Virtual Instrument Questions

S

sonicpsyops

Culture Of Convenience
Hello all,
I've been working with hardware synths for the past 16 years and I've recently decided to crossover into the soft synth world.

I compose orchestral music. I would really like to explore the world of Virtual Instruments but I don't know exactly what I need.

What I think I need is a computer with a powerful CPU and a lot of RAM, right?

I need a MIDI controller right? Can I use my Korg Triton as a MIDI controller or will I have to get a dedicated MIDI controller?

I imagine that I'm going to need some kind of interface, but which one? does it matter which one if I'm working with Virtual Instruments?

Some sequencing software would be in order too I suppose. Which one works best with Virtual Instruments?

They may be a little pricey but I've been looking at the Creation Station over at sweetwater.com. It's basically a custom made computer designed for recording artists. It's looking attractive to me because it seems to be user friendly and it's a PC. Nothing against Macs, I'm just more familiar with PC's. Anybody have any experience with these Creation Stations?

Any suggestions for sample libraries?

I have about a $5,000 to $6,000 budget. Would this at least get me started?

I know I have a lot of questions but I’m virtually blind in the Virtual Instrument world. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated
 
There are way better options than Creation Stations:
http://www.adkproaudio.com/compete.cfm

Ram, CPU, hard drive... its all important with virtual instruments. For Orchestral work, look at (and listen to the samples from) Garritan, Vienna, and East West. Depending on your budget, any of these may meet your needs. Cubase and Sonar are both string with MIDI and working with virtual instruments. And your Triton will function just fine as a controller.
 
I don't know if this is an option for you, but you could save a lot of money by building your own computer, and I'm sure lots of us would be willing to help you decide what parts to get.

As far as libraries, East West makes amazing stuff in my opinion. I love both the Symphony Orchestra packs and the Symphonic Choir packs...though they are pricey.

Also, I second the Cubase or Sonar vote. I'm getting ready to switch over to Sonar myself.
 
one of the real tricks to getting this to work right is to have a hrad drive dedicated solely to the sample library... the way it works is it "streams" the audio from the disk and if there's a disk for it then there's less chance of the audio being interupted by having to access the prog since the prog is on the "system disk"... make sense???
 
Sometimes multiple hard drives for the libraries. I just installed Vienna Symphonic Cube and it was about 480GB installed!
 
Have you considered a Mac?

There will be an added cost (you may already own a high-spec PC) in which case, probably best to stick to PC. I recently converted from PC using Cubase SX over to an Apple running Logic Pro 7.2. I have not regretted it one bit. Not only do I love Logic, but I think the Apple OSX as a whole is a lot smoother. This, of course, is my experience, and will probably differ from other peoples. If money isn't a problem, I would certainly look into it!

Most of the software which the other people mentioned (Vienna and East West) will also run on Macs. I agree with them - Vienna and East West are great, but again pricey!

Look into the Mac thing though - I have not regretted spending a single penny :)

Good Luck!

Steve
 
Apologies

I didn't fully read your post and did not see the 'no Mac' bit. Thats fair enough, but once you get used to the Mac (which doesn't take too much getting used to anyway, IMO) you might be glad you changed!

Again, my opinion, if you can get a great PC setup then go for it!

Thanks, and sorry!

Steve
 
Thank you all

Hard2hear,
Thank you for that Creation Station alternative, adkproaudio.com. That was certainly an eye-opener.

I've listened to the demos from each of the libraries and I think I'm going to go with the Vienna Instruments. Although the other libraries were impressive too, what I liked about Vienna Instruments was that the samples were dry, allowing the composer to wet them down with reverb to his or her own choosing. How's the learning curve with Vienna Instruments? Pretty easy to use? The video tutorials on the web site seemed easy enough.

And you're right, I think multiple drives would be the way to go. 480 GB is A LOT of hard drive real state.

AMTA,
If you know how to build computers than you've probably forgotten more about computers than I know. For somebody who is not computer savvy, like myself, to build a computer with no tech support, no money back trial period, no help hot line, etc. probably wouldn't be an option. But thank you for your input.

"one of the real tricks to getting this to work right is to have a hrad drive dedicated solely to the sample library... the way it works is it "streams" the audio from the disk and if there's a disk for it then there's less chance of the audio being interupted by having to access the prog since the prog is on the "system disk"... make sense???" --Dementedchord.
Is this a pretty tricky process to get this to work?

Drummersteve,
Thank you for your input but I would feel more comfortable with a PC.

Thank you all again for this valuable information.
 
Vienna Instruments is a great value (the sound is unbeatable) and its not nearly as big as Symphonic Cube. Its actually the same samples with less layering and fewer articulations. Its not hard at all to make a sample drive. You just set the target for the library installation to be that drive. Vienna is pretty easy to use, and is most useful as a plugin inside a sequencer lke Sonar or Cubase.

The thing about going with someone like ADK is that you can talk to them and they will do ALL your installations, configurations, and setup, then provide support if you have questions about how to use it all or get something to work right. Whoever you choose, make sure you ask them directly if they have experience installing and configuring what you want to use and that they can support not just the computer they build, but also any of the audio gear installed with it. That way, you dont have to get on forums like this and post "why doesnt this work with that"... you can spend your time actually making music.
 
not hard to set up a system/audio multi disc system... especially if your tinking about going to ADK scott is top notch... one of the most knowledgable cats i've run accross... he may even suggest a third disc... one system one for libraries and one for audio recording... drives are real cheap compared to the old days so it only makes sense...
 
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