No Automation in Syntronik in Logic Pro X

[jacobgolden]

Hi,
I'm not able to right click or control click on any knob in syntronic 1.1 in order to midi learn it in Logic Pro 10.3.2, on a mac book pro 10.12.6. and Syntronik does not appear in the automation selection dropdown in logic pro on the individual track...while other virtual instruments appear there and list there automatable parameters. Is this a know limitation in logic?

Thanks,
Jacob

[jacobgolden]

I've tested this with the standalone syntronik as well. I can select my midi controller in the options menu and trigger notes but right clicking on the synth knobs still doesn't work so I can't assign any knobs from my controller. Which is a Korg Nano Key Studio

[jacobgolden]

Update. I figured out if I two-finger tap on the trackpad it brings up the midi assign option for a knob. Now I can assign my control knobs in standalone. But in logic while I can double tap a knob and get the midi assign dialog to say it's waiting for my controller but as i'm turning cc knobs on my controller it doesn't map them.

[DarkStar]

Hello jacobgolden and welcome to the forum.

I'm glad that you got it sorted out.

For background info: the Syntronik plug-in does not have any plug-in parameters that can be controlled using your DAW's automation. The knobs can be assigned directly to MIDI CC messages, as described above, and in the User Guide, section 4.7.

If the dialogue keeps on waiting while you twist your hardware controller knobs, then the MIDI CC messages are not getting to the instrument. Those CC messages will go on the same path and the MIDI notes. Check the routing in your DAW.

[heathweber]

I see room for improvement here. I don't see why Syntronik would not expose automation parameters, most other modern plugins do. This puts Syntronik a bit behind the curve.

[garfy]

The title is a little disingenuous on this topic. There is automation, just not in what is viewed in the conventional sense.

Because of the flexibility of an instance of Syntronik there would be too many parameters to report to the DAW to make it usable, IMHO. A single layer of the synth panel has 42 knobs and buttons, so if you layer 4 synths that would make 168 parameters. And then add-in for a user configurable effects section of 5 slots per layer (so upto 20 effects units) with an average of say 6 parameters each and you're heading into 300 parameters being reported.

And then say you only want to automate one of them...

By making them identifiable as CC you can pick the parameter(s) to automate or connect to a hardware controller instead of having to menu dive through a list of 300. Again, my opinion, but a much cleaner way of working in this particular way and not too dissimilar to a multitimbral sampler instrument beginning with a 'K'

[DarkStar]

True, but "K" also provides assignable plug-in parameters that can be automated from the DAW. As does AmpliTube 4 and SampleTnk 4 (1600 of them!) So why not Syntronik?

[heathweber]

Exactly. And I'm not saying that every single parameter would need to be exposed. It would even be nice to just have the more commonly automated parameters exposed to the host. To the previous point, though, other plugins expose hundreds of parameters, including other IK instruments. Seems like an oversight with Syntronik.

Maybe the Syntronik instrument parameters are exposed if using them within Sampletank? I'll have to check on that. I've only used them within the Syntronik plugin.

[DarkStar]

^^^
Syntronik in ST3/4 does not give you the Syntronik GUI but you can, in ST4, assign the Edit page and FX page controls to parameters for automation in the DAW. But ... work out what order you want the automation parameters to be in before you start assigning them as they cannot be re-ordered.

Please add your request to the Syntronik Wish-List in this forum (if it is not already there).

[garfy]

Well, horses for courses then I guess. Or maybe it's the way that the plugin reports the assigned parameters to LPX. Scrolling through a list of numbers to find the parameter gets on my nerves a bit. For example, to get to "chosen parameter 2" in ST4, I have to scroll through all numbers that start with a 1 (all the way to 1600!). Hope that makes sense.

Maybe I've just not noticed Syntronik being a drag as I set up a default instrument with CC numbers already assigned to my hardware controller so it's fairly transparent to automate.

Perhaps Syntronik doesn't have the automation capabilities because it was based on ST3-era programming?

[heathweber]

I would agree with your assessment regarding Syntronik being a "last generation" product based on SampleTank 3 programming, and therefore possibly the reason that it lacks some of the automation capability of SampleTank 4. Perhaps this capability will be integrated if a new version of Syntronik is forthcoming.

And your point about setting up your hardware controllers to control any parameters to be automated is also well taken. This is essentially what I had to do recently. However, sometimes I prefer to just draw in my automation rather than doing it manually with hardware, so that is where it would be convenient to be able to automate directly.

Also, FWIW, I know this thread was originally in reference to Logic Pro X, but I'm using Cubase 10.5. I'm assuming the situation is the same for both DAWs.