KVR Audio

SAW75 · Post by **SAW75** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:52 pm

I really like Mushy's soundcloud page. Pretty cool use of reverb actually.

donato · Post by **donato** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:55 pm

I meant no disrespect Mushy- I don't know if that music is good or bad or fantastic or what- it's not my thing so I wasn't judging that. I just didn't see how it could be that many tracks. Sure they could be works in progress, I was just going off of the 50 tracks average statement.

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:01 pm

I have no idea how many tracks I use on average. Maybe 8 or something? It really depends on the song.
I always use "a lot" of (well, maybe 3 or 4) send tracks because I like to automate send levels and so on.
I also often send sends into sends and stuff like that.

SAW75 wrote:I really like Mushy's soundcloud page. Pretty cool use of reverb actually.

Really nice oldschool-ish grooves

Cheers
Dennis

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:04 pm

donato wrote:I meant no disrespect Mushy- I don't know if that music is good or bad or fantastic or what- it's not my thing so I wasn't judging that. I just didn't see how it could be that many tracks. Sure they could be works in progress, I was just going off of the 50 tracks average statement.

None taken mate

My main style is Goa/Psy. These are the tracks that have xx many tracks and take xx months/years to complete.
The Acid stuff is just to stop me going insane by not having anything completed in the meantime.
As you rightly recognise, these tracks only have a handful of channels.

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:21 pm

SAW75 wrote:I really like Mushy's soundcloud page. Pretty cool use of reverb actually.

Many thanks mate

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:22 pm

Bronto Scorpio wrote:
SAW75 wrote:I really like Mushy's soundcloud page. Pretty cool use of reverb actually.

Really nice oldschool-ish grooves

Cheers
Dennis

Thx mate. Following you back

Giusmex · Post by **Giusmex** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:22 pm

i like mushy's tracks

anyway .... sincerely i did not experience any clicks, pops or slowings in my songs despite the problem that i have exposed...just that seeing the vst performance window in cubase, i have found out that the cpu usage was quite high

according to you, is there anything i should do to see where the problem is?

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:45 pm

Giusmex wrote:i like mushy's tracks

anyway .... sincerely i did not experience any clicks, pops or slowings in my songs despite the problem that i have exposed...just that seeing the vst performance window in cubase, i have found out that the cpu usage was quite high

according to you, is there anything i should do to see where the problem is?

Well it seems I inadvertently hijacked your thread.

My PC is a good 4 years old and only a Core2Duo Laptop. I only really use Albino3 and FabFilter in all my projects and they're very light CPU wise. Anything else such as SoundToys requires frequent rendering.

highkoo · Post by **highkoo** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:53 pm

Sometimes I count instances of stuff when I export a finished track. I know I have listed it on some of my SoundCloud uploads.

I have been shocked by how many instances of EQuality I am able to use on a track. And need every single one. Nuts.

I make beats on an i5 laptop sometimes and it is painful after going from the maxed out desktop...
Ive never done tests, but the i7 desktop in invincible, the i5 laptop isnt.

pocvecem · Post by **pocvecem** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 8:22 pm

Giusmex wrote: anyway .... sincerely i did not experience any clicks, pops or slowings in my songs despite the problem that i have exposed...just that seeing the vst performance window in cubase, i have found out that the cpu usage was quite high

I also use Zebra, Alchemy and Studiodrummer. All three can use a lot of cpu:

Zebra: Sounds that use the xmf filter modules. Try to replace the xmf filter modules with the standard Zebra vcf. Lower release times and set voices from many to medium (16 -> 8 voices).

Alchemy: Sounds that use a lot of additive sources and/or internal reverb. Lower release times, turn the reverb off and use one external reverb vst as send fx for all your synths, reduce additive voices in every additive source to about 60 voices.

Studio Drummer: Playing a drum part takes up to 80 - 100 voices in Kontakt since there are different microphone layers per drum. Every drum group uses its own eq and dynamic fx. Try the Lite versions of the drum kits and don't use the built- in reverb.

