Virtual Instruments

[[vogue]angel]

i'm new to using the electronic keyboards ( all the while play old fashion piano)
i'm very curious bout the software tat keyboardist or DJ use like Virtual Instruments.

How does it work and what it does? i look at the website and i really dunno what they are trying to say

 

[SoNiCbRaT]

Try to download REMEDY (search online for synth, remedy) it's free and does simple synthesis. Virtual instruments also emulates real instruments (Vienna strings, Ivory Piano - all great realistic plug-ins)

Or try a demo of Reaktor 5. Basically the virtual "instruments" not only gives you synthesis but also effects processing and other stuff. It's really no point in telling what virtual instrument does. Best is you research online and find out more by trying = do your homework before asking. Best of luck!

 

[Cheez]

Virtual instruments basically refers to emulation of an instrument. There are a few ways to classify them:

1. The type of instruments:

• Acoustic (orchestral instruments, guitar etc)
• Non-acoustic (analog synths, digital keyboards etc).

2. The way the sound is produced:

• Sampling: the actual recording of the instrument. This can be extensive (every chromatic note with every possible articulations) or basic. Sampling not only applies to acoustic instruments; non-acoustic instruments can also be sampled (eg analog synths - the actual synth is recorded note by note). What sonicbrat mentioned (Vienna Instruments) is one of the most extensive and famous sampling libraries. Others include East West stuffs, and many all over the place. The key about sampling is REALISM since they record the actual instrument in detail (every note, multiple velocities, different articulations etc). Sampling can be further classified into:
  • Multisamples: each note of the instrument being sampled
  • Loops or phrase: of which a phrase of a few bars are sampled.
• Synthesis: can be in various forms. Basically, various technology including modeling can be used to make the instrument sound like what it should. Most common example is analog synths like Arturia (which emulates the Moog Modular, Minimoog, Prophet, Jupiter 8, CS80, ARP2600 etc). Because using various synthesis requires CPU power, these VIs can be very taxing on your PC's CPU. The key about synthesis instruments is LIVE PLAYING and TWEAKABILITY. This is not the limited tweaking in a sample (like filters and effects) but modeling and changing waveforms.
• Hybrid: this is becoming more and more common. It is a mix of both sampling and modeling technology, so you get the best of both worlds. Examples are Garritan's Stradivarius violin and Gofriller Cello, and Wallander's brass VIs.

3. The way they function:

• Plug-ins: Many VI's are plug-ins. This means you need something (software) to plug-it into. They can be VST plug-ins (which you'll need a VST host - which is basically any DAW software like Cubase or Sonar, or dedicated host like Steinberg's V-stack and Plogue's Bidule) or whatever (like RTAS for Protools, DX for Cakewalk etc). You load the VI into the host and play it. You can also load multiple VIs at the same time.
• Native samples. This require a sample host program like Kontakt, Gigastudio, Reaktor, EXS24, Samplecell, or whatever host samplers. Without these, the samples wouldn't work.
• Standalone: this is becoming the standard. More and more developers are coming up with their own standard engine. This means they don't need a host to play them. For example: Vienna used to be exclusively Gigastudio and EXS24. Then they decided to come up with their own engine. East West has been a long time supporter of Kontakt - but they have come up with their own PLAY engine. Even Garritan (who started off with Gigastudio, then expanded into Kontakt standalone), has announced his own ARIA engine. With their own engine, they can add their own programmability into their sounds. But the problem is the end-user. Too many separate engines loaded will increase the CPU/RAM usage as opposed to everything loaded into one engine.

How do we keyboardists use it? It all depends on the type of VI. Most would be plug-ins, and we would load them into a DAW software or host. If we have more than one VI, we will need to make sure our midi routing makes it easy for us to access each one separately or layered together. And at the same time, we will need to be conscious of the tax on the notebook/PC - we want maximum polyphony, low latency and no crashing.

Long answer - hope not too confusing...

 

[bangbangbang2000]

bang ! what a thread !!! ???

I know nuts about sampling ???

 

[SoNiCbRaT]

Cheez, serious man...

 

[[vogue]angel]

gee, thanks for your info, i din expect such a reply. there are pros in this forum that can help . ok. from wat i understand, u route the keyboard to ur pc or laptop, run the programme and u can play the sounds u 1.

before that, can u explain the racks for me? i see some keyboardist have triton racks.

 

[alshit]

racks are actually similar to the keyboard itself, for example, triton rack is basically just the triton without the keys but it produces similar sound as it contains the same sound engine. The way racks work would be just to attach a keyboard with midi out function and there you have a working triton. The concept behind it are probably to save space and for portability.

 

[Cheez]

The concept is straightforward. To produce sound, you'll need a sound generator - something that produces the sound. That sound can be generated from various sources. They can come from your keyboard itself - all your synths, digital pianos, workstations etc. They can also come from "racks" you mentioned (or what we usually call sound modules). They can also come from your notebook/PC - and this comes in various forms as discussed above (from plugin instruments etc, or even the lousy sound that comes from your build-in soundcard). For the keyboard, all routing is internal. You press a key, the sound comes out. The only connection you need is to the speakers (if they are not built in). For external sound generators (ie modules, PC/notebook, or even other keyboards), like what alshit said, you connect midi cables from your main keyboard (which will now be called a "master controller" - function what the name implies) to your sound generators. All external sound generators come with midi ports which you connect directly. All with the exception of the PC/notebook - which you'll need to get a midi interface. This usually comes as a USB midi interface or built into the external audio interface itself. Your master controller, via midi, will be able to "talk" to these external generators - press a key, and a sound is produced from these generators.

Which brings us to the next point - for PC/notebook, you'll definitely need an external audio interface. You should not use the build-in soundcard (which should be disabled). External audio interfaces come in various forms - USB, firewire and PCMCIA. PCs have the benefit of using PCI audio interfaces - my preference if using a PC.

 

[pf]

Power lah...Cheez! One day, we can compile a textbook on keyboarding from your contribution!

 

[[vogue]angel]

thanks cheez, let me figure and test all the things you have input to me first b4 i ask u more about other stuff. thanks