skin: 1 2 3 4 |  Login | Join Dancetech |

dancetech articles

29-Mar-2024

Info-line:   [synths]    [sampler]    [drumbox]    [effects]    [mixers]     [mics]     [monitors]    [pc-h/ware]    [pc-s/ware]    [plugins]    -    [links]    [tips]


VST32 - review - Track-Info


Ask a question about this subject?

Post a question direct to our forums and get mailed when a reply is added!

There are 0  viewer comments posted to this page - Read

Add a comment

Author: admin
Date: 15-Oct-00


VST V.5 - new features


Here comes VST32 or VST Version_5 - you know what?.. i really like it, vst with the right hardware is more solid & stable now than it's ever been, both in operation on the PC & in it's interface graphic (fx excepted, they are still 'fuzzy' graphic's-wise) - As you will see, the redesign seems to have used lots of little subtle layout idea bits from other popular s/w's like Logic & even Fruity-Loops !!.. yup...



here's the main screen for V5 VST, as you can see the whole programme arrange area & track-headers have taken on a 'Logic-like' steely blue-grey quality. Tracks depress when selected, and generally all VST's 'bits' in the outer shell seem clean & crisper like the new Logic 4.5













VST V.5 - new features - Track-Info/Part-Info panel

There's a newly designed track info side panel now which add's a few new settings, and whilst as I said the new layout/facilities is Logic-esque, i failed to find the equivalent to Logics excellent 'Loop' feature. On the redesigned panel there are a few new additions and a some twists to the old layout... You've got track Title, channel, volume, patch & bank select transpose, midi port select, pan etc... There are some nice touches, when you go to grab the parameter box for Volume, a little fader appears under the mouse to quickly set a level, i liked that, also a fader appears for Pan ! .... & they latch, so you dont have to hold-down & drag, just click, drag and click to set... In all these boxes you can also double-click and type a setting too by the way and the ones without faders or a special display also scroll Up/Down with Left/Right mouse as usual.... I tried to do a 'Print-Screen' screen grab to show you these little touches, but weirdly it wont grab these adjusters when they pop-up & are in use but it will with all the pop-up lists...

Ok, when you go and click on TRANSPOSE, just like Fruity-Loops, a little piano-keyboard appears and you run the mouse up and down the keys and select a new transpose note the keys go deep red as you run the mouse over the little keyboard so as you know which note you are selecting, I'm sure they nicked that layout idea from Fruity-Loops it is just so similar... and also that is where Fruity-Loops rules in it's ease to manipulate controls, ALL the other sequencer manufacturers should take a leaf out of that guys book cos Fruity has got it 'graphic-interface' wise & IF Fruity-Loops even integrates quality midi sequencing tracks with it's own twist, it'll be serious competition to the likes of Logic & VST... Conversely, if Fruity ever gets itself 'Rewired' it's going to be massive creatively.



Ok, as usual the track Arrange area has the little 'Lower-left' button/arrow icon which when clicked opens up the left-side 'Track-Info/Part-Info' Panel section.... Here I feel Steinberg have pushed towards Logic's idea of having more immediatly available adjustment parameters at the actual track headers on the main page/screen where most of the arranging work takes place...

You can see in this image above of the panel it has amongst other changes an extended section that opens it out wider to the right.... This section has at the top a selector with the legend 'Multi-Out' ... Ok, this when clicked reveals as a default the legend: add out. -- Click it, and it creates a saved copy of the current side-panel settings which then becomes selectable in the little selector on the top-left of the panel which defaults to read midi 1 - - OK, you can setup different immediatly switchable setups for each track with this feature which might come in useful to you.

Ok, underneath the 'Multi-Out' selector you can see: 'Rndm Min Max' & 'Dyn. Min Max'... here you can select and setup midi parameters for stuff like volume, filters, controller data etc, like they are two midi filters where you can set min & max values.

Ok... Look back at the left-side of the 'Track-Info' Panel & there is also a selector titled 'Instrument', (where you select & setup parameters & the midi maps & patchlists etc for your instruments) - with no 'Instruments setup the selection on the side panel resorts to displaying 'Setup Instrument' when you click it... choose 'yes', and this panel appears...


Instrument



Ok, the panel appears.... You can name it, name an extended name, then assign a patchname source... This loads up any available script file saved in your VST folder Scripts/patchnames..... (there are loads of preset scripts included for popular instruments & this provides a quick source to load-up patchnames for selection on the side-panel when composing). -- Besides selecting patch-name scripts here, you can also select a VST/Cubase 'Studio Module', (which you have to pre-load first in the usual way before they are selectable here)....

So... if you load up say a script for 'XG yamaha' into the 'Patchname Source', then in the lower box (Patchname Device) there appears a choice of XG & GS instruments & drums etc. Load/select that, and the script's Bank/Patchname's appear in the Patchname selector on the 'Track-Info' Panel..... By the way, the 'redirect' button opens a little panel that allows you to redirect that 'instrument' to a different midi OUT port & channel.

