Instrument Sets

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Creating a project
Instrument Sets

OOM2 has a powerful feature called instruments sets. This is a complete file you save for each instrument you choose to build, and although there are some default instrument set (IDF) files that come with OOM2 for many instrument brands, we'll concern ourselves here with building our own.
To start the process, we go to the Midi menu, and select the Edit Instrument option. A popup window will open that looks like this:

The sections of the Instrument Set manager are as follows:
Instrument Sets Manager

Intrument Sets Manager OOM2 has an fundamental midi structure that relies on a instrument set. There are default instrument sets in OOM2, but the Instrument Sets Manager enables the user to build their own instruments sets, according to requirements. This window is a list of current instrument sets built by the user. In the window pictured, as an example, and as well as the default sets, there are 3 complete orchestral groups of instrument sets, 28, 40, and 128, so the number of sets you can create is, well, unlimited. OOM2 uses the .idf format for instrument sets, and you can set the default directory to store your sets in the Global Settings menu.
When you create ports in the Midi Port Manager, you'll use one of these instruments as part of the port, and in the track, the groups and patches sets you've built will appear in the track's patch drop down list. Be sure to save your instrument set after building it, and using common sense when naming your set.

The right hand panel of the Instrument set window has 3 tabs, Patch, Controller and sysex:

The Patches Panel

The Controller Panel

The Sysex Panel

Create an instrument

To create an instrument set, select New, then add a name of your choice. We've called our instrument test1. It's now added to our instrument set list.

In our patch window, we see a list window, and a set of options on the right. In OOM2 you can organise your patches into what's called groups, for easier management, regardless of bank and patch numbers. The group is more or less just a container to fill.

Here we've added a group, by clicking the New Group button and called it legato. You can add as many groups as you want, to suit your particular needs. We now have an empty "container" ready to fill.

Now we start populating our group with patches. Here we've added a new patch, using the Add patch button, and called it 1stviolins Up bow. Note that the patch has the parameters High Bank (MSB), Low Bank (LSB), and Program. Each is set to 1, as want the patch to be the first patch of the first bank, of the first bank. When we add another patch, the banks will remain the same and the patch number will increase sequentially, and so on.

We've now added more patches to our group, with each new patch getting the next patch number in turn. It's common sense when adding groups and patches to make the names concise and compact. If you create a project that has many bank and program changes, you'll soon recognise the value.

When you've added groups and patches to suit your needs for that instrument set, click on the Controller tab and it opens into the controller parameters for your set. The CC definitions you set here will appear in a quick list drop down menu in the PianoRoll Editor, when you create a controller lane for added events, so choose the types you will use most often. Volume and Velocity controller lanes appear by default in the PR.

Make sure you save your instrument set. You will be prompted to do this.
You can now build more instrument sets to your requirements. In the Midi Ports Manager, in the menu Global Settings, you'll now find your instrument sets available to you to associate with a chosen port.
By default, Instrument Sets are stored in ~/.config/OOMidi/Instruments. It's recommended you keep this as it is, but you can change it if required, in the Global Settings menu, under the MIDI tab.
Work in progress...