Hello,

I just ordered Virtual Drumline 2 and I look forward to it!

I have a question about the ";8 simultaneous instrument"; limit in the version of KONTAKT that comes with Virtual Drumline 2... (and/or other limitations that may exist)...

I arrange for marching band (+ battery and pit) as well as indoor percussion ensemble (battery + pit). And I end up using WAY more than 8 instruments in each case...

So my question is.. what is the best approach to using Virtual Drumline 2 to get the most simultaneous instruments at once? Do I need to buy the ";real"; KONTAKT 2 program? If so, is it simple to load the Virtual Drumline 2 instruments into it? Is there any problems in doing this?

Just looking for any technical guidance that you can give. (Windows XP)

Thanks!

Alex

Thanks Jim - I was wondering about this. I'm a Kontakt 1.5.3 user abouty to upgrade to Kontakt 2 (in the near future). I'm glad that I'll be able to use all the samples in VDL:2 with my full version of Kontakt. Very cool!

Upon further review, I should definitely mention that there are a few problems with how Kontakt 2 handles VDL2 sounds. Since VDL2 was written for the Kontakt 1.5.3 engine, it works seamlessly in Kontakt 1.5.3. The Kontakt 2 problems aren't huge ones, but indeed they're there. This is something that should be resolved fairly soon.

Thanks Jim,

That's exactly the information I needed. I think I will do the KONTAKT 2 upgrade then as soon as VD2 arrives. :)

Yeah I was looking at the ";program change"; feature in Sibelius 3.0 and was thinking that would be perfect because I change instruments between players in the pit a whole lot too.

Thanks!

Alex

As already mentioned, Kontakt 2 will be compatible to load VDL:2 instruments. Kontakt 2 has the ability to load as many as 64 instruments simultaneously (assuming you have the system resources to handle it). So it does offer a great way to load your VDL2 instruments into one stand-alone environment and save your multis for future use.

Furthermore, Kontakt 2 will allow you to load ";banks"; which will allow for program changes which can be extremely handy if you're writing percussion parts where one player must switch to another instrument (using the same staff). Sending program change commands from Finale and Sibelius isn't too hard once you've done it a few times.

Just more food for thought. As a Kontakt Player product, VDL2 users should be able to upgrade to the full version of Kontakt 2 at a bit of a discount. Simply open VDL2's ";about"; window, and click the ";upgrade"; tab. In there, you'll see a ";check for software upgrade"; button, which will take you to NI's store site where you can click to:
SPECIAL OFFERS FOR USERS OF KONTAKT PLAYER VERSIONS

then select:
KONTAKT 2 UPGRADE FROM OTHER NI SAMPLERS

Just a way to save a few bucks on Kontakt 2 if you decide to go that way!

Take a look at my post in the tutorials section of the forums. You will need some kind of multi-track recording software and an extremely fast computer with [i]at least[/i] 1 GB of RAM- most likely more- if you want to load up a full pit+battery with all aux percussion sounds. When using VDL2 as a VST instrument, you can actually load up many instances of VDL2. I usually use one for battery, one for mallets, and one for aux/cymbals. You can usually get away with using only one marimba and one vibes loaded into VDL2 even if you have multiple instruments you are writing for and it will sound fine.

In this instance what I would do is load 1 instance of the VDL2 player with battery and 4 more instruments. The extra 4 could be xylo, marimba and rack/percussion sounds. Then load vibes, glock, timpani and another 13 instruments into Kontakt. the key is spreading out the processor intensive instruments. Vibes especially will eat up your cpu and the available polyphony. It will take a bit of tweaking until you find the optimal setup for your computer.

HTH


Ted

Hello Ted,

Thanks for your reply.

Actually I am looking for a solution that works inside of Sibelious 3 for having more than 8 patches going on simultaenously. I know that I can only have 16 midi channels going at one time, however, is it possible to load way more than 8 Virtual Drumline 2 instruments/sounds into the full version of Kompakt 2 which then is triggered from Sibelious through sending patch changes? Example:

MIDI CHANNEL 1: Snares
MIDI CHANNEL 2: Tenors (with ability to switch between hard and puffy mallets)
MIDI CHANNEL 3: Bass Drums (with ability to switch between hard mallets and puffy mallets)
MIDI CHANNEL 4: Synthetic Marimba (with ability to switch between the 3 different mallets)
MIDI CHANNEL 5: Vibes (with ability to switch between mallets and pedaling, etc)
MIDI CHANNEL 6: Xylophone
MIDI CHANNEL 7: Bells
MIDI CHANNEL 8: Chimes
MIDI CHANNEL 9: Timpani
MIDI CHANNEL 11: some other accessory instruments (ie. suspended cymbals)
MIDI CHANNEL 12: some other accessory instruments (ie. concert bass, gong, etc)

etc, etc, etc...

Is something like that possible using Sibelius 3 and the full version of Kontakt 2?

Thanks!

Akex

Alex,

To answer your questions,

1. you can load any of the VDL2 instruments into the full version of Kontakt 1 or 2.
2. you may have difficulty getting more than 1 instance of the player working when you are using your notation program. however, when you are running your audio program (if you are recording your work this way) it is possible to run multiple instances of VDL2. say you want 1 for battery only, 1 for mallets, 1 for timpani and rack. your computer system will determine how best to set things up.

HTH

Ted Boliske