How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

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Neu1986
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How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by Neu1986 »

Hello, I am new.

I use a laptop with AV Linux as an expander for a mute MIDI keyboard. After various attempts, the more satisfying setup for my live performances is to play live inside Ardour, in which I load 2 or 3 MIDI tracks to control some plugin such as Zynaddsubfx. Fluidsynth and so on. I like especially the possibility to automatically load a separate effects chain inside each track without the hassle of having to redo the connections manually.

The problem is the following: I use mainly Zynaddsubfx for the synth, organs and strings, and Fluidsynth only for the piano. Zynaddsubfx has several sounds loaded, selected changing the MIDI channel from my keyboard. I would like to equalize each sound separately in the most proper way (one preset for the organ, one different preset for the strings etc). Is there any way to tell Calf Equalizer "when I am playing on channel 7 use this preset and when I am playing on channel 5 use this other preset"?

Otherwise I would have to set up a greater number of MIDI tracks, each one with a different instance of Zynaddsubfx, and a separate instance of Calf Equalizer, but I am afraid this makes the file too big to load and at risk of crashing while playing.

Thank you in advance ;)
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sadko4u
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by sadko4u »

Neu1986 wrote: The problem is the following: I use mainly Zynaddsubfx for the synth, organs and strings, and Fluidsynth only for the piano. Zynaddsubfx has several sounds loaded, selected changing the MIDI channel from my keyboard. I would like to equalize each sound separately in the most proper way (one preset for the organ, one different preset for the strings etc). Is there any way to tell Calf Equalizer "when I am playing on channel 7 use this preset and when I am playing on channel 5 use this other preset"?
1. Create set of busses.
2. Configure effect setup you want for each bus.
3. Connect these busses to master.
4. Create sends from your track to each bus.
5. Control the signal flow from your track to each bus by using send's volume.
6. You may automate send's volume with Ardour's automation to make switching between busses automatically.
LSP (Linux Studio Plugins) Developer and Maintainer.
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noedig
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by noedig »

I couldn't find a way to change a plugin preset via MIDI learn in Ardour yet. So separate instances of Calf Equalizer will be required.

Secondly, if using only Ardour, I see no way of making a single instance of Zynaddsubfx output to different tracks/busses (i.e. different Calf Equalizers) based on the MIDI channel you play, since Zyn only has one stereo output.
If any consolation, note that Zyn has 4 system effects, so you could send each instrument (synth, organ, strings) to their own system effect inside Zyn, which could be equalizers.

I propose you create a separate instance of Zyn in separate tracks, each with an instance of Calf Equalizer and possibly other plugins. Just get a feeling of the speed and stability. In my opinion, this is not a bad option as the whole layout of the session is clear and understandable and easily tweakable and extendible even when under stage pressure :P

If you really want to only have a single Zyn instance with multiple instruments (on different MIDI channels), each outputting audio to a different Calf Equalizer, it is possible by using Konfyt. https://github.com/noedigcode/konfyt However, the setup is slightly convoluted at the moment, but I'll describe it below.

In Konfyt, set up a patch per instrument (e.g. Organ, Strings, Synth...). Set up your MIDI keyboard to send program changes or CC messages to change patches.
In each Konfyt patch, insert a new MIDI out port, audio in port and point the audio port to a new bus.
In Ardour, you would have a track with a single Zyn instance containing organ, strings and synth parts, each on it's own MIDI channel.
Then, have a separate Ardour MIDI track for each part which sends MIDI to the main Zyn track, each on the appropriate channel.
Also have separate Ardour audio tracks for each part which contains the Calf Equalizer and other effects.
Thus, you would now have the following Ardour tracks:
Zynaddsubfx MIDI track
Organ MIDI track sending to zynaddsubfx track, channel 1
Organ audio track containing equalizer, rotary speaker, etc.
Strings MIDI track sending to zynaddsubfx track, channel 2
Strings audio track containing equalizer and possibly other effects (exciter, reverb?)
Synth MIDI track sending to zynaddsubfx track, channel 3
Synth audio track containing equalizer etc.
Now, finally, connect Konfyt up with the Ardour tracks as follows:
In each Konfyt patch, connect the MIDI output port to the respective instrument's MIDI track in Ardour.
Connect the audio in port to the main zynaddsubfx track output. (same for all patches).
The audio in port sends to its own bus. Connect this bus to the respective instrument's audio track in Ardour.
Finally, you would have this signal flow for each patch.
MIDI keyboard --> Konfyt MIDI in port --> Ardour MIDI track --> Ardour Zyn track --> Konfyt audio in port --> Konfyt bus --> Ardour audio track
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by jonetsu »

Neu1986 wrote:Otherwise I would have to set up a greater number of MIDI tracks, each one with a different instance of Zynaddsubfx, and a separate instance of Calf Equalizer, but I am afraid this makes the file too big to load and at risk of crashing while playing.
Not to propose a solution, but rather to question this notion that many pluigns are calling for crashes. If I'm not mistaken, since this is quite some time I haven't used it, Zyn can load 16 different patches, one per MIDI channel. So that would be the maximum number of Zyn plugins that you need. Plus for each, a Calf EQ. There should be no problem at all for Ardour to handle that. I started the largest session I made so far, 32+ tracks, with a x42 EQ and a x42 spectrum analyzer at the top of each single track. And then added audio plugins as needed, resulting in perhaps 80 plugins by the end. The machine is i5 quad core 3.40 GHz with 16 GB RAM. That session was made using Mixbus 32C, which is based on Ardour.
Luc
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by Luc »

Neu1986 wrote:(...)to play live inside Ardour, in which I load 2 or 3 MIDI tracks
(...)
Is there any way to tell Calf Equalizer "when I am playing on channel 7 use this preset and when I am playing on channel 5 use this other preset"?
I've never seen the ability to change presets without browsing a list, in any DAW or plugin. If you want to use multiple presets in quick succession, you will have to have them in separate tracks, which involves multiple instances of the plugin. 2 or 3 MIDI tracks is not a big deal, far from it. How many presets are you going to need? In other words, I agree with jonetsu.
Neu1986
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by Neu1986 »

Thank you all, I think I am going to split my Zyn project into 2-3 sub-projects, each one on a different bus with a different instance of Calf. One project for the synths, one for the organs and one for the strings. I have a modest i5 dual core with 4gb of RAM but it can handle 3-4 separate buses. I made some attempt and there is no crash neither loss in quality so it seems to work.
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by Luc »

When did an i5 dual core with 4gb of RAM become "modest"?
Neu1986
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Re: How to automatically switch between EQ presets?

Post by Neu1986 »

Luc wrote:When did an i5 dual core with 4gb of RAM become "modest"?
Oh well some lines above I read about a "i5 quad core 3.40 GHz with 16 GB RAM" and it gave me a sort of inferiority complex but I must admit that for my needs my dual core works really well, especially considering that it is second-hand and 6 years old.
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