Topic by chauncey

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Topic: Midi Archiver standalone question

I have a strange request. I have the midi archiver running on my machine 24/7 because I have some pianoteq sound running in front of me at all times and like being able to snag a bit of inspiration without any thought to setting up for recording . My question is, is there a way to decouple the sound processing from this to reduce CPU usage.

My use case is that sometimes I am using Pianoteq as a plugin in my daw to come up with and store my presets with additional live processing effects such as Soundtoys racks for things I do on FB Live or YouTube live. I don't necessarily want to record the whole session within the DAW, preferring the endless buffer of Pianoteq's archiver for the infrequent occasions when I want to capture or edit the midi performance (switch to a different preset, render it in higher quality than my stream, etc. fix an audio glitch in the stream and re-render the fixed audio/video for uploading). The timestamping aspect of Pianoteq's capture is great for finding the right take to

I can run another silent standalone instance of Pianoteq for the midi capture, but it adds an appreciable amount of CPU on my aging hardware and can therefore cause audio glitching in my stream, so was hoping to turn off the playback engine. Alternatively, does anyone know of a lightweight midi capture app that works similarly to Pianoteq's?  A standalone VST host that could bring in and process the audio from the PT7 standalone app might also work.

Hope this makes sense...thoughts and ideas appreciated.

Reply by navindra

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

chauncey wrote:

I have a strange request. I have the midi archiver running on my machine 24/7 because I have some pianoteq sound running in front of me at all times and like being able to snag a bit of inspiration without any thought to setting up for recording . My question is, is there a way to decouple the sound processing from this to reduce CPU usage.

You can configure Pianoteq to only react to MIDI channel 2, then you can set your keyboard to output on MIDI channel 1.

Although Pianoteq won't render the audio on channel 1, it will still record it.

If you then configure Pianoteq to react to MIDI channel 1 (or all channels) again, you can play back the MIDI recording.

Last edited by navindra (17-12-2020 01:26)
Find me at the new piano forums @ PianoTell.com.

Bluebird by Alexis Ffrench on Pianoteq NY Steinway D.

Reply by Defenz0r

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Just spotted this!

Is it possible to archive MIDI automatically, but running on a PC/MAC?

Then moving it into Folders according to the DATE / TIME.
When there is 30 seconds no MIDI Event, then decide to move it into a new Folder according to that time.

You then can browse afterwards and remember when you played what.

I also feeling pressured when I know, record is on.

Possible? Makes sense? I dont own a Raspberry PI, but also wondering how the MIDI archiver decides...

Reply by navindra

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

I believe that Pianoteq basically has 100% feature parity across all supported platforms.

MIDI archiving is core functionality and certainly works on PC/Mac.

Just click in the "Blues Demo" area for available settings or look in the File menu:

https://www.modartt.com/user_manual?pro...e-version-

Last edited by navindra (18-12-2020 00:22)
Find me at the new piano forums @ PianoTell.com.

Bluebird by Alexis Ffrench on Pianoteq NY Steinway D.

Reply by Defenz0r

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

navindra wrote:

I believe that Pianoteq basically has 100% feature parity across all supported platforms.

MIDI archiving is core functionality and certainly works on PC/Mac.

Just click in the "Blues Demo" area for available settings or look in the File menu:

https://www.modartt.com/user_manual?pro...e-version-

Yea but if I leave that on, the next day I can't tell what I've played yesterday at 9am, right? Also, it's all left within a single midi file, rather than a structure that distinguishes it..

Reply by navindra

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Defenz0r wrote:
navindra wrote:

I believe that Pianoteq basically has 100% feature parity across all supported platforms.

MIDI archiving is core functionality and certainly works on PC/Mac.

Just click in the "Blues Demo" area for available settings or look in the File menu:

https://www.modartt.com/user_manual?pro...e-version-

Yea but if I leave that on, the next day I can't tell what I've played yesterday at 9am, right? Also, it's all left within a single midi file, rather than a structure that distinguishes it..

No, it's not in a single file. Everything is well-structured.

Works perfectly fine for me. I can easily do what you wish and find something I played on a specific day and time.

Find me at the new piano forums @ PianoTell.com.

Bluebird by Alexis Ffrench on Pianoteq NY Steinway D.

Reply by Defenz0r

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

navindra wrote:
Defenz0r wrote:
navindra wrote:

I believe that Pianoteq basically has 100% feature parity across all supported platforms.

MIDI archiving is core functionality and certainly works on PC/Mac.

Just click in the "Blues Demo" area for available settings or look in the File menu:

https://www.modartt.com/user_manual?pro...e-version-

Yea but if I leave that on, the next day I can't tell what I've played yesterday at 9am, right? Also, it's all left within a single midi file, rather than a structure that distinguishes it..

No, it's not in a single file. Everything is well-structured.

Works perfectly fine for me. I can easily do what you wish and find something I played on a specific day and time.

I see. One has to record all time. The standard setting is to save "a billion years". Wondering if this is an running gag.

I do have to keep the recording running, right?

Last edited by Defenz0r (19-12-2020 11:55)

Reply by Qexl

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Hi Defenz0r,

You can disable Pianoteq from automatically always recording what you play.

I love it - any snippet goes to a simple tiny MIDI file in the folder with a time-stamp for the naming, you set where it saves to in preferences


That works differently to when you actually press "record" button; that will start and stop when you exactly want it - and give you allow you to "save as".

