vArranger Forums

Yes Dan, I really appreciate the effort you put in to make it sound awesome. The Yamaha styles sound great through the SD-2.

All this while I was using the vArranger with Sample Tank and Yamaha XG softsynth. It did sound good and needed adjustments to make it sound very good. Finally I bought a used SD-2(Ketron gear is extremely rare in India since Ketron does not have official distribution here) from a music teacher who lives nearby.

I tell you what.. This is the equation: Midi Controller + vArranger + SD-2 + Good Speakers = SD-5 with a lot more control.  And yes.. it will cost you half of what you need to pay for the SD-5.

Sounds great out of the box. This combination really shines in a majority of the sounds and styles

I may consider the following upgrades to my setup sometime in the future:

a) The new Yamaha MX-49 should be a good controller for this software and it gives you the MOTIF sounds  and Audio MIDI interface as well
b) Roland BK-7m/Cakewalk SD-50 to play back the Roland styles( I am aware that the vArranger does play Roland styles but I think having a Roland module would be a good sound map and provide that variety too..)

Once again, Thanks Dan for this amazing software !!!

Thanks. Do let me know what help you need for this. I can get my hands dirty on writing Database queries as well,  if needed
Good Luck.

Regards,
Jez

Thanks Dan. The software seems to crash the moment it receives the Program Change. I have raised a support ticket with IK Multimedia on this .. lets see what they have to tell about this. That`s what prompted me to create and load the combi for the songs I am trying to play. Tell you what ... the number of sounds are about 20,000 and I can prepare a map of only 128   That`s fine with me but the whole thing needs to be crash free. 

vArranger plays best with the SD-2 I have come to know this.. so I may go that way later  if the used SD-2 is still for sale.  Till then,  I don`t regret this deal I got for the Total Workstation Bundle and enjoying the combination of vArranger with this even though there is some tweaking and configuring to do.

What I have noted is that when playing  with the Roland styles there seems to be a polyphony note cut.  I still have the version 1.16 Beta 4  I `ll try out with the latest version. Perhaps it could even be a limitation of  my Audio card.. its an old M-Audio

Was wondering how I would select a Sample Tank 2 preset and load into the user sounds of vArranger. The combi approach is also not bad as I can save the effects from Sample Tank.

Have fun

Warm Regards,
Jez

An update: I went ahead and bought the IK Multimedia Total Workstation Bundle.  It has a studio`s worth of sounds. Scrolling through and trying the patches can take decades . The sounds are great to awesome !!  For working with vArranger, I am saving the instrument setting as a combi in Sample Tank. So when I want to play a song I load the corresponding combi. Everytime I need to change to a different song, I loose a few seconds to load the style and combi.. I can afford that since I play in the comfort of my home

Within the sounds, they have given a 1.3 gig GM library (OmniSynth2)... this is by far the best software GM soundset I have tried.. much better than the older Native Instruments Bandstand.  There is a GM Map and some facility to receive Program Changes. I`ll explore that when I get time. But till then I am playing using the  very high quality non-GM sounds.

Dan, one question... How do we switch between different right hand voices by hitting a button on the MIDI Controller. This is what I am trying to achieve:
There are three buttons on my Midi Controller. When I hit button1 it sets Right hand voice 1 on Ch 13. When I hit button2, it sets Right hand voice 2 on either Ch13 or Channel 14 with channel 13 muted. When I hit button 3, it sets Right Hand Voice 3 on either channel 13/Channel 15 with channels 13 and 14 muted.
So at any point of time, I can switch to a different voice for each variation.

fazfaz,

Does Sonik Synth respond to MIDI Program Changes ?  Are you able to recall the saved instrument setting of the style in vArranger virtually connected to Sonik synth ?
And more importantly does it crash very often ?   Surely I have to get these points noted before I buy either IK`s Total Workstation/Steinberg Halion - which ever sounds great and is stable enough in opertaions. Thanks.

Warm Regards,
Jez

Just an update.. I tried the vArranger with Sample Tank and it sounds good after selecting the right sounds. Unfortunately it is not responding to MIDI Program changes. I tried to set up a GM map in Sample Tank. But the moment I change the MIDI program change in vArranger for a particular track, Sample Tank crashes
and I just can`t test it out... I am sure its the problem of the Sample Tank software because it crashes often even when I don`t use vArranger with it (When I save a combi it crashes.. don`t know what`s the reason)

fazfaz, you mentioned you are using SampleTank with vArranger.  Did you face this problem too ?  How did you set it up ?

