Thanks, c3!!

Can one of the VSL folks can say whether GS [the main GigaStudio program] will work under VEP, or whether I would have to use GVI [the scaled-down VSTi version of GigaStudio].

GVI will be useful for streaming samples, but it would be nice to be able to load GS instruments, complete with their original GigaPulse settings, &c.

[fingers crossed]

Hi all, I'm wondering whether to buy VEP.  I need it for one specific purpose... can you help me figure out if it will work?

----------------------------------------------

I have two PCs that I would like to 'connect' via VEP:

  – My main music machine is running Win7 (64-bit), with an RME RayDAT soundcard.

  – My older machine is running Win XP (SP3) with a MOTU 2408 mk3 soundcard.

For reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has ever worked with Giga, I want to keep GS/GVI on their own machine, away from my smoothly-running setup...  :-)  That said, I have many old sample libraries that I'd like to be able to use.

I have GS3 and GS4, as well as GVI3 and GVI4.

The MOTU 2408 card (in the PC that I want to use exclusively for Giga) has a GSIF 2 driver which will work with GS3 but *not* with GS4.

Ideally, I would load Giga samples in GS4/GVI4 [on the WinXP(32-bit) PC], and trigger them via MIDI tracks in Cubase [on the Win7 (64-bit) PC]... and then record Giga's output as audio within Cubase.

----------------------------------------------

The short first question is whether VEP can work under these conditions.

If the answer to the first question is "yes," then I need to know whether it will make a difference that the Giga PC won't have the necessary GSIF driver for GS4... or whether VEP will connect Giga and Cubase and allow them to communicate with each other the way that Rewire used to.

Does it matter that the Giga PC will be running 32-bit WinXP, and the Cubase Machine will be running 64-bit Win7?

If I'm leaving out any important information, please tell me.

Thank you so much!!!!!

Hi DG (and everyone else),

There is GVI4 (the VST version of GigaStudio 4), but I need to run the full standalone GS4 because (among other things) all of my older pieces use GS4's native GigaPulse convo reverb (which isn't included in GVI4).

Has anyone at VSL or on the forum used VE Pro 5 with standalone GigaStudio?

Would VE Pro 5 work with GS if I got something like "Giga VST Adapter" or some other, more modern application?

If no one has ever tried it . . .  would VSL like to take me on as a beta tester?

[there is historical precedent—I was a GS4/GVI4 beta tester right on up to the day that TASCAM killed all things Giga].....

There must be plenty of GS machines still lying around.  If it turned out that VE Pro offered all Giga (and former-Giga) users a viable solution...???

Thanks!!

  — Alan

Hi everybody,

My main music computer is a PC, running Win7 x64, centered around Cubase 6.5 (64-bit). 

I want to add a second computer just for GigaStudio 4 and all of its related libraries.  I don't feel like buying a second GSIF 2.2 sound card for Giga to run 64-bit, and I have access to an older PC that probably wouldn't support x64 anyway.

I was thinking about buying VE PRO 5 to connect the 32-bit GS4 machine to the 64-bit Cubase-based machine.

Will 32-bit GigaStudio and 64-bit Cubase work together in this manner?  I know that it wouldn’t work if both programs were running on the same machine... but I wonder whether it would work if each program was on its own machine, connected via VE PRO 5...

What other potential problems should I be aware of here?

Thanks so much!!

  — Alan

Hi everybody!!

I've just started creating (Cubase 5.5.0) VST Exression Maps for my Pro Edition Orchestral Cube/Performance Set.

Two questions, if I may:

(1)  When I load VC-B_all (Orch. Cube, Solo Cello Basic Set Combinations), do the eight keyswitches correspond to the eight individual instruments listed under "Basic Instruments" on p.116 pf the manual?

(2)  There are many instruments, such as VC_perf_leg_f_porta (Perf. Set, solo cello) that show multiple keyswitches in GS4... but the various articulations don't appear to be identified anywhere in the manual.  I looked around the VSL site, but couldn't find anything.  Is there any place where I can find detailed keyswitch-by-keyswitch descriptions of all of the instruments in the Pro Edition Orchestral Cube/Performance Set?

