Editing Pro Tools LE MIDI patches in OS X.

Q: “Is it possible to edit MIDI patch name files once Pro Tools is installed?” If so, how?

A: Pro Tools 6.0 and higher on Mac OS X supports XML for storing and importing patch names for external MIDI devices. When you install Pro Tools, several MIDI patch name files (.midnam) are installed for the factory default patch names of many common MIDI devices. These factory patch name files reside in Home/Library/Audio/MIDI Patch Names/Digidesign/.

If you have an external MIDI device that already has a MIDI patch name file for its factory settings, but you have created your own custom patches and patch names, you will probably want to use those patch names in Pro Tools. To do so, you will need to copy and edit the corresponding MIDI patch names file.

The following example shows you how to edit a copy of an existing factory MIDI Patch Name file – this example uses the Waldorf Microwave MIDI Patch Name file. In this fashion you can create MIDI Patch Name files for your custom patches.

1. In the Finder, navigate to Home/Library/Audio/MIDI Patch Names/Digidesign/Waldorf/Waldorf MicroWave.midnam.

2. Open the file, “Waldorf MicroWave.midnam” in the Apple TextEdit application.

3. Save a copy of this document and give it a new name (such as, “My Waldorf MicroWave.midnam”).

The top of the document will have code that defines the manufacturer and model for the device, and should look like this:

<MIDINameDocument>
<Author>Digidesign</Author>
<MasterDeviceNames>
<Manufacturer>Waldorf</Manufacturer>
<Model>MicroWave</Model>

You will not need to edit this code.

4. From the top of the document, scroll down until you see the following code (the names for each synth will, of course, be different):

<PatchNameList Name=”Presets 00″>
<Patch Number=”A-1″ Name=”Let it grow” ProgramChange=”0″ />
<Patch Number=”A-2″ Name=”Leones’wet Dream” ProgramChange=”1″ />
<Patch Number=”A-3″ Name=”ANA FILTER BASS” ProgramChange=”2″ />
<Patch Number=”A-4″ Name=”WarmPad saw-sqr” ProgramChange=”3″ />
<Patch Number=”A-5″ Name=”Popes’Pipes” ProgramChange=”4″ />
<Patch Number=”A-6″ Name=”Moog Bass 01″ ProgramChange=”5″ />
<Patch Number=”A-7″ Name=”RAW-SAW Solo!” ProgramChange=”6″ />
<Patch Number=”A-8″ Name=”BG-Organ” ProgramChange=”7″ />
<Patch Number=”A-9″ Name=”SPACEKEY” ProgramChange=”8″ />
<Patch Number=”A-10″ Name=”Resopotamia” ProgramChange=”9″ />
…
</PatchNameList>

5. This is the list you will edit to include your custom patch names. You will only need to change the patch name in quotes. For example, if the first three custom patch names are “SyncLead,” “FM evolution,” and “Philter Sweep,” edit the patch name list as follows (the changes are highlighted in yellow):
<PatchNameList Name=”Presets 00″>
<Patch Number=”A-1″ Name=”SyncLead” ProgramChange=”0″ />
<Patch Number=”A-2″ Name=”FM evolution” ProgramChange=”1″ />
<Patch Number=”A-3″ Name=”Philter Sweep” ProgramChange=”2″ />
…
</PatchNameList>

(NOTE: Just as in HTML, there are certain characters that need to be coded specially, such as &amp for the ampersand (&). For a complete list of special characters, see:
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/reference/special_characters/)

If you have a synthesizer Editor/Librarian (such as Emagic’s SoundDiver), you can copy and paste your patch names from the librarian into the XML document file

6. Once you have finished typing your own custom patch names, save the file in Home/Library/Audio/MIDI Patch Names/Digidesign/. You will then be able to use your custom MIDI patch names file in Pro Tools.