Rapture/DimPro: Bloopers, Outtakes, & Practical Jokes
Hmm. It's a little slow around these parts lately. I'll unload a few tips and tricks that don't fit neatly in any larger category. Some of them are mentioned in the manuals, and some aren't. Most apply to either Dimension Pro or Rapture, with a few that are specific to RP StepGens. I hope that you find a couple of them useful.
**************************************************************** 10). Kill Six StepGens with One Stone: There's some background on the basics. [
Here] and also [
Here] The thing is: MIDI Note Entry in the Pitch Modulators remains active until you start sending them some MIDI note values (and complete the exposed Steps). So, you can right-click in a Pitch StepGen and select the option, and then proceed to the other five Elements and open those up, too. They'll all wait for you.
Play in a single .mid file or keyboard controller, and all six StepGens get written at once. The results depend on the unique settings in each Pitch StepGen, so this is one-stop shopping for all sorts of overlapping and counterpoint step patterns. Change the Steps, Sync, Depth, etc. before you load them with the MIDI Note Entry process.
**************************************************************** 9). I'll Take the Shortcuts: This one comes in handy with the process above. If the Element selections are 'in focus', using the number or arrow keys on your Qwerty keyboard switches among them. If the Modulators have the focus, those same keys select among the different types. It's much quicker than 'mousing around'.
**************************************************************** 8). Sauced and Noodle?: No,
sostenudo. It's on by default in most every Dimension Pro or Rapture preset. Unlike the more common Sustain setup, sostenudo reacts like this: Pressing a pedal or another switch or control only holds the note values that are being received at the moment. Hold a chord, activate the switch, and those notes will be 'sustained'. But whatever you play after this will not be included in the held notes (while the Sostenudo is still active).
In your controller, reassign your sustain pedal from sending a CC 64 to a CC 66. You can do the same thing with any assignable slider, knob or switch (less conveniently). Instant sostenudo capability and a 'new' playing technique for your arsenal.
**************************************************************** 7). LFO Sighting: You can Shift+drag on any LFO waveform display to move the starting phase of the waveform. You can use the arrow keys to move phase by degrees, or Shift+arrow to move 10 degrees at a time. When you want to bail back out to the default, you
can simply Copy LFO from an 'unused' one, and Paste LFO over your adjustments.
But it's much faster to just left+right-click on the waveform with both buttons. That resets the phase to zero, and the waveform to Triangle [0 waveform]. The left+right click trick works in a lot of other situations as well. For example, a two-button click on any Sync control jumps it to the Freq setting.
**************************************************************** 6). Can't Touch This: This didn't make the Dimension Pro manual. There's several continuous controller messages that can't be 'MIDI-Learned' onto a GUI knob, and for good reason:
CC0 [Bank Change MSB]
CC32 [Bank Change LSB]
CC 120 (All Sounds Off)
CC 121 (All Controllers Off)
CC 123 (All Notes Off)
There's a handful more that you probably
shouldn't use for MIDI Learn unless you're aware of the potential results. Some examples might be the controls that make up the RPN/NRPN scheme, or the rest of those Channel Mode messages. For fuller detail, see the charts [
found here]
**************************************************************** 5). Seeking Global Control: This didn't make the Dimension Pro manual, either. Assigning some knobs or sliders on your keyboard controller to transmit CC 73 and CC 72 comes in handy. Those will give you overall control of Amplitude Attack and Amplitude Release. This is a global level that processes every Element together as a whole, and is over and above what you have set up in any Modulator.
Global Amplitude and Global Release are 'hardwired' controls, along with:
CC 7 (Volume)
CC 11 (Expression)
CC 64 (Sustain)
CC 66) (Sostenudo)
'Hardwired' means that the control paths are pre-routed in the system already. You could include Pitchbend with that group, but PB, sustain, and sostenudo can be 'toggled' off in the Multisample editor section (per-Element). You can also MIDI Learn these controller messages mentioned above (plus aftertouch; not hardwired), but the 'MIDI Learned' destination AND the hardwired one will both be adjusted at the same time in parallel.