Thanks!!

  — Alan

¡ ¡ el bumpe ! !

Mattias (or anyone else who can help):

I'm looking for new values to try, in both GS3 and GS4(beta).

Looking in my registry I see, in addition to the four parameters that can be adjusted by the Memory Load Optimizer, a number of other parameters, including:

DisablePagingExecutive 

LargeSystemCache

PhysicalAddressExtension

SessionPoolSize 

SessionViewSize

SystemPages

WriteWatch 

Have you (or has anybody) tried adjusting these parameters, in addition to the ones already addressed in this thread?

Any thoughts (pro or con) regarding toying with these parameters? 

Thanks for any additional insight,

  Alan
 

For memory/U.S.E. issues, and for additional insight regarding "percentages" (and how much/little attention to pay to them), check out these two threads:

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101

Alan

Don't forget that you can load multiple instances of GVI.

I've consistently overloaded my CPU with polyphony long before ever coming close to running out of sample memory using GVI within Cubase.

Alan

See also:

http://www.tascamgiga.com/downloads.html



Someone who understands the "under the hood" stuff better than me wrote, elsewhere:



Onwards and upwards.

It is nice to see user requests transformed into usable code so quickly!!

.

No idea regarding time frame, but it is definitely in the works:

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t="411" "="" target="_blank" title="http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411">http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411">http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411

(see comment #2)

Alan

Suppose a computer currently has four memory slots, each with a 512MB memory module in it.

New memory for this computer is $129/GB, and it only comes in 1GB modules.

There are two possible options:

(i) buy 2GB of new memory, stick 1GB modules in slots 1 and 2, and keep the original 512MB modules in slots 3 and 4. End result = 3GB installed, and 2x512MB modules sitting in a box in the closet somewhere... Cost = $258.

(ii) buy 1GB of new memory, stick it in slot 1, and keep the original 512MB modules in slots 2, 3 and 4. End result = 2.5GB installed, and 1x512MB module sitting in that box in the closet... Cost = $129.

I seem to remember that it is recommended (?) to only keep equally-sized pairs of memory modules in paired slots... is this correct?

What, if any, are the disadvantages of a setup like option (ii) above?

A little extra memory would be nice, but this computer's CPU seems to get overloaded long before the RAM runs out... so it's not at all clear that the extra $129 is worth it... since it will only buy half a GB of more memory... that is, of course, unless there are problems with pairing different-sized memory modules that would make it necessary to buy a new pair of same-sized modules in any case.

Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

.

That error message usually means that you either don't have enough memory installed to load a particular instrument, *or* you have enough memory installed but Windows is not allocating your memory in a way that will allow you to load that particular instrument.

For the U.S.E., generally, read these:

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101

When you try to load a sample that would cause a U.S.E., GVI simply doesn't load it. A bit anti-climactic, really...

But you shouldn't be discouraged... chances are, you will need to either (i) install additional RAM -- you should have at least 2GB anyway, and/or (ii) reconfigure your Windows Memory settings, using GigaStudio's "Configuration Manager" if you have GS3 as well or, if you don't, something like Mattias' "Memory Optimization Tool"...

.

http://www.bestservice.de/actual.asp/de/269085a91p64p151p32

Hi Marc:



For memory/U.S.E. issues, these two threads are a decent place to start (or continue) one's troubleshooting:

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123

http://learngigastudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101

Forget the rumors...

According to TASCAM, no they haven't abandoned anything. They are actively working on GS4, as well as the next-gen GVI, and even a Mac GVI...

Don't worry... you will come to appreciate the computer investment over time...

As for loading up more and more and more samples... by the time you've got 2+GB of samples loaded, and maybe a few instances of GigaPulse too, who knows... you might even find yourself overpowering your CPU long before you run out of usuable memory (this is where you will be happy that you got a more powerful processor).

