Fastest way to dynamically switch midi channel (and maybe port?)

I want to be able to type some text and have it trigger midi channel changes. So I think it’s playback techniques, where the technique text are things like “c1” “c2” etc to represent channels 1 and 2. Ideally I would also be able to set the midi port, but I’m not sure if that’s possible.

The idea that comes to mind is to create 16 different playing techniques, one for each channel, and then an expression map that has one channel switcher for each technique.

Is that the way to go, or am I overlooking something built-in / more streamlined? And is it possible to set the midi port? I’d like to do so if possible, but if not then I can try to figure out a key switching mechanism to use in combination with the channel switching.

You have told us the “how” of what you want to do, but not the “why” you want to change MIDI channels in this way. Understanding your purpose in changing channels would enable us to see if there are alternate, perhaps better, ways to address your concerns.

Since the Dorico interface is semantically rather than functionally organized, knowing your goal is important.

1 Like

I have an instrument with different sounds on MIDI channels 1-16, and it also supports multiple ports. These aren’t playing techniques for a single sound like violin, but are just different sounds - pad 1, pad 2, etc. So I’d like to build up an arrangement by indicating what channel each phrase should play on.

In Expression Maps, you can design a Playback Technique (set) to change channels either absolutely or relatively. You would then associate this with a Playing Technique to activate the switch.

channels

Okay and I think I would need to create 16 new playing techniques, one for each channel - right?

That is certainly one way to do it, depending on your needs.

Remember that you can use the same channel switching on different VST’s and with different Playing Techniques in different locations. For example, in a Broadway-style score I might call each Playing Technique by the patch it calls in case (in a live setup) the score is separated from the VST. Then in another situation, with the VST set up differently, I might have differently named Playing Techniques call the same Playback techniques to match patch sound to MIDI channel.

Is there another way to do it? That’s what I’m here asking about :slight_smile:

The combination of Playing techniques/Playback techniques and Expression maps, is the only way to ganerate/ouput MIDI in Dorico…

That’s mostly true - but there are a couple of other ways that might fit your context better. Basically there is changing instruments in the staff (as if you had a player with multiple instruments) or changing voices, which would let you have multiple instruments on the same staff. Both options can be mapped differently to VST, ports, channels - however fits your need.

So… choices. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Okay that is very interesting!! I will give that a shot… thank you.

(one player with multiple instruments doesn’t appeal to me because all instruments show up in gallery view, which would make the score way too big to use)