MIDI Thread

[pbbobkanobi]

I have a few questions about the whole MIDI thing and I hope the Sonoma guys can help. I know RW doesn't have MIDI support but was wondering if there is any way at all to control a VST plugin like NI synths (B4, Pro-53, etc.) within RW?

I can load them no problem but can't control them via my MIDI leyboard like I can outside of RW. I have tried the Chainer program in RW, loading a VST, and still no luck. The VSTi's can be controlled in RW with the mouse and keyboaard and sound incredible but I can anly record one or two notes at a time. I searched the Reason help files and there is nothing on VST support at all so that's a dead end I guess.

Basically I am looking for a program that will trigger the VSTi's in RW via my MIDI keyboard....does it exist?...is it possible? I know you guys can figure this out!!!

I can always just plug my keyboard into the PODxtl, Toneport, etc. and record the onboard sounds but I have a cheap Yamaha beginner KB and the VST's sound soooo much better. Please tell me there is a work around for this...thanks!!

RiffWorks Rocks!

[Maxe]

Hey.
I'm sorry to break in on this discussion, but just want to say that I've been missing these cababilities from day one. I really LOVE RiffWorks for its no nonsense and easy approach. I understand if you want to keep it simple - and that things maybe would build up and make RiffWorks more complex than intended initially.
But it would be nice to be able to use VSTi with RiffWorks though. I have an Emulator X desktop sampling system installed on my computer, and it offers a wide range of tremendously cool sounding samples, but I never use it - because I'm a guitarplayer an I perfer RiffWorks... for it's simplicity! Ain't that a paradox!!!

Another thing is if MIDI was implemented in RiffWorks - just think what it could do with automation... or maybe we should keep it simple?

RiffWorks rules - with or without MIDI.

[ShredRex]

What is this M-I-D-I you speak of...........LOL

Don't you know RW was designed for people like me, not MIDI capable..........LOL

Seriously you guys make my head hurt reading these posts, I have no idea what you are talking about at all. Just teasing ya Bob

[Maxe]

You got it nailed to the wall there Bob! LOL

[ShredRex]

Of course if I could learn how/what midi is I might make music that sounds as nice as Bob's........there a little suck ass

[Maxe]

You're doing great without MIDI Shred. My aunt's got a dog called Midi - and it doesn't sound any better than you. :O)

[ShredRex]

Doh, thanks I think....lol

Sorry Bob I kinda high jacked this thread........

[gatorjj]

Basically I am looking for a program that will trigger the VSTi's in RW via my MIDI keyboard....does it exist?...is it possible? I know you guys can figure this out!!!

I know nothing about this but will comment anyway I think VSTi's rely on the host program to have the MIDI i/o capability and the data gets routed to it thru a MIDI channel. The program then has to intercept the sound somehow and bring it into the mix (a la Rewire). So...RW can't do MIDI and VSTi's can't Rewire. You'll have to control the VSTi outboard of RW.

There's probably a way to do the audio with another program running the VSTi. You also may have to loop the audio back in, i.e. have it play out the POD and have RW record in the PC sound card. Odds are there's some program out there that would let you "route" the audio from one sound device to another inside the PC, but I'm not up on that. If you could do that, with v2 Standard you should be able to get it to record. Theoretically, anyway!

J.J.

[pbbobkanobi]

Maybe that's the ticket....I will try to run the VST in Sonar with my MIDI keyboard and send an out from my soundcard to the input of the PODxtl. Then send a clean unprocessed signal from the POD to RiffWorks via USB. Kinda makes my head hurt just thinking about it. I know I will need a new USB 2.0 card though because I can't run my keyboard, the POD & my Extigy soundcard at the same time.

Hey Shred...the beauty of MIDI is you can record say a synth line and then change the tone to a saxaphone, drums, anything you want down the road. It is like sending a clean signal from the POD than "reamping" it later if you want to change the guitar amp or effects. You don't need MIDI in your life but the more "junk in your trunk" the better I always say. You do rock enough as it is though...haha. Thanks for the compliment on my songs...I just tend to obsess I think....damn RiffWorks!!

[dave]

I believe that Ableton Live supports VSTi. If you had that application, or any other ReWire host that supports VSTi, you should be able to ReWire slave it to RiffWorks. You can then record your MIDI into Live and it will just pass the sync'd audio over the ReWire interface to RiffWorks. This was kind of the point of supporting ReWire in RiffWorks. We don't really want to be a MIDI sequencer, but we recognize that it can be an important addition to your music. I know that Dan uses Reason as a ReWire slave all the time. Unfortunately, Reason doesn't support VSTi. It does have a lot of cool synth options in its own right though.

Dave

[gatorjj]

Kinda makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

Agree...to me it's more trouble than it's worth, but we could find a way to get there if need be. Reason's probably a better solution using it's synths instead of a VSTi both sonically and rewirely if you have it.

FYI if I'm doing anything with MIDI I just do it in Cubase. My guitar stuff gets done in RiffWorks. Right tool for the right job!

J.J.

[bluesydude]

My guitar stuff gets done in RiffWorks. Right tool for the right job!
J.J.

I agree J.J. You can't build a house with just a hammer. It takes several different tools specifically designed, some for a single purpose.

[gatorjj]

RiffWorks will do an awful lot and it's simple/fast, which is why I like it so much.

I use Cubase a lot, but unless I'm messing with something MIDI I never start with it. If there's something at the mix stage I can't do in RW, I move things over to Cubase. Sometimes I never leave RW until I'm mastering. All depends, and I use whatever I have that will get me to the endpoint I want.

You can't build a house with just a hammer

But...you can take care of the occasional nail with a pipe wrench! So let's see if we can figure out how to let Bob hammer the occasional MIDI nail with Riffworks. Anyone know of a program or utility that would let you have something like a "virtual" soundcard?

I found this http://www.ntonyx.com/vac.htm digging around, there's a free demo and I think the price is $49. If it worked you could take something like Reaper (free) to host the VSTi's and have the audio go directly into RW through the ASIO driver...theoretically anyway!