TenCrazy.com MFX Plugins

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MFX (or MIDI FX) is a part of the DirectX music specification that allows for the processing of MIDI data. All Cakewalk products (SONAR, Project5, Home Studio, etc) can use MFX plugins, and past Cubase (SX/SL) offerings could use them through a wrapper provided by Steinberg. Mind, I don't have a copy of Cubase, so you'll have to tell me if something doesn't work in it!

I've only recently started porting these to 64-bit systems, so please give me some feedback on whether you've met with any success in using them. NOTE: Some people need to install this redistributable from Microsoft if they get an error when running the .bat file!

They're all free for now, but you can also DONATE!

SustainFix

Some keyboards (like my old Kawai K1) send out an "All Notes Off" CC message when you lift your hands off the keyboard. Some software synths take this message as a command to turn all sound off, even if you're holding down the sustain pedal! Also, some keyboards send out CC values for the Hold Pedal other than 0 (off) and 127 (on). Now, that's allowed as part of the MIDI spec, but some lazy soft synths think otherwise and might cause your notes to hang forever, or simply ignore your pedal altogether. This MFX plug-in fixes these problems and many more (e.g. hold pedal polarity, continuous value thinning) in SONAR or other MFX capable hosts. As of v4.0 also supports Fake Hold Pedal Functionality to operate on synths that don't normal respond to your hold pedal!

CC Map

I've had a need for it. Others have asked me for it. So I made an MFX plugin to do it. You'll get the knack of fiddling with the Low/High values in no time. Be aware that you can flip the low/high output values to invert the direction of the CC. Combine this with the "Pass Along Input CC" option (aka "play-through"), and you'll have instant cross-fading action! As of v1.3, you can also manipulate Channel Pressure/Mono-Aftertouch messages. v1.4 fixes some Cubase project load failure oddness.

AcidSpew

Javan asked on www.kvraudio.com: "Anyone know of a tool I could use to generate random midi patterns, (specifically for acid lines!!)?" So I coded this. Point it at your favorite bass synth (I use Muon Tau, followed by Ohm Force PredatOhm). AcidSpew will generate a random 16th note sequence in a rough blues scale (with flat-2nd) based on the tonic note you provide (new in v1.0!). Don't complain: it's free!

PortDiag

In the course of developing MFX plugs, and in helping people on various newsgroups, I often have a need to peek at an incoming MIDI stream to see what's being generated by the keyboard (or other plugs!). This little plugin help a lot in that department. Now with clipboard copy support!

TrackDiag

Mario Bianchi wanted something like PortDiag, but that works on in-track MIDI data instead. TrackDiag can reveal what data is being output from a MIDI track and all the MFX before it.

Kick Peddler

This MFX plugin allows you to use your hold pedal (or other switch controller) as a kick drum trigger. Yes, some people are just crrraaazzzzyyy enough to do this!

JamBuddy

So you wanna jam with your buddy, but you only have one keyboard? Well, with this here plug-in, you can split it down the middle and send notes to two different MIDI channels on one multi-timbral sound source! It will even allow you to shift the key ranges into something natural (so you can play bass on the right-hand side, for instance).

Track Doorman

Oyvind Strandem asked on the SONAR/MFX forum: "I tried using the CakewalkFx Midi Event filter to single out the keyranges i wanted the synth to respond to, but it wouldnt work on realtime input[...] Does anyone know about some kind of keyrangefilter that responds to realtime midi input?" Introducing MFX Track Doorman: he's one tough cookie! He only lets notes into his club if they meet strict requirements!

AutoLegato

Greg Smith wrote to me with this request: "We GPO users need a midi plug that can detect that we're playing overlapped notes on our keyboard and can set the sustain pedal to 127 whenever we are." I'd been planning something like this for a while, so this was finally the kick in the pants I needed to make it happen! Version 1.1 adds legato capability for wind controllers such as the Yamaha WX5 that don't have a strict note overlap on a trill (thanks to Jeff Lee).

Note Rotator

Do you want to have your sequencer select a note in order or random when playing a target note? Do you want to fake up a round-robin or alternation scenario on a sound module or sampler that has no such feature? Then TenCrazy.com MFX Note Rotator is for you!

Velocity to CC

There is an outboard utility included with Garritan Personal Orchestra called "GPO Standard MIDI File Translator". Essentially, it translates the traditional volume control for notes, namely note velocity, and substitutes it with CC#1 messages, as GPO uses the Mod Wheel (for most instruments) to control volume contour. MFX Velocity to CC does the same sort of thing, but as an in-host plugin (including real-time play!). Also, you could map other controllers (like Var1 and Var2 in the GPO player) to certain velocity ranges for other expression techniques you may dream up. Also works in any other synths you might find a use for!

