Why no Virtual Keyboard in Xpand

[teacherman]

Why would A.I.R/Digidesign not add a Virtual Keyboard with Xpand! or Xpand2?

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by teacherman

Why would A.I.R/Digidesign not add a Virtual Keyboard with Xpand! or Xpand2?

or Hybrid...

While I dont have a need for this it could handy for troubleshooting MIDI related issues.

I would actually like them to put a virtual keyboard on all the instruments but put it in pop out "Drawer" so that most of the time it could stay hidden.

[teacherman]

Yes! Excellent Suggestion!

[Top Jimmy]

Don't forget that you can push the keys on the piano roll in midi and instrument tracks.

[flommer]

If you really need one, here's a full featured one for $20

http://www.tanageraudioworks.com/Products/Chirp/

There are free ones out there too..

I see it as similar to the mp3 license... Some/many people don't need it so Digi does not include it.. If you do need it it can be had for cheap or free..

Seems to be an easy enough feature to add if enough people ask, though..

[sunburst79]

About the only time I use the feature is in those "Hey (tap-tap) is this thing on? moments. I will use the keyboard in DB33 while adjusting parameters sometimes and I doubt that I'm the only one. I have NO interest in trying to play a VI this way and dont want to install some type of 3rd party onscreen keyboard program. The more I think about it the hidden keyboard idea makes a lot of sense. It should be a part of the design guidelines for VI plugs. Its not pressing enough in my opinion however to fix until the plugs need updating.

[Eric Lambert]

100% agreed. These VIs should have a hide-away keyboard for previewing sounds with the mouse when it's less convenient to use a keyboard. No one's trying to record MIDI that way, just preview, and this feature would help.

[Neale]

And the keyboard in the instrument track - with octave markers, no less - is not useful for the "is this thing on" or "click with a mouse" stuff because...