Floating Divisions

[Psi58]

Advice requested, dynamically mapping floating divisions.

I have a 3-manual console and a sampleset with 4 divisions. Currently I simply map 2 of the divisions to one manual - crude but it works.
I would like to have more control by adding 2 stops that would link either or both of these divisions to the available manual, but can't work out how to achieve this.
I can create the 'front end' controls, ie the stops and switches. But the underlying logic in the ODF defeats me. So...

1. Does anyone know of a sampleset that already has this functionality built-in, that I can learn from? Or a tutorial somewhere online?
2. If not, suggestions of the necessary ODF edits would be welcome.
3. Also, advice on whether this needs to be done in a text editor, or is possible in GOODF or ODFedit.

Many thanks in advance.

PS Once I've cracked this, the 'advanced' exercise will be to invoke the Divisionals for each division from the pistons associated with the manual when the 'FloatingDiv n to Manual m' function is on. Any help on this would also be most welcome.

Thanks in advance!

[larspalo]

Why not just use suitable, already built-in, couplers that GO supply to/from the manuals you wish to connect?

[Psi58]

...because my old brain was fixed on the implementation I described, and is not so good at lateral thinking.
Thank you!

[Psi58]

So yes, that works fine - functionally. But I'm still struggling to finish the job with a neater appearance.

My aim is to add drawstops within my existing custom panels to activate the couplers - I don't want to require the GO Coupler Panel to be surfaced. I've built the drawstops and switches, but I can't see how to link them to the GO coupler.

Using MIDI-Ox seems to confirm that there's no MIDI activity that could be intercepted when drawstops are pressed on the touchscreen.

And there's a somewhat discouraging note in the Help file that "The coupling manuals are not designed to be the target of a coupler."

I hope I'm not missing something obvious (quite possible, as I'm clearly out of my depth), could someone advise how to achieve this?

(I've temporarily removed the 'Answered' flag so that this supplementary question gets seen, but will reinstate it later).

[larspalo]

In #187 and #1364 there are some suggestions and information that could be useful to investigate for purely built-in GO version alternatives that will work fine if you're controlling things just from your console as you wouldn't need to have any of the extra panels open then.

However...

My aim is to add drawstops within my existing custom panels to activate the couplers - I don't want to require the GO Coupler Panel to be surfaced. I've built the drawstops and switches, but I can't see how to link them to the GO coupler.

In such case, and since you're anyway building your own ODF, I think you should resort to another strategy completely. Do not use the built-in coupling manuals or couplers at all since they are simply not reachable from the ODF.

But fret not, instead I'd suggest that you create your own coupling manual and couplers in the ODF. This coupling manual should perhaps be displayed on a separate panel just for the purpose of connecting your MIDI keyboard to it. Your own coupling manual should only have couplers to the two sample set manuals you wish to play. Where you actually choose to display the couplers (or switches engaging them) is of course up to you - main panel or an additional one. Note that you might need to add couple through possibility for your added couplers to get everything to behave as expected if the sample set manuals have couplers of their own.

With this option you'll have the ability to switch between playing either or both of the sample set manuals from one of your MIDI keyboards and only the sample set keyboard that's currently connected by coupler will visibly play on screen - if that's important to you. If none of the couplers would be active no keys would be played on the screen either, though... But you'll have a visible indication on screen what coupler(s) currently is/are active.

Of course it's possible to display just one selecting switch for the couplers so that one of the manuals would always be connected, but that's not really what you asked for.

Personally, I wouldn't bother to modify the ODF at all and just use the built-in functionality of GO instead, but the choice is all yours.

[Psi58]

Thanks Lars, I'm very grateful for your advice - that approach works perfectly. It took me several attempts, and eventually I discovered that it was easier to debug my stupid mistakes and omissions in a simple text editor than by using GOODF or ODFedit - which was a surprise (I've found them both to be really useful tools in other circumstances).

A couple of thoughts from this exercise:
(1)

...the built-in coupling manuals or couplers ... are simply not reachable from the ODF.

Is there a good reason for this? If they could be 'called' from the ODF I expect it would be a considerable help to users (and even to sampleset designers, although I appreciate that this would be sloppy design practice).

(2) This may make no sense at all (anything to do with MIDI is mostly black magic to me...) but would it be possible for a switch to generate a MIDI message? If so, then (back to my original goal) I would presumably have been able to send a MIDI message from my 'new' couplers/switches that could be detected as an event by one of the built-in couplers.

If either of these suggestions seem remotely feasible I'll happily bump them up to issues for enhancement but, due to my limited understanding, they may both be nonsense.

[larspalo]

Is there a good reason for this? If they could be 'called' from the ODF...

Well, they are all supposed to be an user option of customization and not really for "building" an organ. The things entered in the ODF on the other hand, are supposed to describe the organ that's going to be modelled. For that there's no need for the GO built-in coupler manuals as they can easily be implemented in the ODF if desired, just like with any of the couplers.

but would it be possible for a switch to generate a MIDI message

There's always the "Send" tab (in the dialog when you right click an element) that could be used to send a MIDI message.

[Psi58]

Understood, it makes sense. My enquiry was from the perspective of a user who isn't trying to make serious modifications to an organ (and maybe isn't capable of doing this) but just wants to configure it for particular hardware - which I guess could be a significant proportion of all potential users. In this scenario, having pre-built coupler functions that could be easily called would be attractive. Rather like Lego!

And I will experiment with the mysterious art of using MIDI messages... Perhaps I'll write an Idiot's Guide if I succeed.

[BasKlb]

I have implemented floating divisions in my Odf for Bückeburg:

GO ODF for Bückeburg vol.1 - Complete Virtual Organ (47 stops) for Free - MPS Orgelseite

https://mps-orgelseite.de/home/filebase/index.php?file/138-go-odf-for-b%C3%BCckeburg-vol-1-complete-virtual-organ-47-stops-for-free/

Kind regards,

Bas