bitflipper

I love Sample Logic. Their products aren't clones of anybody else's stuff, and always high-quality. But sheesh, they need to get a grip on reality when it comes to pricing. As good as they are, these libraries are primarily ear candy, not the must-have bread 'n butter instruments that people are willing to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for.

I wouldn't worry about having the same sonic imprint on every track. It just doesn't have an identifiable character, being transparent like all FF products. That's what I like about them: they do exactly what you tell them to do, no more and no less.

And yeh, Q3 is the best place to start. I've got everything except the de-esser, but it's the EQ that gets plopped onto every track.

You're still West of the Netherlands, so the accolade remains geographically relevant.

I don't know how many times I've thought "Sul Ponticello would be just the ticket here!". Then I'd think "what the hell is Sul Ponticello, anyway? Larry, the advantage of JB over Friedlander appears to be that the former has this nifty "intuitive" mode that apparently inserts articulations automatically based on things like note length, overlap, and intervals.

The "Essential" version gives you half the articulations (but the most useful ones are still in there) for just 50 bucks. Granted, not everybody needs a solo violin, but I've found that subtly adding one atop a string ensemble really brings out the definition, regardless of the context. If I wasn't already covered for solo violin, I'd jump on this. The ones that I have aren't nearly as good, but I can't justify adding another one. To fight off the GAS, I had to take TUMS (Twice the Usual Modicum of Self control) for this one.

Go to Preferences (press "P"), then click Devices under the MIDI heading. This will list all MIDI input devices that Windows has reported to CbB as being available. If the synth isn't included in that list, that means Windows doesn't know about it. If it is on the list, check the box next to the device name to enable it within the DAW. At that point, it will appear in the dropdown list in the MIDI track and can be selected. You can verify that all's well with the routing by clicking the Record button, hitting some keys and seeing that some MIDI notes have been recorded. If nothing's recorded, the next step is to figure out what's impeding MIDI data (make sure the MIDI channel is set to Omni). If MIDI notes do show up in the track, then you're in good shape. If your issue is that you don't hear the instrument while recording, that means you don't have Input Echo turned on. There's a button in the MIDI track header for that. If MIDI is recorded but you don't hear anything when you play it back, it's probably because the Yamaha's MIDI Out device has not been enabled. Try inserting the TTS-1 and routing the MIDI to that - you should hear sound then.

That was most enjoyable, Kenny. Impressive guitar chops! Love that you don't fall into the common trap of burying a nice tone under excessive fx. If I was mixing it, I'd try brightening/fattening the kick and snare a bit as they get a little lost here and there and don't contribute as much punch as they could. The drum programming is quite good. I'm especially impressed that it was played on a keyboard by a non-keyboardist. And very appreciative that you avoided my biggest peeve regarding sampled drums: the sin of tedious repetition. But given that the featured element is the back-and-forth guitars, giving the back seat to percussion is a very minor nit.

Cosmos is useful for fattening bass and kick. Worth $19.

I don't remember if I asked you this last time, but given how great these speakers are, what on earth did you upgrade to? And did you have to take out a second mortgage to pay for them?

The problem is that no standards exist for keyswitch mapping, even across products from the same vendor. The best you could hope for is a method for creating a starting point that you'd then have to complete by hand. Imagine a kind of "MIDI Learn" feature where you'd simply press every assigned keyswitch and that would generate an entry in an articulation map. There'd be no way for the software to know what those keyswitches do, but you'd at least start out with a list (with the correct octave numbers - no more figuring out if it's C0 or C1). Like MIDI Learn, this could be generated from playback if you wanted to map only those keyswitches that are used in a particular song. Another idea: a translation table similar to drum maps, where articulations from one instrument could be remapped to another. For example, you've created a project using an entry-level string library but now you've saved up your pennies for a high-end symphonic collection. A translation table or MIDI plugin could allow easy substitution of another library. Caveat: I have only begun to start using articulation maps, so I wouldn't be surprised if these things are already possible.

