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  4. Keyswitches don't work - help please

  • Keyswitches don't work - help please

    F
    F

    Hello forum,

    I recently got the BBO package and am excited about all the amazing sounds that I can create now in my DAW (Studio One). However I can't make the keyswitches work. They seem to somehow be disabled and even after browsing the web and the forums for a long time I haven't found anything on the matter of "enabling keyswitches". Apparently they seem to work for everybody without having to do anything about it. When I press the coloured keys, which should cause a switch to the assigned articulations or effects, nothing happens. When I press keys that are even lower (or higher) and appear in grey, the get pressed down in the virtual keyboard.

    There's probably a simple solution to this, but I can't figure it out. Please help! Thanks!
  • M
    M

    Hi Frido,

    Yes, the Keyswitches in StudioOne are not working by default. StudioOne hijacks the Keyswitches that are sent by the Synchron Player for it's internal Articulation Switching system. When you open the Sound Variations window, you can Switch the Articulations there by clicking with the mouse (or inside the Synchron player as well), or inside a recorded MIDI event, you can of course assign the Articulations (the intended use case I would assume).

    However, when you change the Sound Variation "mode" from "Enable Keyswitches" to "Use Activation Sequence", you can use your Keyboard to Keyswitch as you normally would do when you Switch while playing. The ability to assign the Articulations inside the Sound Variation Lane then is still possible, so "best of both worlds". You find this setting when you click the wrench in the Sound Variations lane of the MIDI Editor. Then you see allthe Switches laid out - on top you see the name of the Patch, and right next to it to the right you should see "Enable Keyswitches" - click this dropdown and select "Use Activation Sequence" (See attached Screenshot)

    Short explanation on the "intended use case I assume": You would input notes with a long patch, get the stuff in, riding faders or whatever. Then you would edit that MIDI sequence and shorten/lengthen note, move them, assign articulation to shape the performance. That's how I currently mainly work as well. As said in the second paragraph - change to "Use Activation Sequence" and you can use the Keyswitches while playing (or to select beforehand via MIDI-Keyboard).

    I hope that helped,

    Best, Mat

    Image
  • F
    F

    Hi Matt,

    thanks for those great tips, which helped me solve the issue. What I was really looking for was a way to assign different articulations to single notes or several notes, so that I don't have to create a new track for each articulation that isn't accessible through notation in the score editor. Now I understand that I can simply do that in the pianoroll through the sound variations. Great!

    The keyswitching doesn't work as I was expecting, namely that it doesn't keep the articulations after recording. Thus they would only be useful for a live performance situation. Or in order to experiment with different sounds. That's a bit disappointing, since it would've been an awesome feature if it worked for recording also. However it doesn't bother me too much, because I'm editing anyways after recording and then I can just assign the desired articulations.

    Thanks again and good notes

    Frido
  • M
    M

    Yeah, I just checked - the "live record KS" definitely seems to be an oversight on PreSonus' part there. I see the use case, especially for people who create their own KS layouts and have e.g. a small Keyboard on their Desk for exactly that purpose (and have practice live switching).

    Glad the core issue is so far solved though -  For fast Articulation editing/entry, I recommend that you assign a Hotkey to the "Find and Apply Variation" Action (Menu: Studio One -> Keyboard Shortcuts). That way a small window pops up and you can quickly type the Articulation you want for the selected notes (e.g. start typing "bol" and the first Articulation with "bol" in it is suggested, for example "Short Notes - Bold") and simply hit Enter and boom. That can speed up a whole lot as well, especially if you use a Streamdeck or AutoHotkey or the like.

    Best, Mat
  • F
    F

    Thanks Mat, that helps ease the workflow!
  • P
    P

    Mat,

    Thank you very much for explaining how to regain access to the keyboard keyswitching in Studio One.

    (It's quite unintuitive for Presonus that the default setting of "enable key switches" actually disables the ability for us to manually use the keyswitches!. And to enable active manual keyswitching requires changing the default to "Use Activation Sequence" -- which doesn't refer to keyswitching. A bit bizarre.

    Also quite sad that we cannot record live via manual keyswitching. Also seems like an oversight. Maybe they will add this as a feature to come. 

    Post-recording of the notes, it is a great system!

    Craig