Velocity Releaser

Though SONAR doesn't record Release Velocity information, it does pass it along through its event chain. As such, we're able to generate it artificially by tracking a Continuous Controller. Note, however, that I don't have a synth that appropriately responds to release velocity, so I'm not sure if this actually works under SONAR! Maybe it does in Cubase...

Channel Switch

Sean Dunn wanted a way to switch between instrument articulations in Garritan Personal Orchestra while keeping it all on one MIDI track. In this manner, he didn't have to deal with the extra memory overhead of loading a KeySwitch program if he didn't need more than two articulations, as well as avoiding the extra notes in his score if he decided to print it. He had the idea to use MIDI Continuous Controller messages to specify the new channel, and I agreed it was for the best!

Dynamic Hat

Once upon a time, Dave Schreier said, "I purchased an Alesis ControlPad USB/Midi Percussion Controller, and am a bit surprised (and disappointed) that the hi-hat footswitch input does not switch a pad's note output between alternate notes when the switch is opened and closed..." And having bought two ControlPads recently, I wholeheartedly agreed! So here's an MFX helper to do the translation.

Control Cascade

Aftertouch vs Mod Wheel for volume control in GPO: which is better? Bill Pearson (billp) proposed on the GPO forum, "Sounds to me like the solution is to have aftertouch generate incremental MOD values, but never to cause the MOD level to drop below the value set by the MOD wheel itself." MFX Control Cascade allows you to have one CC (or channel pressure/aftertouch) modify another: upwards, downwards, or relative to a detente value.

AutoAlternator

AutoAlternator allows you to do automatic bow-direction alternations in the ALT patches of Garritan Orchestral Strings. Of course, it can also be applied to other systems: for example, you can alternate left and right-hand hits on the Timpani patch in Garritan Personal Orchestra. Anything with two sets of alternate samples mapped across the keyboard is game. But wait: there's more!I've added a feature that will allow you to alternate sound instances across two separate MIDI channels. As such, you can create hand-tweaked sample sets by loading in two of the same patch and altering the pitch and timbre parameters of only one of them.

Tweak by Duration

In GPO, the VAR 1 knob (cc#22) will introduce random tuning variations from note to note. Typically, one makes these adjustments for fast passages, where players don't have time to adjust tuning by ear. So I figured, why not create something to do this automatically? It also works with other synths and just about any other CC data.

PW-Map

Mike Kelley was in a jam: "Here's my problem -- my midi keyboard doesn't have a mod wheel (ugh) and I need a mod wheel to control volume (no other way around it with GPO)." Now with MFX PW-Map, Mike can remap his Pitch Wheel to send any CC information he wants, even partitioned bi-directionally! Set up for Garritan Personal Orchestra by default, but usable with other systems that need creative controls as well.

Synnister Symmetry

Sanjay asked me, "Would it be possible to reverse a midi keyboard so that treble notes are played by your left hand and bass by your right? You would have to move middle C to E and so on. Odd maybe but I'd like to try it as in my mind I think it would be easier to play." I'd played with rescaling and inverting guitar synth notes before, so this seemed like a fun experiment to me!

Program Bump

Drago wrote to me asking if I could solve a problem for all those users out there without "Patch Change +/-" buttons on their controller keyboards (like his M-Audio Radium 61) for, as he put it, "what makes 'sound browsing' fast and easy." Y'know, that's a pretty good idea, one that I can use myself! So how 'bout we map some of the MIDI notes on your keyboard to these functions?

Autothrob

John Cain wrote to me asking if I could do an MFX that would give a drum-roll like functionality, as found on MPC units and drum machines of yore. Seeing as how this is a potentially dodgy proposition in SONAR as a real-time plug (thanks to an internal clock pulse that's far too long to be usable), I proposed that I could do something to this effect as a track insert effect. Moreover, I figured "why not allow the user to set any time interval to be usable on basslines and such?" Why not indeed!

Key Tweaker

After I released MFX PW-Map on the Garritan forum, it still wasn't enough! "What about those of us that don't have a Mod Wheel *or* a Pitch Wheel? How can *we* send modulation information to GPO?" So I invented yet *another* way! MFX Key Tweaker allows you to use a range of keys on your keyboard to act in place of a Mod Wheel in order to let you play instrument-level volume changes without a physical controller knob. Useful for other synths and any CC data, too!

Key Peddler

Neole asked on the Garritan forum: "What can be mapped to the sustain pedal to allow legato playing? [If I] could map the first C key to act as [the Hold Pedal], it would be good. Any way?" Now you can! MFX Key Peddler allows you to use any key on your keyboard to act in place of a Hold Pedal in order to let you play legato lines in GPO without a physical sustain pedal. Useful for other synths, too!

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