effects on a midi track

[diverseradio]

how do you put effects on a midi track? I've tried aux-thank you

[Stig Eliassen]

You can't. Use an instrument track. What is your soundsource?

[EdwardWilliam]

Because effects plugins process audio, you will have to insert the fx somewhere in the audio stream of the midi instrument. PT midi tracks cary no audio, only data that trigger midi instruments. And midi tracks don’t output audio, just midi data. If you’re using an external midi keyboard or drum machine, then the fx have to go in the audio return to PT. If you’re looking for a midi instrument in PT, then use an instrument track, insert an instrument plugin, and then insert the fx you want after the instrument. Pt instrument tracks hold midi data in their clips, but also output audio.


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[diverseradio]

I don't use external keyboards just virtual instruments and piano roll.
I have kontakt 5 and to save memory I only create 1 instrument track for kontakt the rest are midi tracks for each instrument within kontakt. the instruments within I have an issue with the sound they are all too quiet even when I bring up the volume to it's highest level so an effect would boost the volume. any other thoughts? my sound source is 2 JBL speakers and a focusrite 2i2-thanks

[EdwardWilliam]

I like Kontakt instruments and use them quite a bit. Have you adjusted the volume slider at the top right of the plug window? This controls the loudness of output. Maybe this is where you’re mixing? By the way, other threads on the duc claim that having multiple instances of Kontakt spread across multiple tracks actually has a lesser impact on cpu & memory. I haven’t tested the impact myself, but I always use separate instrument tracks with Kontakts so I can mix in Pro Tools’ mix window. It’s too much of a headache for me to be trying to balance instrument mixes inside the Kontakt plug. Also, adding lots of reverb inside Kontakt can sound great at first, but can reduce the perceived loudness of the instruments. I usually go dry out of Kontakt (but not always).

If I start getting ram alerts then I’ll start committing the Kontakt tracks as soon as the notes are in the right place. I hide and make the instrument tracks. Tweaking clip gain at this point can also help with loudness.


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[musicman691]

Originally Posted by diverseradio

I don't use external keyboards just virtual instruments and piano roll.
I have kontakt 5 and to save memory I only create 1 instrument track for kontakt the rest are midi tracks for each instrument within kontakt. the instruments within I have an issue with the sound they are all too quiet even when I bring up the volume to it's highest level so an effect would boost the volume. any other thoughts? my sound source is 2 JBL speakers and a focusrite 2i2-thanks

Here's a few things to look at in Kontakt:
For each instrument you have loaded in Kontakt click on the wrench icon towards the left of the main part of the gui. Then click on 'instrument option' and click on levels (not at my daw right now). A window should open up and you can select discrete levels of -6, 0, +6 and +12 - raising this level will give the specific instrument more level to work with. Then click on the wrench icon again to go back to the Kontakt main screen. Repeat for each instrument in Kontakt.

Second - you are feeding each Kontakt instrument on a separate MIDI channel right? Use MIDI cc7 messages to raise or lower the level of each instrument.

In general - look at the MIDI event list and check what the velocity values are. If those are way low then you'll have a softer sound. If no levels are at 127 (which is max level) then either change individual velocity levels or right click on the track, select 'real time properties' and select change velocity. There are many ways there to change the velocity.

There are other ways to add level to a track using some type of plugin that will add extra gain in addition to using the level slider for each track in PT itself. But that will only work on audio.

You don't give system specs; seeing those would help a great deal. Just using a bunch of instruments in Kontakt won't save you all that much memory as an empty Kontakt instance doesn't take up that much ram. To balance out cpu usage use multiple instances of Kontakt in multiple PT instrument tracks.

[diverseradio]

just updated my system specs sorry about that. so it sounds like many instances of Kontakt on many instrument tracks are fine and the way to go and has a lesser impact on cpu and memory? great I will do that will that work with my system specs? thanks

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by diverseradio

just updated my system specs sorry about that. so it sounds like many instances of Kontakt on many instrument tracks are fine and the way to go and has a lesser impact on cpu and memory? great I will do that will that work with my system specs? thanks

I always use multiple Kontakt tracks as well.