Jick Duck, if you just want to change the transposition of the upper/lower voices (not the accompaniment) then you could do this by:

Using the shift button for the UM1 to UM4 voices or,

Go into controller for the UM1 to UM4 voices and adjust the pitch.

I have not tried this in a long time but I believe you can also send volume/transposition changes via midi messages from the keyboard.

In my case I can set this up as Scene Changes in forte and send it program changes from my keyboard. Works great for live performances.

Those of us who have LiveSynth Pro may need to have a private discussion as to whether we provide copies of this program given there is no longer a business impacted by such actions - with the exception of its competition. What do others think?

If this does not work then there are other alternatives as already mentioned in this thread.


[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 10-29-2003).]

Frank, I want to transpose "everything" (Right, Left, and accompaniment)at the same time by pressing just one key. I thought that the up and down transpose arrows in the live-styler main window are suppossed to do just that. However, when I click on one of the arrows I think its trying to transpose the accommpaniment but my chord recognition goes haywire. I don't hear any transposition in the right hand voices. I'm expecting just the simple transpose feature found on all arranger keyboards.

What do you mean by "UM1 to UM4 voices"?

Midi messages from the keyboard (Roland A70 A37 etc..) sounds like not a bad idea.

I am using forte solo and demo but I'm not to farmiliar with their features. By the way, what are the limitations in forte demo?

About livesynth pro, well, I wish I can have it. I still didn't get Vsampler 2.75 (demo?)
to load my gm soundbank that I downloaded from hammersound site. Its an 80 or something megabyte font so maybe thats the problem. I really want to try out live-styler with a softsynth that I know can handle big gm banks and be efficient and stable for live use. I still havn't gotten that yet.

Before I go about assembling my software based arranger keyboard I want to have the software and know that it works good.

[This message has been edited by Jick Duck (edited 10-31-2003).]

Jick Duck, I don't know which version of Live-Styler you have. This could be the cause of missed communications. However, the way you describe the transposition should work. Here is a quote from the help file on the Live-Styler web site:

Transposer:
These two buttons allow you to transpose the played notes. The accompaniment is also affected by the transposition. The display between the buttons shows your actual value by which you are transposing.

I am currently testing version 5 and the following are the voices you would play live on the keyboard:

UM1 to UM4 (probably means upper manual)
LM1 to LM3 (Lower Manual)
PED (Bass Pedal)

In previous versions of Live - Styler these voices would have been referred to as R1, R2, R3, L1, etc.

When you go into Options and uncheck the Accompaniment, these voices should be revealed at the bottom of the main view. For each Voice UM1, etc. there is a shift key which will transpose the voice up or down one octave. If you go into controller you can adjust the pitch.

Sending pitch/transposition changes from the keyboard to so many different voices plus the accompaniment may not be to easy. You would need more than 16 channels to do so.

Keep in mind you would need to have voices loaded in Live - Styler and assigned to UM1, etc. for this to work. Alternatively you would need to assign the appropriate Midi Port and Channel from Live - Styler to the Sampler for each of UM1, etc. As I noted previously, I do not use these features in Live - Styler. I prefer to work in forte and transpose each channel/voice and assign it to a Scene. If I then want to change transposition I just send the appropriate progam change number from my keyboard - fast & easy!!!

I am not certain of what all the restriction for forte may be but this is a quote from their site:

'Evaluation

THE USER has the right to evaluate this PRODUCT for the period of 30 days, provided that terms of Operating license are compiled with, and that the PRODUCT is not used for profit, including but not limited to creating patch libraries and sounds for any pieces THE USER are profiting from. Should you continue use of the PRODUCT after your evaluation period expires, or use it for any profit, THE USER shall pay the registration fee.'

VSampler 2.75 only has 64 banks. So if you load anything with more than that (GM - Drums Bank 127) you will end up with an unworkable mess. I would try Version 3.02 and see how it works for you. Remember you would need to reasign the drums from Bank 16256 to 127 within the Yamaha Style for this to work. This might work very well for you given that you have interest in changing/transposing voices. VSampler has far more control over voices than LiveSynth Pro. With LiveSynth Pro you would also need to acquire Soundfaction Alive or Vienna to modifiy the voices.

What about trying OMB? Jos is very good at answering questions. I happen to like Live-Styler but you must remember I started with it and have grown accustom to it.

I hope this helps.



[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 10-31-2003).]

Live-styler 5.0 is now available for download at http://www.live-styler.de/download.html
I'm still waiting for the English manual though.

Version 5.0 looks very promising especially with all those one touch settings. It is adaptable to use with a touch sensitive lcd screen.

One thing though, I keep on getting an illegal error and the program shuts down. Can't play for more than a few minutes at most.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong while manually installing those dll files. I copied them to c:\windows\system and system32. Does this have to be done with 5.0?

Whats the deal with the soundfonts in live styler? Do I need a softsynth at all?

Also, the new vsampler site is up at http://www.maz-sound.com/

C'mon. Why no posts on this subject? Its the thread I'm always waiting to read.

[This message has been edited by Jick Duck (edited 11-09-2003).]

I downloaded the new Vsampler3 demo,
but it seems that while it loads soundfonts
that can be played via external MIDI, it will only play the demo techno distorted sample file when played from a sequencer(via
Midi Yoke).
Am I doing something wrong or does the demo
only allow this?

Jick Duck & Vquestor may have to start a new thread. This one is getting long in the tooth!!!

Jick Duck, one of the benefits of Live - Styler is exactly as you point out, i.e., it's suitability for touch screens. Branda of Germany does just that and uses a modified version of Live - Styler.

The dll files should be placed in Windows\System32 as you did.

I would say the loading of soundfonts in Live - Styler is only marginally useful for playing live the right and left hand side of your controller keyboard. It is much better to have a softsynth for this especially if you are going to use a host like forte Ensemble.

Vquestor, after seeing your note, I quickly tested the DXi Version that came with Sonar 3. Quess what - it works!!! It even seems to work without having to make adjustments to the style drum banks 16256 to 127. This version of VSampler automatically copies the drums from bank 127 to 128. Now, I have to do far more testing to see whether it works ok in general. I only ran 2 styles using Live - Styler and it worked ok. I got some hanging notes but that could be that I did not remove LiveSynth Pro from forte which uses the same midi ports. I will let you know as I find more things.

I have been able take advantage of several updates, namely, Cakewalk Sonar 3 (UltraFunk Sonitus Effects) and Live - Styler. These seem to work well on my system - so far. I have finished beta testing forte Ensemble Release Candidate 1 (RC1). It is a winner!!!!!!!!!!!! The public release should happen shortly. This is an important milestone in quest for a software based arranger system - efficient, effective, reliable and priced right. You can't lose - I think.

I should remind all those contemplating systems like this that it pays to tweak your Windows XP as per the information I pointed to in past posts on this topic. It is especially important to do this if you run heavy duty samplers with disk streaming.

Talking about disk streaming, VSampler is not able to do this and therefore you would not beable to effectively use the premium instruments, e.g., Bardstown Bosendorfer 2.5 GB Piano. They are planning on adding this feature in the next update. I think they may be optimistic. This is a difficult feature to get to work properly - as others have learned the hard way.

Jick Duck, I forgot to comment on your Live - Styler faulting issue. Most often this can be corrected by being very careful in how you setup your midi ports/channels. Live - Styler does not make this part very easy. I understand N. Stellberg will have his English Manual available very soon. This may also help. Other than this, I don't know why Live - Styler is faulting on your system. It could be conflicts with other software running in the background, other Live - Styler settings, etc. Sorry can't help much with this one.

[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 11-10-2003).]