Latest Thoughts on Music Software?

Douglas Spotted Eagle · January 29th, 2004, 11:52 AM

I've got both....Running Vegas on a system with Sonar and Cubase, and Nuendo loaded, plus much other software. Avid DV Express on there too. I regularly run Sonar and Vegas locked up using a VMR, (virtual midi router) and it works well.
However...in depth mixes with lots of effects can jam the system and drop frames occasionally. Even with a UAD1, I still occasionally drop some frames due to heavy effects. So yes, it can be one system, but beware there may be problems.

Barry Rivadue · January 29th, 2004, 12:40 PM

Yes, so I thought, given the surfeit of complex multi-tasking all around. VMRs, eh?

Barry Rivadue · January 29th, 2004, 07:49 PM

(After semi-exhaustive further research)

I'll admit >everything< looks good, and all suggestions have been followed up on. At this point though I'm particularly interested in Cakewalk Home Studio 2004 (or XL) as a point of entry. I am also very much intrigued by the latest Propellerhead Reason, which, if you will, might be the "Vegas" of music software with its uniquely retooled program. I need to study the nature of this further though, until it's dead familiar.

Matt Gettemeier · January 29th, 2004, 11:36 PM

If you haven't tried ANY music software yet and you just want to get your feet wet. You can get Acid Techno 3.0 (or similar) at Guitar Center (or similar) for $20.

You'll be surprised at what you can do with even the most basic Acid program.

Acid is nursery school compared to the others, but you can experiment and learn in a matter of minutes... with no experience at all.

Douglas Spotted Eagle · January 29th, 2004, 11:46 PM

Actually, you can get Express (or whatever it's called now) for free from the mediasoftware site at Sony.
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co.../freestuff.asp
gets you to the free version. 10 tracks, but that's quite a bit...

Barry Rivadue · January 31st, 2004, 12:34 PM

Thanks...alot of interesting things to explore.

Rob Lohman · February 3rd, 2004, 02:31 PM

A question for you Spot. Isn't this eating memory like breakfast?
Those virtual samplers? I mean, if I load up one of the Grand
Pianos that comes on a 500 MB sample CD (high quality) isn't
it loading 500 MB in my memory for just that instrument? The
discs mentioned in this thread probably have a whole orchestra
in the same amount of space, but the high quality discs are using
that much (or more) PER instrument!

Any thoughts on that? Or is one sampler soft better in managing
memory than others?

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 3rd, 2004, 03:24 PM

If you used a library that is that large, yes. But even a 500 meg sample piano such as the Grail doesn't load up all samples at once. Even if it did, you'd not be accessing all that memory all the time. I don't worry too much about it only because my laptop has a gig of memory and my desktops have at least 4 gig in each one.
I run the Grail a lot, and have never hit an out of mem yet.

Loops on the other hand use very little memory, because it's just repetitive allocations of the same sample. Largest loop I've ever come across is around 16 meg. Most are about 1 meg or less, at 44.1 or 48K sample rates.

Rob Lohman · February 3rd, 2004, 03:46 PM

So which virtual sampler soft is your favorite? In particular with
something like the Grail?

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 3rd, 2004, 08:48 PM

Vsampler
Opens EVERYTHING. And MUCH more stable than the crap Gigasampler that gets so much attention. I've got that too.
www.vsampler.com

Barry Rivadue · February 3rd, 2004, 10:33 PM

How specifically do you apply Vsampler? What kind of projects?

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 3rd, 2004, 11:55 PM

Most any kind of project. Vsampler is applied via MIDI, and can contain samples, loops, oneshots. I've used it on things like Samurai, Hidalgo, tomb Raider II and just about every broadcast spot I've done.

Rob Lohman · February 4th, 2004, 03:56 AM

That sounds terrific Douglas and it isn't expensive with a demo
available. Thanks for the information!

January 29th, 2004, 11:52 AM	#16
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	I've got both....Running Vegas on a system with Sonar and Cubase, and Nuendo loaded, plus much other software. Avid DV Express on there too. I regularly run Sonar and Vegas locked up using a VMR, (virtual midi router) and it works well. However...in depth mixes with lots of effects can jam the system and drop frames occasionally. Even with a UAD1, I still occasionally drop some frames due to heavy effects. So yes, it can be one system, but beware there may be problems. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

January 29th, 2004, 11:46 PM	#20
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Actually, you can get Express (or whatever it's called now) for free from the mediasoftware site at Sony. http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co.../freestuff.asp gets you to the free version. 10 tracks, but that's quite a bit... __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

February 3rd, 2004, 02:31 PM	#22
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	A question for you Spot. Isn't this eating memory like breakfast? Those virtual samplers? I mean, if I load up one of the Grand Pianos that comes on a 500 MB sample CD (high quality) isn't it loading 500 MB in my memory for just that instrument? The discs mentioned in this thread probably have a whole orchestra in the same amount of space, but the high quality discs are using that much (or more) PER instrument! Any thoughts on that? Or is one sampler soft better in managing memory than others? __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 3rd, 2004, 03:24 PM	#23
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	If you used a library that is that large, yes. But even a 500 meg sample piano such as the Grail doesn't load up all samples at once. Even if it did, you'd not be accessing all that memory all the time. I don't worry too much about it only because my laptop has a gig of memory and my desktops have at least 4 gig in each one. I run the Grail a lot, and have never hit an out of mem yet. Loops on the other hand use very little memory, because it's just repetitive allocations of the same sample. Largest loop I've ever come across is around 16 meg. Most are about 1 meg or less, at 44.1 or 48K sample rates. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

February 3rd, 2004, 03:46 PM	#24
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	So which virtual sampler soft is your favorite? In particular with something like the Grail? __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

January 29th, 2004, 12:40 PM	#17
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	Yes, so I thought, given the surfeit of complex multi-tasking all around. VMRs, eh?

January 29th, 2004, 07:49 PM	#18
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	(After semi-exhaustive further research) I'll admit >everything< looks good, and all suggestions have been followed up on. At this point though I'm particularly interested in Cakewalk Home Studio 2004 (or XL) as a point of entry. I am also very much intrigued by the latest Propellerhead Reason, which, if you will, might be the "Vegas" of music software with its uniquely retooled program. I need to study the nature of this further though, until it's dead familiar.

January 29th, 2004, 11:36 PM	#19
Matt Gettemeier Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: St. Louis, Missouri Posts: 936	If you haven't tried ANY music software yet and you just want to get your feet wet. You can get Acid Techno 3.0 (or similar) at Guitar Center (or similar) for $20. You'll be surprised at what you can do with even the most basic Acid program. Acid is nursery school compared to the others, but you can experiment and learn in a matter of minutes... with no experience at all.

January 31st, 2004, 12:34 PM	#21
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	Thanks...alot of interesting things to explore.

February 3rd, 2004, 08:48 PM	#25
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Vsampler Opens EVERYTHING. And MUCH more stable than the crap Gigasampler that gets so much attention. I've got that too. www.vsampler.com __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

February 3rd, 2004, 10:33 PM	#26
Barry Rivadue Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 508	How specifically do you apply Vsampler? What kind of projects?

February 3rd, 2004, 11:55 PM	#27
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Most any kind of project. Vsampler is applied via MIDI, and can contain samples, loops, oneshots. I've used it on things like Samurai, Hidalgo, tomb Raider II and just about every broadcast spot I've done. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

February 4th, 2004, 03:56 AM	#28
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	That sounds terrific Douglas and it isn't expensive with a demo available. Thanks for the information! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors