Am I correct in assuming that I will need some sort of multi-track program to make audio files? Up until now, I've been using stock QuickTime midi voices (on the Mac) and exporting aiff's from there.

I've browsed Jesse's tutorial... I just want to know if that's the only option to make audio files.


If so, here's my bigger question. I do my writing at home, but at work I have Pro Tools. Is there any possibility of installing the plug-in only at work so I can make recordings? With $200 for VD2, $100 for a controller, and $100 to upgrade my memory, it's getting rather costly pretty quick.

Is there any possibility to do what I described so I don't have to drop another hundred-something on a recording program for home?

[quote=";mcp";]Am I correct in assuming that I will need some sort of multi-track program to make audio files? Up until now, I've been using stock QuickTime midi voices (on the Mac) and exporting aiff's from there.

I've browsed Jesse's tutorial... I just want to know if that's the only option to make audio files.


If so, here's my bigger question. I do my writing at home, but at work I have Pro Tools. Is there any possibility of installing the plug-in only at work so I can make recordings? With $200 for VD2, $100 for a controller, and $100 to upgrade my memory, it's getting rather costly pretty quick.

Is there any possibility to do what I described so I don't have to drop another hundred-something on a recording program for home?[/quote]

There are a variety of inexpensive/free recording programs that can help you make recordings on a budget. For Mac Users, [url=http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/]WireTap[/url] is a great one. For Windows, we've seen good results from [url=http://www.aonesoft.com/]#1 Sound Recorder.[/url] Bear in mind, these are utilities where you essentially hit [b]record[/b], then hit play in your notation program, and the recording utility will capture whatever's coming from the machine. While this is great in terms of simplicity, it may not give the best results for audio quality. Still - they're good options in a pinch.

If you are using one of the above options on very dense scores, and need to put multiple audio files together, you can download [url=http://audacity.sourceforge.net/]AUDACITY[/url] for free. I've not used it before, but I've heard good things. The fact that it's a multi-track audio editor and it's FREE is nothing short of a miracle!

Also, you can load VDL2 (as a VST or AU plug-in) into [url=http://www.plogue.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=35]Bidule[/url], which also has an ";Audio File Recorder"; utility. Currently, this is a free program and it's very cool!

If you want to use your ProTools setup at work, you can do a VDL2 installation (on a second machine). The licensing agreement will allow two installs, so this would certainly be another option for you.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Jim

I've got an old multi-track program from Macromedia (SoundEdit 16) that I can assemble tracks in. I'll check out WireTap and Bidule.

I've looked at bidule, and my head hurts. Can you, or anyone else with experience, walk throught the steps of how to set it up to record?

On the other hand, wiretap works great. I'm just trying to see the difference. One costs $19 and the other $75. Thanks again.

[quote=";mcp";]I've looked at bidule, and my head hurts. Can you, or anyone else with experience, walk throught the steps of how to set it up to record?

On the other hand, wiretap works great. I'm just trying to see the difference. One costs $19 and the other $75. Thanks again.[/quote]

Don't worry - I had the same reaction the first time I saw Bidule, but it's actually quite simple and gives a nice visual representation to how your sound is routed. Look at this image and follow the routing top to bottom:

[img]https://www.tapspace.com/images/VDL2bidule.jpg[/img]

In this case, ";Bidule 1"; and ";Bidule 2"; represents the virtual midi cables (midi input to bidule) that would be set as OUTPUTS in notation program. You can also use Midi Yoke, Maple Midi, or IAC Driver here depending on your computer/configuration.

MIDI goes from this driver INTO Virtual Drumline 2 (note there are two instances loded here). OUT of VDL2 into Bidule's mixer. Then OUT of the mixer to the Built-in soundcard of the computer. In addition, there are two output cables from the mixer INTO the ";Audio File Recorder"; (highlighted). Double-click this guy and it allows you to record to wav or aiff, anything that gets routed into it.

Basically, all those ";bidules"; are separate devices that were just dragged out of the ";Palette"; window. You can make it as complex or simple as you need.

It may seem a bit geeky, but overall allows for you to set up a nice audio workflow. Plus (and this is a big one) you can save your VDL2 configurations without having to manually reload instruments.

I'll give that a try, but at a quick glance, I'm not sure how to get the bidules to appear in that window. I can get VD2 as an AU Music Device (if that's the correct way?), and the recorder, but I haven't figured out the bidules.

Other than these connections in this window, is there any other configuration that needs to take place in this program? I'm assuming I'll have to set my midi out in Finale to IAC, but is there anything else?

I have a small amount of midi experience, most of it from college 10 years ago. So I'm not exactly sure I get the whole idea of how these programs play together.[/img]

[quote=";mcp";]I'll give that a try, but at a quick glance, I'm not sure how to get the bidules to appear in that window. I can get VD2 as an AU Music Device (if that's the correct way?), and the recorder, but I haven't figured out the bidules.

Other than these connections in this window, is there any other configuration that needs to take place in this program? I'm assuming I'll have to set my midi out in Finale to IAC, but is there anything else?

I have a small amount of midi experience, most of it from college 10 years ago. So I'm not exactly sure I get the whole idea of how these programs play together.[/quote]

Don't worry - it sounds like you're already halfway there. The two ";Bidule-in"; devices were simply drug over from the MIDI Devices section of the Palette. Actually, those would be in place of the IAC Driver, so in Finale (once you've already launched Bidule), you could select those rather than IAC. I've found when using Bidule that using the ";Bidule"; virtual midi cables (as opposed to IAC) seems a little zippier. You can just as easily drag over the IAC Driver and use it as a ";bidule"; (that program calls each little device a ";bidule";). Either way works. Whatever MIDI input you use, be sure to use that same one as the OUTPUT in Finale.

I realize now that I may have earlier confused you by loading the Bidule inputs as opposed to IAC. I can get a little (or a lot) scatterbrained when trying to explain this sort of stuff...:)

Thanks for all the help so far, but to be honest, I'm still kinda lost. I'm going to wait for my 49e to show up and try setting it all up at home before I ask any more questions.

That bidule program is pretty darn cool. Last night I just scratched the surface of what it con do. This thing is real user friendly. I hope that it's not going to be tto expensive to purchase.

Jim,

I've had VD2 for a year now and never needed to use more than 8 layers for playback.�� Recently I've wanted to use virtual drumline for my bigger percussion scores.�� A couple of days ago I purchased Bidule and I just can't seem to set it up right.�� I have a Mac iBookG4 and I'm trying to use Sibelius 4 with Bidule.

I set up Bidule exactly like you have the screen shot in this post.�� What else do I need to do coordinate these programs to work with each other?

In Sibelius 4, I cannot select more than one playback devices (I guess that is Output that you were refering to) for bidules.�� I don't even know if that would be correct.�� I've been searching the forum and reading the book that VD2 came with, but I just can't seem to find the answer.

Please Help.

Jeremy Noyes

You can select more than one output in Sibelius' mixer window. Select the track you'd like to assign, then under the ";device"; pulldown menu, select ";Bidule 2"; for your second bank of sounds.

Bank 1: Bidule 1
Channels 1-16

Bank 2: Bidule 2
Channels 1-16

Channel 1 on bank 1 will not conflict with channel 1 on bank 2, so if you need more than 8 instruments, this would be a way to assign them.

Or...
In Bidule, you could just run another cable from ";Bidule 1"; over to ";VDL Instance 2";, and assign any instruments in there to channels 9-16. Now that I think about it, that's probably a cleaner, less confusing way to approach it. Doing it that way, you wouldn't have to worry about setting any Sibelius tracks to Bidule 2.

I did the second option you were talking about.  I can't get sibelius to play back a score I wrote with the drumline template.  I loaded my sounds in the first instance in bidule but I can't get sibelius is set up right to receive information from bidule.

I am still confused about the settings for sibelius.  This stuff is so difficult for me to understand.  Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated.

[quote author=J Noyes link=topic=531.msg7973#msg7973 date=1175783264]
but I can't get sibelius is set up right to receive information from bidule.
[/quote]

I'm not sure if you just have the terms confused, but you shouldn't be sneding anything to Sibelius from Bidule. Make sure that your outputs in Sibelius are set to Bidule.  This might not be your problem, but I just thought I would make sure that there weren't any misunderstandings.

Also, what are you using as your Virtual MIDI Cable? I used Bidule for a while and did not recall there being one included in the application. Are you using MIDI Yoke or Maple? And if so, what are you IN/OUT settings for those?

ok.  I thought all you needed was bidule to load the multiple instances of VD2.  So I need to get a virtual midi cable.  I'm guessing that I can purchase and download one from the internet.  Do you have any suggestions or any other helpful hints.

My computer/midi background is very slim and I just feel lost when it comes to setting this stuff up.  Any comments or suggestions will sure help me out.

Yes, as Jim mentioned a few posts ago, and as is documented in the VDL2 manual, you will need a virtual midi cable of sorts

http://www.midiox.com/index.htm?http://www.midiox.com/myoke.htm

Once you have run the installation, and rebooted if necessary, Midi Yoke will show up in your list of IN/OUT options. Just

-Set the OUT in Sibelius to Midi Yoke (e.g. Midi Yoke 1)
-Upon opening Bidule, there should already be an instance of Midi Yoke 1 running as the default MIDI IN, denoted by the (in) within the name.

If this doesn't get you rolling, please continue to ask questions so we can chip away at your problem.