Automatically switch between VST instruments

[generalchaos316]

I feel this must have come up in a previous post but have not been able to find it for the life of me!

I recently joined an electronic band and have to pull double-duty on a few songs...(bass and keyboard). I am trying to use Live to run our backing track and multiple VST plugins for myself to trigger using a MIDI keyboard controller. Each song is in its own Live set. There may be 2 or 3 different VST instruments that I might play throughout a song...but I will only be playing one at a time (i.e. when I am playing on one VST instrument, all others should be producing no sound).

I have totally hit a brick wall with trying to switch between these VST instruments automatically though! I have been able to set up Live to switch the "Record Enable" mode for the particular VST (thus Input Monitoring allows sound for that one to play through) using my own motion on another MIDI device but it is darn near impossible to do when playing an open string bass line with one hand, keys with the other, one foot on a sustain pedal...you get the point

Is what I am trying to do nativly possible through Live itself? The end goal (for now) is to just hit Play and have every VST change handled by the computer. I have been looking into MIDI Yoke to possibly assist in the task...I would like to keep the already complex task as simple as possible. I love Live for composing...but is there a better option for something like this?

[zalo]

if you make an instrument rack with each one in a separate chain you can make a long clip that says for the first 10 measures route to chain 1 then for the next 18 play chain 2 and so on

[geo]

That's right, you can define chain zones, then instead of a long clip, you could create as many clips as your instruments, and use the envelope to animate the chain selector on each one so that when a particular clip is playing, you can only play that particular instrument. Then set the duration of the clip and use follow actions by setting each clip to go to the next one. That way you could have a sort of naming of each clip with the instrument and the duration according to your live set and it would be easier to modify the duration of each clip if required later.

[generalchaos316]

Awesome, thanks! I had browsed thru that section of the manual but didn't really see how it applied to my situation. I will go over it more thoroughly tonight!

[generalchaos316]

Thanks for the help so far guys, I have conquered some hurdles in this period of silence and come back with even more questions.

That's right, you can define chain zones, then instead of a long clip, you could create as many clips as your instruments, and use the envelope to animate the chain selector on each one so that when a particular clip is playing, you can only play that particular instrument. Then set the duration of the clip and use follow actions by setting each clip to go to the next one. That way you could have a sort of naming of each clip with the instrument and the duration according to your live set and it would be easier to modify the duration of each clip if required later.

That one went just a tad over my head. Part by part:

- I have figured out how to create a rack of my VST instruments; check.
- I have figured out how to define chain zones for my rack for multiple VST instruments to play one at a time; check.
- In that same vein, I have figured out how program a MIDI note to switch between my chain zones; check.

Now, if I understand correctly there is only 2 things left to do:
1) Use a MIDI envelope to automate the switch between the Chain Zones.
2) Set one clip to follow the other after the appropriate amount of time has lapsed.

I think I am good on #2 but no matter how many times I have read the section on envelopes...I am just not grasping the proper application of the feature (i.e. I can't get it to work!) Can you elaborate on this a little more?

[generalchaos316]

Ah, nevermind...all it took was a little more WD-40 on those rusty cogs in my head to finally solve this little dilemma. I was confused because I was forgetting that one of my Chain Zones was 0 and the other was 1. When I was drawing my envelope I was forgetting that it is on 0 by default. In my mind...bumping up the envelope one square was choosing my first zone (which was really 1) and two squares was my second (which was really zone 2 and unassigned to either).

In either case, thanks again for all the help...I am sure I will have even more questions as I begin to explore this great app!

[Bhang]

Hey, we're looking at Live to do the same thing---hope you don't mind me asking a few questions---you said each of you songs is in a separate Live set---does that mean you have to pause between each song and load a new set or can they run together (kinda like DJ'ing)---and also, how's that switching VST's affect your CPU---do Instruments that aren't in the chain being played still put a load on or do they free up resources? Trying to figure out how to run an entire non-stop show with numerous instruments and fx.