I use hardware synths. The general config is a midi track plays to a particular midi port and channel, and I record the audio.
So far so good – that WORKS!!! Yay! Ardour even lets me insert program changes in the track! Okay, here’s the question.
Is there a way for me to make a definition file or something of the sort that specifies “Brett is using his Mopho/TX81Z/whatever, so Bank 1, Program 3 is ZipperZapper Deluxe.”
This isn’t a necessity as I have this info handy in text files I can reference, but it would definitely be handy. Something tells me it can be done and the means are already present, because after all the GM bank presets are there.
So if there’s a way of adding others … where do I go and what do I do?
Thanks – and thank you for such a totally excellent upgrade.
Thank you, Paul! That tells me exactly what I need to know. Quite likely I can automate their creation through use of a macro in Jedit (remember Brief?) or some such. I’ll make one set for my own use that includes my own user patches, and another that just uses the factory presets for my synths. When I create these, do you want them to include in a future ardour release?
@bmarkham: several years ago, various companies including digidesign defined an XML file format called “MIDNAM” which maps various MIDI numerical values (e.g. bank + patch change numbers) to string values.
Ardour now ships with perhaps the largest set of MIDNAM files every gathered into a single location. You will find them in within the “patchfiles” folder inside the installed bundle (/opt/Ardour_). The format is “well documented” online (though unfortunately the spec does allow for some ambiguity), and the existing files provide a rich set of examples.
There is no editor for these files, so if you want to create your own, you’ll need to use a text editor.