Automation of expression for multi timbrel VSTs

[blaze591]

Hi all,

Struggling a little with Garritan Personal Orchestra in Mixcraft 8.1. I'm still learning to use the software, but a lot of tutorials for making realistic sounding strings suggest extensive use of expression and modwheel. I am struggling to reconcile this with having to use multiple lanes to route MIDI information to the GPO VST.

I have a single instance of GPO running, with 16 instruments arranged in 6 groups. I have therefore 6 lanes, each lane assigned to a separate MIDI channel corresponding to the group of instruments. From here, it appears that I cannot record automation for a separate lane within a track, only a lane for the track itself?

This means that the only way I can add automation to a clip within a lane is to use the piano roll editor and manually add automation with the mouse? Is this correct?

As an addendum, it would be really nice if the Output Bus Volume controls could be stacked alongside the lanes, rather than underneath them.

Thanks for your help!

[chibear]

I don't personally use GPO, but have found your predicament using other orchestral VSTs (and other DAWs for that matter).

The main reason I found for using multitimbral-multichannel setups is resource conservation. That is true for Kontakt instruments but not EWQL Play instruments. Don't know about the Aria Player. The cost is a visual mess you have to work with and the problems you outlined.

One of my MIDI idols, Dan Kury, works with Garritan instruments and uses one instrument per track. He's a really nice guy and shared a few MIDI tracks with me awhile ago. Point being here though that he wrote many of the Garritan demos.

I suggest for the amount of detailed programming you are looking for it might be better and easier to work with individual tracks in submixes as opposed to multis.

[blaze591]

Yes, it's predominantly trying to minimise the pause when starting to play if I have 10 - 12 instances of the Aria player open, vs 1 instance, and as you say, the visual mess. Plus using a single version of the Aria mixer / reverb and trying to keep track of it all...... perhaps I have to go with a bit of both.... It's a shame though as I am finding that the more I use the modwheel / expression on the tracks, the better it sounds.