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  4. Multichannel?

  • Multichannel?

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    Is the VI AU multichannel? Or do I load up an "instance" for every instrument I will be using? I don't seem to see where one would assign sounds to different MIDI channels.
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    >Is the VI AU multichannel?

    No, it operates in MIDI 'omni mode', i.e. responding to all 16 MIDI channels simultaneously.

    >do I load up an "instance" for every instrument I will be using?

    That's the idea, then use switching to access different articulations. But of course you can also perform an actual instrument change within one instance if the score allowed it, e.g. a bassoon could be switched to a bass clarinet for 16 bars and then back again. Probably not a practical option most of the time, but it's nice to know it's there.
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    @Another User said:


    > do I load up an "instance" for every instrument I will be using?
    That's the idea, then use switching to access different articulations. But of course you can also perform an actual instrument change within one instance if the score allowed it, e.g. a bassoon could be switched to a bass clarinet for 16 bars and then back again. Probably not a practical option most of the time, but it's nice to know it's there.
    Yes. But Sibelius 5.0, which is what I use, handles this automatically. If you teach it where your sounds are, then in the score if it needs a change from Basson to Bass Clarinet on the same staff, it will simply redirect the new notes to the Bass Clarinet sound you have on another AU.

    Hard to think of a situation where one would need to switch instruments via key switching. Like where it demanded it. I can't think of a logical instance. But as you say, nice to know it's possible.

    That said, do you know if VI responds to Program Changes (MSB/LSB)? For instance, to load underlying files on the fly?
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    According to Herb, you can use program changes (as well as keyswitches) for Matrix switching, but program changes don't work for patch switching.

    >Hard to think of a situation where one would need to switch instruments via key switching.

    I was thinking of a situation in which the number of VI instances was causing CPU strain - if two (or more) instruments in the score never played at the same time, you could load them all into one instance and switch between them.
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    @Conquer said:

    I was thinking of a situation in which the number of VI instances was causing CPU strain
    Yeah I considered that, but that would never happen. VI instances take up such little CPU. I dismissed that seemingly only logical reason, instantly. But I could be wrong, maybe someone is out there running a VI setup that doesn't require simultaneous playback of many instruments (and thus can do this idea), on an OOOOOLD computer. Some cutting edge guy (who buys VSL) with old equipment (cause he's so lame). Hmm. I don't think so. [;)]
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    @Another User said:

    No, it operates in MIDI 'omni mode', i.e. responding to all 16 MIDI channels simultaneously.


    I think Conquer meant to say that the VI Standalone operates in Omni mode. The AU respomds only on the channel where it has been instantiated. It is thus not multi-channel. One possible use of multiple instruments on the same channel is a staff where the player alternates between flute and piccolo.

    To use VI with Sibelius 5, it might be a good idea to set up and save some matrices that have a uniform pattern so that different patches would be in the same place. (e.g. 1A = legato, 2A = staccato, etc.]
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    @Another User said:

    To use VI with Sibelius 5, it might be a good idea to set up and save some matrices that have a uniform pattern so that different patches would be in the same place. (e.g. 1A = legato, 2A = staccato, etc.]
    Already done, my brotha! Got almost 2 minutes of music finished for this movie I am working on, running strictly in Sibelius.
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    >The AU responds only on the channel where it has been instantiated.

    Thanks for that stevesong - I know what you mean, though I would have put it slightly differently. One instantiates the VI on a sequencer track, and that track (in Logic anyway, if you set the track's MIDI channel to 'all') can transmit data originated on different MIDI channels. The VI will play them all regardless.

    >it's just as easy to load up another AU with a piccolo on it.

    Good point Evan, and also it's more musically logical to keep instruments separate. I guess in a perc part one might want to quickly switch from a shaker to a Waldteufel or something . . . I was just pleased to discover that the switching is 100% flexible, so any patch in the library (all 150 gazillion of them) can be accessed inside one VI. Glad to hear you're enjoying the VI.