Setting up Spectrasonic’s Trilian for use with Articulation Sets in Logic Pro X

Trilian – a Powerful Bass Virtual Instrument from Spectrasonics

Spectrasonic’s Trilian bass instrument has highly flexible architecture, with multiple layers of editability, effects"Effects" refer to changes to the sound using digital signal processing ("DSP"). Common effects include reverb, compression, delay, distortion, stereo field, noise reduction, and a host of other possible applications. and modes of operation. As a Logic Proacronym short for Publishing Rights Organization, such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC user, working primarily with imported MIDIA protocol for communicating musical information, such as notes and control signals, between electronic musical instruments and computers. exported from our Finale notationA system of symbols used to write down music. arrangements, I was attracted to Trilian by its Keyswitch capability, as well as its vast library of great-sounding patches that work great in a mix1. Collection of individual tracks or parts 2. The process of adjusting relative sound levels, processing and placement within a sonic realm 3. The result of sonic recording and processing with little or no further DSP. 

Editable Patches

Every patch in Trilian is editable, with controls including LFO’s for “vibratoOscillation of tone produce by variation in pitch, dynamics, or both,” filtera process that removes or reduces certain frequency ranges from an audio signal. controls, ADSR, any and all of which can be automated using CC lanes in a DAWDigital Audio Workstation. Some are: Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro X, Cubase, Pro Tools, Studio One, Reason, Reaper, Digital Performer, Bitwig Studio, Samplitude Pro X, GarageBand (Mac), Cakewalk by BandLab, Presonus Studio One, Tracktion Waveform.

Automated Patch Selection in Trilian

In Trilian’s MultiA single multi-channel, multi-output instance of a virtual instrument in a digital music mixing environment mode, each Patch slot can be triggered independently through various automation methods, making it capable of operating like most contemporary sound libraries with alternate techniques, but with the flexibility to load whatever different sounds or articulations you want into your Multi from Trilian’s library, with comprehensive editing of each slot.

Methods for patch selection in Trilian include CC messages, VelocityRefers to the amount of energy applied by a performer in generating a tone, and is communicated in MIDI as an attribute of a note. Sampled instruments usually contain sounds produced at varying velocities, which are mapped to MIDI velocity ranges in the sample player. A MIDI note with a higher velocity will sound as if it's performed with more energy than one with less velocity. Velocity is expressed as a number in a range of 1-127 Ranges, Program Change, Channel changesJazz shorthand for Chord Changes; the chord progression and Keyswitches. Given that our projects all use (mostly) imported midi, we prefer using Keyswitches, triggered by Logic’s Articulation Sets.

Articulation Sets in Logic Pro X

Apple’s Articulation Sets operate by attaching an ID to a midi notea symbol used to represent a specific pitch and duration entry, which Logic translates into Keyswitches or other types of MIDI data, making selection of alternate sounds or techniques from within the same midi track or region quick and easy to do.

Configuring Trilian for Keyswitch Patch Selection

Trilian Multi Mode

Trilian ships with a player and a large array of pre-configured Multis, organized by instrument type (electric, acoustic, or synth) and named by instrument type or maker, with descriptive styles suggesting where you might deploy that particular array of sounds. Each Multi consists of 8 “PartsIndividual pieces of music, each designed to be performed by a single musician or section of an ensemble.,” which can either all sound together (as in “Stack” mode) or one at a time (“Live” mode), with a different instrument technique patch loaded into each Part.

When you open the instrument you’ll see the Controls screen for the first Part of whatever Multi is loaded. You see buttons for each of the 8 parts near the top of the interface. You’ll see a “Patch Browser” button on the left, from which you can select any sound for the first Part of the currently loaded Multi.

To work with Trilian, we need to get past this first screen.

Click the “Multi” button and you see the Mixer screen showing all the Parts for the currently loaded Multi.

From the Mixer view above, you’ll see the “Live” button, putting you in “Live” mode (as opposed to “Stack” mode, where all Parts sound simultaneously).

Live Mode

In the configuration of these pre-set Multis, Spectrasonic made the assumption that they’d be used for live performance, and designed them for ease of use by a keyboard player. (Speaking for myself, as a bass player… if an individual is going to play this instrument, why not just hire a bass player? 😎) You might notice that it appears there is no KeySwitch assigned to Part One, which is usually the default sound you’ll be using. This is because there are multiple assignments to this part, consisting of a scheme of Inverse Keyswitches switching back to the default part when no physical Keyswitch is held down, which also causes no keyswitch to show in Trilian’s interface. Inverse Keyswitches cause problems when trying to configure an Articulation set for playback in Logic. We need to clear out the default assignments and create our own.

Configuring Keyswitches in Trilian

In order to trigger keyswitches from a DAW’s midi playback, and for a Logic Articulation set to work, each slot needs its own simple keyThe group of pitches, or tonality, that a piece of music is centered around. assignment. No Inverse keyswitches are needed. 

Create a Multi

First, either pick a Factory multi, or build your own from their vast patch library, filling as many of the 8 available slots as you need.

If you’d like to use a Factory Multi as a starting point, first go to Settings and Save As (rename it) into your User folder.  (Note that you’ll need to re-save it after finishing redoing the keyswitch assignments.)

Configure the Keyswitches

1. Open Logic and instantiate Trilian. 
2. Open the Editor>Piano Roll for the track.
3. In Trilian, go to Multi Mode>Live
4. Right-click on each slot and select “Unlearn [current assignment(s)]”
5. Right-click again, selecting “Midi Note Learn” – it will pulse or blink visually, waiting for your assignment
6. Assign the keyswtich for the slot by using the little vertical keyboard at the left side of the Piano Roll editor in Logic’s Edit window. ► This step is important – it tells Trilian to expect the signal from Logic rather than your external controller. 
7. Increment the values up a half step for each subsequent patch, starting with a midi note that’s outside the playing range of the instrument.

You’re done in Trilian at this point, except whatever refinements you may want to make to your instrument – which might include assigning Logic CC lanes to patch parameters in Trilian, including LFOA low-frequency oscillator that modulates other components of a synthesizer to create modulation effects, such as vibrato or tremolo. (vibrato), filters, or ADSR – which all happen in the Layer screen(s) (“A” or “B”) for every Part.

Build your Articulation set in Logic

This section assumes you’re familiar with Articulation Sets in Logic.

In the Articulation tab, click the plus sign, and name it, corresponding with your patch name for the keyswitch as it appears in the first Part of the Trilian Live window. (I named the first Part “Open,” rather than the patch name.) Hit enter after each to write it to file.

Then, go to the Output tab, define the type as Note On, assign the selectors to correspond to your assignments in Trilian, and give it a value of 127. Repeat that for all the  Articulations in your Multi, giving each its correct keyswitch value.

Then, still in Logic, select all notes and assign Open as the articulation, then go through and apply the desired alternate articulation to the note where you’d like it to occur. Be sure to save or re-save your Articulation set, and name it for your User Multi from Trilian.

Using Your New Trilian Multi and Logic Articulation Set in Future Projects

Load Trilian on your track, load your User Muli, and recall your custom Articulation for the track, then begin articulation assignments in the Piano Roll midi editor.