Midi Out

[S1User]

I have 3 more days of the demo to decide if I want to buy this thing. $99 is hardly a fortune but I do want to have an idea what I'll do with it. After coding in VB, C#, JS and with some nerve wracking adventures in C++ and Juce and Objective C, the graphical approach here for plugins along with Ruby is a very nice change from at least the last two.

Great application.

Question: I want to have a VST instrument trigger midi notes (no problem there, that was easy enough) and output that midi data back only to the host, like with a drum sequencer. I cannot for the life of me figure out the output. I put an "out" on the module and and it shows up as midi, but the demo plug doesn't show any midi coming out of the plugin into the host. I only need the output of the midi event prim to output to the - host - to be received by another plugin, not to a hardware output.

Help? Thanks in advance.

[tulamide]

From the manual (I know I few days for testing doesn't make reading a manual attractive):

"For a VST instrument your module will need one MIDI input and two mono outputs. This allows the
instrument to send stereo audio data based on MIDI signals sent from a host.
VST effects can vary. You can create a MIDI effect which takes one MIDI input and one MIDI output.
For a standard audio effect you need two mono inputs and two mono outputs.
Of course you can have any number of inputs and outputs but you’ll need a host that can handle the
data you’re requesting from or sending to it. "

In short:
MIDI out -> create vst effect
Audio out -> if midi in then create vst instrument, else vst effect

[S1User]

I know newbies automatically get the RTFM thing, and that's cool but I actually did read and search the manual including the part you quoted above and my plugin does have everything it needs to be an instrument, it loads fine.

What it doesn't do is send it's midi data to the host. I don't want to send data to a hardware output, only to the host. I know the host supports that (an instrument that can output midi shows up as an input source for any other instrument track)... but that doesn't work with my test plugin. To clarify...

1. Midi Event prim > Module Out > shows up as a midi output on the module, data output verified.

2. Again, I don't want a hardware midi out (and actually only need a midi input so I can compile at as VST) I only want midi data I generate in the plugin to leave the plugin, for that out to show up in the host... but that output does not appear as an input source for any other instrument tracks, which it should... unless I need another prim to make that happen.

Think "Drum Sequencer" where the midi from my instrument plugin outputs midi to the host, and the instrument shows up as an input source for a midi track like Addictive Drums, to take in the note and play it. For now, the midi data doesn't even matter, I first need forthe module to expose it's mid out to the host to be selected on another midi track as a source input.

If you can take the VSTI module, put a trigger on it to trigger any midi event internally, and send that midi event out to your host (whatever host you use) to play another synth, can you show me that project, how it's setup?

Thanks.

[S1User]

Let me simplify this...



Ok, because that instrument has a midi out (To the host? Or does that just dead end?) it should show up as a valid input source for any midi track, like FL below... to be used as an input trigger for any other instrument... this below is another track's input source... it will take midi in from FL...



But the VSTI I create doesn't show up in that track input list as a valid input source. No idea why. I also loaded the plugin in Reaper and put a midi monitor inline behind it, no midi data is coming out of the plugin into the host.

So I must be doing something wrong... or it just doesn't do that. I looked for a "midi out to host" prim or similar, no luck. What do I connect to that output to make the host recognize that midi output?

[nix]

Hey there,
the image you have posted should work.
Which host are you using to load FL and your plug?
I have used the MIDI out pin many many times without any problems-
so we will be able to troubleshoot here for sure,
unless you have a host specific issue.

edit- as S1 User, does that mean ur using Studio One?

[Spogg]

Hi S1user

The link below will supply you with a simple MIDI note on/off schematic, its dll and a Reaper project file.
The MIDI input is a dummy but is required to allow FS to create a dll effect plugin. This is about as simple as it can get.
I tested it in Reaper (free to download and use) along with the free VSTi Synth1 and I can confirm it works. In Reaper the track 2 with the FS plugin is routed to track 1 with the synth on.

Since I do know this works in Reaper I thought you could try it in your host, to see if it's a host or FS/host issue.

Hope this is of some use to you!


https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpebv34q87ygt ... r.zip?dl=0

Cheers

Spogg

[S1User]

Thanks a lot. I'll look that over.

I actually got what I was trying to do working in another plugin with simple module ins and outs switched to midi. I think my initial problem may have been not having it on the right module layer or something, but this below works. The daw can see that midi output as a source input for any midi track and I can route midi CC between audio plugin instances directly using those midi ins and out, so my initial attempt must not have connected things correctly...



Schematic: http://prntscr.com/8j8m5i

Now that I know all this stuff works and my title bar says "Final Day!" , I'll mull over whether to spend the $99 or not and continue these adventures. Thanks for all of the support.

[Spogg]

Flowstone never ceases to amaze me with what can be done, especially some of the stuff made by the more advanced and capable users on this Forum.

One major advantage is being able to export as a VST(i) so your work can be enjoyed by anyone in any host.
I've been fooling around making my own stuff for about 10 months as I write this, and I'm totally addicted.

I started off experimenting with SynthEdit, made a simple VSTi then tried SynthMaker (forerunner to FS) and never looked back. One of the major advantages is the community. There's so much stuff for free and the core members here are always ready to lend a hand. I found that the good 3rd party stuff for SynthEdit had to be paid for so the philosophy is different.

I hope that if you like it you buy it because this is a very niche product and any financial support will, hopefully, keep it going and improving...

Cheers

Spogg

[S1User]

Yeah, I decided to buy it. I'm gonna buy the $99 license.

Too easy not to own for a tech tweaker guy like me who has been through it all, from Juce to C++. This is a breath of fresh air... and the Ruby stuff is right down my alley being an amature coder.

Love this app... really.

I was (a few different times really) on the verge of griping about the unusually short demo period, 7 days, but "F" it, it works so I bought it.

- Lawrence

[Spogg]

Good move!
Have fun
Spogg