The starting point for this exercise is the Alpha 2 factory setup and the corresponding factory script that adds lights to the tonics in
each of the rigs. Adding the lights via the EigenBrowser is one thing, but would it be nice to have a couple of keys on the Alpha to turn
these on and off at will?
First up we need to knwo the belcanto for turning the lights on. Thankfully this has been done for us, in the form of a factory script. This
contains a number of lines of the form (in this case sampler 1 (the piano) on keygroup 1 (the large single split keygroup)"
sampler rig 1 output light to keygroup 1 sampler output 1 light input from channel 1 connect
Breaking this down, we have the source of the light information (ie the scaler in the instrument rigs). This is already wired back to the
rig gateway, so for our purposes is it now "sampler rig 1 output light". We also need the destination, i.e. the keygroup output, in this case
"keygroup 1 sampler output 1". The verb for the wiring is "connect". The least well documented aspect of this is the channel "channel 1".
As I understand this, what this allows us to do is distringuish the wiring between keygroups. So for example, we have sampler rig 1
connections to/from each of the three keygroups. The way these connections are distinguished are via channels, conveniently numbered in the
same manner as the keygroup. In workbench you can see this in the wiring between the keygroup and the instrument rigs.
The next step is to get the belcanto to turn off the tonic lights. This can be achieved by taking the belcanto in the alpha 2 tonics light
script, copying into a new text file and changing the commands from something like
sampler rig 1 output light to keygroup 1 sampler output 1 light input from channel 1 connect
to
keygroup 1 sampler output 1 light input un connectRepeat this pattern for each of the other lines in the original script. It's worth testing this script to ensure that it has the desired
effect.
The remaining task is then to add some talkers to the setup. Given that the scripts change the light setup for the entire setup, I decided
that the logical place was in the advanced scale talker (which conveniently has plenty of free space, saving you the exercise of having to
setup a new keygroup). Fire up workbench, locate the agent, and expand the "key" port. This has a small "+" button that allows you to
add new talkers. Add two new key ports, the default numbering is fine. For each of the new key ports, click on the small "+" to add a new
action, the belcanto executed by the talker. Then switch to edit mode and edit the agent. For each of the two new keys, start by assigning
the row and column. Using the "end relative" setting can be helpful. You can see the new keys light up and move as you change the row and
column settings. Then simply cut and paste the full belcanto from the scripts into the action field in workbench.
UK
