Well, after many hours of tinkering over the past few weeks (after my practicing of course 
) I can finally report that software arrangers are a thing!
Many people on here use hardware arrangers, like the BK7. But what if you want an arranger but don't feel inclined to purchase another piece of expensive or bulky hardware?
In a nutshell, an "arranger" will play a backing track (called a "style") which changes chords based on input from your accordion (or other instrument, but here we're talking cordeens ☺). The arranger can start, stop, play intros or fills, change itself up, and do other magic things with further input from your accordion, pedals or a control surface. Our friend "Keymn" often demonstrates his here, and JerryPH shows how to run it all wirelessly.
Well, I spent some time experimenting with 2 "software arrangers," meaning that they run on your pc or mac instead of an external module or keyboard, query your accordion for (midi) chordal input and respond accordingly.
I tried both Giglad (various pricing options) and Soft Arranger (free). They both work. I settled (for now) on Soft Arranger because it includes decent sounds and about 30 or so (editable with other software) styles. More on Giglad if and when I return to it.
Ok, Soft Arranger is super cool. But it's in beta phase which means it can be challenging to configure and manage. I'm hoping that this post can lead to other people trying it and sharing ideas. I actually corresponded with the developer, who is super kind, and even distributed an updated version based on Soft Arranger's interaction with the Roland Fr4x.
In addition to the Soft Arranger software, you need a DAW (digital audio workstation) to provide the actual sounds, and to act as the mixer. Soft Arranger comes with configuration for Reaper, a low priced DAW. You also need a virtual channel to get midi info from your accordion to Soft Arranger to Reaper, as well as some virtual instruments, and (recommended) ASIO4ALL or another sound driver to reduce latency and improve your sound. How to configure these pieces are included with Soft Arranger. Of course, with all of these pieces interacting, and with the peculiarities of my Microsoft Surface Pro, it was difficult to configure everything. Your results will vary and it may be a piece of cake for you.
In the end, I managed to get everything configured and working and it's a blast to play along with a backing track that changes with your chords. It reads your bass chords only (Stradella, not sure what to do with free bass, haven't tried it), sent on channel 3, without any tweaking of the Fr4 settings. Nice!
Anyway, I hope you find this interesting and are inspired to try it out. Please let us know!
) I can finally report that software arrangers are a thing!Many people on here use hardware arrangers, like the BK7. But what if you want an arranger but don't feel inclined to purchase another piece of expensive or bulky hardware?
In a nutshell, an "arranger" will play a backing track (called a "style") which changes chords based on input from your accordion (or other instrument, but here we're talking cordeens ☺). The arranger can start, stop, play intros or fills, change itself up, and do other magic things with further input from your accordion, pedals or a control surface. Our friend "Keymn" often demonstrates his here, and JerryPH shows how to run it all wirelessly.
Well, I spent some time experimenting with 2 "software arrangers," meaning that they run on your pc or mac instead of an external module or keyboard, query your accordion for (midi) chordal input and respond accordingly.
I tried both Giglad (various pricing options) and Soft Arranger (free). They both work. I settled (for now) on Soft Arranger because it includes decent sounds and about 30 or so (editable with other software) styles. More on Giglad if and when I return to it.
Ok, Soft Arranger is super cool. But it's in beta phase which means it can be challenging to configure and manage. I'm hoping that this post can lead to other people trying it and sharing ideas. I actually corresponded with the developer, who is super kind, and even distributed an updated version based on Soft Arranger's interaction with the Roland Fr4x.
In addition to the Soft Arranger software, you need a DAW (digital audio workstation) to provide the actual sounds, and to act as the mixer. Soft Arranger comes with configuration for Reaper, a low priced DAW. You also need a virtual channel to get midi info from your accordion to Soft Arranger to Reaper, as well as some virtual instruments, and (recommended) ASIO4ALL or another sound driver to reduce latency and improve your sound. How to configure these pieces are included with Soft Arranger. Of course, with all of these pieces interacting, and with the peculiarities of my Microsoft Surface Pro, it was difficult to configure everything. Your results will vary and it may be a piece of cake for you.
In the end, I managed to get everything configured and working and it's a blast to play along with a backing track that changes with your chords. It reads your bass chords only (Stradella, not sure what to do with free bass, haven't tried it), sent on channel 3, without any tweaking of the Fr4 settings. Nice!
Anyway, I hope you find this interesting and are inspired to try it out. Please let us know!
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