[solved!] DP 11.11 not saving prg changes via Patch List

[CharlzS]

Maybe these will help:

CHOOSING A DEFAULT PATCH (SOUND)
The default patch is the sound that the track always
begins with. It is remembered when you save the
Digital Performer project so that the next time you
open the project and press play, the default patch is
called up from the synthesizer before playback
begins so that the track will play with the correct
sound. To select a default patch for a track, choose
it from the default patch column or menu.

THE CURRENT PATCH
The Current Patch column in the Track List
displays the name of the currently selected patch
(sound) for the device that is assigned to the MIDI
track. If a patch has not been selected, no patch
name appears in the column. If you have patch
changes in the track, the Patch column will update
during playback to show the current patch.

The Patch column appears that the device needs to be initialized before it shows anything. So when you quit DP you must lose any init sent to the device and once you hit play again the entry should show.

PS - I think I remember why I put patch changes in the SE - I don't think the default patch in the TO is chased.

[bayswater]

Here’s my understanding of how this works.

There are two columns for patches, “Default Patch” and “Patch”.

If you enter something in the first one, and save the project, it should still be there when you open the project again.

You don’t enter anything in the second one. You can, but there’s no point. But if you enter a patch change event in the MIDI track, when playback reaches that event, the name of the patch will show up in the second column.

So when you save the project, and reopen it, nothing will appear in the second column until you play the MIDI track and the patch change has been sent. So the second column is simply reporting the active patch, and that is unknown until a patch change has happened.

[bayswater]

As per above from the manual page 145

If you would like to choose a patch for the track, but you do not want the patch to be remembered with the project, choose it from this Patch menu. If you do, however, want it to be remembered, choose it from the Default Patch menu.

[peter]

Hi CharlzS, Hi bayswater,

that explains it completely! I checked it and it works like you say. Perfect.

Thank you very much for your help, appreciated.

cheers

[bayswater]

Nice to see threads marked “solved”

[James Steele]

James, I don't think this was a criticism of Cherry Picker. The OP's problem with the patch list was solved by Cherry Picker. The gripe was with the way the default patch in the Tracks Overview was handled in DP.

Apparently, I wasn't clear. I wasn't necessarily criticizing Cherry Picker, nor was I sure that my suggestion was even correct. It was just an attempt to offer something that might help, and that is that FROM WITHIN Cherry Picker, as I recall, it's necessary to link a patch list to a MIDI device. So just throwing that out there in case it helped.

Also, I only mentioned the caveats about the version 3 of Cherry Picker because many don't remember the circumstances or that the author is not responsible for an problems or lack of support and wanted to just remind people of that again, lest anyone write to the author privately, etc.

[peter]

James,
your help is always appreciated, and I clearly understand your intention. Thank you for running the board!

cheers

[peter]

Just one last add on:

"FROM WITHIN Cherry Picker, as I recall, it's necessary to link a patch list to a MIDI device."

AFAI understand it, there are two modes you can use Cherry Picker. Linking a patch list to a MIDI device should only be necessary when using Cherry Picker in (lets call it) "Live mode". My Ketron SD2 for example doesn't have any knobs or switches at all, so there is no way you can change programs / patches on the unit itself. You could however start Cherry Picker, load your patch list and use it to control your synth WITHOUT ever using DP or any other DAW. In this case you would have to tell Cherry Picker which MIDI OUT to use, otherwise it just wouldn't know where to send the patch changes.

If you are using a patch list in your DAW that you created with Cherry Picker though, obviously the MIDI Out then has to be defined within your DAW. Cherry Picker is no longer involved as it was only used to *create* the Patch List. I could be wrong, but that's what I figured out.

Cherry Picker is a very helpful tool and it would be nice to have it updated. I ran it on my trusted Macbook Air, which is still on High Sierra and was rarely used to produce music. But as I'm in the process of leaving anything Windows / VIs / Sound Libraries and finally also Cubase behind me (you download 4 apps now just to get and register your program, that was the final kick in the ass I needed) and move to a Hardware only setup, it could see more use in the near future. Running DP 11 on a 10 year old Mac in vanilla MIDI mode without any audio interface involved at all and without taxing the processor brought new fun into my music life. I feel like I'm back in the 80 when I started wasting time with synths and samplers. But that's another discussion...

Have fun!

P.S.: What are people using instead of Cherry Picker now? RAW XML out of a Text Editor? Or is it really all ITB now?

[bayswater]

Mostly ITB, but when needed, a text editor has worked for me. BBEdit free version works fine for this — adds some colours and formats that help.

MIDIQuest appears to be the one app out there that still does this, although many have complained about it not working well.

[peter]

Thanks bayswater for the info!

[James Steele]

Moving this to Troublehsooting forum, albeit after the fact.