Hi there, I just registered after speaking with ..Alex (?) in the office in Vienna. I am an English guy living in Vienna with a 1Ghz MacG4 , with the maximum 1Gb RAM, and a dual 2Ghz G5 with only 512 Mb of RAM coming soon, a 500Gb external hard drive and a 002 Rack from Digidesign with ProTools LE. My knowledge is surprisingly patchy.. I understand now that I will need a virtual instrument to play the samples.. like an Akai S-1000 or similar. But Alex says I must find out which is best for ProTools, my digital recorder. I really don't know.. I'm spending christmas learning ProTools, but would probably change ProTools rather than limit my choice of sample library. Got any advice?
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What sample player for Protools LE and a Big Mac???
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Hello,
If you are running Mac’s you could get Logic as your sampler and run it on one machine and slave it to your ProTools machine, which many people are doing.) You could also run Logic on one Mac – the dual 2Ghz G5– and get as much ram as possible, perhaps 2 gigs, and run the machine as a stand alone system. (If you were interested in this path I would take a look at the EXSmkII part of this forum.)
As for ProTools, it is a great system that has a lot to offer and it has a large user base with an outstanding professional record. That said, I would play around with the midi editing capabilities and see how they feel to you. Midi editing and the recording of the midi tracks one creates in VSL, is fundamental to any work flow, thus it is important that you find something that feels right to you. (I would suggest this for any sequencer.)
You can slave any sampler you like to your sequencer – I have a PC with Windows 2000 and GigaStudio 2.5 as my external sampler, with three 120gig hard drives hanging off of it. VSL has introduced support for Kompact and Halion, in addition to the existent supported formats EXSmkII and GigaStudio. I mention this since you didn’t say that you have one or another VSL product and as such, perhaps you are still weighing the pros and cons of various formats for your setup.
All this depends on what you have used in the past and what you’d like to use in the future. This equation will sum the total of your past experiences with your future desires and put you on the path we are all on; more power, more space, more samples!
I hope this helps.
Jordan [:)]
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.. I will need a little time to get everything in perspective, but I think you have really answered my immediate question. I will look into getting the system all working in the Dual 2.0Ghz G5, and maybe leave the powerBook free for other things. I haven't chosen the VSL product yet, so the format I choose will depend on other factors.. But I can get up to 8Gb RAM in the G5 (expensive but possible) and for now, thanks to your answer, I can keep learning ProTools. (P.S. or do I use Logic as the sequencer too, if I opt for the stand alone G5 system??) My history is one of analogue tape 24 track recording 15 years ago as engineer and some-time producer, and playing keyboards. One thing I must check out is the playability of the samples. I don't really want to get into performance editing of the lines I will play.. I have the skill to put expression into a performance with pitch bend rather than modulation wheel, and I can play lead synth like George Duke or Jan Hammer. Having said that, Alex in the VSL office said something about it not being straight forward to use the pitch bend wheel on a controler with the samples.. I don't know what he meant exactly, but I would like to be able to vary the speed of my vibrato and the like within the performance prior to any editing. Listening to the demos, I find the ilusion shattered by the mechanical sounding vibrato.I will go to a workshop of his to find out about this. But thanks again.. I will carry on learning ProTools for now. Appreciatively, Meyrick .
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Welcome, Meyrick
@Meyrick said:
[...] Listening to the demos, I find the ilusion shattered by the mechanical sounding vibrato. [...]
Hm - I can't really follow, as every vibrato you get with our Libary is actually _played_ by the musician, not synthesized like the ones you would typically find used with old-school samples (... S1000-like [;)] ...)
/Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Libary
/Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library -
If you were to use a single (Mac) computer you could use Logic as your sequencer and sampler, since Logic comes with a sampler (the EXSmkII.) Hence, with Logic you have an all in one option. If you are happy with the feel of ProTools (as you mentioned that you are now learning it) for sequencing, that is great, however, you cannot – as far as I know – play the samples in ProTools. If you wanted to use ProTools as a part of your set-up you would slave another computer with a sampler and since you are using Mac, you could go with Logic, which would enable you to access the sampler that comes with Logic-EXSmkII. Thus, ProTools is not an essential link in the chain, in the aforementioned instance, Logic, more specifically the EXSmkII sampler, is; this would also be the case if you used GigaStudio as your stand-alone sampler, not unlike your Akai set-up.
That said, I highly recommend you test-drive the VSL before you buy. It sounds to me like you want something more synthesized. There is more programming necessary in the VSL – which is why I love this library so much, as I get to really pull expression out of a musical idea. However, the result is a more involved library. I have used several midi track to program an Overdrive guitar solo, which took time, however, the result is emphatically better than anything I have heard. That said, the sound of an instrument is often exciting unto and itself and its timber may be utilized brilliantly in a more synthesized fashion, as well I can understand how important the immediate playability of something is. You can certainly utilize keyswitching (in GigaStudio) and create bigger instruments (in Logic) that can trigger the elements you want for a given phrase, however you cannot use the pitch wheel or mod wheel to control the vibrato (note:certain patches allow you to control dynamics or other playing elements with the mod wheel). Such control of the vibrato would involve synthesis and that is avoided with the VSL – which is why it is so huge.
I hope this give you a bit more of a picture of things. I would recommend you find a dealer who has a demo version of VSL you could try. Or, if you do get a sampler, the demo DVD offered by VSL is a great, cheap, way to further your understanding of the VSL without having to spend very much money – I think the demo is $5 or $10.
All the best
Jordan
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I have just now looked at and listened to all the demo videos in the user area.. They are great. I have to decide on a sampler to run on the Mac.. And then on the Elements of the VSL that I can afford! At the moment mine is an artistic endeavor, and I have a limited budget. You've been a great help. To clarify; I got good at playing lead synth like a lead guitar and, for example, can mimic the "target note" slide with a ribon controler or pitch wheel, and then use the same to give a played vibrato (NOT LFO modulation). Unless mistaken, the vibrato is pretty well set for an instrument in the VSL, although you can use different ones, and probably switch between them (I don't Know), it would suit me if, for a solo violin, I could play the vibrato myself. I write music with a lot of rabato, and this would be reflected in a change of tempo of the vibrato.. But, hey, I'm totally sold on the VSL now anyway, so my choices are between what supporting software products there are. So thanks again for your advice! I hope I will be able to give something back to the forum soon. Meyrick .
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I did; and at the time I had heard most of the demos without video attached which include solo strings and Opus and a few others.. I know the vibrato is played, but in one or two pieces, the fact that it is played so perfectly notices a little. If vibrato is not supposed to be "mechanical", then it is played to fit with the piece, and if that is done, then the VSL might have a difficult task in getting the right vibrato for every moment. Having said that, I must say that I am more than impressed by what I have seen and heard (especially the video presentation). I will undoubtedly buy at least Opus and one or two of the Horizon Series and the performance tool (Is that included with something? I haven't found it yet). But first I will have to find out what is in the different packages and what I can afford.. there seem to be great reductions for subsequent buys after an initial purchase.
All the best, meyrick .
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I see what he is saying. Meaning that the vibrato is the same from note to note. Whereas in a real performance vibrato is altered depending on the phrase and on any repetition to give it sophistication. Something sampled vibrato cannot offer (AS YET).
Before I ask VSL to sample 4 different speeds of vibrato, I'd rather they gave us longer destination notes on the performance legato instruments, and a full set of muted brass including legatos. Oh, and also 7 to 10 alternate notes for the staccato presets, so that they coul dbe assigned to an alternation tool for repetitions that flow with the tempo automatically, and instantaneously.
Evan Evans