Generally, turn off the internal reverb in any synth and use one or two reverbs as send fx instead. It's much easier to get a homogenic mix when all instrumets use the same reverb settings. And you save lot of cpu.

Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers,
Gerald

MFXxx · Post by **MFXxx** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:16 am

Giusmex wrote:hi guys

as from title

how many vst instruments do you generally open in cubase? i ask because most of time i open more than 12 ( including kontakt for studio drummer, zebra, alchemy)and furhthermore, i always use a bunch of effects on them ( alloy)

despite i own a i7 3 GhZ processor, sometimes cpu usage is very high ( 60-70%)

i just wanted to know if it is normal

I rarely measure cpu usage on projects, my go to measure is the ASIO meter in Cubase as I can't stand those crackles kicking in.

As for number of VSTs that really depends on the direction any track/tune takes. Most of the time a series of loops that never see the end of day.

SO I may have the Virus using 1 - 4 parts (tracks), Omnisphere with 1 or two, Maschine using 8 parts converged into a group (I normally have 1 group track for all the drums driven through it with the glue on thr e top insert), various audio tracks with samples dropped in, then normally another 2-5 vsts on the instrument rack.

On each track there will normally be a comp and eq for dynamics, an effect if needed to create a particular sound sometimes 2 sometimes none.
Each individual track will then be grouped into drums, bass, a couple of leads, a sidechain and a reverb send each group will have the glue on it.

Now at somepoint I will bounce down some of the less dynamic parts to audio and pop the vsts off into a folder track.

Once all done I'll generallyt have 8-12 stems of audio which will then have further effects for mixdown like channel strips, virtual tape and nebula effects.

In short usually around 5-7 vsts, around 8 tracks for individual drum sounds, 5-6 vsts, 4-5 groups, probably 20+ plugins at one time.
Depending on the plugin I tend to lower the oversample until mixdown at twhich point I will up the oversampling to the highest possible setting (x4/x8 or x16).

Thats it. But I dont make money from making music and I am certainly no muscian of any talent, just a plugin whore who likes to collect and play. That's why I hang around here on KVR.

An infant of many and a master of none

Here's some tracks Im comfortable sharing nothing special just what I am happy to share :

soundcloud.com/mfxsound

www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5074763#5074763

Axis1~SL61 · Post by **Axis1~SL61** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:51 am

I think you guys are forgeting to mention that (I suppose) most of us here have our windows optimised for audio production. I also have an i7 and even though I still didn't max it up in any project I was experiencing spikes because I was testing it (while it was new) with windows Aero still turned on, and a lot of useless extras that came pre-loaded from the manufacturer. I knew this was most certainly the reason for the sudden spikes, so as soon as I got the time I began the process of striping it down of all the useless stuff and now I can load it full of heavy VSTis and still didn't reach a breakin point on the CPU. As I bought a FocusRite Scarlett 18i6, I used their DAW optimization guidelines . Even if your audio interface is of another brand, you can use their guide too , because these are general guide lines, valid for every DAW and interface -- see here:
http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/ ... hp?id=1071
Also check your audio interface settings -- make sure it's not set up for 96KHz -- that's unnecessary for most normal projects and that's overkill that burdens your CPU. Check the ASIO driver's settings too, making sure you are using the drivers that came with your audio interface...
Good Luck!

Giusmex · Post by **Giusmex** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 9:54 am

MFXxx wrote:
Giusmex wrote:hi guys

as from title

how many vst instruments do you generally open in cubase? i ask because most of time i open more than 12 ( including kontakt for studio drummer, zebra, alchemy)and furhthermore, i always use a bunch of effects on them ( alloy)

despite i own a i7 3 GhZ processor, sometimes cpu usage is very high ( 60-70%)

i just wanted to know if it is normal
I rarely measure cpu usage on projects, my go to measure is the ASIO meter in Cubase as I can't stand those crackles kicking in.

As for number of VSTs that really depends on the direction any track/tune takes. Most of the time a series of loops that never see the end of day.