If this happens, and if you are uinable to increase your polyphony enough to keep up with your samples (especially sustained samples), then you can always start "freezing tracks" in your DAW/sequencer application... that will help you get all of your instruments out there, even though not necessarily all-at-once...

Incidentally, the reason I'm asking is that, in the e-mail that I received from VSL, today, it says:



That language, by itself, doesn't require that I also buy or already own the "Standard Library."

Hence, my confusion..... :

Hi there,

I own the Pro Edition Orchestral Cube and Performance Set.

Is it possible to only buy and use the "Extended Library" for $60, or must I buy the "Full Library" for $505 in order to take advantage of the substantial discount on the "Extended Library"?

Having spent what I spent on the Pro Edition Orchestral Cube/Performance Set, money is still rather tight... having not yet discovered the full capabilities of what I already have, I'm not ready to make the full-on leap into VI country.

Still, it would be a nice introduction to the new Vienna libraries, if the $60 option did exist on its own.

I didn't see a "Buy Now" option under the "Extended LIbrary," so I think I know what the answer is. One can always hope, however...

(Please please please and) Thanks,

Alan

Hi Ricardo:

A few things come to mind:

The "Tested Memory Available..." value in Giga's memory test does not reflect the actual amount of memory that Giga can use to load instruments... it is only a tool for estimating, based upon what little of the Windows memory-handling spec that Microsoft shares with the outside world... So a higher percentage value doesn't necessarily translate to better memory use than a lower percentage value... and a lower percentage value doesn't necessarily translate to less available memory use than a higer percentage value...

The two best tests for determining your actual memory capability are:

(i) launching the Windows Task Manager, clicking on the "Processes" tab, and watching the "Mem Usage" value of "msg32.exe" increase as you load more and more instruments. The value you get when you start seeing "unknown system error" messages is a much better indication of your true memory limits;

(ii) loading a fixed set of instruments (biggest ones first), and seeing how far down that list you can get.

---------------------------

Based upon what I've read, here and elsewhere, it seems that Giga can't make use of anything over 1.1 ~ 1.2GB of memory for samples (that's a current Windows per-application limitation, not a Giga limitation). Therefore, the fact that you have installed 4GB won't by itself help GS3's performance. What it will do, however, is lower your "Tested Memory Available" percentage value, since it is being calculated as a percentage of a much larger number than what the folks with 2GB systems have (you'd be closer to 80% on a 2GB system).

---------------------------

How much memory you have isn't the only important factor -- equally important is how Windows allocates your memory. For example, I could not load any of my SampleTekk piano libs, using any of the five GS3 presets.

I used Mattias' application to change the numbers controlling how Windows actually makes use of my 2GB of memory. As a result, I can load up the pianos now, even thought my memory test "percentage" is now lower than it was before.

There is another "trick," usually referred to as the "/3GB switch," which is another Windows configuration method. That configuration technique is a bit trickier than the tweak effected by Mattias' app, and TASCAM doesn't support the "/3GB switch" -- especially when your memory number is as high as it seems to be, I don't think that it's worth messing around with...

---------------------------

My guess is that you will be best able to take full advantage of your additional RAM, in a Giga context, by running multiple instances of GVI on your machine -- instead of or in addition to GS3.

Considering how cheap GVI is for GS3 owners, it seems to be an obvious choice...

But remember one thing -- GVI does not feature the full-blown "GigaPulse Pro" that comes integrated with GS3 (although a recent update now includes the original "NFX" reverb algorithm that comes with GS3), so you cannot add GP to a dry sample loaded in GVI, the way that you can in GS3.

However, GVI will process GigaPulse information that has been pre-coded into specific libraries (like Larry Seyer's Acoustic Drums or the various SampleTekk piano libs).

That's the state of the art... at least until 64-bit Windows is really here...

Plus, there will hopefully be news about GS4 and the next generation of GigaPulse soon...!!!

Alan

.

Same computer? Same song!!

