Question

Benefit

• User can switch between articulations on a single track. Useful for Kontakt/ EW Play/ VSL VI PRO
• When moving notes, articulations stay attached to notes
• Alternative to users who like to compose in score order and don't like one articulation per track
• Circumvent recording articulation related control data that is key switch notes into Events 
• Easier transfer to a dedicated notation editor (Sibelius/ Finale/ Notion)
• Easy way to unify articulation based workflow for different libraries and sample player

Use case 

• User loads a track with i.e. Kontakt that holds a key switch instrument or multiple single instruments per midi channel, where a Kontakt 5 multi script allows the user to assign up to 64 of Kontakts’ midi channels to trigger them via Key Switch, Program Change or CC Message
• User opens the Articulation Editor via key command or via the inspector in the Event Editor or Arrange View: 
  • Record notes and articulations in realtime 
  • Enable Step Input and use midi controller to input notes and articulations
  • Select notes in Event Editor, single click cell in Articulation Editor, draw notes or attach articulation to existing selected notes
• Articulation rows follow playhead position and active articulation scrolls into view (1-127)
• Articulation sets are stored per track with the Song and can be exported to folders and imported (iCloud/ Dropbox)
• User can Set Note Color > By Articulation via the View menu, Notes will be colored according to users color setup or default color map
• Articulation Editor note color map defaults to Velocity color map from 1-127 if Output Trigger is set to Program Change/ CC Message/ Articulation ID/ Key Switch, defaults to Note Channel color map from 1-16 if Output Trigger is set to Note Channel
• Ideally articulation names will be shown on Piano Roll notes (depending on vertical zoom level)

Functions

• Single click to select row; Shift click to select multiple rows 
• Hit key on keyboard controller to set key switch note / iPad/ fader or rotary controller to set CC Message or Program Change value (Depending on Input Trigger type)
• Setup which remote controller keyboard, iPad or other controller will be used via the preferences

The Panel you see is designed as a Note-FX inspector panel. It might make sense to have a floating plugin window for general settings or more advanced settings (like all existing Note-FX plugins)

Answer 1

Sambosun,

I realized it was just a mock-up. Whether they do something like your design, something more like Expression Maps, or something altogether new is irrelevant to me. I'm open to various designs, as long as the right functionality is represented in the final design.

We need flexibility in how articulations are sent to the VST. Things like Keyswitches, CC values, etc. But it's even more crucial to those of us who rely on full "note expression" to allow unique CC editing per articulation. My CC data for a staccato and Tremelo will be different. I might even use both articulations at the same time (which is why they are on different midi channels for me). A lot of users do this. Just as many users lump all their articulations on one midi channel and just use s keyswitch and keep it simpler, though less flexible in the performance. But altogether, we're a diverse crowd.

I appreciate simple designs. But the final result still has to give us both flexibility AND simplicity. That's a tricky thing, but Dorico is headed in that exact direction with articulations. So I'm hoping S1 can really do something great here. :)

-Sean

Answer 2

An Articulation Editor should ideally allow me to set a velocity for keyswitches. Cinematic Studio Strings has "Velocity Sensitive Keyswitches" so a C0 with a velocity of 0-64 will trigger the Sustain keyswitch with the Standard Legato, but a velocity between 65 and 127 will trigger the Advanced Legato.

Any Articulation Editor should include the ability to transmit a velocity for the keyswitch. 

 Here is a table showing how quite a few articulations are dependent upon the velocity of the keyswitch note:

Articulation	Keyswitch	Velocity Sensitive Keyswitches
Sustain	C0	0-64: Standard Legato		65-127: Advanced Legato
Tremolo	C#0
MeasuredTrem	D0
Trills	D#0
Harmonic	E0
Staccato	F0	0-32: Spiccato	33-64: Staccatissimo	65-96: Staccato	97-127: Sfz
Marcato	F#0	0-64: Spiccato Overlay Off		65-127: Spiccato Overlay On
Pizzicato	G0	0-41: Pizzicato	42-84: Bartok Snap	85-127: Col Legno
Con Sodino	Bb0	0-64: Con Sordino Off		65-127: Con Sordino On
Legato	B0	0-64: Legato Off		65-127: Legato On

Answer 3

As a Kontakt user myself, this kind of functionality is almost a requirement!  Yes, yes, and, YES! Great concept and mockup Sambosun.