I wouldn't expect mismatched sample rates to completely prevent playback. More likely is it would play back but at the wrong speed. I have a Saffire, too, and noticed something peculiar recently. I normally work at 44.1, but after working on a 96K project I noticed that now the interface always defaults to 96 KHz. Previously, it would default to 48K. That hasn't actually been a problem, though, as it does obey Cakewalk's request to switch to 44.1 when I'm in the DAW. This is relevant to this topic only insofar as the interface has no problem switching sample rates on command. I'm not sure about this, but it may be that I/O device assignments are per-project rather than global. If that's the case, perhaps the cure is to go into Preferences and make sure the new interface is designated for those old projects. [EDIT] I just tried an experiment that yielded unexpected results. With the interface at 96 KHz, I pulled up WMP and played something. Then I closed WMP and set the interface SR to 44.1 via the MixControl app. WMP then failed with "can't find an audio device". Same thing for 48 KHz. But after setting it back to 96 KHz WMP was happy. Neither the file format nor its sample rate mattered (MP3, WMA, FLAC, WAV). When the SR was anything other than 96 KHz it was as if the interface wasn't even there. YouTube acted the same way, except it didn't show an error message; just wouldn't play.

Drums of War 2 for $74! Best taiko collection around, I think.

We're apparently talking about different things. I'm sure if you suggested an experiment that demonstrates samples loading on an archived track, that would clear up the misunderstanding.

As noted above, this is how all synths work. MIDI volume and pan instructions are just part of the data stream and directed to whatever channel you've designated. (Yes, multi-timbral synths such as the TTS-1 would be exceptions, as they can act as multiple synths on multiple MIDI channels. But in your scenario that would be an overly complicated way to get it done.) If none of these tracks play concurrently, meaning each one is truly a different part of the melody with little or no overlap, then all you have to do is automate volume and pan. It doesn't matter which track you put the automation on. You could even put the automation onto its own track if you like.

How can it do that if the instrument itself isn't loaded into RAM? Who's doing the loading?

This is why I advocate for deeply learning whatever tools you have rather than jumping on every shiny new product that comes along. That goes for the most mundane effects as well as complex synths and sample libraries, not just to uncover their quirks but also for the joy of discovering capabilities you didn't know were in there. This has made me wonder why no developer has ever utilized keyswitch velocity to bundle in additional information. For example, a keyswitch that triggers a note bend articulation could use its velocity to indicate the bend depth or rate. AFAIK, nobody has ever done that.

Archive the track. That's specifically what it's for.

I just tested this with Kontakt, and it didn't care if the keyswitch's velocity was 0 or not. I'm guessing the issue is specific to VSL and possibly some other synths as well. I recall that with some older hardware synths, a velocity of zero was interpreted as a muted note or a note-off message. Maybe this should be reported to VSL as a possible bug, or maybe it's intentional to give you a way to non-destructively bypass keyswitches.

Articulation maps have inspired me to start using Kirk Hunter Concert Strings again. The sheer number (literally hundreds) of keyswitches in that library could turn a fun process into drudgery, especially when displaying multiple sections at once in the PRV. It'd end up looking like spaghetti, with viola switches intermingled with cello notes and bass keyswitches mixed up with violin notes. BTW, I don't complain about Italian terminology. At least it's more or less phonetic. Musicologists could have settled on French or Russian instead! Still doesn't explain why I have to order a plain old cup of drip coffee as if I was a tourist in Italy.

Wait, he's Chris Rock's kid?

Depends. If you already have the compressor dialed in perfectly and don't want to mess with it anymore, use its output volume slider. Otherwise, turn down the bus input gain.

I'd set the 0dB/-10dB switch to 0dB unless you're using the mic on a particularly loud source, such as 1" from a guitar cabinet or inside a bass drum. The switch with a line icon is for engaging a high-pass filter. Use the filter (choose the non-flat-line setting) for most things, especially vocals.

Yeh, I'm still a Spectrasonics fan boy. I just checked my most recently worked-on project, and although Kontakt remains king here, Spectrasonics is all over it. No Trilian on this one, though. For this one I used Orange Tree's Jaco. Here's the VI list: Omnisphere x 5 Keyscape Kontakt x 9 Zebra2 x 4 Superior Drummer IKM Hammond B-3X SWAM Alto Sax Why so many instruments? Half of these fall under the category of "ear candy", decorations that only happen once or twice in the song. Omnisphere is great for that. I use separate instances so that I can freeze as I go. It's mainly a piano piece, so of course Keyscape's Steinway is the centerpiece.

I love a mystery, but by this point I'd have just chalked it up to "I guess I'll never know" and moved on. I commend your tenacity, but maybe there are greater mysteries deserving of your attention. Like what, exactly, is Kid Rock's talent?