Ableton Forum

This question is "offtopic" as not directly related to Live, but it is a musical question, so someone might know interesting answers, here is my problem:

Do you know any music application for Windows OS, which can play multiple midi files (e.g. 10) which include each several midi channels in them synchronized to each other, so it could be also one application which can be started multiple times. Important features would be:

1. Multiple, up to 16 midi files should be opened.
2. All these midi files should be played back synchronously.
3. All played midi files should be routed to different midi outputs, e.g. Midi-Yoke 1..16.
4. All midi files should be started via command-line in this/these application(s).
5. Loading of midis should be easy, e.g. by drag-and-drop.

Do you know any application which supports this scenario? Thanks in advance.

Here is important that it should be very fast and easy to change any midi file, so loading in a bigger host is not the solution I am looking for. I am thinking more of small midi playback applications which can be started multiple times (via command-line) and synchronized to each other.

ableton live?

Johnisfaster wrote:ableton live?

This you have to explain more how live can fulfill the 5 mentioned points above. It should be easy to replace any of the 10 used midis fastly, in live to be able to use one midi you have to start organizing your midi tracks after importing a new midi, so Live is definitely not the right tool. If Live would support multiple midi channels in one clip, without loosing the midi channel information, maybe yes. Then you could route the clips outputs appropriately and simply exchange the clips for fast experimenting.

Max

Out of order but why can't you:

1) Create 16 MIDI channels
3) Route each MIDI channel independently (1-16 on whatever)
4) Keybind either clip slots or scene launch (muting/unmuting a track might be worth binding too)

(Extra step: Adjust global launch or clip launch parameters like quantization or what type of launch mode for clips)

2) Hit some sort of play button (probably scene launch if I'm understanding you correctly)
5) Use one of two places to grab other clips from: Unused slots in session view outside of the scene launched, or from the browser?

in live to be able to use one midi you have to start organizing your midi tracks after importing a new midi

Assuming there's a set list of clips you want to bring in, why would you not do that in advance and have them in session slots? Also you could just drag MIDI clips into existing channels rather than into their own channel.

Maybe it is not clearly understood yet: I am talking of a scenario of (in maximum) 16 * 16 = 256 midi channels. I would not use all of these channels always, so a lot of those would be muted dynamically, but I would have such a big composition layout, just think of a big symphony composition or film composition.

I want to have the flexibility of fastly changing any of those midi files using drag and drop without having to spend each time a lot of organization time, to spend more time on experimenting/composing rather than changing routing settings. Any midi channel would have its fixed "sound channel" meaning going to a specific hardware or software synthesizer.

Yes using Max this should be somehow possible I guess. Any other ideas apart from Max? Best would be if Live could internally keep midi channel information in a single clip, so you could simply use 1 live midi track for 1 midi file and apply a filter by channel afterwards. But the bad news is this is not possible in Live to my knowledge.

ton wrote:Any other ideas apart from Max? Best would be if Live could internally keep midi channel information in a single clip, so you could simply use 1 live midi track for 1 midi file and apply a filter by channel afterwards. But the bad news is this is not possible in Live to my knowledge.

Well, it works with Live with following requirements/limitations:

1. You have to use midi-1 files rather than midi-0 files. Then all the midi channels are split automatically into its available midi channels as new midi tracks.
2. Point 1. from above has the consequence that a single .mid file is then existing in 16 midi tracks, rather than sitting in a single midi track. Also for having predefined places for each midi channel in the whole live set, you need to have some events in any of the 16 midi channels, that also those originally empty midi tracks will be jumped over correctly.

Did anybody try running two instances of Live where the first instance would work purely as "midi delivering service" which is sent then to the second instance of Live. Using this method you could make use of two different templates simultaneously. The first template would control all midi services, the second one synthesizers, effects and mixing/automation.

Then you could define multiple setups for the "midi delivering services", e.g. supporting a setup of up to 16 (Midi-Ports) * 16 (Midi-Channels) = 256 midi tracks. If you assign 256 buttons to those midi tracks as midi mutes this should give you a lot experimenting field/space.