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Old 03-02-2021, 07:50 AM   #1
bjohn
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Default Most efficient method for switching VSTis

My partner and I will be doing a concert next month via Zoom; I've used Reaper for recording but never in a live situation.

In this particular case I will only use Reaper as a host for virtual instruments; I don't switch instruments during songs, only between songs, and I only use one instrument at a time (e.g., piano on one song, harp on the next song, etc.). What's the most efficient way to switch VSTis between songs? Load all the VSTis onto one track in the proper order, disable them all, and then enable just the one I need at the beginning of each song?
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Old 03-02-2021, 10:18 AM   #2
dave_t
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I've been doing something like this with the band I'm in over the last few months. I use VSTis with a MIDI keyboard, and guitar going through amp sims.

What works best for me is to have each instrument on a separate track, and arm the track for recording when you want to hear that instrument.

The advantages
- you can give each track a clear name
- You can pan and set volume on each track independently
- you can add effects to track independently
- you can arm more than one track to blend multiple instruments
- if you set the track preferences to "automatically record arm when track selected", all you have to do betweeen songs is reach over, click on the track you want next and you're good to go

When you say "via Zoom" - it's been my experience that the latency in Zoom makes it impossible to play music using only Zoom. Our band uses Jamulus, an open source program that lets you jam over the internet with reasonable latency, and we feed that audio into Zoom. People who join the zoom call can see us and hear the Jamulus audio, which is reasonably in sync.

$0.02
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Old 03-02-2021, 11:23 AM   #3
bjohn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dave_t View Post

What works best for me is to have each instrument on a separate track, and arm the track for recording when you want to hear that instrument.
Excellent, thanks! I'll do this, and I like the option to "automatically record-arm when track selected." That's perfect.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dave_t View Post
When you say "via Zoom" - it's been my experience that the latency in Zoom makes it impossible to play music using only Zoom.
Thanks, I should have clarified that there are just two of us and we will be in the same room (we live together). It's a live Zoom broadcast of our concert set.

Last edited by bjohn; 03-02-2021 at 11:29 AM.
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Old 03-02-2021, 11:57 AM   #4
V1b3zman
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Dave
I also want to use reaper for vsti hosting. some of which are samplers like Kontakt and Sampletank. Are there any other options or settings you use to minimize memory use? I usually use 12 or so different instruments in night and I'm only dealing with 8GB of ram.
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Old 03-02-2021, 01:27 PM   #5
dave_t
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Sorry, I don't have any specific advice on large sample collections. I don't use anything with a really large sample library, plus I have 16GB of RAM. Mostly i'm hacking around with fairly basic VSTis - usually free ones, I'm a cheapskate
The most resource intensive thing I use regularly is EZDrummer 2, and I haven't had any issues.
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