Virtual Grand Piano played through Muse receptor??

[mal7]

Would it be possible to play the VGP using the Muse Receptor as an interface? Would be great not to have to take a computer to gigs.

http://www.bananas.com/productdetail.asp/pid_8141/productname_Muse-Receptor-Hardware-VST-Plug-In-Player

[Hans Adamson]

Hey Mal,

I talked to the guys who make the Receptor. They said VGP "should" work. To make sure there is 100% compatibility and ease of installation, they asked for a copy of VGP.

Hopefully we will soon know more. http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Hans Adamson
Art Vista Productions
http://www.artvista.net/

[mal7]

Hey Mal,

I talked to the guys who make the Receptor. They said VGP "should" work. To make sure there is 100% compatibility and ease of installation, they asked for a copy of VGP.

Hopefully we will soon know more. http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Hans Adamson
Art Vista Productions
http://www.artvista.net/


Thanks Hans, Could you let us know as soon as you get an answer ?
And is there any other hardware device that you know of that would be suitable for VGP ?

PS I am loving VGP. Out of more than a dozen libraries, it is now my favorite....Inspiring my playing :-)

[Beethree]

This would make me very happy.
I'm currently running White Grand Jr. and Scarbee libraries live on Recepror
and am pleased with all.
But more is better in this case....

[Michiel Post]

I use Receptor with full sample libraries a lot. Works very well, indeed.

Several of my customers have the PMI pianos installed for live use (the rockband U2 amongst others). I must say the unit is very good value: rocksteady, great hardware, excellent sound quality and great tech support from the Muse guys. (What more can you want?).

[Beethree]

[QUOTE=Michiel Post]I use Receptor with full sample libraries a lot. Works very well, indeed.

Michiel,
I haven't had luck yet with the Post Libraries on Receptor - at least not the big ones. I can get them to work at a reasonable latency, but not with the confidence that I can play however I want with no clicks or pops.
(I give it the forearms and sustain pumping test....)
If I were sequencing there wouldn't be an issue, but I use the Receptor for live performance.
Are you using them via Kompakt, or do you have Kontakt 2
running? THe latter isn't supported yet, but I'm guessing as a developer you might have access.
I'm thinking that when Kontakt 2 is supported (which should be literally any day now) that I'll have more success, being able to tweak the DFD status per layer, mess with the voice stealing alg.'s etc.
If you're using Kompakt, would you be willing to share your DFD settings and a particular library that works well?
Thanks,
Phil Aiken

[mal7]

I use Receptor with full sample libraries a lot. Works very well, indeed.

Several of my customers have the PMI pianos installed for live use (the rockband U2 amongst others). I must say the unit is very good value: rocksteady, great hardware, excellent sound quality and great tech support from the Muse guys. (What more can you want?).


Michiel, I have the GS3 version of Emperor. I presume the Kontakt version runs successfully in Receptor? Any clicks/pops? How is the latency?

[mal7]

This would make me very happy.
I'm currently running White Grand Jr. and Scarbee libraries live on Recepror
and am pleased with all.
But more is better in this case....

Interesting...a couple of questions
(1) Do White Grand and Scarbee libraries play as well via Receptor as on a computer ?...with regard to latency/pops and clicks etc
(2) Do you play the scarbee libraries as VSTi's via Kompakt?
(3) Can the various libraries be instantly recalled on your midi controller...or does each have to be loaded again if you wish to change sounds?
Any advice appreciated...

I am seriously looking at the Receptor for live playing, rather than a Laptop as I had planned.

[c4]

can't answer 1 or 2 but for #3 - you would normally just have a seperate instance of kontakt open with that particular instrument already loaded and have it assigned to a different midi channel. This way when you hit your preset button it changes the midi channel to the channel your instrument is set to respond to and there is no lag time since it is already loaded and ready to go...

