How to add effects to seperate sounds from ONE instance of a multitimbral synth?

[Chrisulrich]

Dear Anyone.

OK. I've got my mixing/midi package (can be anything so I'm not using names!) I've put my MIDI file into it. I've got my Wonderful Multitimbral Synth (if I have to use names because the technique's different on different synths just say, I'm just seeing if there's an overall technique here) and I've selected 8 sounds from it. I have one sound going to each of 8 MIDI channels/tracks (I'm not sure when you use which word, sorry.)

But the package only seems to want to put effects on the synth itself, not on the channels/tracks. Which means you're using the same effect on every sound simultaneously, which is stupid. I know one answer is to have 8 instances of the multitmbral synth open but that somewhat defeats the synths multitimbrality, and also can run you outta memory even if you've got the max. possible, because you've got, like, 8 orchestras loaded at once!

Surely there's gotta be a way to put the effects (EQ, panning etc) onto the channel/track, not just on the actual synth everything's coming from? If there isn't, then what's the point of synths being multitimbral if you still have to have separate instances of them for each instrument?

Please - any answers, don't miss out any steps I have to do no matter how basic and obvious they seem to you. I'm floundering here! (O.K., you can leave out 'First turn the computer on...!)

Yours hopefully

Chris.

 

[TyphoidHippo]

With the VSTi API: the number of ins and outs (of both midi and audio) created and used in the host app are entirely determined by the synth programmer. Sooo... if the synth only creates one audio channel in your DAW's mixer (which is totally lame and lazy for a multi-timbral synth), then... that's your answer - you can't. Ask the maker to add more audio I/O pins to the voices before summing them to the stereo output they're exposing now. (That's not a difficult or unreasonable feature request at all).

If your synth is not a VSTi, this may or may not be the case and you should specify that. Otherwise - great job on excluding unnecessary details! This should be a template, lol.


...I can't even remember the last softsynth I used that wasn't a VSTi, though... Microsoft pushed DXi for like.. a week or so and some early daws supported soundfonts directly, iirc...

 

[mjbphotos]

What DAW/'mixing program' are you using?

 

[Chrisulrich]

Got several, struggling to understand any of them....

What DAW/'mixing program' are you using?

....which is why I didn't name any definite one, incase they were all different!

I've got Reaper, Adobe Audition 1.5 and 3, Cool Edit Pro, Cubase 5 and Ableton Live 8.

As I said, I know more about nuclear physics than I do about really understanding any of that lot - so if you think it IS possible with any of them - please gimme a couple of pointers how, and which one's easier to master out of that lot!

Yours respectfully

Chris

 

[mjbphotos]

In Reaper each MIDI channel is assigned to a separate track and then you add your plug-ins to each channel individually.

 

[Chrisulrich]

I didn't realise that! But it makes sense....

I didn't realise you could put the effects on the CHANNELS in Reaper! I'll have to look at it again bearing that well in mind. So can you change the instruments assigned to those channels and not have to change the effects unless you want to, as the effect is on the channel and not the instrument?

I HOPE I can find how to do this in real life as opposed to in theory!

Yours respectfully

Chris.

 

[TyphoidHippo]

edit: Never mind. I've been drinking, and that was almost certainly a bad idea.

 

[mjbphotos]

It's the same with any VSTi and DAW. Once you set it up to feed each channel to a separate track, save that as a template in your DAW so you can call it up easily each time without going through the whole assign:channel routine. That's how I have EZDrummer set up - each EZD mic sends to its own channel, which then goes to a separate track, rather than using the built-in mixer in EZD.