Answer 4

Hey Sambosun,

your concept is just awesome. I would love if Presonus could implement it that way!

Fingers crossed.

Answer 5

I also agree with Sean that articulations need independent  cc data editing per articulation and let the user choose which cc data should be send to all articulations.

Answer 6

Good suggestion, and a lot of good info in the comments too. Fingers crossed for future versions implementing a system for this.

Answer 7

already studio one 4 but still miss this feature I hope we can see this on next 0.1 or 0.2 updates now are one of the most vote features

Answer 8

Can't believe Studio one 4 is out there without any basic articulation editor. It's here since 2015! I am starting to get skeptical on this one, and on studio one itself in an overall view.

Answer 9

Yes! Please make it usable with CC32 - I mostly abandoned regular keyswitching for using CCs.

Also really helpful would be additional features and view options for the midi event CC lanes - For example hide or always/by default show certain CCs/automations.

Answer 10

Is this suggestion a little bit like my suggestion? maybe it is another solution which is not so complicated?

https://answers.presonus.com/12347/ornament-catalog-from-which-ornaments-assigned-midi-notes

Answer 11

I agree, this would be awesome. This to me is the one thing Cubase still has over Studio One.  Maybe in 4.5?

Answer 12

If they implement this feature, i will definitely switch to Studio One.

Answer 13

Almost 5 years later, and almost 500 upvotes later... Articulation mapping still only available on Cubase and Logic Pro X. Available too as addon for Reaper (with both Reaticulate and BRSO) and FL Studio (BRSO).

Answer 14

Cubase with expression maps has probably the best implementation yet.

As you can see, for each input switch, it is possible to define many actions, such as change expression, max velocity, and so forth.

Input keyswitch: the keyswitch you want to use. Output keyswitch: the keyswitch defined by the library.
One can define multipe switches in the output, for adding a legato to a vibrato for example.

One can choose attribute (once per not) or direction (until another switch).

Cubase's implementation also works with expression based on midi channel, not keyswitch.

How it looks automated:

Expressions can be played, or added with the pen later, which is super easy.

See JunkieXL's great video:

In addition to expression maps, dynamic mapping comes hand in hand and should be implemented too.

Answer 15

4.5 is out. 3.5 years later. No apparent signs of progress on this?do we still believe presonus is going to implement this?

Answer 16

Sambosun,

Brilliant! So necessary!

I had a feeling that PreSonus will add this feature in version 4.5 but it didn't happen. That is so disappointing.

Answer 17

since 4.5 an articulation editor is even more important. To use the chord track and tracks follow the chord track is enable, only notes can transpose, articulations or sequence trigger keys need stay on same note. I hope the articulation is next on presonus todo list, then vst midi plugins in the multi instrument support, and possible to tie notes in impact XT. for the other two features is feature request too here, with many likes

Answer 18

We something like so bad.  Its the one thing that keeps me tied to LogicPro.  

some kind of articulationID attitribute to all notes would be ideal.

Just like in LogicPro, it may be necessary to also have additional Scripting ability to modify the actions taken for each articulation.  In LogicPro this can be done with the Scripter javascript plugin.  Not sure what would make sense in S1.  But both LogicPro and Cubase have some articulation handling built in, but its always missing a few things that additional scripting is able to handle.

Answer 19

Hope to see it in 4.6 in Fall. Have a scoring project coming up and do not want to do it in Cubase or Logic.

Answer 20

Just waiting for this feature to fully make the switch!

Answer 21

I too use Cubase occasionally. On my last cue I had to use a lot of Cubase expression maps for Libraries from spitfire and orchestral tools.

But

1. I exclusively use attributes. Why? because they are bound to notes and always follow the notes and are respected when delaying notes etc.

2. Steinbergs expression maps setup and maintenance workflow for expression maps is 1990 style. the expression maps window has no form of batch editing. I have to import expression maps one by one. that is totally bonkers and a workflow killer.

Anyways. I am confident that Presonus Software will take care of a good solution that is modern and also implements some kind of delay compensation per articulation which is especially useful if you use high latent artics like legato in CSS (cinematic studio strings) in one patch not distributed by midi channel.

