Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

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AXN
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Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by AXN » Fri Jul 04, 2014 3:07 pm

Whats the best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Its possible by the "External Instrument" device, so that audio and midi are on 1 channel, second option is via a midi and audio channel.
But whats the difference? Cant seem to find it.

Synthesizers that i own and want to integrate are: Elektron Analog 4, Rytm, Monomachine MK2, Virus Ti2, Moog Sub Phatty and a Waldorf Pulse 2. The Analog 4 and Pulse 2 have Max 4 live editors, the TI2 and Moog SP their own vst editors.

timday
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Re: Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by timday » Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:16 pm

Ext instrument is usually better as 1) it is easier to set up, 2) You can include it in a rack with the editors and save as a preset (so you don't have to reset e.g. gain or I/O every time) and 3) there is a latency compensation dial which is a lot less trouble all round than using track delays.

If you have something polytimbral with multiple I/O or a hardware drum machine I guess it could be easier to use tracks but even then I'd be inclined to put ext insts in a rack.

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Re: Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by re:dream » Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:25 pm


Richie Witch
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Re: Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by Richie Witch » Sat Jul 05, 2014 1:11 am

timday wrote:Ext instrument is usually better as 1) it is easier to set up, 2) You can include it in a rack with the editors and save as a preset (so you don't have to reset e.g. gain or I/O every time) and 3) there is a latency compensation dial which is a lot less trouble all round than using track delays.

If you have something polytimbral with multiple I/O or a hardware drum machine I guess it could be easier to use tracks but even then I'd be inclined to put ext insts in a rack.
I completely agree. External Instrument makes it easy to setup and duplicate all your hardware synths and save them as presets that you can then drag-and-drop onto tracks.

For drum machines, there is a bit of an issue if you set each instrument to its own track. For example if you drop the Ext Instrument onto each slot of a Drum Rack. I found that the inaudible bit of noise the drum machine produces was duplicated on each track of the drum rack until the accumulated noise was *extremely* audible. Unless you're using something that routes all the tracks over USB, you'll probably need to set up your drum machine on one Ext Instrument like any other synth.
"Watching the Sky" ~ A 4-track EP of piano, strings, and Native American flute

AXN
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Re: Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by AXN » Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:40 am

Thanks for the replies!


Ok, so is this the best way to set them up?:

External Intrument tracks:

Moog Sub Phatty (not multitibral, audio over jacks)
Waldorf Pulse 2 (not multitibral, audio over jacks)

Separate Audio and Midi tracks:

Elektron Analog 4 (4 part multitimbral, audio over jacks)
Elektron Analog Rytm (8 part multitimbral, audio over jacks)
Monomachine MK2 (6 part multitimbral, audio over jacks)
Virus Ti2 (3 part multitimbral, audio over USB)

timday
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Re: Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by timday » Sat Jul 05, 2014 1:13 pm

I'd still tend to use separate ext inst tracks for the multitimbrals, so the MIDI and audio for each channel is combined in one track. Get the latency dial right if necessary then save as a preset for that synth.

fragmentated
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Re: Best way to set up external synthesizers in Live 9?

Post by fragmentated » Sat Jul 05, 2014 3:34 pm

In my experience with the Elektron boxes (or anything with an external sequencer) I always found it easier to just use an audio track not the external instrument. I always ran into problems trying to bounce/freeze external sequencers with the external inst plugin. I always had better success with only an audio track and just dropping in and recording to a clip from my external sequencers (Elektron, x0xb0x, etc). Then again I'm not really sending any midi to them with the exception of clock which doesn't need a midi track.

As for the other synths it's really personal preference. It's nice to combine audio/midi into one track with the external instrument plugin and usually what I do with my other instruments that don't have built in sequencers.

For the virus - can't speak directly about the plugin because I never use it. I just go the old fashioned route with midi and audio cables. If you are using the plugin it should take care of both audio and midi on one track like any normal plugin. You should be able to use the external instrument for the other two parts though routing the midi out and audio back in. Not exactly sure how rendering and freezing it would be though. As I said I've always just used the midi/audio cables of mine.

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