I work with the EWQL and VSL orchestral libraries a lot and I like how VSL’s VI player can use MIDI CC messages to change articulations since I can just insert a C0XXYY MIDI command near a note. On the other hand, EWQL’s PLAY can only change articulations using keyswitches, forcing me to either (a)create a separate track to hold these keyswitches or (b)create another note column (via shift key during input) – both of which can start cluttering the pattern as the project grows in track count.
How about a new MIDI command that could trigger notes? Something like C4XXYY where XX can be the key to trigger and YY will be the note velocity? Or, since note velocity isn’t critical to keyswitching, have XX be an octave (A-1, C0, C1, etc.) and YY be a note range from 00 - 0B.
I currently also work a lot with these plugins. For me it is not really a problem to add a note-column or use a separate track to change the articulations. I also looked up how this is done in other hosts, but in there also notes are simply triggered. Your suggestion first seems more ackward than usefull because you need to know the notevalue in that case (would be from 00 to 7F). With a midi keyboard you have the note much quicker recorded and if you have to fill in the velocity anyway, you can simply still adjust it in the velocity column, so what makes this method faster?
This idea came to me when I was working on my laptop away from my studio (and thus away from my MIDI keyboard). As I was inputting notes manually, it was a little cumbersome having to shift octaves back and forth, keyswitches typically being more than a few octaves down (C0, C1, etc.). I suppose this could help someone who works entirely with a computer keyboard instead of a MIDI keyboard? For me, though, this was mostly about keeping tracks and note columns to a minimum, but I think I can learn to live with it.