I also have to admit that my workflow is a mix of one articulation per track and articulation switching on one track in Logic and Cubase.

And I highly recommend babylonwaves articulation maps!

Answer 22

I love the idea. I just want to pinpoint it might be useful to add the ability to select multiple keyswitches at the same time too. For example with spitfire libs if you press two keyswitches at the same time (e.g., marcato and staccato) you can stack them for a particular note. This might be only possible when using notes as keyswitches mode though.

From the UI side probably it could be enabled by shift clicking on an articulation name to add/remove an extra articulation.

This could also put the artic names in a note separating the names by a comma (e.g. "marcato, staccato"), by mixing the two colors and by putting two triangles near each of the active articulations.

Clicking (without shift) on an articulation would still act as usual, unselecting all selected articulations and selecting a single one.

Also I think it would be nice if there were settings (midi effects?) per articulation. For example, for a legato articulation it could be set that the note might need to start 20ms early and play for 40ms longer than written in the piano roll. That way writing legato lines wouldn't need to be offset when written and would make it easier to export to notation.

Answer 23

Does anyone know if this will ever be implemented?

Will it be in version 4.6 or a future version 5?

I would purchase Studio One if this feature was available now.

Answer 24

PreSonus will get it done. I don't doubt that. It's just a matter of when.

1 - This wasn't the top feature request at first. It's Jan 2020 now  (4 years after this was suggested in December 2015). Last year this rose to the top. Before that, it was climbing as other stuff was getting added to S1. I've followed this request closely cause it's my top need. Now that they are aware of it and it's the top need, we'll have a front row seat to an amazing Studio One v5 coming in 2020.

2 - PreSonus has a solid track record for user requests. Will they ignore this? Of course not. In less time, they've done more for UI / workflow than [the other company] has since introducing maps 10 years ago without improvements since. In the last 4 years, only two DAWs have added similar features. One did a half-hearted attempt that is.... horrible. The other was Logic with Articulation Sets. Logic's UI was easier to setup than maps in Cubase, but the UI on the front end isn't nearly as intuitive for workflow. You can't even see what articulations are being used and where, let alone being able to adjust it intuitively. I'd rather PreSonus get it right a bit late, than do it wrong and live with it (as everyone else has been doing).

This will be an exciting year for S1. Here's to hoping for some innovation on this feature! 

-Sean

Answer 25

PLEASE bring these to Studio One. With 574 upvotes this is clearly high in demand. This is the only x-factor that still keeps me tied to Logic as my full time DAW for now... 

Answer 26

An articulation editor (and or expression maps) should have been there looong ago.

How come Presonus ducks this much requested feature???

Answer 27

Would also LOVE to see this happen in the next update.  PLEASE!

Answer 28

There are two features missing from Studio One that keep me from switching from Logic. 1. Articulation Mapping. Dont do it like cubase that is terrible and time consuming. Do it like logic and team up with Babylonwaves for the maps. 2. Exporting audio to video.

Comments

Exporting audio to video is already possible since May 2019 (version 4.5)

Answer 29

+1.000.000 to this request. I'd love to see Presonus developers beat Cubase by having an articulation auto-detector, articulation player as well as an articulation program module. It would be great not having to type in the articulations from a virtual instrument first, but just have S1 to automatically find them. A nice performance module would be nice to, so you can audit how the articulations sound in context with your track, in real time. Ability to program templates would be great too. Can you beat the Cubase devs, Presonus team? I dare you..

Answer 30

Long time Cubase user here, just waiting for this to try S1!.

Answer 31

Wouldnt it be possible to change it to real MIDI notes to see it visually?

It would help alot if it is not just color.

Answer 32

Finally, Implemented. Please archive this as this is implemented.

Answer 33

I wouldn't consider Articulation Editor is implemented. What they implemented is just basic keyswitch editor.

Answer 34

The current implementation is nowhere near my proposal! It is a start for sure and should never be as convoluted as cubase/nuendo implementation. But as I said it is only the beginning.

the current implementation doesn’t allow to send a keyswitch and cc data at the same time. Think about CSS or VSL instruments!

So no it is not implemented and therefore should not be marked as implemented nor archived!!!

