EQ Magazine - February 2008 - (Page 47) individual instruments within a multitimbral instrument, or sometimes for the instrument as a whole. Just remember that neither solution is without issues. Streaming lots of samples from a hard drive can limit the number of audio tracks you can stream from the same hard drive simultaneously (which is why a dedicated drive for content is helpful), and pushing RAM to the limit can cause instability because that same RAM is shared with the operating system and your host program. Effects I formerly advised bypassing the included effects with virtual instruments, as you could likely do better by adding other plug-ins into the signal path hosting the instrument. But times have changed. With better computers, instruments can include far more CPU-intensive, and better-sounding, plug-ins (Figure 2). Some—such as Kontakt, MachFive 2, and GigaStudio— include features like convolution reverb. However, the issue here isn’t just about sound quality. Using effects included within the instrument makes projects more transportable and archivable. As long as you can load the instrument, you’re loading the effects as well. Separate or Stereo Outputs? Workstations usually offer multiple outputs so you can take advantage of your host mixer’s features to process individual sounds. Keeping in mind the above comments about effects, though, if you can do all your mixing and processing within the workstation, you again have a more ergonomic and transportable project. You can even save the workstation setup as a preset, and import it into a different host, knowing that the sounds and mix will be as you intended. Freeze! If you really load up the channels of a multitimbral instrument, you may need to freeze tracks to free up CPU power. Freezing essentially disconnects the instrument from the CPU, replacing it temporarily with an audio track that makes much fewer demands on the CPU. However, freezing works a little differently with multitimbral instruments compared to single-channel instruments, and it varies from program to program. For example, you may be able to freeze one particular instrument of a multitimbral instrument, or you may only be able to freeze the entire instrument. Check your host program’s documentation for details. www.eqmag.com FEBRUARY 2008 EQ 47 http://studioprofiles.com http://studioprofiles.com http://www.eqmag.com
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