SO I may have the Virus using 1 - 4 parts (tracks), Omnisphere with 1 or two, Maschine using 8 parts converged into a group (I normally have 1 group track for all the drums driven through it with the glue on thr e top insert), various audio tracks with samples dropped in, then normally another 2-5 vsts on the instrument rack.

On each track there will normally be a comp and eq for dynamics, an effect if needed to create a particular sound sometimes 2 sometimes none.
Each individual track will then be grouped into drums, bass, a couple of leads, a sidechain and a reverb send each group will have the glue on it.

Now at somepoint I will bounce down some of the less dynamic parts to audio and pop the vsts off into a folder track.

Once all done I'll generallyt have 8-12 stems of audio which will then have further effects for mixdown like channel strips, virtual tape and nebula effects.

In short usually around 5-7 vsts, around 8 tracks for individual drum sounds, 5-6 vsts, 4-5 groups, probably 20+ plugins at one time.
Depending on the plugin I tend to lower the oversample until mixdown at twhich point I will up the oversampling to the highest possible setting (x4/x8 or x16).

Thats it. But I dont make money from making music and I am certainly no muscian of any talent, just a plugin whore who likes to collect and play. That's why I hang around here on KVR.

An infant of many and a master of none

Here's some tracks Im comfortable sharing nothing special just what I am happy to share :

http://soundcloud.com/mfxsound

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 63#5074763

so it is not true you use 50 tracks

anyway maybe i need some suggestions to optimize my pc; really since i bought it i never installed other kind of software ( apart from anti-virus), only audio and music softwares

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 10:09 am

Average number of instruments is around 6 iirc. Sometimes it goes up to 10/15 including Fx ( in electronic oriented tracks ) or more sophisticated stuff.

I tend to use only intruments that insert instantly right into a mix, so I dont need that much additional FX. Usually only one or two reverbs, sometimes an additional Delay/Chorus/Overdrive, but in any case its very rare that I use more than 4 external Fx on a track.

I always handle the stereo scene in the synth itself ( for that you'll need synths that have True Stereo capabilities, and not only 'pan' ), in most of cases, as well as all the expression capabilities, so I almost never use the automation tracks. Tbh I like to play music in real time, so that it instantly there, or less

, and I dont believe that much in post playing automation, except rarely for a controler track if your two hands have been busy during the recording, or you think it really adds something ( but in this case it will probably change the orientation of the part in a meaningfull way, so you might have to replay it with that in mind ).

Overall I tend to make simple stuff and I really dislike spending 6 months on a project, wich to me would mean always end up in beeing drowned into details, and loose the focus on the main things ( But thats me

)

Then I like organic sounding stuff, and maybe I'm getting easily bored nowadays by overproduced stuff, overquantised stuff, overcompressed stuff, overpredictablestuff, overloudness warish stuff, and overmechanical things.

I'd really like to be able to write some more ambitious material, with like 20 or 30 instruments, like a big band, but its a bit beyond my capabilities atm, and it certainly is if I want to finish tracks in one or two days, wich is my average time before getting bored with them. But I have interest for that direction too, so you can expect the worst in the following years

To me 50/100 tracks is like writing stuff for a full orchestra. I must admit that its very rare that I have the impression of hearing the power and the magnificence of a full orchestra with pure synthetic stuff. Some busy mixes of electronic stuff are pretty good though, so it all depends on how you manage things, in a meaningfull, or less meaningfull, way.

Anyway a lot of good stuff was produced with only 5/10 musicians. In the last years I have been also interested in how to use space and silence, and try to make a few interesting things with very little number of instruments. It makes sense too. Well music, diversity etc etc etc.

My 0.002

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 7:54 pm

on damn near everything I make I have:
5-10 loaded up instances of kontakt
microtonic
stylus rmx usually with one or two parts active
a couple synth 1 instances for sub bass and fx patches
4 or so instances of convo reverb on sends (used to be pristine space and recently switched to altiverb)
50 or 60 insert effects (mostly waves junk)
I have a i7920 overclockes to 3.4GHz and 12 GB of ram

how many vst insturments and effects do you use in cubase for your songs?