Answer 35

I would also like to point out, specially working with a lot of Kontakt instances or multi channel instruments, being able to send an articulation to a specific MIDI channel, is a deal breaker for me.
And as mentioned CC it's as important as well for many libraries.

It's a good start, specially love the simplicity and easy to use approach, but it is still need some work.
Keep it up ;)

Answer 36

This feature really needs to allow the user to color code the articulations so that they are more easily readable.  Currently it is just random.

Answer 37

As previously said, the current implementation is a start but some libraries also need to send several keyswitches in sequence (like VSL Synchron player) where you send a C1 followed by a D2 for instance. Now we are limited to only one note message per articulation... Too limited for almost all the libraries out there.

Answer 38

Studio One v5 rocks!! Thank you for listening!!

PreSonus might have been smart not to add the full design here.

1 - Smarter instruments require less complex mapping. Look at StaffPad and Infinite Brass. Infinite uses CC's, but Kontakt can convert them easily. Even Spitfire's violin is semi-smart now.

2 - You don't need MIDI channels if sample devs do their job right. 16 Keyswitches can standardize most orchestral techniques, if playback is smart. Bowing placement (sul pont, tasto, normale) via CC allows both agility AND simplified mapping.

3 - The ideal composer UX is... composing, not XML. StaffPad taps to add/swap instruments of multiple libraries. In-app stores w/ pre-mapped libraries is the future, not handing users XML maps and saying "get it working on your own". S1 ought to go that route.

4 - VSL started in the 90's - Spitfire started in 2010 - Then Aaron Venture happened. He re-recorded every woodwind, gives out all updates and expansions for free, and now we see tons of people on VI-Control wondering why they ever bought from Spitfire or Orchestral Tools. Thing is... markets shift. They improve too. But, expecting Studio One to cater to outdated methods is... well... maybe it's time we either move on OR bug sample devs instead now. Each of those companies could improve their Kontakt scripts and proprietary samplers to be more agile with fewer keyswitches. 3 tremolo speeds shouldn't be keyswitches. They should be speed-triggered automatically. It's time their own software dev teams realized how players actually play their instruments... intelligently. The libraries of 2020-2030 are getting smarter... and that's what we need right now. Not more XML. I'm not opposed to better XML mapping. I'd just rather see sample devs improve first, to see what the next step OUGHT to be, instead of simply maintaining old ideas. Cubase didn't touch maps for 10 years. Sibelius had Sound Sets decades+ ago. Everyone else copying Cubase has only done it poorly and convoluted, without actually raising the bar on workflow and UX, which is what we all really need deep down.

In any case...

The PreSonus revolution has begun! Once they link hairpins & KS's to the notation, S1 will be unbeatable! S1 v5 made 2020 better. :)

Answer 39

It’s great that this FR is still alive.

I want to point out that I too hope instruments and libraries will become more intelligent. Especially now that developers can take advantage of the neural engine on mac computers.

so yes to semi intelligent articulation switching like StaffPad. Although the challenge still might be real-time vs offline (StaffPad)

Answer 40

Happy to see Studio One implement the early stages of this important feature for composers. For the next phase I'd like to see:

• Different trigger sources besides NOTES - we need cc's and program changes too (and MIDI channel for each). Extra credit for Velocity and also Momentary! (only while key is being held)

• Independent output triggers from the input - ie user can use cc to trigger the articulation change, but choose a key switch to send to the instrument.

• Multiple parameters sent on trigger. ie : more than one key switch (up to 4 would be enough I think), A key switch plus a cc value, 2 different cc values, etc. Again important to be able to set specific MIDI channels on both sides, input and output.

•Somehow Logic's implementation of articulation switching has allowed DIFFERENT articulations for two notes that are in a vertical structure (hitting at the same time). This has been useful. Seems to work better with Keyswitches vs cc values.

Another extra credit - have a page on the iPad Studio One Remote that auto populates the keyswitches as remote buttons!!

Looking forward to what this feature will bring in future releases!

Answer 41

​What I'd like to see in the future too:

• Option to move simultaneously the articulation with the note (like in Logic).

I don't see the benefit of having to move separately the articulation with the note.

Answer 42

After using V3 with S1X (which grew incompatible) I'm happy to see this progress now!

