Multiple instrument in Cubase (EWQLSO PLAY EDITION)

[magicben]

hi evryone
I'm a musicien learning cubase and recently EWQLSO PLAY edition (complete composer) and Im having trouble using it in cubase :

for instance I do two midi tracks (for 2different instruments) :
- first track : for midi input : my midi usb keyboard and output VST PLAY (EWQLSO) in which i load an intrument .
on cubase the first track is on channel 1 ,and on EWLSO the channel is [omni] and the outpout [1-2]

everything works find with the first track

now second track, input : also my midi keyboard and output VST PLAY (EWQLSO)

the question is , which channel i have to choose on cubase , and should I load another VST PLAY (EWQLSO) or stay on the same and select another channel and out put? which one?

I know it a stupid simple question but I search on the site/forum there is no tutorial or video tutorial

please help

btw is there any link or tutorial showing how to use EWQL play ediiton and Cubase?
thanks a lot

[aevan]

Hi, if you want to add midi notes to the same instrument you did first, then assign the second midi track to that instance of play as well.
If you want to record a new instrument, setup another instance of play and assign the second midi track to that.
The reason for doing it this way is that it is more processor efficient as Cubase will only use one processor core for each instance of play.
It also makes it easier to mix as you have full separate control over each instrument coming form play.

[Oldfield]

Is there a limit to the number of PLAY instances you can have running in cubase? (Ignoring CPU/memory etc limitations of the PC it's running on).

[aevan]

Hi, I just had a look at Cubase and in the VST instruments rack there are 64 slots.
The other option is to create vst instrument tracks and put play on each of them , which I think would only be limited by your system power and ram.

[Pietro]

Loading one instrument per instance makes no sense, just as loading PLAY as instrument tracks as opposed to plugin. Spreading many instruments into a couple of PLAY instances might improve performance, though.

Anyway, set midi channel in PLAY to the same midi channel you have on your midi track. So channel track in Cubase should match channel in PLAY. If you leave it as "Omni", it will always play - triggered by midi from any midi channel.

- Piotr

[reddiesel41264]

Is there a limit to the number of PLAY instances you can have running in cubase? (Ignoring CPU/memory etc limitations of the PC it's running on).

Depends if your loading it in the VST rack or as instrument tracks

[reddiesel41264]

hi evryone
I'm a musicien learning cubase and recently EWQLSO PLAY edition (complete composer) and Im having trouble using it in cubase :

for instance I do two midi tracks (for 2different instruments) :
- first track : for midi input : my midi usb keyboard and output VST PLAY (EWQLSO) in which i load an intrument .
on cubase the first track is on channel 1 ,and on EWLSO the channel is [omni] and the outpout [1-2]

everything works find with the first track

now second track, input : also my midi keyboard and output VST PLAY (EWQLSO)

the question is , which channel i have to choose on cubase , and should I load another VST PLAY (EWQLSO) or stay on the same and select another channel and out put? which one?

I know it a stupid simple question but I search on the site/forum there is no tutorial or video tutorial

please help

btw is there any link or tutorial showing how to use EWQL play ediiton and Cubase?
thanks a lot

I think your missing something quite simple here. Inside play you need to set your first instrument to recieve on MIDI channel 1, and the second to recieve on MIDI channel 2, In cubase you assign both your MIDI tracks to the same play instance but set their output MIDI channel to 1 and 2 as applicable.

There doesn't tend to be video tutorials for these kind of situations becuase they are generic to all sequencers and VSTi's. However I will be making a new video tutorial in the next week or two dealing with some other aspects in cubase so I'll mention it.

EDIT: I just realised I said pretty much the same as Piotr - I should read everything first really :)

[aevan]

Loading one instrument per instance makes no sense, just as loading PLAY as instrument tracks as opposed to plugin. Spreading many instruments into a couple of PLAY instances might improve performance, though
- Piotr

Loading more than one instance makes perfect sense because if you put all your instruments in one instance of play Cubase only assigns one processor core per instance to it. If you aren't on a multicore it wouldn't help. Maybe this will change with Cubase 6 dropping at NAMM in a couple of hours time..
I like having separate instances for separate instruments. My system can handle it so why not? Makes treating them all individually in regards to eq compression and effects sends a lot simpler when it comes to mixing. There are also caes like some of the drum kits where you need separate instances to get the kick, snare etc separate so you can mult (split) them to a few tracks for treating different parts of the sound - like the click and boom of the kick drum.
I mean the instruments sound good out of the box, but that doesn't mean they are gonna sound so good when they are in a busy track with a bunch of other stuff including live instruments and vocals.
Anything that makes that process easier makes sense to me. All the instruments are there in the arranger window as channels right next to the audio tracks ready to mix. Little things like that take your left brain out of the equation and free you up to just think creatively rather than organizationally.

It may not make sense to you, but to say it makes no sense at all is a but much really. There are many many ways of working. Yours is just one of them. (I'm saying this in a conversational way, not rudely. Sometimes that doesn't come across on the internet)

[Pietro]

I didn't say, that having one instrument per instance of PLAY doesn't make sense in case, where you want to separate channels and have no time to set it in PLAY and Cubase mixer. This was not the point of this topic. Sometimes I do the same thing, so yeah, why not.

I was explaining something, that's been told a couple of times by Doug or Nick, and many times misunderstood. They did recommend using multiple instances in order to split load to multiple cores, instead of having one core do everything. But the thing is, at point where you have 50 or 100 instruments in a project, loading one instrument per instance (in order to spread load) will become countereffective. It was never designed to work this way. And they never recommended it. A couple of instances - sure. On a quad core computer, more than 10 - not if you are only doing it with performance in mind.

- Piotr

[trumpoz]

Just in addition to what Pietro is saying, each instance of Play uses up additional ram, so there is a balance between spreading load across all cores and efficient RAM usage. If you are doing a small project and have a reasonable amount of ram, then it should be fine, and you get the ability to add effects to each individual track. But, for a larger project people need to balance efficient RAM usage and spreading the load across all cores. This balance can be more effectively achieved through using Play as a multi-timbral instrument.

[aevan]

HI Piotr, thanks for clarifying your comment. Yes, 100 instruments all in separate instances would be a nightmare for your cpu.
Cheers.