I recently managed to connect my Polyend synth to Bitwig via USB MIDI (for anyone struggling with this: I didn’t realize at first that you must use a USB-C to USB-C cable - the USB C - USB A cable is not enough!).
I’ve set up three separate tracks in Bitwig, each using a HW Instrument device to send MIDI to a different channel on the synth.
The problem:
When I record MIDI, Bitwig captures every note generated by the synth’s internal sequencers or arpeggiators - not just the notes I play on my MIDI keyboard. This makes playback messy, especially with arpeggiated or sequenced sounds.
My current workaround:
To fix playback, I disable the internal sequencer on the synth before playing back the MIDI from Bitwig. However, this seems to cause high CPU usage on the Polyend device, possibly because it’s still being pushed MIDI data without managing its own timing.
Additional issue:
Even synths without sequencers, like the third patch on Atcha Openwater, seem to cause this. That one includes octavization, which also results in extra MIDI notes being recorded - again, not what I actually played.
My questions:
Is there a better way to record only the MIDI notes I play (from my controller), not the sequencer/arpeggiator output from the synth?
Is there a way to offload or reduce CPU usage on the Polyend when playing it from Bitwig?
These are probably more Bitwig questions than Synth questions, but we might be able to help anyway.
I think I have the answer to question 1. It took me a while to figure it out, so no wonder you’re confused. If you go to the mixer view, open the drop down for your track, where it says “All ins” as on the screenshot below. From here you can select which controllers the track should get MIDI input from. If you select your desired controller (and maybe even a specific channel from it), you should be good.
Thank you very much for your quick reply! I am sorry I did not clarify this better on my post. I am already using three HW Instruments: each one take the input from only one midi channel and sends it to only one midi channel (the same). I can avoid messyness by avoiding sending it back while having playback (I think this was stupid), but the moment I send it back (and I need to do it earlier or later) the problem arises.
I just tried this setup again, making sure I did exactly what you said and another problem I noticed that sometimes the playback is trasposed when I send the midi back.
I have the same problem in Nuendo. How do you avoid receiving a midi track that contains chords and arpeggios?
I am sorry I was not clear before and thank you for your help!
Synth will send MIDI that is transposed based on the Grid layout on the Grid screen, if you don’t want to send a chord you need to change a chord pack to note mode. Or I think you could change you’re MIDI routing but I’m not clear on the setup.
Once again I was not clear. I am using Polyend Synth itself.
So what I would like to do is to record audio and midi from the Synth to the Daw, be able to modify it and send it back to the Synth. The problem is that now it does not sound the same when I send it back, because it does not send what I press on the Synth, but the elaborated Midi. In other synths this is possible though.
The problem with not sending a chord, is that I don’t hear the result. It is great that Synth has chords and sequencer and I want to take advantage of it. But I would also like to just send my input on the Synth’s keys so that when it comes back it plays out the same. Moreover, how does it work with aftertouch, if it translates it to chords and arpeggios?
