When I change instrument in Analog Synths I get a different pattern of...

browj2 wrote on 4/4/2016, 7:02 PM

Hi,

As far as I know, you can't. There is a file called:

Analog Synths.mid

under:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\MAGIX Services\MxSynth\Analog Synths

That is the one that is placed on the track if you drag the Analog Synths instrument onto a track.

I haven't been able to find the one that play when a different patch or instrument is applied.

Patches and banks are still a bit of a mystery to me.

From what I see, Patches are the settings that you see with the instrument. If you change the settings or parameters, then you can save the patch with a name and load it when you want.

As far as I know, a bank is a set of patches.

You can see this better if you load DN-e1. There, you will see Bank - A, B, C at the top left. Then you have Patch # and if you open the name and select one, you will see the patch # appear. Each Bank can contain 128 patches, that is, from 0 - 127 normally, but the program shows that it starts at 1 and goes to 128. How, I don't know.

Magix defines them for DN-e1 as:

Bank: Here you can switch between three banks with various complete
configurations.
Category: Here you can select a sound category.
Rndm (Random): Here you can activate a random selection of the parameter settings
in order to experiment with the sound.
Patches/Name: Here you can select a sound that will then be modulated.

Also:

Load/Save patches/banks: Here you can save an instrument's settings and sounds.
The standard formats for this are: *.fxp for patches or *.fxb for whole banks. Some
instruments have their own patch/bank format. In this case, settings are usually
loaded and saved directly through the instrument interface.

Magix seems to assume that we can figure this out on our own. I too would like more info.

Maybe someone else knows more.

Dr_Funkenstein wrote on 4/5/2016, 10:36 AM

The files must be somewhere, it seems insane that they can not be accessed.

browj2 wrote on 4/5/2016, 11:40 AM

I did some searches for .mid files and sorted by folder then looked for analog and could only find the one I indicated. I also searched for analog; same result.

johnebaker wrote on 4/5/2016, 1:10 PM

Hi

@John CB

A little bit of history (as I remember it )

The term Patch comes from the old days of analog synthesizers where you had literally loads of knobs and switches ( well the one I built did and looked somewhat like this one ) which controlled the multiple oscillator waveforms, eg sine, square, triangle etc, the various filter settings and the Patch board (bottom right of the control panel in the above example) where you connected all the various oscillators, amplifiers, filters and modulators together with good old patch cables.

With the advent of more advanced electronic synthesizers the mechanical settings became electronic as well as the patching became electronically controlled. With the ability to set and save these electronically it was possible to save presets for particular sounds / effects etc. Originally the maximum number possible was 128 presets, to increase the number of possible presets the concept of Banks was introduced, each bank holding up to 128 presets.

In MMM you can alter the settings of a synth to a particular sound / effect and then save this as a 'patch' to reload any time you wish. I put the word patch in quotes because this is only half of what the old synths could save - there is AFAICS no way to alter how the oscillators, modulators, filters etc are connected.

The DN-e1 also has the Banks concept - how you allocate particular patches to a bank I have not worked that one out yet, certainly there are plenty of free patch# available ( 257 - 384) - click the Programs menu on the DN-e1 dialog.

Re the default midi files AFAICS many of the synths must have the default melody built into them.

HTH

John EB

Dr_Funkenstein wrote on 4/5/2016, 2:07 PM

"Re the default midi files AFAICS many of the synths must have the default melody built into them".

But if you change instrument/style in Analog Synths for example, you get a different melody. I am assuming this is a midi file? Something must be controlling the different melodies? Where is it hiding?

My brain hurts...

Nick.

Dr_Funkenstein wrote on 4/5/2016, 2:23 PM

My insanity is restored... Playing piano with midi drum patterns!!!.

browj2 wrote on 4/6/2016, 9:29 AM

@Nick,

Insanity?

Here is a photo of me playing "Chopsticks" on my drums.

@John EB,

Thanks for the explanation and the history of patches.

Dr_Funkenstein wrote on 4/6/2016, 9:51 AM

I think I understand saving an instrument setting as a patch but I don't understand saving as a bank, surely you would save to a bank not as a bank?

Nick.

Dr_Funkenstein wrote on 4/6/2016, 12:16 PM

Any suggestions where to save new patches/banks? Perhaps where the instrument I am playing with lives would be a good place? Or where I save my musical creations?

I notice the presets are fxb (bank) files, I thought they would have been fxp (patch) files.

It doesn't seem to matter whether you save as fxp or fxb so long as you don't try to load a patch you have saved as a bank and vice versa.

When I change instrument in Analog Synths I get a different pattern of notes but I am only able to apply the original default notes. How do I apply a different pattern such as the one with the individual instrument?

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