Johannes Doerr - iMIDI Patchbay, MIDIFlow (IOS)

[Elantric]

Johannes Doerr - IOS MIDI Utilities
http://www.midiflow.com/
http://www.midiflow.com/documentation/


Midiflow – MIDI router/processor/sync clock
By Johannes Doerr

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/midiflow-midi-router-processor/id879915554?mt=8

Description
Midiflow allows you to send MIDI from app to app in a similar way to what you already do with audio. That way, you can sync apps with each other or send MIDI parts from a sequencer app to different synth apps. You can also route the MIDI from your keyboard to apps and assign different key zones to them. Different settings can be stored as a preset, recalled later and inserted into another preset. Furthermore, all MIDI transfer can be monitored in order to find problems or just to learn what MIDI is doing (normally) behind the scenes.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Midiflow allows you to create multiple routings. Each routing receives MIDI data on its source and sends it to its destination. The selectable sources and destinations include your CoreMIDI compatible MIDI interface and other apps if they provide a virtual MIDI port. You can also create custom ports that can be used by other apps to receive data from Midiflow or send data to it. A routing also has a modifier which allows you to filter data or modify it. That way, you can transpose notes, limit them to a key range, change the MIDI channel of the incoming data, etc. (see the feature list below).

LIST OF FEATURES
+ MIDI clock – specify tempo and your apps will be in sync
+ Channel filtering and remapping
+ Velocity filtering – a routing is only active for notes in a given velocity range
+ Note shift – shift all notes by a given number of half-tone steps
+ Note remapping – shift each note individually
+ Velocity remapping – apply a velocity curve, transform to fixed velocity, or specify the map value by value. In the latter case, you can also export the mapping to the clipboard, edit it in another app like Apple Numbers, and paste it back in Midiflow
+ Filtering out Clock or dividing the tempo into subdivisions
+ Filtering out SysEx
+ Save a configuration as a preset, which can be recalled later or inserted into another preset
+ Custom virtual MIDI ports, which can be selected in other apps as a source or destination
+ Control aspects of Midiflow via MIDI. For example, select presets or control the clock with any MIDI command
+ Launch your synth apps from Midiflow (works with an increasing number of apps)
+ Sharing your configurations

ADDITIONAL FEATURES (available as an In-app purchase)
+ Filtering and remapping of controllers – transform (a) the controller type, e.g. from CC1 to pitch-bend or note value to CC1, and (b) transform the value in several ways: as a linear remapping from an input range to an output range, as a curve, or as a value by value list. In the latter case, you can also export the mapping to the clipboard, edit it in another app like Apple Numbers, and paste it back in Midiflow. This allows you to create very sophisticated remappings.
+ Controller conditions – adjust your routings depending on other MIDI messages. This allows you to create sophisticated behavior within your setup by switching routings on and off.

DOES MIDIFLOW WORK WITH MY SYNTH APPS?
Midiflow works with every app that has a correct MIDI implementation. In the best case, it has an own virtual MIDI port and can be configured so that it receives MIDI only on that port. Unfortunately, some apps don't have that, but can at least be restricted to one MIDI channel. In that case, you can send to that channel on the global MIDI port "Network Session 1". If you can't select a channel either, then the app won't work with Midiflow. There is a tutorial video on www.midiflow.com that explains this in more detail.

[Smash]

I've just discovered MIDIflow app - basically a midi modifier that can be integrated into the excellent AUM audio mixer via it's MIDI routing.

This means it sits in the MIDI chain between source MIDI input and whatever synth app is assigned to the channel strip in AUM and allows you to modify the midi data in any of several ways.

It's main use for me is velocity modding the MIDI output from my VG99. I'm using it in two ways: 1) to restrict notes below a certain velocity basically mimicking the feature that the GP10 has to knock out low level false triggers and also to modify the velocity curve to back off those notes just above the velocity "shelf" again to help minimise false triggers.

Using it in this way really cleans up the MIDI out from the VG99 and has made soft synths a viable option for me on iOS. Previously I was using velocity offset and sensitivity on my outboard synth module to try and get the cleanest out.

MIDIflow does way more than velocity modifying though, from the horses mouth:

List of features
MIDI clock – specify tempo and your apps will be in sync (read more)
Channel filtering and remapping (read more)
Note filtering – a routing is only active for notes in a given key range (read more)
Velocity filtering – a routing is only active for notes in a given velocity range (read more)
Note shift – shift all notes by a given number of half-tone steps (read more)
Note remapping – shift each note individually (read more)
Velocity remapping – apply a velocity curve, transform to fixed velocity, or specify the map value by value. In the latter case, you can also export the mapping to the clipboard, edit it in another app like Apple Numbers, and paste it back in Midiflow (read more)
Filtering out Clock or dividing the tempo into subdivisions (read more)
Filtering out SysEx (read more)
Save a configuration as a preset, which can be recalled later or inserted into another preset (read more)
Custom virtual MIDI ports, which can be selected in other apps as a source or destination (read more)
Control aspects of Midiflow via MIDI. For example, select presets or control the clock with any MIDI command (read more)
Launch your synth apps from Midiflow (works with an increasing number of apps) read more)
Sharing your configurations (read more)
Take a look at the full documentation for more information.

And the great thing is you can have any number of MIDIflow strips working with each strip on the AUM mixer so each channel and therefore each iOS synth can receive entirely different custom filtered data to each. Quite awesome.

Only one problem I've come across is it can't be used with Sampletank as you cannot control which MIDI inputs Sampletank "listens" to so it will always respond to the iTrack usb in, meaning MIDIflow effectively runs in parallel  - if you try to transpose the original input you'll end up with two notes playing: the original and the transposed.





http://www.midiflow.com/




And for those of you using AUM mixer (if not why not?!) here is the guide on how to "insert" MIDIflow into an AUM channel.

It's dead easy and extremely effective.

https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/12383/channel-selection-in-aum-with-midiflow

[Smash]

Apologies Steve - I should've searched for a thread to start with!

There is a work around with Sampletank.

MIDIflow will only work with Sampletank when Sampletank is in multi/live mode. The important point is to output the midi from VG99 (or whatever) on a channel NOT assigned to any of the multi tones, that way it won't trigger Sampletank from the direct hardware input (which you cannot disable in Sampletank).

You can insert MIDIflow into an AUM channel or use it as stand alone and use the midi channel remap to make it output to the MIDI channels you assign to the multi timbres. Job done. I had 5 separate tones running last night using VG99 outputing on channel 10 and then using different channel strips in MIDIflow to give different velocity responses to the 5 separate tones in Sampletank - the reason I was doing this was as an exercise I built up an orchestral sound with oboe, brass, cello and various strings and to be able to control the tonality/prominence of specific parts via velocity response is absolutely brilliant.

I can't stress how useful this app is if you're serious about using guitar to midi on the VG99 with ipad synths - an essential purchase.