Hi There
I’m trialling the Midi Cello and am wondering how to program it so that it mirrors my swelling in of a note and consequent volume changes? I’m good with the synth programming on the other end.
Many thanks
Greetings. I haven’t chimed in yet on this topic because I’m I think in a different position than you are–I’m using a regular guitar to play a SWAM Cello instrument, while it sounds like you are actually using a cello for your audio input–but I’m interested in what others have to say about this too, so I’ll chime in here if only to keep your question alive. 
And I’ll certainly add the observations I do have, in case those are helpful. In theory, any MG tracker should inherently and continuously respond to the input dynamics of each note, and send that data downstream per note. Even without a MIDI monitor, I can use the MG3 Modulator for Pressure to “see” the stream of data from a guitar note; the Pressure value starts at a peak level with the guitar’s sharp attack, and then decays as the note decays audibly.
But that’s all a guitar does: sharp attack, quick decay. I would think that you, playing arco cello, could actually cause the reverse phenomenon at audio input: you would see Pressure rise from zero to whatever maximum value you can achieve with your technique, input gain, and (more on this in a moment) the handles on the Pressure Modulator itself. Is this what actually happens for you?
If I’ve got all that right and I’m understanding you correctly, I would think that you shouldn’t have to do anything special just to get MG3 to respond to changes in your playing dynamics–that’s just one of the things it seems to do really well on the guitar side, and I’d guess that’s something you should see with the Cello tracker as well, with an actual cello on the input side.
In my case, in order to make the SWAM Cello output sound more like a cello and less like a guitar in terms of its attack/decay profile, I learned that I could use a combination of features to overcome the guitar’s mechanical limitations. So, I max out the Hold Pressure dial on the MG3 Dynamics module, which holds the Pressure value as long as possible (as long as the note tracks), and I also connect an expression pedal to the Max handle on the Pressure Modulator, to allow me to actually sweep the Pressure value with my foot. I have the MIDI Out Module in MG3 send Aftertouch data, and then on the SWAM Cello side, I map the critical “expression” value to Aftertouch data also.
In practice, this means I can start a note on the guitar with my expression pedal at heel position, and effectively “drive it harder” during the note by sweeping the pedal toward the toe, increasing the Pressure value, which comes out of SWAM Cello as a swell on the bow. It’s not perfect; I’m still limited by the actual duration of my guitar’s note (once the tracker can’t hear the note any more, it stops…inelegantly) and a few other editorial-compromise choices I made for me, but the important bit is that boy, does it make it possible to “play a cello” expressively by using a guitar and footpedal as the controller. (I use this setup for both SWAM strings and woodwinds, and have been really happy with it.)
Anyway, I don’t imagine you’d use a configuration like mine to do what you’re trying to do, but maybe the ideas might translate. If you find yourself wanting to “expand” the output range of your signals in the MG3 MIDI Out Module, remember those Modulators and their connectable handles–this commentariat has clued me in to a bunch of things like that.
I don’t have access to a cello yet–hopefully some day–but I’d love to hear how it works with the MG3 cello tracker in practice.
you do offer some thoughts and methods which are effective workarounds for guitars.
but mrmatthewkelly has defined a key issue for string players. if volume swells are not being captured by the mg3 cello tracker that is a serious limitation.
this feature would also provide a method to control mpe pressure which would be very desirable.
Hm, so is that what’s happening here then? Is it a known thing that MG3 trackers don’t capture Pressure on incoming volume swells? (I suppose I haven’t tested for that on the guitar side, running audio volume swells to see what that does…)