Re: [Qtractor-devel] More serious Pgm Change bug

[Rui N. C. <rn...@rn...>]

On 04/03/2015 10:50 AM, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm the composer, I'm the one who knows in what way external gear is
> connected and used, so for good reasons I decided to have a Pgm Change
> at time 2.1.000 in a clip from 1.1.000 to 11.1.000. How can I get rid of
> the Pgm Change that Qtractor automatically adds at time 1.1.000?
>

you don't.

> If I delete the unwanted Pgm Change and/or select "Program: (None)",
> then save the .mid file and the .qtr file, close and restart Qtractor,
> the unwanted Pgm Change appears again and breaks my composition.
>
> A workaround to start with another Pgm Change at 1.1.000 and to change
> to the wanted at 2.1.000 won't do the trick, there simply should be no
> Pgm Change in the timeline, where I did not add one myself.
>

it's NOT a bug, never was. it's just the way it is, in qtractor MIDI 
design model for a little less than a decade already.

take note:

1) one MIDI track conveys to one and only MIDI channel, although you can 
have several MIDI tracks addressing the same MIDI channel.

2) a MIDI instrument bank and program are properties of a MIDI track and 
thus also of the corresponding MIDI channel; this time, you can only 
have one instrument bank/program setting per MIDI channel; a MIDI 
bank_select/program_change message is always sent through the assigned 
MIDI track's output bus/port on startup or immediately after the MIDI 
port connection eventually changes.

3) all the above happens independently of any MIDI clip content on 
playback, which might have its own MIDI bank_select/program_change 
events interleaved on the same channel: that's pretty legal MIDI form 
and qtractor will play that exactly as originally intended, however:

4) when writing to any new MIDI file on its own, be that created on 
recording, exporting, merging and most importantly, editing over an 
existing one, the qtractor's MIDI track bank/program properties (2) will 
get always written at the beginning of the sequence no matter what.

5) when reading any MIDI file, the earliest bank_select/program_change 
message that are found on each MIDI track or channel in sequence will be 
assigned and honored as the new MIDI intrument setting (bank, program) 
as for the current MIDI track being loaded, if not already set before.

so, pragmatically speaking, if you want different MIDI instrument 
voicings playing, then you'll have to make it on different MIDI channels.

hth.
cheers
-- 
rncbc aka. Rui Nuno Capela