[Michiel Post]

:o

Michiel,
I haven't had luck yet with the Post Libraries on Receptor - at least not the big ones. I can get them to work at a reasonable latency, but not with the confidence that I can play however I want with no clicks or pops.
(I give it the forearms and sustain pumping test....)
If I were sequencing there wouldn't be an issue, but I use the Receptor for live performance.
Are you using them via Kompakt, or do you have Kontakt 2
running? THe latter isn't supported yet, but I'm guessing as a developer you might have access.
I'm thinking that when Kontakt 2 is supported (which should be literally any day now) that I'll have more success, being able to tweak the DFD status per layer, mess with the voice stealing alg.'s etc.
If you're using Kompakt, would you be willing to share your DFD settings and a particular library that works well?
Thanks,
Phil Aiken
Hi Phil,
It takes some tweaks and experiments to get it right... :rolleyes: Like with any other computer. (This is an Athlon2500+ used under a special Linux shell that is much more efficient than running the Athlon2500 under Windows)

First off, remove the default 256 MB standard memory chip (I re-used mine in a spare Mac G5) and install 2 GB of RAM. This will enable you to load almost any piano in RAM and forget about DFD all together. RAM playback is much more efficient than DFD playback, so it's worth every penny to max out the Muse Receptor memory. When operated without DFD (RAM only mode) you can expect pretty high poly counts (64+ stereo voices and much higher).

If your piano is larger than 2 GB (Old Lady and EMPEROR are larger in 24 bit versions, Bos290 is not) you need to enable DFD. DFD puts strain on the hard drive and CPU, so polyphony will be lower.
While adjusting DFD, start with the largest possible preload and buffer sizes and work your way back towards the smaller values until you get click free performance for the max polyphony you need. 256 sample buffer works best for me. Every time you change settings you need to re-load the library to get the results.

Chose your presets carefully! For example, if you play staccato pieces, without sustain pedal don't load the Full patches but use the ones without the sustain samples. This reduces the memory footprint and helps keeping the CPU load low. Same for release sample patches. If you don't really need release samples, use presets without them. It saves polyphony and could be the difference between a CPU halt and a flawless performance. A few more notes on DFD: always set DFD after powering up the unit. The DFD settings are not stored, so they get lost on rebooting the machine. I have not installed the latest (version3) software. Hope they solved this bug. Never set the number of allowed voices in Kompakt equal or higher than the number of voices set in DFD! This would kill the CPU when you reach the limit and disables any voice-stealing. Finally, use the sustain pedal keeping the polyphony load of many sustained voices in mind. Lift the pedal every now and then when you get a music chance.

I have most success with the Dry version of the Bosendorfer 290 and the Sustain only patches of Old Lady (this latter only uses about 1.8 GB of samples, so it can run without DFD). Emperor really works best with both sustain and non-sustain samples so it depends on DFD and this means you have to set DFD really tight. And never use the elbow test! :cool:

U2 keyboard player Terry Lawless uses a rack of Receptors for the current U2 world tour and is very happy with the performance of my Bosendorfer290. The band actually did their first few performances with a real Bosendorfer grand on stage but found out it didn't work. Muse offered help. Many artists are using Receptor. The upcoming Rolling Stones' tour will use a bunch of Receptors. etc. Doing great in Japan too.

I can not tell you anything about availability of K2. :o
All VSTi Plug-In's powered by NI, have to be adapted to be used on Receptor. The EastWest/PMI Bos290 plug-In is available and works nicely.

Latency is adjustable. I never use it for live performances so I'm not the expert here, but I never heard complaints. Check KVR for Receptor user experiences.

[Beethree]

Interesting...a couple of questions
(1) Do White Grand and Scarbee libraries play as well via Receptor as on a computer ?...with regard to latency/pops and clicks etc
(2) Do you play the scarbee libraries as VSTi's via Kompakt?
(3) Can the various libraries be instantly recalled on your midi controller...or does each have to be loaded again if you wish to change sounds?
Any advice appreciated...

I am seriously looking at the Receptor for live playing, rather than a Laptop as I had planned.



OK....here goes:
1. Yes and No.
I am most comfortable for now loading instruments into Kompakt with DFD
turned off. I am able to achieve good latency this way, and do not have to worry about clicking. I need to try some more DFD settings as per Michiels last Post. Anyway, White Grand Jr. and most of the Scarbee presets fit comfortably into RAM. I batch converted my Scarbee samples to 16 bit so that they took up less space. I can play the full versions using DFD without much trouble, but I prefer for now to eschew DFD so that I can be supremely confident.

2. I load the sample sets into Kompakt. Kontakt 2 should be up and running soon.

3. You can switch midi channels from your controller - but without using DFD there are definite limits as to how many large samples can be loaded at once. Here is my basic set up, just as an example.
If I am playing a solo piano gig I just load up a piano. Otherwise, I have
a set up as follows:
Channel 1. Rhodes
2. Native Instruments B4
3. Wurly
4. Minimogue
5. Open - non Receptor
6. Piano.
7. Assorted Mellotron stuff.