You can hear excerpts from two songs created using a combination of GS3 and GVI on my fledgling site (http://alanb.org/music.shtml"="" target="_blank" title="http://alanb.org/music.shtml">http://alanb.org/music.shtml">http://alanb.org/music.shtml)... specifically "A Square Peg in a Much Larger Round Hole" and "Luna's Dance."

Whether you like the music is one thing... but, if nothing else, you can see (well... you can hear) that the technology works...




Alan

.

From the Release Notes to GVI update v3.53:



I also recall seeing somewhere (here?) (a different forum?) that there was a different or revised method for using the Performance Tool in GVI.

I haven't tried it myself, yet, so I can't speak from personal experience yet...

.

Hmmmm.. when you say "sometimes working and sometimes not"...

Do you mean that you can point to certain individual keyswitches that work on one playthrough and do not work on the next?

Or do you mean that you can point to certain individual keyswitches that always work and certain individual keyswitches that always don't?

The reason I ask is because... one possible problem is that maybe some keyswitches need to be nudged just a teeny tiny little bit ahead of the notes that you wish to have switched? I always turn off the "snap to" in Cubase when I'm drawing in keyswitches, just to make sure that they always lead the affected notes by a tiny bit...

No need to do that. In fact, it pays to have both handy, depending upon your immediate needs.

I even have a few pieces in which both GS3 and GVI are streaming samples simultaneously!!


While there is a "QuickEditor" in GVI, it is not as powerful as the one in GS3. Can you create .gig files in GVI? Hrmmm... not sure, I haven't tried...


Of course!!


You cannot open .gsp files, but you can open .gsi files.

One critical difference between GVI and GS3 that is also relevant to this last question:

GVI will allow you to use GigaPulse information that has been "pre-programmed" into sample instruments... two examples of this are SampleTekk's piano libraries, and Larry Seyer's acoustic drum library. You cannot, however, apply GigaPulse to other sounds or libraries (although you can now download a GVI update from TASCAM that contains the 'classic' Nemesys NFX reverb).

If you want a more realistic "convolution" reverb to be applied to instruments that don't have it pre-encoded, then you must either use GS3 (which comes with "GigaPulse Pro")... or use GVI in conjunction with TASCAM's "GigaPulse VST," or some other convolution reverb, which you can apply to any track or sound in your sequencer/DAW app.

------------------------

I second the recommendation that you check out the learngigastudio.com site -- both for the forum and the "how to" GS3/GVI videos, starring Larry Seyer and Dave Govett.

Hi all,

This conversation is very interesting to me, too.

I own RA, and the "Middle East String Section" is my favorite instrument in that library.

My major problem with it is that there are very few articulations. I fear that I'll only be able to get so much mileage out of each articulation without all of my pieces using it sounding like they are obviously "cut from the same cloth."

For this reason, I've been very curious about how (if at all) to go about creating a similar sound with the string libraries that I already have (Pro Edition Orchestral Cube and Performance Set).

Just before seeing this thread, I had been wondering whether anybody had used those VSL libraries for this decidedly 'non-traditional' purpose. If not, or if it turns out not to be feasible, I'm glad to hear what you are all saying about the other VSL libraries.

------------------

Mazeka, you can hear a little bit of the RA strings in a piece of mine called Luna's Dance... a short excerpt from it is the first piece on the "Music" page here: http://alanb.org/"="" target="_blank" title="http://alanb.org/">http://alanb.org/">http://alanb.org/. There are a bunch of libraries used in that piece (the Bb/bass clarinets and the 'fast string reps' are all VSL).

I'm still pretty new to the Wonderful and Frightening World of Sample-Based Music, and am now just starting to familiarize myself with the finer details of all of my libraries, so I would be delighted to read any feedback or comments that you may have to share with me.

Composition issues aside, I listen to each of my pieces on three different setups at home (studio monitors, computer speakers and home stereo) and hear three completely different pieces... [shakes head].....

I have no idea what you will hear, but I hope that you like it, whatever it is!!