New instrument on each track OR route midi from mult trax?

[danryanfl]

I have been using Live for years to dj, but have only recently started trying to produce my own tracks. I bought Komplete 7 and have gotten familiar with the instruments, but I have some confusion when it comes to laying out an efficient session view setup:

Is it better to load separate instrument instances onto each track or to route multiple midi tracks into a single vsti instance (if it is all the same instrument)? Does the preference depend on the type of instrument?

For example, I might have one track that is my main drums and a separate track for extra percussion elements. Should both of these route to a single instance of Battery, or should each track get its own?

If I start dropping a vsti on every track I think I will run out of RAM sooner than later... is this the limiting factor to consider, or are there more practical workflow reasons to route midi to single instances as well?

[Theo Void]

I have never done what you are describing. I use seperate tracks for different MIDI inst.
Sometimes I'll have 4-5 instances(tracks) of Massive or Predator just for the different parts of a bassline!
I suppose it would save CPU to do what u suggest.
'I've never used Battery, but I wouldn't be able to use the same instance because each instance needs to have different settings.
If u have a decent computer u should be alright w/ multiple tracks.
Also, after I create a synth or any sound for that matter I usually bounce it down to audio and delete the synth. Not just to save cpu but because I like working w/ audio better.
That copuld save u some cpu for sure

[JuanSOLO]

I try to consolidate tracks as much as I can, kind of as you are describing. For example, all my drums are on one track, and I prefer Live's drumRacks to cut down on CPU. I've always found Battery to be a big of a hog, and it really leaves less options. I'm not saying don't use Battery, if you like it by all means, but there are better solutions in my opinion.

Depending on how you "produce" will dictate how you set things up.

You can use racks for VST's , put the VST's on different chains, and map a macro knob to scroll between the different instruments. If you are not switching instruments during a performance, you could set the mapped macro knob to turn off the adjacent VST's when they are not selected.

I was using Kore 2 for a while to switch between various VST instruments, It has performance presetting, that turns off plugins that are not in use, keeping CPU to only what is needed.

I have spent years trying to get a perfect session view layout, and it really just becomes a blackhole.

Best bet is to try all kinds of things and see what you like best.

These days I just make tracks, and each layout is different, except the drums. When it comes time to perform then I figure out how to take what I have and put it into a performance layout.

[3dot...]

as for cpu... spreading them out across tracks is wise..