But there seems to be a bug, not that it doesn't work, but it doesn't seem logical to me & cannot be correct....

You can setup & stack instrument scripts in the 'Setup Instruments', 'Patchname Device' panel fine, and yet, in the actual Track-Info panel 'Instrument' selector WHERE YOU NEED TO SELECT YOUR INSTRUMENTS/scripts you can select ONLY the NAME from the 'Setup Instruments' panel, yet you can only create ONE name in 'Setup Instruments' !!??.. huh?...

So you CANNOT load instrument scripts into the 'Setup Instruments' panel & title each one with a different NAME then select from the Instrument-names quickly as you setup each track in the Instrument selector on the Track-Info panel !!! -- it is looney !!.... you have to select 'setup instrument', then select the Instrument/script in 'Patchname device' BUT YOU CAN'T give it a UNIQUE name... anyways it means selecting Instrument patchlists cant be achieved by just selecting at the track header quickly... it seems to just allow one name per INSTRUMENT/per track which some might argue is fair enuff, cos it might be argued you want one name for an instrument on a track, and then select a script and assign that Instrument Name to that patchlist.. but to me that just means you gotta set it up per track instead of being able to quickly select a track AND AT THE TRACK INFO-PANEL set the selected script;/patchlist from there - It's a bit of a weird & crazy slip-up, cos it forces you to illogically mess with two lists in a hierarchy BUT the upper one of which can't have a bigger amount than ONE entry... VERY confusing.. probably that's on a bug-fix list, but it caught me out!...

I haven't found any automated place to create a script so far, but they are pretty straightforward, and as they are saved/loaded as ordinary .txt files you can quickly knock one up for your synth - - here's some of the nord lead script ....

[cubase parse file]
[parser version 0001]

[creators first name]Steinberg Soft- und Hard GmbH
[creators last name]Steinberg Soft- und Hard GmbH
[device manufacturer]KORG
[device name]Wavestation SR
[script name]Korg Wavestation SR
[script version]version 1.00


[define patchnames]

[mode] Performances
[g1] Performances 1
[p2, 0, -1, 0] Ski Jam
[p2, 1, -1, 0] Entropy
[p2, 2, -1, 0] Pinger
[p2, 3, -1, 0] Reswacker
[p2, 4, -1, 0] LeadRockGuitar
[p2, 5, -1, 0] Softwaves
[p2, 6, -1, 0] Cascade Falls
[p2, 7, -1, 0] Blow The Bottle
[p2, 8, -1, 0] Magic Guitar
[p2, 9, -1, 0] Will I Dream?
[p2, 10, -1, 0] Fire Dance
[p2, 11, -1, 0] AnalogLoveThang
[p2, 12, -1, 0] Panned Waves
[p2, 13, -1, 0] Super Res
[p2, 14, -1, 0] Ballerina Bells
[p2, 15, -1, 0] Soft Analog
[p2, 16, -1, 0] Mod Wheel Air
[p2, 17, -1, 0] Bowed Strings
[p2, 18, -1, 0] Pluckrimba
[p2, 19, -1, 0] Vector Guitar
[p2, 20, -1, 0] Midnight Run
[p2, 21, -1, 0] African Sunset
[p2, 22, -1, 0] Harmonic Motion
[p2, 23, -1, 0] Air Chorus&Bell
[p2, 24, -1, 0] SunGlasses Kid
[g1] Performances 2
[p2, 25, -1, 0] Stabby Horns
[p2, 26, -1, 0] Soft EP w/Tine
[p2, 27, -1, 0] Artificial Strg
[p2, 28, -1, 0] The Pied Piper
[p2, 29, -1, 0] Vox Concrete
[p2, 30, -1, 0] Snake Charmer













VST32 V5 NEW FEATURES/OVERVIEW - page list


















COMMENTS FOR:

'VST32 - review - Track-Info'


There are a total:  0  comments posted to this page.


NO COMMENTS POSTED FOR THIS ARTICLE





Add your comments here for the article:

'VST32 - review - Track-Info'

Your Name * required field!

Your Email * required field! (will not be displayed)

Your Website Link? *optional

Comments - NO weblinks allowed in this feild!

My user type is:    * required field!

Professional   Part Time   Hobbyist




Rate this article out of five:   * optional

   5 - TOTALY AWESOME POWER !!!!!...

   4 - TOTALY 'AUSTIN POWERS' !!!!....

   3 - HOT HATCHBACK POWER !!!.....

   2 - PIZZA-MOPED POWER !!......

   1 - HAMSTER/TRUNDLE-WHEEL POWER !.......

Are you a spam-bot?
Please copy the displayed number into the box to post:

277137  


     

Note: To cut down on spammers, cookies must be enabled to post comments to this page.




 [back to top]