in two Elements, then drive one with one MIDI channel/track, then set the other to have a small attack time, hiding the pluck and only have glissando-ed notes in the track.
 
SFz allows entry of NRPNs, but they are cryptic and I cannot find documentation of them.
 
So I am wondering if there is a softsynth that either emulates the SoundBalster, or has a well documented set of NRPNs.
 
Thanks for any help

NRPN is transfered with 4 MIDI CC messages and the speed of MIDI is limited.
What is wrong with simple CC and/or automations?

Thanks for the reply.
 
NRPNs never gave me any trouble when I used them extensively for all sorts of stuff on the Balster cards, for all that they used up data time.
 
Maybe I am missing something, but IIRC it took NRPNs to allow setting the Attack of an EG, for instance. Controllers are limited to certain functions. I can't see any way to set EG attack on several synths I have tried, on the fly, pretty much note by note, as I described. I am pretty stale and out of date with this, but AFAICS using automation envelopes would be difficult to get pinpoint accuracy. I await to be proved wrong. I would _love_ to be proved wrong.

Part of CCs (as RPNs) have some proposed meaning (see tables at www.midi.org). Some equipment/synth follow that proposal. Some set default mapping to proposed or fixed with some (N)RPNs. Many allow "MIDI Learn" for parameters, in that case (N)RPNs can be unsupported (as ambiguous).
 
So particular parameter in particular plug-in can be controlled:
1) by automations. That is special not MIDI (at least not directly) related way to control VST parameters. No MIDI track pointing to that plug-in (in case that is Audio FX) required for that.
2) by MIDI. MIDI track is required and there are 2 variations:
2.a) MIDI signal (CC, RPN, NRPN, etc.) by which that parameter is controlled is predefined
2.b) MIDI signal can be learned within plug-in. The subset of MIDI messages which plug-in understand is plug-in specific. So some plug-ins can understand NRPNs, other not.
 
From the user perspective, (1) and (2) can be controlled "with mouse" or with MIDI controller. But routes from the MIDI controller to parameter are different:
1) for automations, Sonar has 3 approaches:
1.I) "Remote control..." (f.e. in the Synth rack)
2.II) Control Surface "ACT Dynamic mapping" (so call "ACT Learn")
3.III) Control Surface direct automation parameters steering (f.e. used by MackieControl)
2) for MIDI way the host is only involved as a MIDI provider, it has no influence what delivered to the plug-in MIDI message will do (play note, switch it off, control attack, etc.)
 
All methods have sufficient for any purpose time resolution. But it is up to the plug-in to support fast parameter changes. Some are not expecting more then one change for one parameter inside one audio buffer frame and can produce very strange results. But one buffer is usually no longer then 3-5ms so that is rarely a limitation.
Note that transferring one NRPN throw standard MIDI cable takes ~4ms. If that "worked fine", other methods should be fine to.

Controller 73 is the standard controller number for EG Attack

I know Rapture Pro responds to CC73 for EG atack.  You could also simply do a MIDI learn on your soft synth and map CC73 to EG attack.  Depends on the actual soft synth you are using as to how you adjust attack time.

AAAHHHH! I just want to write music! I think that to save my simple artist's brain I will just stick with my idea of using a set of notes that are sent to an element or another example of the synth, then use the synth UI to control whatever. The whole plan seems to be to make it "simple" and dumb it down and control me and I can work with that for now, until I actually get some mucus written.
 
Otherwise I have to MIDI learn and all that. I have loaded heaps of synths and they just do not have a full CC implementation. When there is a standard set of CC#, why can't the synths just USE them?!

BTW as I said I am rusty. Yes CC73 is Amp EG Attack, so NRPNs are irrelevant. It's just that all the softsynths are not letting me see most CC# and will not respond.
 
I tried Rupture with CC#73 and I could not get it to work. The only one I have made work with CC# is Cakewalk TTS1....eeeuuuuw

ARRRGHQ And then of course if I want to try a different version of the instrument (a new guitar) I lose all my settings and have to start again. The expression should be in the music, not the instrument. Read any score. The composer and the player make the expression, by manipulating the instrument note by note.
 

Well I don't know what happened, but part of the problem for me is the lack of displayed CC# when I try to use them. However, I tried CC73 several times and suddenly it works. Don't know what I was doing.
 
So after much thrashing about I am content. Need to get a CC# listing.
 
Thanks for all the input guys.

The MIDI CC spec is here. Keep in mind plug-ins may not follow the spec, refer to the plug-in documentation. How CC data is bound to features in the the plug-in depend on the developer. To create a CC for a value not listed in the "MIDI Envelope/Event Type" drop downs ln SONAR, enter the number in the Value field when type is set to Control.