changing instruments

Support and feedback for Acoustica's Mixcraft audio mixing software.

Moderators: Acoustica Greg, Acoustica Eric, Acoustica Dan, rsaintjohn

jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

Mixcraft9
A newbie question I'm sure. In mixcraft I can select a track (using a mouse ) and only the instrument defined for that track plays. I'm trying to map my aux midi keyboard controls to do that. I don't understand why solo doesn't mean solo but my main concern is figuring out how to map a button to select a track ( as it would when I click on it with a mouse and that track would play only.) I can map to buttons like mute or solo on a track no problem but I don't know what object to map to when it comes to selecting a track. I hope my question makes sense and thanks for any insight.

To put it another way, I want to press a button to select any individual instrument track and only that track plays.
User avatar
Acoustica Greg
Posts: 24555
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:30 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: changing instruments

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

Click on the Mix menu and select MIDI Control Surface, then over on the left side of that screen, choose User Interface.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

Thanks but that didn't help much. I still don't know which object I should midi learn a button to, to enable that track (only) for play.
In Mixcraft9 I can simply select an instrument track with the mouse and only that instrument plays.
I just want to do the same thing with a midi button so I can change instruments when playing without having to be distracted using a mouse.
I know how to map to and objects but in this case I want the mapping to select a track. Probably THE most basic thing one would want to do with a DAW. sigh.....
User avatar
Acoustica Greg
Posts: 24555
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:30 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: changing instruments

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

You tried mapping the Previous Track / Next Track options? That didn't work?

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

If I have 8 instruments and I am playing the 1st and I want to go to the 7th I don't want to press next 6 times. I want to press a button that I have assigned to select track 7 only. Thanks for the help so far though. :D
cactus-head
Posts: 996
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 3:09 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by cactus-head »

Hi,

I don't know how big your MIDI keyboard is but if you have some extra keys to spare, click on the MIDI learn icon, then click on the arm icon on a particular track. Press a key on the keyboard to toggle arm on and off for that particular track. When a track is armed, the midi data from your keyboard will go to that particular track and play the instrument that is set there. You can take it a step further and also assign a key (even the same one if you want) to the solo icon. That way you can turn on and off the solo option for any particular track. I mention that because you could arm 4 tracks for example but only solo 1 of them. Just remember the keys will behave like a toggle - kinda like a keyswitch for a virtual instrument. So you have to turn the selections on and off for each track.

Also be aware that the whole track won't become in a "selected' state but, the instrument on that armed track will be the one to play - even record.
User avatar
Acoustica Greg
Posts: 24555
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:30 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: changing instruments

Post by Acoustica Greg »

There's also an option to do that under Mix Menu > MIDI Control Surface > Track 1, Track 2, etc.
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

The options under the Mix Menu > MIDI Control Surface > Track 1, Track 2, etc. only allow you to edit some of the parameters of those tracks listed. There is no "track on, track off" button to map to there.
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

Thanks for the reply. I have a Roland 88 and a Oxygen 49. The Oxygen has lots of buttons, sliders, and drum pads.
I think I have exhausted those options you mentioned. I don't want to have to turn tracks off. I want to press a button and only that track plays.. as simple as that. As you know Mixcraft tracks can be split and layered and all set up for me to play live, but if I have to stop to turn things on and other things off in the middle of playing a song, that's no good at all. For example, I have a setup of 8 instruments and I want to switch from a piano sound to a guitar sound, I need to do it with one button press. I just want to press the assigned guitar track button. I really don't think that is asking for too much?

The solo button does not seem to me to work. When I have multiple tracks I can turn on solo for all of them and they will all play, so where is the solo functionality in that? If solo worked as I understand solo to mean to most humans, that only THAT one instrument plays, it would solve my problem.

edit: Correction....if I press solo on all the instruments still only the selected instrument track will play, not everything marked as solo. The important thing is I want to press a single button to choose a track....that's all!
Last edited by jcmusix on Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
cactus-head
Posts: 996
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 3:09 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by cactus-head »

Hi,

I'm curious about what you mean by play. My assumption was you wanted to select a track and then play your keyboard live to have the sound of the track play according to what you physically are playing. Or did you mean you want to play back clips on the particular track that were already recorded? If that's the case then you probably want to use performance mode.

In regards to you expectaion of soloing a track in a DAW, solo doesn't work that way by default in any DAW i'm aware of. That function is designed to play specific tracks at a time which can include groups. If you are listening to the piano for instance, you might add in the guitar by clicking on its solo button to add it to your "mini mix" of only those two instruments so to speak. Then you add the bass, maracas, etc. each in turn with the solo button.

But you can make it work so ONLY the track you want plays by holding CTRL and clicking on the solo button. That will turn all other tracks solo off and the one selected on. I don't know how to accomplish that in MIDI though.
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

I simply play my keyboards(s.) I don't do any playback or recording. We are getting closer with your suggestion to map "control solo" and then it will act the way I expected, but it still will not select (turn on) an track. I play keyboard and I simply want to switch to an individual different instrument. I know that I can do layering in the track menu, so the track I switch to may be multi-layered track but other times may just be a little flute solo or something.
So to simplify, I want to press a button and this activates (selects) a track with my settings.

Am I missing something with sets? I don't understand them. Should I be selecting a set instead of a track maybe?
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

cactus-head wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:37 pm
But you can make it work so ONLY the track you want plays by holding CTRL and clicking on the solo button. That will turn all other tracks solo off and the one selected on. I don't know how to accomplish that in MIDI though.
That would be a solution but right, I can't accomplish that in midi either. It's the selection of the item ( solo in this case) in the track with the mouse that activates that track (which is all I want to do, activate a single track with a midi button press.)
jcmusix
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:22 pm

Re: changing instruments

Post by jcmusix »

So what I'm getting from this is that in Mixcraft you cannot switch to another instrument with a single midi button press unless it is the next or previous one in the list. You can switch from instrument 1 to instrument 2 using next but there is no way to switch from instrument 1 to instrument 5 in one midi button press. This is SO depressing for me. I really like Mixcraft but if I can't quickly change instruments (switch to a different track) without using a mouse then it's severely lacking an obvious basic functionality. :cry:
User avatar
Acoustica Greg
Posts: 24555
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:30 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: changing instruments

Post by Acoustica Greg »

jcmusix wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:57 pm The options under the Mix Menu > MIDI Control Surface > Track 1, Track 2, etc. only allow you to edit some of the parameters of those tracks listed. There is no "track on, track off" button to map to there.
There's an option to turn arming on and off. I was expanding on the previous post.
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
User avatar
Acoustica Greg
Posts: 24555
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:30 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: changing instruments

Post by Acoustica Greg »

HI,

No, there's no single press "change selection" to a particular track option. Maybe because most MIDI controllers don't have that many buttons? Like, 16 buttons to just select different tracks? I don't know, but this would be a feature suggestion.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
Post Reply