Yeah, I too laughed when I first say "save for a billion years" - good humor at Pianoteq - if only it were possible to come back in a billion yrs to listen to them heh.

Pianoteq Studio Bundle (Pro plus all instruments)  - Kawai MP11 digital piano - Yamaha HS8 monitors

Reply by Defenz0r

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Qexl wrote:

Hi Defenz0r,

You can disable Pianoteq from automatically always recording what you play.

I love it - any snippet goes to a simple tiny MIDI file in the folder with a time-stamp for the naming, you set where it saves to in preferences


That works differently to when you actually press "record" button; that will start and stop when you exactly want it - and give you allow you to "save as".

Yeah, I too laughed when I first say "save for a billion years" - good humor at Pianoteq - if only it were possible to come back in a billion yrs to listen to them heh.

Wow that is nice.
However, I think it would be even nicer if the recordings were displayed by some graph / user interface. I probably going to draft something that runs from HTML to use within https://github.com/zadam/trilium/

Cause who wants to navigate to folders anyways? Needs better structure.

Reply by Gaston

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Defenz0r wrote:

I see. One has to record all time. The standard setting is to save "a billion years". Wondering if this is an running gag.

I do have to keep the recording running, right?

not at all!
Pianoteq starts recording automatically as soon as you play something on the keyboard, and stops recording after a few seconds of silence. Each sequence is clearly identified as a MIDI file with the date, time, duration and number of notes played. It's very easy to find your way around in the archive folder.
This is my usual way of working with Pianoteq standalone: I improvise according to the inspiration of the moment, I listen to the result, then I open Reaper with Pianoteq VSTi on a track and import the MIDI files that interest me.
In Reaper I can do all the editing operations and make all the necessary corrections, and also adjust the tempo (to compensate for the laziness of my old fingers which don't respond as quickly as I would like...). )
All the musics I publish in the forum "Recordings featuring Pianoteq" are made this way.

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Reply by Defenz0r

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Gaston wrote:
Defenz0r wrote:

I see. One has to record all time. The standard setting is to save "a billion years". Wondering if this is an running gag.

I do have to keep the recording running, right?

not at all!
Pianoteq starts recording automatically as soon as you play something on the keyboard, and stops recording after a few seconds of silence. Each sequence is clearly identified as a MIDI file with the date, time, duration and number of notes played. It's very easy to find your way around in the archive folder.
This is my usual way of working with Pianoteq standalone: I improvise according to the inspiration of the moment, I listen to the result, then I open Reaper with Pianoteq VSTi on a track and import the MIDI files that interest me.
In Reaper I can do all the editing operations and make all the necessary corrections, and also adjust the tempo (to compensate for the laziness of my old fingers which don't respond as quickly as I would like...). )
All the musics I publish in the forum "Recordings featuring Pianoteq" are made this way.


I see! Thanks. In the MIDI folder itself are way more files, though.
So this helps a lot but only if you are going to upload within some weeks, otherwise I think its possible to get lost by all of those recordings.

Reply by chauncey

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

Gaston wrote:

Pianoteq starts recording automatically as soon as you play something on the keyboard, and stops recording after a few seconds of silence. Each sequence is clearly identified as a MIDI file with the date, time, duration and number of notes played. It's very easy to find your way around in the archive folder.
This is my usual way of working with Pianoteq standalone: I improvise according to the inspiration of the moment, I listen to the result, then I open Reaper with Pianoteq VSTi on a track and import the MIDI files that interest me.
In Reaper I can do all the editing operations and make all the necessary corrections, and also adjust the tempo (to compensate for the laziness of my old fingers which don't respond as quickly as I would like...). )


This is how I use it as well -- great way to play freely without inhibitions and have a way to go back and time and grab some inspired bits.

Reply by chauncey

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

navindra wrote:

You can configure Pianoteq to only react to MIDI channel 2, then you can set your keyboard to output on MIDI channel 1.

Although Pianoteq won't render the audio on channel 1, it will still record it.

If you then configure Pianoteq to react to MIDI channel 1 (or all channels) again, you can play back the MIDI recording.

Great idea and this is perfect! I get 0% CPU from this workaround. I'm actually going to use my old PTQ6 with this specific configuration in startup. Thank you!

Last edited by chauncey (19-12-2020 23:57)

Reply by navindra

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Re: Midi Archiver standalone question

chauncey wrote:
navindra wrote:
chauncey wrote:

I have a strange request. I have the midi archiver running on my machine 24/7 because I have some pianoteq sound running in front of me at all times and like being able to snag a bit of inspiration without any thought to setting up for recording . My question is, is there a way to decouple the sound processing from this to reduce CPU usage.

You can configure Pianoteq to only react to MIDI channel 2, then you can set your keyboard to output on MIDI channel 1.

Although Pianoteq won't render the audio on channel 1, it will still record it.

If you then configure Pianoteq to react to MIDI channel 1 (or all channels) again, you can play back the MIDI recording.

Great idea and this is perfect! I get 0% CPU from this workaround. I'm actually going to use my old PTQ6 with this specific configuration in startup. Thank you!

I very much depend on this feature as well. I use it to switch between my piano's native sound engine and Pianoteq at a touch. The always-on recording is a massive bonus!

Find me at the new piano forums @ PianoTell.com.

Bluebird by Alexis Ffrench on Pianoteq NY Steinway D.