zynsubaddfx, and changing patches

do the proper zynaddsubfx GUI appear on ardour3 ? that is awesiome! but i'm skeptic: show me some evidence, a screenshot would be fine:) ...

as a plugin, zynaddsubfx used to be GUI-less, that's probably why you only see the generic qtractor floating widget which you better ditch/ignore anyway because there's no single parameter for you to tweak in any way (zyn plugin doesn't expose any so the widget is empty of sliders or controls).

it used to be this way (i say used because i don't fire zyn that recently nor often;): you insert the zyn plugin and select the patch at the MIDI track properties side, assigning it as the track's main instrument definition.

nb. all this (the above) used to work only on the DSSI plugin kind; the LV2 one doesn't let you access zyn's original patches, banks or programs last time i checked, so that will leave you dead in the water. sorry :) unless someone has kicked in the lv2_programs extension implementation into zynaddsubfx_lv2, on which case the procedure would be exactly the same as for the DSSI plugin version

hth.
cheers

note that ardour embeds the LV2 GUI of triceratops (or any other LV2 plugin GUI, but only LV2) in the same window.

qtractor does not do that. instead, it splits the plugin's own GUI into one window (cf. plugin/edit...) and a generic qtractor stock UI in another (cf. plugin/properties...) which is like the one you see floating for zyn, only that it has no controls for you to tweak, just empty.

let's try inserting a triceratops instance in a qtractor MIDI track. then you'll see what i mean: you'll get a fancy GUI window (triceratops own) that probably shows up automatically as if plugin/edit... context menu is clicked, or you could get a generic dull window box (ie. plugin/properties...) full of sliders and such, where you also see a preset drop-down list at the top--that's precisely where you get the LV2 presets listing as you could see on ardour. in fact, you can interchange the presets there (pre)defined from and into ardour3 as they are part of the LV2 state world space (in your system). this applies to LV2 plugins only.

otoh. DSSI plugins are supposed to expose patch, bank/program selection through the MIDI track properties dialog--NOT the plugin's dialog, which only sets for so-called presets (nb. presets are not patches) and that i'm afraid, is bogus for a zynaddsubfx plugin instance in particular, just because it does not expose any parameter for you to aggregate in a possible set of values (aka. preset)

hth.
byee

sure it might seem a mistake. but ardour's only do that for LV2 GUIs (via libSUIL and X11/Embed). otoh. qtractor runs DSSI and VST which cannot have benefit of that alien widget embedding. well qtractor could do that too but again it would only work for the LV2 GUIs on Qt4/Gtk/X11+. it can't NEVER do that for DSSI GUIs that's an absolute certainty. sad but true.

re. back to zynaddsubfx case, you must know that the zyn GUI _is_ the standalone application. it's not accessible nor provided by the zyn plugin instance (be that a DSSI or possibly LV2), so you won't see its fancy GUI from it. ever. if you wish to edit any of zyn's parameters and all that paraphernalia you must work with the standalone zynaddsubfx application. the plugin just let you access the (pre)defined instrument patches, banks or programs, through qtractor's MIDI track properties dialog. all else is hidden to you. so there's nothing to see there. it is not qtractor's fault. sorry to tell :)

cheers

re. it doesn't work with triceratops. The preset list is just a bunch of numbers, not the real presets. Why?
because triceratops-lv2 doesn't play with the lv2_programs interface extension. ask the developer whether he/she's willing to implement that in the future, maybe you get lucky, who knows? :)

re. this forum also has the most terrible UX I've found in 15 years of using the web
you're probably dang right. otoh. let me tell you that i don't know about a single forum in the world that i like, speaking for myself. quite frankly i find the general forum communication model as dumb as texting on a smartphone. good elder email, maillists or irc is light-years ahead in my personal preference. yeah i'm an old-school geek, i know :) but well, that's what we got and i don't see it changing anytime soon.

besides, did i ever said this is just my hobby? ;)

cheers

ps. what exactly you think is worst when compared to the average fora out there? (yup, "fora" is the correct latin plural of "forum" ;))