JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Recording Studio and Gear Forum OMS Patches / Names Applications?

Firstly I should state that I am using a Korg Triton Le Workstation (WS) with ProTools 5.1.1 software and 001 A/D Converter.
As I am a newbie to Home Recording etc this system suits me because of its simplicity. I select a MIDI channel on my WS and match it to a chnnel in ProTools.
The downside is I have become lazy in educating myself in the terminology and alternatives that exist. I have also 'out-grown' the samples on my WS and would like to fine better samples to play my songs. (I still think my Drum & Bass samples are great for Midi work but the rest..?
My question;
A link took me to "Download ProTools OMS Names Application" where kind people share "OMS Patch Name Documents". I have seen the patches schedule facility on my screen ( with instrument types/names ) but never needed (or tried) to use it. I used a sound module at college 10 yrs ago and remember selecting the 'Patch', or 'Instrument', for playing on a channel but thats it.
1 Could somebody please explain (or direct me somewhere) what these Names Applications are?. Although the Triton WS was not on the list to choose when I set up the ProTools preferences (over a year ago) I just typed in the name of my WS and have never had trouble since.
2 Are these patches purely Proprietary 'codes' to help software systems identify and select'extract synth samples within Kbd WS's ?
3 If so where does the list of instruments come in and how does the ' Names library work?
4 Can anyone suggest a way forward to get the most realistic sounds on my system (especially Gtr / Sax / Trpt / Strings etc)?. Maybe I would play the notes via Midi and connect/patch into a Soft Synth (instead of my WS) to play the part.
I sound hopeless I know
Hope I'm not asking too much
Many thanks all
Tony

First of all, OMS originally stood for "Opcode Music System", Opcode later turned the name into "Open Music System" and made it public domain. Opcode is now out of business, so it's a good thing they did this at that time. However, OMS is being phased out and will soon become totally useless when OS X is the standard.

2nd - OMS only works on Macs running OS8 or OS9 (not OSX or PCs). Apple's "Core Midi" for OS X is going to provide a similar service over time. In fact, the original developer from Opcode who wrote OMS now works for Apple and was heavily involved in developing Core Midi.

3rd - OMS is simply a way to more easily select existing patches from your software (like Protools or Logic Audio). It doesn't provide you with new sounds. Instead of selecting "Patch #122" on your software to get the synth to change to that patch, it simply uses a file containing all the NAMES of the patches so you can select "Grunge Bass" instead of "Patch #122". The files they are trading back and forth on various OMS sites are simply the "name" files for synths and workstations that are newer than when OMS became public domain. There were a hundred or so synth patch name files that came with OMS, but later synths weren't included. Some nice people have made name files for their own synths and then made them available to others as well.

So, I don't think OMS does what you thought it does.

As far as outgrowing your existing patches, that does happen. The first thing you should do is sit down with your Korg manual and learn a little about how to program your own sounds. With very little study, you can at least learn how to modify your Korg sounds so that they aren't the common ones that everyone else uses and have your own stamp of creativity on them.

There are also places in the backs of the recording/keyboard magazines that sell new patchs for existing synths if you don't want to learn how to program your own. They range in price from $25 to maybe $75 for a few banks (up to even 1000 patches).

Another option would be to use what they call a "Universal Librarian" such as Emagic's Soundiver product which will "poll" your synth and store the existing patches and then allow you to randomize certain elements or make new patches from your computer. Then it can send them to your synth. You can check Emagic's site for product details.

One more thing, MOTU makes a system called "Freemidi", in case you've ever heard of it, which does pretty much all of what OMS does and works hand-in-hand with it, so if you use MOTU's Digital Performer you can choose to use either OMS or FreeMidi and get pretty much the same functionality.

Hope that helps!


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Larry
www.audibleresponse.com


[This message has been edited by Lwilliam (edited 03-29-2003).]

Well Emagic makes a program called Sounddiver. This program is the definitive way to control any midi device straight from the computer and edit on some levels that aren't available to your keyboard through its own interface.

So I'd say it sounds like you're looking for Sounddiver.

Jody
www.jodywhitesides.com

Larry
Its much clearer now
I would presume the use of patches has more to do with changing sounds "Mid- Part" (by allocating/swapping patch numbers and or names at different times) than selecting one instrument patch for each channel which is what I do. I'll stick to allocating one Inst/Patch per channel for mixing's sake.
Anyway I understand the basic concept of the library is providing names against codes for the latest proprietary systems.
Thanks also for clearing up the Opcode Core Audio/Midi references for me.

The Korg Manual in my opinion is not user-friendly (or maybe it is for anyone with a high standard of Seq experience). I will have a look though at the settings. Maybe I'll get lucky and change the Sax and Trpt settings to produce a more realistic sound.
I'm stuck with this PT and Korg Seq system at present so changing to Motu's DP or using Soundiver is not an option right now. Its good to know what options are available though and I thank you (and thank you also Jody) for the information which I have printed out for reference.
Again, many thanks for your valuable time and advice
Tony

[ BTW; I will be in Hong Kong next month and hope to buy the PT6 system although the latest postings on the Digi DUC are less than complimentary about OS X and PT 6 recommending10.2.3 over 4 for stbility (at this stage). PT 6 is also preventing the Fan run-down in 'sleep mode' (at system level) which is annoying alot of people but I hardly use 'sleep' so it doesn't affect me. ]

Well, you can easily change patches mid-song as long as you don't require tight timing for the change. If you want to change a patch from #100 to #67 mid-song on the same track, as long as there's a beat or two in-between when you need the sound, it works just fine. You can insert a "patch change command" in the middle of any track in Protools (or just about any other sequencer as well).

Just one more thing: Soundiver isn't another application like DP, Logic, or Protools. It's a utility-like program that you use at various times just for making and storing patches on your synth/workstation. That's all it really does. Once you've figured out how to do some basic programming directly on your synth, librarians like Soundiver are pretty easy to learn. In fact, they can often making programming your synth a lot easier because they show your synth parameters in a graphical format instead of numbers and you can see more on your computer screen than on the smaller displays on most workstations.

I don't know what it costs these days, but it's a LOT less than a full-out DAW software package.


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Larry
www.audibleresponse.com


[This message has been edited by Lwilliam (edited 04-01-2003).]

Larry
Your point about small screens on the Korg AWS is very relevant. My Korg's screen is about 4" v 2" horozontal and does not make you want to study it for too long which is a disincentive for me when I think that my back will be arched over the top of it for long periods.
With regard to changing patches mid track. I discovered very early on the mix gets too complicated when different instruments/sounds are used on the same track . Controlling the effects is another reason I would only do it in an emergency to avoid ping-ponging
I think I can visualise what Sounddiver does now.
I wish I worked in the US where I could visit shops to see what all these options actually do but thanks to you I can get an idea or at least some direction
Many, many thanks
Tony