Iconica Key switching articulation

Hello

I like very much the articulation switch, you can make great things

I am not happy with the KeySwitching

Why is the key switching so limited ; only 8 at a time, 16 if you use a second controller

For the string you have 19 articulation !!! how do you do to use them all

Why not using the 12 notes of the octaves ?

Why not starting articulation from C-2 to B0 ? that will make a lot of possibilities and it will be much more easy to define an Expression Map for Dorico ?

The same limitation occurs for a lot of Kontakt libraries too (e.g. Session Horns) & the standard way of dealing with that is to use a second instance of the instrument on midi channel 2. Put all the leftover articulations on this and set the Expression Map so it changes the MIDI Channel to 2 for those articulations.

I do have a hard time imagining when I’d want to use all the articulations in a single piece.

The main reason I see for wanting to have all the articulations visible at once is that it allows you to have access to any of the articulations if you want without having to worry about having a map that includes that articulation.

But I think Iconica turns that all on its head because it lets us import the Expression Map directly from Halion (similar to how Drum Maps work). So now we can add articulations on an as needed basis into slots and end up using maps that only show the articulations you are actually using.

I’m still downloading my trial copy. But 2 key things I want to test are:

  1. If I change an articulation in a slot will an already imported map auto update to reflect this change (drum maps do).
  2. If I use two instances of Iconica in Halion on channels 1 & 2, will the imported map show articulations from both instances.

Are Dorico & Cubase Expression Maps the same?

While the “underpinnings” are the same, Dorico and Cubase Expression maps are not the same, e.g., they are not simply interchangeable. Dorico can import Cubase expression maps though. Are you using Dorico?

Nah, too sophisticated for my skill set.

But the OP did specifically bring up Expression Maps in Dorico and everything I was referring to was in regards to Cubase & I wasn’t sure if it applied at all to Dorico.

(it was just curiosity :slight_smile: )

Answers:

  1. Close, but… It doesn’t auto update when an articulation is changed. But it’s real easy to generate the map again which will create a second map. Personally I’d delete any obsolete maps as soon as a new one gets generated or else you’d end up with a bunch of similarly named but different maps. Map names default to the Track’s name, but of course can be changed.

  2. Close lives next door, maybe. If you load two instances of an Iconica preset on channels 1 & 2. The map that gets generated depends on the Channel number set in the Track’s Inspector. If it is set to 1 then the map will show only the articulations for the ch1 instance. If you set it to 2 you’ll only get the ch2 instance articulations. And if you set it to “ANY” in hopes of getting all the articulations - well you’ll be disappointed because you’ll only get the ch1 articulations.

However if you load 2 instances but have them both on channel 1 then you’ll get all the articulations for both instances in the map. But this has 2 problems - the sounds from both instruments will play at the same time stacked on each other; and both instances share the same key switches even though they trigger different articulations.

This second problem is easily resolved. Iconica lets you change the note number for each key switch. So changing these between instances lets you create an expanded list of unique key switches.

The stacked sound is a trickier issue. If you put the instances on different channels this can be easily supported in a map. But that map would need to be built by hand and not generated. Although you could start with a generated map and edit that.

Here kitty, kitty kitty.

To the OP here is how you get access to all the available articulations.

  1. Load as many instances of Iconica as are needed to cover all the articulations.
  2. Each instance should use its own MIDI channel
  3. Change the note numbers used for key switches so they are unique across all the instances.
  4. When you build the Expression Map make sure that articulations on the additional instances modify the note’s MIDI channel number to match that of the instance.

Well that ended up being pretty easy to do.

  1. Set all instances to channel 1
  2. Have Cubase generate an Expression Map
  3. Set each instance to a unique channel number
  4. For each articulation not on channel 1 select its slot and change the channel number in the Output Mapping section. Takes a few minutes total (writing this took way longer).