For a given gig, I decide my priority instrument between Rhodes, Wurly, or Acoustic piano.
If Rhodes, It gets the Scarbee, Wurly is via Mr. Tramp, and Piano is my controller (Yamaha P200).
If Wurly, it gets the Scarbee, Rhodes is Mr. Ray 73, Piano is the Yamaha.
You get the picture.
I have all of these permutations saved as "multis" so I just load one up and go.

This way there is no load time, I just push a button and the other sound is there. I can also change between multis if there is time, or if I am playing on the Yamaha for a song.
All the electric pianos go through the Scarbee VKFX - sounds brilliant.

This is a very basic set up and you can do alot more. My primary goal initially was to get it set up so that it is rock solid and giving me my basic sounds. It is in my rack, I just plug it in and fire away without thinking about it too much. For MY personal needs, it is better than a laptop.
Everyone has different needs from their gear, though.

[mal7]

Thanks for that Beethree. After reading yours, and Michiels comments, it appears the Receptor has some limitations as opposed to a Laptop. Food for thought anyway...

[Michiel Post]

Receptor has many advantages over a laptop though.
First it's incredibly steady. No Windows or Mac OS breaking up while you least expect it (and can't spare the time to fix it). Second, it contains all the hardware and software in one compact 19-inch module. The Linux shell works much better than other OS's and operates at the kernel level. The audio quality of the converters is excellent and offers SPDIF, analogue and headphone connections. Midi ,multiple USB sockets, ethernet... it's all there in case you need but the beauty is you can simply plug in your midi chord and audio jacks and play the thing. If you have a laptop you have to mess around with a fast external hard drive to overcome the internal drive slow speed, an external USB audio card, a midi box and a separate power supply unit. Plus a laptop takes more space with the screen and keyboard (plus mouse) that you need for basic operation. Last: it's considerably cheaper than a laptop with all the peripherals.

[mal7]

Receptor has many advantages over a laptop though.
First it's incredibly steady. No Windows or Mac OS breaking up while you least expect it (and can't spare the time to fix it). Second, it contains all the hardware and software in one compact 19-inch module. The Linux shell works much better than other OS's and operates at the kernel level. The audio quality of the converters is excellent and offers SPDIF, analogue and headphone connections. Midi ,multiple USB sockets, ethernet... it's all there in case you need but the beauty is you can simply plug in your midi chord and audio jacks and play the thing. If you have a laptop you have to mess around with a fast external hard drive to overcome the internal drive slow speed, an external USB audio card, a midi box and a separate power supply unit. Plus a laptop takes more space with the screen and keyboard (plus mouse) that you need for basic operation. Last: it's considerably cheaper than a laptop with all the peripherals.

I'd like to be able to load Emperor, Black Grand, VGP, Scarbee Rhodes, B4 as well as Ivory when it is PC ready.
Would the receptor handle this many libraries?

[c4]

do you plan on having all of those loaded up for live use?

[Beethree]

I'd like to be able to load Emperor, Black Grand, VGP, Scarbee Rhodes, B4 as well as Ivory when it is PC ready.
Would the receptor handle this many libraries?


It depends on what you mean.
They will all fit on the Receptor - mine has a 180 gig hard drive.
They can't all be loaded up and ready to play at once though.

I should mention that B4 is a modeled instrument, and it, as well as other soft synths that don't rely on huge sample sets, are not subject to any of the limitations discussed above, and in fact you can have a ton of them up and ready to play at once.

[mal7]

do you plan on having all of those loaded up for live use?
I would like to have them "at call" with the press of a button, but I realise this is not possible.

[mal7]

It depends on what you mean.
They will all fit on the Receptor - mine has a 180 gig hard drive.
They can't all be loaded up and ready to play at once though.



Thanks for that...I didn't realise the hard drive was upgradable from 40GB to 180

[c4]

thats not possible on a laptop either..unless you are putting your faith into DFD
which is pretty risky in a live situation..

[mal7]

thats not possible on a laptop either..unless you are putting your faith into DFD
which is pretty risky in a live situation..

In Gigastudio I can load several libraries and assign each a different midi channel, and have all at call at a flick of a swith on my controller.
By the way, what is DFD?

[Beethree]

In Gigastudio I can load several libraries and assign each a different midi channel, and have all at call at a flick of a swith on my controller.
By the way, what is DFD?

DFD="direct from disc"
ie....streaming as opposed to playing samples from RAM