One Yamaha Style and One Ketron Style... Just the chords changes on variation D will do. Thanks much.
I could find a guy here who is selling his Ketron SD-2 module .... perhaps the only one in the country   But the SD-1000 will definitely be a step up and I can ask my friend in the US to get it here when he comes over. 
Meanwhile if Halion is able to play the Yamaha styles with a decent sound then I`ll temporarily go for it and later buy the SD-1000.

Also importantly does the Halion respond to MIDI Program Changes ?

Thanks Dan.

Any 8 beat country or 4/4 ballad style will do.

Dan,

Is the SD2/SD4 the ideal module for vArranger ? I don`t have access to any Ketron gear here in India. Perhaps, there are some used ones here.  I`ll search it out.
Does the vArranger with Ketron SD2/SD4 sound better than say the vArranger with Halion(I read in other thread that Halion does have problem in the second drum track from the vArranger) Any demos of how the vArranger sounds with Halion and say the same style played through the SD2 ? It would be great if we have one simple .pat and .prs style demoed through both of these (Halion and SD2)

I can afford to do the tweaking with a software synth to make it sound good.... since I play at home... so no risk in terms of messing up in public
just messing up big time privately !!!   but I love it when I do get it right

Eventually in the future I will be going for a solution that has all the stuff from Yamaha Ketron, Roland.... and some day from Korg (Dan,  I know you`re working on this Thanks:)..  in one place ... So that would be like three or four sources connected..  Sd2 for .pat , bk-7m for the .stl, motif rack for .prs and the MP-10 Pro for the Korg ones when its available

For now though I don`t mind experimenting with Halion/SampleTank2 to see if it gives something better than SD2.
Would be great if someone could post demos of the styles played using Halion and SD2 to make a good comparison

And yes I`ll check out if the program change instructions are recd by SampleTank2

Thanks guys !!

Thanks Dan and Dennis. I do not know if the ST2 responds to MIDI Program changes. I think it should.   I have read that  Halion does have this MIDI capability. Whats more.. Halion 4 coming from the Yamaha-Steinberg stable does have these fancy articulations in their vsti ..similar to the hardware synths. And if ST2 does have this facility to be able to receive program changes etc. then I may consider the Ik`s Total Workstation bundle going now at an insane "value for money" price of 159 Euros.. includes about 20,000 sounds spanning over 43 GB .. now thats huge !!! I am sure I will be able to find the 16 sounds out of this for each style !

So vArranger + Halion + SampleTank should be a great setup on paper. Whether the whole combination actually clicks as smooth as it sounds is not yet known. I am out of town now. Will check the ST2 program change thing once I am back.

May be a product like this could be handy => http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MIDISPORT4x4.html
I haven`t used it but came across this on the web.. Do consult with Dan first if something like this could be useful in your situation.

Warm Regards,
Jez

Other than the Ketron SD2 module, which modules work best with the vArranger ??

I am currently using vArranger with my Yamaha XG softsynth. It sounds ok but I am sure there is lot of room for improvement.
I tried using vArranger to send the MIDI Out to SampleTank2 via LoopMIDI. It sounds great after some tweaking but I haven`t figured out how to save this setting so that next time I click this style it loads up SampleTank with the same setup. Moreover, the SampleTank crashes very often when I try to load a saved setup in the software.

What I am looking out for is:
A decent sound module that plays the vArranger styles without me having to tweak every time.. something like a Midi Map so that everytime I choose a style from vArranger, it should playback with the same settings for effects through the same hardware

Something like a Motif Rack for the Yamaha Styles,  Roland styles routed through the SD-50,  Ketron styles through the SD-2
Will this kind of a setup work so that as soon as I pick a .prs it routes through the Motif rack, and when I pick pat it routes through SD2/SD-1000 ?

If so, then I`ll save up to invest in these hardware modules.. It saves a lot of space you see

Thanks

Warm Regards,
Jez

Hi Dan,

Having a great time with the vArranger. It sounds pretty good even out of a softsynth from the previous decade !!

And yes... I`ll make it a point to visit Versailles  when I`ll be there in France some day .... hopefully soon 

Warm Regards,
Jez

Dan,

Many Many Happy Returns of the Day !!! 

What better gift than purchasing vArranger on your Birthday 

Hope you have a great time today and a wonderful year ahead !!!

Warm Regards,
Jez