I agree - a more developed Editor is necessary. See e.g. Reapers "Reaticulate" -the Keyswitches are edited in a Text editor, but after that it's a smooth experience. For a proper Keyswitch I would be happy to have (sorry for mentioning stuff again):

• Multiple Notes to send - thinking of VSL's Synchron Player, where a Keyswitch can change function depending on the other Keyswitch used - e.g. sending C1+C2 for Staccato shorts, C#1+C2 For Regular longs
• Sending CCs, Program Changes
• Sending Velocity with the Key - so an Articulation can be selected by Velocity (e.g. C1/48 -> Stacc, C1/60 Spiccato etc)
• Combining them - less direct use case but good to have
• Channel switching (MIDI Channel 1 Staccato and Channel 2 Spiccato for example)
• Keyswitch "nudge" setting - so if you insert a KS on grid, it automatically plays it Xms ahead
• Keyswitch "glued" to note, so when you move the note, the KS moves with it (optionally that is)
• Grouping, maybe as small Menu with arrow - so one can group their Articulations in a logical manner and have a context menu with more depth compared to now

Great work team! Now on to the details ;-)

Answer 43

Hello! I want to express my deep gratitude to the developers. Thank you for listening to us. I also ask you to pay attention to the fact that there are people who are more comfortable using alternative ways of switching articulations. First of all I'm talking about (Program Change). This greatly saves resources, including the ability to completely download and upload patches to the (Instrument Bank). That is, use only the necessary set of patches at this stage and freely rotate them within the same project and template. Cakewalk by Bandlab does a pretty good job at this stage. I can create groups (it works like a folder) of articulations (Long, Short, FX) And inside them add and remove whatever I need. And 127 patches are enough for this!

Even if it is impossible at the program level from one track to send signals to different midi channels. This method bypasses this limitation.

I apologize if I did not put it right. The language barrier does its job)

Thanks a lot and good luck!

Answer 44

It's cool that Studio One now has a basic key switch editor.
Now it would be cool if it would support  key switches like Vienna's Synchron Player. For instance, Vienna Synchron Strings Pro has a lot of articulations that have to be sent in succession. This means C6 is a different key switch depending on which other key switch preceded this key switch. There is basically a hierarchy of key switches.

Answer 45

PreSonus, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ignore your users here. Apple, McDonald's, Google... they all understand that users aren't designers. Clay Christensen taught them this with the Milk Shake paradigm. It's about the "job to do".

StaffPad proves that Dorico's complex articulation mapping features are like Notion's rules... composers complain about Dorico constantly for the same reason Notion gets flack. StaffPad doesn't force users to map ****. Users don't need more ways to configure. We need to use. The fewer barriers to that goal, the closer you are to getting it right. Even Infinite Brass, despite not sounding 100% real to most people, has led many to leaving Spitfire because the library doesn't even use key switches. The instrument is smart enough that it doesn't need to. The best paradigm is that, whichever way you go... you aren't putting setup complexity on users.

Studio One's maps are good enough that any Spitfire or Orchestral Tools (the two most popular high-end libraries) can be mapped adequately in S1. That's good enough to wait until the industry matures. A composer's "job" is NEVER to configure. It's to open up Studio One and start writing music. Please don't complicate the program's front end, rules, XML, etc. Make the engine smart enough that we never need to think about that.

1) Studio One already has an in-app sample store. Why not partner with companies the way StaffPad did?

2) Studio One could implement the VST3 ability to auto-map samples. No editor windows. No dialogs. Just open S1 and write music.

3) If I still haven't convinced you, please realize that Cubase got this horribly wrong. Google how many complaints, for over a decade, are online about expression mapping taking enormous amounts of time, once? NO, every time someone buys a new library.

-Sean

P.S. I have no stake in this. I write in StaffPad, master in Studio One. But having spent years in this mess, and finding relief in a different app... I am never looking back to the DAW to write music, just master it. Why? Because an app that had the "just open it and write" paradigm was good enough that I didn't want to look back. If Studio One gets this right, really right, then maybe I'd have a reason to write in S1 again.

Answer 46

Instead of articulation switching triggered by moment in time it would be nice to have it by note instead. This way you could have two notes simultaneously playing two different articulations (See Logic Pro).
Also: add capability for negative track delay that can be configured individually for each articulation.