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  4. Question about "Polyphony" in VI Pro

  • Question about "Polyphony" in VI Pro

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    What does "Polyphony" mean in VI Pro?

    It probably does not mean what I think it means. By default, it is set to 128 - that's more notes than than even the longest keyboards can play. As a matter of fact, it's more semitones than almost everybody's hearing range. Besides, most instruments are actually monophonic.

    So, I decided to try and set it to 32 for all instruments - still way over the top, I would think, I mean, I never met anybody with more than ten fingers.... and I swear: I have not seen a "system overload" or "could not process all the required data in time" error since then, almost two weeks ago. I used to get those errors almost every day.

    My music sounds the same as it always did... well, better, actually: I used to hear the occasional click and pop on playback (in Logic), and they seem to have gone away, too.

    btw: I can see how some instruments with a long note decay, like Tubular Bells, Harp, Pianoand Vibraphone may occasionally require higher Polyphony, to avoid notes getting cut off while they ring out, but 128???
  • H
    H

     Hi Feenixx,

    even performing monophonic lines can trigger a lot of voices. That's why a higher polyphonic settings are needed.

    For example, velocity Xfade active triggers 4 already voices, release samples add another 4 voices, if you are using a patch where two samples are stacked mapped, another 4 voices. And if the notes do overlap you have to double this amount of voices.

    So 32 is a good value for monophonic performances.

    128 would be needed if you perform polyphonic chords and/or patches are stacked within the Vienna Instruments. Especially in VI PRO where you can stack 8 patches, I'd say a minimum of 128 voices would be required.

    best

    Herb
  • F
    F

    thank you, herb, I've made a note of all of this.