Problem Mapping Olga Pitch Wheel to MIDI Controller Wheel in REAPER

Schwa Plugins Olga
1

Hi,

I’m trialing Olga and trying to map the pitch wheel to a controller wheel with REAPER’s Learn feature to perform a bend in a recording. After I try to map it, the modulation wheel moves, not the Pitch wheel. So it’s picking up the input from the controller, set to channel 1 (and all channels are being allowed by REAPER), but it’s mapping to something to which I didn’t intend for it to be mapped. This is after clicking the Olga Pitch wheel and, in the top right of the REAPER window that contains the plugin, clicking Param > Learn, and setting it to the MIDI controller’s pitch wheel (called “MIDI Chan 1 Pitch”) which is the way I’m aware of to do this in REAPER.

I wonder if there is a way to work around this. If I go to the top right of the REAPER window that contains the plugin, Param > FX parameter list > Learn, the closest things I see in the list of synth parameters that can be mapped are options for pitch bend range 1 and 2, but those are the settings for the pitch wheel range, not the wheel itself. I’ve yet to try everything in the list, though, but the names all look like they would point to other parameters.

How do I map Olga’s pitch wheel to a MIDI controller wheel in REAPER?

I’m using Olga unregistered v3.00.03

System Information:
Microsoft Windows 11 Home (Version 10.0.22621 Build 22621)
REAPER v6.78

Interface Information:
Focusrite Scarlett Solo (3rd Gen)
Sample Rate: 48000
Buffer Size: 128
Clock Source: USB Internal
Clock Status: SYNCED

P.S. If I record the performance using the mouse to alter the pitch wheel, it does not save the bends to the MIDI item in REAPER, so simple as the synth part I wanted to meld into this beat was, I can’t work around it with the mouse in the meanwhile, but hot damn, I don’t simply get this tone with another synth.

Edit: I am now aware that a per-take pitch envelope can be used essentially to step-program the pitch on a render of the synth part (and of course, there is the possibility of automating pitch-shifting plug-ins); still stumped on playing Olga’s pitch wheel with a controller and saving the performance, though.

Edit 2: Drawing MIDI pitch information into the MIDI item does not seem to affect the pitch.

2

Thanks for the report - we’ll see what we can do to reproduce and, if confirmed, fix it.

3

Thanks – I’ve reinstalled both the daw and the plug-in now, and I’ve reset REAPER to factory defaults to see if maybe some configuration had been interfering. No cigar with the VST3 (or “VST3i” in the FX browser) version, but now I’ve realized the VST2 (or “VSTi” in the FX browser) version seems to be working! (Even after importing my backed-up REAPER config.)

In the VST2 version, the pitch wheel is mapped to the controller’s pitch wheel by default, and drawing in pitch data in the MIDI item affects pitch during playback. I don’t see a pitch wheel in the param list in case of wanting to map it to another part of the controller, but I wonder if this is by design, as a user at Question about Olga (Schwa) and Automation - Cockos Incorporated Forums mentions the pitch wheel is ill-suited to being a plug-in parameter, due to its self-movement (snaps back to the middle).

Now I understand VST3 is supposed to be an upgrade over VST2 in general, but is there a reason to use it for Olga in particular? Does the VST3 version have advantages over the VST2 version?

My controller is an Arturia MiniLab 3; I don’t know if this fact is affecting default mappings.

4

I’ll send you some test versions to use via PM…see if that fixes the VST3 problem, but otherwise, personally I’ll use VST2 just as readily as VST3. VST3 is technically a newer standard and theoretically has the CAPABILITY of more features, but I’ve seen more hosts get it wrong than get it right. That does NOT mean that I think REAPER is broken, mind you.

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