**************************************************************** 4). Scala That Heap: There's only about a billion .scl files available to the Pitch Keytrack popup dialog. Once the files themselves have the focus, you can jet through the choices with the Qwerty arrow keys or alphanumeric characters. When you find something that you really like, it's a good idea to copy it to another 'Favorites' subfolder under the main Tunings folder.
In the meantime, though, you still may have to navigate to the same .scl file four-to-six times (one for each Element) for a unified Scala adjustment per-Program. The obscure (though standard) names used don't help any. Once you've found one, double-click on the File Name slot itself, and copy the name of that file to Windows' clipboard. Then you can just paste that name in the other five Elements, and be on your way. After a little exploration, the previous 10 selections will be 'stored' in the dropdown to the right.
**************************************************************** 3). Intervallic Space Travel (for Phat Quantum Oscillators): OK, so you don't care about alternate tunings in the least. Cool. But Scala can be used for fat detuning sounds that change with whatever chords you throw at it. Start out with the equal tempered scales that have 12 notes to them (one example is the temp12coh3.scl file). Or just load up any one of the Scala files in a second Element. The more 'bent' that the diagonal Pitch KeyTrack line displays, the crazier the results are going to be. Subtle effects come from files that keep the display looking very close to diagonal. It is quite possible to choose a .scl file that has more or less than 12 notes per-octave.
Here's a simple example. Load up a harmonically-rich Multisample (say, a saw waveform) in one Element. Copy that Element, and Paste Element to E2. In the second Element, click on the Pitch KeyTrack display, and load up 'temp12coh3.scl'. Play some chord changes in. The fat detuning and flanging effects will change with each different combination of intervals played. It's a completely different sound from the similar ways of doing this. Actually, it's not just chords. Single note lines are just as variable in the detuning (parallel oscillators).
An easy alternative method is to forget about Scala files, and simply adjust the second Element's main KeyTrack 'widget' by a small amount. Using values like 99 or 101 in E2's Multisample editor window yield a slightly different behavior. Playing middle C is the most "in-tune" note, and the detuning effect becomes greater as you venture further away from it. Middle C is the 'center value', and both up and down directions away from it become more and more 'detuned'.
**************************************************************** 2). Step Around The Envelopes and Circle Back: Envelopes trigger from each Note On message. You can do much the same thing with an LFO or a StepGen, but without them 'holding' at the Sustain Point. The key is to use a Freq setting instead of Sync. Choose a downward or upward sloping LFO waveform, or draw one in a StepGen. Raise the Depth to maximum. It can be for any type of Modulator, but Amplitude is one choice with obvious results.
Play in some chord shapes with staggered notes, but always hold over at least a few of those notes during changes. The notes will play in sequence, then 'loop back' to play over and over, as if recorded within a looping pedal. The offsets of the notes will remain. This works well with a sustain pedal, or use the
8). Sauced and Noodle? tip above.
**************************************************************** 1). Grand Theft Preset: This is EZ patch construction in its simplest form. Load up several presets from the Program Browser in turn. Grab an envelope from one, an LFO from another, a step generator from a third, and perhaps a keytrack setting from a fourth one. You can copy a whole Modulator, but that will overwrite the four items above. Hey, snag a whole Element from another preset while you're at it.
You've copied all of these items to Dimension Pro or Rapture's clipboard. You can Initialize Program, delete the synth instance, or open up a parallel instance alongside the original. Everything is still retained to memory, as long as you don't close out the host application. Then open up another Program or a blank one, and start pasting all of the components that you've collected. You can paste in that whole Element, or just the FX that were in the first copy. New presets in under a minute for each one.
**************************************************************** International law dictates that I can only post 10 stupid tricks at one time, so that'll have to be that. Plus my two typing fingers hurt.
Oh. But then again, I've been sitting a long time on this 'secret' link:
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post edited by b rock - 2007/01/22 19:44:08