Maybe you software wizards could unite and make a tutorial, like step by step on the whole thing, precisely to get abroad from AT and GT to more "pro" settings. Something like a list of requirements (both in terms of Software and Hardware).
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Anybody else going all software?
- Thread starter Taylor Livingston
- Start date
FYI - I'm researching for an electronica project and have come back to my Bidule and VST setup on my laptop. For analog tracking synths FrettedSynth is still the cake and I found a nice, concise hosting of the projects here: Invalid Link Removed
Note there's a ton of them, and a lot of them are analog tracking synth. Interestingly most of them do different things. In particular check out GuitarSyn SE. Huge amount of features.
Note there's a ton of them, and a lot of them are analog tracking synth. Interestingly most of them do different things. In particular check out GuitarSyn SE. Huge amount of features.
hi gastric
i'm currently using saffron. its been great. but the tracking's a bit iffy for bass.
have some compressors on it to try and mitigate the problem and i'm currently playing at the upper registers and proper muting to get good notes.
how do u get to have some reasonable control over it?
i'm currently using saffron. its been great. but the tracking's a bit iffy for bass.
have some compressors on it to try and mitigate the problem and i'm currently playing at the upper registers and proper muting to get good notes.
how do u get to have some reasonable control over it?
I haven't used any of those apps in a long while. But my recollection was you had to be fairly aggressive with the threshold/gate/whatever controls in the app. I recall my biggest issue being that the velocity tracking was challenging, I'd get a low note once in a while and it'd be hard to get it to re-track the velocity back to normal. But it's been so long since I've spent time on them I can't say how I corrected the issue. I was mostly using GuitarSynSE instead of Saffron as it's a little more robust from what I recall. I was primarily using them for oscillator generation and filtering/effecting with other VST.
I plan to revist the software side of things this weekend and will try to post some thoughts and some sound clips.
I plan to revist the software side of things this weekend and will try to post some thoughts and some sound clips.
I've been revisiting the FrettedSynth VST synths and would like to report that I find the tracking to work best when you literally send it a raw instrument signal with no pre-processing. I tried compression and limiter first to try to provide sustain for long holds and prevent spikes and found it to reduce tracking significantly. Turning them both off and playing 2nd position on up seems to work best.
Quick sound sample. Bass panned to one side, Saffron Pro with a really basic dual SAW slightly detuned for fatness based on the "Synth Bass" preset.
I still find the need to set threshold and velocity to maximum along with an Exp velocity curve to help keep low velocity notes from creeping in. The tracking tends to plop an occasional low velocity note in fairly often for whatever reason. And you have to really focus on your technique to ensure good triggering. Nice clean notes with a pick, maybe a little palm muting to help clean it up if you're trying to play particularly fast.
With all that said, the tracking is still not 100%, at least with my personal playing. I haven't tried additional pre-processing, like serious EQ to cut highs, or putting on flats to help focus the fundamental. I'm not sure that would help with this particular VST. You have to keep in mind it's one person programming this 100% FREE VST and like most effects it's geared for guitar not bass. When you consider that, then compare to the hardware pedals out there you wonder how an actual company cannot vastly surpass one programmer banging out free analog tracking synths in his spare time.
You can also use the standard octave+dirt+filter techniques and then not have to worry about tracking and added latency. MDA Subsynth is a freely available octaver that can sound somewhat OC-2 like, though not nearly as fat, and certainly not as fat as a pair of detuned oscillators like in the FrettedSynth stuff. But if you're using a VST host like Bidule that allows signal splitting I would imagine you should be able to create fatness with signal splits and layering the sound that way, though I haven't personally tried that yet.
Quick sound sample. Bass panned to one side, Saffron Pro with a really basic dual SAW slightly detuned for fatness based on the "Synth Bass" preset.
I still find the need to set threshold and velocity to maximum along with an Exp velocity curve to help keep low velocity notes from creeping in. The tracking tends to plop an occasional low velocity note in fairly often for whatever reason. And you have to really focus on your technique to ensure good triggering. Nice clean notes with a pick, maybe a little palm muting to help clean it up if you're trying to play particularly fast.
With all that said, the tracking is still not 100%, at least with my personal playing. I haven't tried additional pre-processing, like serious EQ to cut highs, or putting on flats to help focus the fundamental. I'm not sure that would help with this particular VST. You have to keep in mind it's one person programming this 100% FREE VST and like most effects it's geared for guitar not bass. When you consider that, then compare to the hardware pedals out there you wonder how an actual company cannot vastly surpass one programmer banging out free analog tracking synths in his spare time.
You can also use the standard octave+dirt+filter techniques and then not have to worry about tracking and added latency. MDA Subsynth is a freely available octaver that can sound somewhat OC-2 like, though not nearly as fat, and certainly not as fat as a pair of detuned oscillators like in the FrettedSynth stuff. But if you're using a VST host like Bidule that allows signal splitting I would imagine you should be able to create fatness with signal splits and layering the sound that way, though I haven't personally tried that yet.
I discovered another audio-to-MIDI VST and this one seems to work the best of those that I've personally tried. It captures pitch very well, captures velocity for me well once I apply a heavy velocity curve, does pitch bend, really seems to work reasonably well and with pretty low latency. I haven't decided if it would work for live synth triggering or not but thought I'd share. You could also leverage the pitch and velocity CC data for automating effects assuming the triggering is fast enough for you (read: trigger LFO speeds by pitch or velocity for you dubstep lovers).
