Linking imported MIDI presets

[jimm]

I've imported MIDI presets a few times and it works flawlessly. But now I've discovered MIDI preset linking and have just started using linked presets. Is there any way to specify the link between two presets in the import CSV file?

As an aside, I've imported MIDI presets more than once because I move around the songs in my synth's set list mode to keep them alphabetical (mostly, except for songs we chain together) so when we learn a new song I like to insert it into the list of songs which changes the program change number for all of the songs after it.

[arlo]

No, the MIDI preset import function doesn't support linked presets. You would need to link them after importing them.

Reassigning your program numbers as you add songs sounds like needless work. Does your synth let you assign a program number to a song that remains constant regardless of how you add or rearrange songs? That's how MIDI programs are most commonly used.

[jimm]

@arlo thank you for your quick reply. I'll have to link them myself. Luckily there are only two pairs I'm linking now anyway.

My main board is a Korg Kronos, and I have BandHelper send program changes to it. (It then sends changes to my other keyboard but that's not relevant here.)

The Kronos has different modes: Program, Combination, and Set List. I use Combinations to set up the sounds for a song (programs, splits, PC for the other keyboard, effects, etc.). Those combination numbers won't change, but I don't want to be in combination mode when I'm performing because it's bright white and shows the mixing-desk like combi edit controls. I want to perfom in set list mode which is dark and also lets me add notes for each song (and transpose, and set volumes, and more but I don't use those features). Also, I use BH for notes now.

So I have a "master" set list that contains all of our songs in alphabetical order. Before using BH I used to copy it to a different set list and rearrange the songs to create different sets for each gig, but that's a pain. I've just started performing with my master set list and telling BandHelper to select slot 0 for song A, slot 1 for song B, 2 for C...

When we learn a new song whose name goes between A and B, every song from B on down will shift. I can keep the new song at the end of the list and that works fine, but it bugs me that every song I ever learn now would have to be out of alphabetical order. So I use a program I wrote to extract the song names in order from the Kronos set list and another script I wrote to create a MIDI preset CSV file for BH.

[jimm]

Hmm, maybe I should write a program to take a set list export from BH and create a new set list for the Kronos instead. That'd work.

[arlo]

Some people add MIDI SysEx messages to the Raw MIDI field in their MIDI presets to change the keyboard modes in conjunction with changing their programs. I don't know what kinds of keyboards work that way or when that's necessary.

This forum post talks about changing programs on your keyboard: http://forum.arlomedia.com/index.php/topic,1962.0.html But I don't know if the "song number" mentioned there is a number assigned permanently to each song, or just a pointer to a position in a set list.

The idea of shuffling all the numbers when you add a new song or change your set list seems fundamentally wrong, like a phone company giving everyone a new phone number whenever a new customer signs up. Deleting and recreating all your MIDI presets in BandHelper whenever you add a song is also a very heavy-handed approach that should not be necessary. Hopefully there is a more efficient way to handle that on your keyboard. BandHelper is designed to always send the same program number for a given song, which should always select the same program on the keyboard, regardless of anything else.

[jimm]

Thank you, @arlo. Please feel free to ignore the rest of this message. I tend to be verbose, and am having fun explaining why I'm in the situation I'm in. Plus it might help me think of a different solution.

On the Kronos the combination (song) numbers are constant. Combination 1 (song "D") will remain number 1, combi 2 (song "B") will remain number 2, etc. My combinations are in an essentially random order --- the order in which I learned the songs.

Kronos set lists are arrays of "slots" which are pointers to combinations (or other things we can ignore) that can also store song notes, transposes, volumes, and more. I maintain a set list that arranges the combis (rather, pointers to them) alphabetically to make them easy for me to find during rehearsals and when I practice. When I add a new song (a new combination), I insert a set list slot in the proper place in alphabetical order that points to the combi.

When I perform, I don't want to be in combination (song) mode, I want to be in song list mode. That means I can't take advantage of the unchanging number-to-combi/song mapping. I want to be in set list mode which means I'm dealing with an array of pointers that due to my alphabetical OCD will change over time. The BH patch changes I'm sending while in set list mode act as array indexes (song list slot numbers), not combination numbers.

Before BH I used to create new set lists for each gig, copying the main alphabetical set list and re-ordering it manually as needed. I'd rather not have to do that, so my choices when I insert a new song into the main set list seem to be:

- Rebuild the MIDI presets and re-import them, using some software I've developed

- Create a new Kronos set list from each of our BH smart lists and gig set lists. I'd start by assigning unchanging MIDI preset PCs to the BH songs. I'd then export each BH set list and write some software to create a new set list in the proper order

- Main two Kronos set lists manually, one alphabetically for me and one in some unchanging order such as the same order as the combinations (songs) for BH to use (see, I _did_ think of a new solution!)

Hmm, that third option might not be so bad. It'll bug me, but might be the most flexible. I'll have to think about this some more.

It would have been worse before BH because I'd have to make sure that I kept my song notes up to date between the two set lists because that doesn't matter any more.