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Audiotracks- miditracks / VSTinstruments - VST plugins , cubase, little tutorial for those who need
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subconsciousmind
SCM
Started Topics :
37
Posts :
1033
Posted : Nov 10, 2003 21:08
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Hi
Somebody asked me via personal message what is the difference between audiotrack and miditrack, and between VSTinstruments and VSTeffects.
I decided to post it here, maybe it could be useful for others too.. (and the personal messages are resticted in lenght.)
Imagine an orchester. If you want the orchester to play you need to give them what?
Notes! Papers with notes on it.
If you want the orchester to sound, you just have to give it the right notes.
Thats exactely what MIDI is. Instead of your orchester you have now synthesizers. They can be INSIDE OR OUTSIDE of the computer.
If you have a MIDI-track it is nothing then NOTES. so it is uses only few memory, since is just NOTES. A MIDI track is just information of how a specific synthesizer has to be controled. Especially which notes it should play.
As well it is very flexible. Imagine again you orchester... if you find that the violin plays a part that better the horns should play, you just exchange the notes of the musicans, and they will do. same with MIDI tracks.. you can use any possible synthesizer and sound on a miditrack, and if you don't like it you can change it when ever you want.
Everytime when you play a miditrack on any device the music is NEWLY generated, just as the orchester would play the music every time again from new.
What then an AUDIO TRACK?
Imagine now that you had given your notes to the orchester. They play your song, and you want to record it. But you don't record just STEREO the whole Orchester. No, you put a microphone to every single musican. One for the Violinplayer, one for the pianist etc.
Then you record the signal from each musican on your computer and this recorded signal is an AUDIO TRACK. one AudioTrack for each musican.
You can not change it anymore. It's recorded. If you want to change the melody you have to tell the musican that they have to play again.
So:
MIDI TRACK: Abstract musical data, notes
AUDIO TRACK: Real recorded sounds like on a CD
Now whats VST?
VST means "Virtual Studio Technology"
VST plugins are additional soundprocessing or generating units to use with you VST compatible mainprogram.
Lets start with the VST- Instuments.
As mentioned before, if you have a miditrack it needs to control a synthesizer to get music. Which synthesizer?
You could control an external hardware synthesizer like virus or nordlead, but you can also control a so called "software synthesizer". This synthesizer only exists within the computer. It is in most of all cases a "VST- Instrument". For example VB-1, a bass synthesizer.
So you see a VST-Instument is your musican.
All you need is to make a miditrack to insert the notes you want your "musican", in this case bassist VB-1, to play.
To have the VB-1 at you choice you first have to open the instrument in the "VST-Instruments" window. Then you can choose it as an output for your miditrack.
Whats a VST-Effect?
An effect in this sense is not a signal generator but a unit that can add additional effects on a existing AUDIO signal.
This AUDIO signal can be:
-The output of a VST- Instrument
-An AUDIO track
I said before you can not change an audio signal anymore.. that was not perfectly true.. with a VST-effect you can ADD something to it. **
For example Delay, reverb, Flanger, Phaser, Filter etc.
VST-Instrument: AUDIO generating software
VST-Effect: AUDIO manipulating software
The plugins you just have to get and to put into your "VSTPlugins" directory or to install them, if an installer is provided. cubase will find them.
The problem with VSTplugins (instruments and efects) is that they use up your processing power.. so you have to be careful..
You can to safe CPU-power convert a miditrack that is controlling a VST instrument into a audiotrack. Like this you don't need the VST-instument anymore (the pianist can go home you have recorded him) but then you can not change the melody, synth or sound anymore. you can only add effects on it. (always keep your miditrack, notes)
So I hope this will be a help.
Best wishes
Raphi
**
(this part is technically developing extremely, so it changes everyday what you can do with you audiosignal, melodyne (not VST) can even change the melody of a audiosignal)
  Most of my music for you to download at:
http://www.subconsciousmind.ch |
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Trip-
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
101
Posts :
3239
Posted : Nov 11, 2003 19:02
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Great man. We'll just keep this one alive....
Crackling universes dive into their own neverending crackle...
AgalactiA |
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solipt1c
Soliptic
Started Topics :
9
Posts :
349
Posted : Nov 13, 2003 09:31
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