Download it here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Note the "quick guide" seems very out of sync with the current build of the software.
For me I just set it to detection range: bass, octave: -1, adjust TriggerSens / VelocityGate / VelocityGain and that was providing good initial tracking.
Looking forward to your comments.
Download it here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Note the "quick guide" seems very out of sync with the current build of the software.
For me I just set it to detection range: bass, octave: -1, adjust TriggerSens / VelocityGate / VelocityGain and that was providing good initial tracking.
Looking forward to your comments.
I went the opposite way. I sold all my hardware and went all software. I would still use software for editing, finalizing, mixdown, etc. However, I am back to using mostly hardware. I still record the raw stuff on my old ADAT.
Mama mia! the FretKeys audio-to-MIDI VST I linked to a couple threads ago is killer. There is definitely some noticable latency with the triggering. I wouldn't use it to trigger a software synth. However, you can extract the Note, Velocity, and CC data, cull/filter/morph it as needed, and use it to control other VST parameters in pretty much real-time. Great way to control rates automatically based on note splits or velocity. Have resonance crank on high velocity notes, trigger bypasses of effects automatically, all by your playing technique. Awesome stuff. Note I use Bidule as my VST host which as a TON of MIDI filtering/morphing tools to leverage the MIDI data generated towards controlling VST params.
bumping this interesting but old 2010 thread ... any relevant news concerning "going all software route"?
Edit:
How do you guys like GuitarRig 5?
Any new AmpiTube version coming up soon?
Did IK Multimedia discontinue the Stomp I/O foot controller?
Any new alternatives to GuitarRig/Amplitube?
Edit:
How do you guys like GuitarRig 5?
Any new AmpiTube version coming up soon?
Did IK Multimedia discontinue the Stomp I/O foot controller?
Any new alternatives to GuitarRig/Amplitube?
I still like what keb said here ^^. I think it'd be hard to refute the quality and scope of software effects vs. analog. But in the heat of battle, it all comes down to music and I think the UI plays a big part in how players respond to the various tools at their disposal.
For me, I'm still mostly a 'for hire' type of player and stomboxes are still the go-to for me. Granted, I do find myself collaborating with more artists that 'expect' a bass player to have some effects available to them. However, I think if I showed up to a rehearsal with a laptop/interface etc., I'd probably have a lot of explaining to do. Maybe not though...I've never actually tried it
I use stompboxes....but it's probably more out of ignorance. If I came across software that did everything I wanted (by "came across" I mean: someone needs to start a thread and spell it all out for me...because I'm ignorant)
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and was somewhere close to what I could get by selling all of my pedals in price, I would totally jump on it.
Link Removed
and was somewhere close to what I could get by selling all of my pedals in price, I would totally jump on it.
MSUsousaphone said:
This. I've been researching for about a month, trying to eliminate my amp altogether. If I could find a decent (read, GOOD sounding) alternative, I'd be all over it.
My house is becoming cluttered with my attempts!! I've got DI boxes, Irig and all the add-ons, three other iPhone sims, and anything else I can get my hands on.
If I could find a laptop solution, I'd buy it NOW.
Keep me posted, man. That sounds interesting. I planned on keeping my amp....but I'm open to anything.
What about a Roland VB-99. In the spirit of what Meursault quoted, it is essentially a software solution, but instead of a computer, you are using the Roland unit. I think my biggest fear with going completely software is the duarability and reliability of a computer in a gigging situation. I know it can be done.
Although for solo stuff, hopefully gigging in the next 6-9 months, I will have a computer as part of my setup, but I won't really just be playing Bass per se.
I hear you on that. I would totally have to designate the laptop as just for music and not go to frontrowsports to check out my soccer games....or all those other comp killer sites I go to.
I don't know. I think it's inevitable. It'll all be software at some point. It just doesn't seem like there's software out there that can compete with the Timeline, Megalith, Faye's Her, and the likes. Once that's there, though, I will be, too.
I don't know. I think it's inevitable. It'll all be software at some point. It just doesn't seem like there's software out there that can compete with the Timeline, Megalith, Faye's Her, and the likes. Once that's there, though, I will be, too.
I believe the for the most part, All Modulation and Time-Based effects can be done on software or digitally. Hence, I think the TimeLine and Faye's Her can be done that way. There are some really deep programs out there. Some really cool VST delays, I first heard Ice from using a VST, then tried the TimeLine a year later. The Faye's Her is based of a Dual Mutron Phaser (drawing a blank on the exact name), which is found in software. Actually by the digital is software logic, the TimeLine IS software.
Alas comes the weaknesS, I am not a true believer in digital clipping and digital OD, Fuzz, DIstortion, etc. Maybe a VB-99 would convince me otherwise, somewhat, but I still believe I would love my real analog Fuzz, and OD pedals. That is where the real work lies.
Alas comes the weaknesS, I am not a true believer in digital clipping and digital OD, Fuzz, DIstortion, etc. Maybe a VB-99 would convince me otherwise, somewhat, but I still believe I would love my real analog Fuzz, and OD pedals. That is where the real work lies.
Having had shows where the machine running the software had an issue, I would rather just trust my ME-50B or my Korg Pandora than ever use a computer live again. Simple interface + battery-powered = can of whoop-ass.
For recording, I can understand using software. For live use, not so much.
For recording, I can understand using software. For live use, not so much.
