Various questions about MuLab

[Corto]

Hello, i just discovered MuLab and i'm interested in using it as my future DAW (i plan to buy a decent PC laptop and an external audio interface to run it).

I've read some of the docs on the Mutools site and still have questions for the specialists ! :

1) What is the maximum sample rate et bit depth for the WAV files in MuLab ?
Can i directly record my voice at 24 bits / 48 khz for example ? Can i import 24/48 WAV files without changes ?

2) Is there an audio time-stretching tool included in MuLab ? Is there an alternative ?

3) Is there easy multi timbral tracks (for orchestral VST for example) ? Without messing with complicated settings...

4) About external VST : i will use ProjectSam (an orchestral VST running with Kontakt) and Stylus RMX (it needs the drag'n'drop feature because you drop drum sequences from the VST directly into the composer), are they compatible with MuLab ?

5) When you buy a MuLab key do you have the next minor changes in version for free ? Do you only pay for a new "major" upgrade in version ? How does it work ?

6) Do you absolutely need Mux to handle all external VST or is it just optional ?

THANK YOU

(and sorry, english is not my native language)

[MuTools]

1) What is the maximum sample rate et bit depth for the WAV files in MuLab ?

Currently the max bit depth is 64 bit floats for reading / 32 bit floats for recording. No limits on samplerate.

Can i directly record my voice at 24 bits / 48 khz for example ?

MuLab currently supports recording to 16 bit integer and 32 bit float audio files. The samplerate will be the one set in the audio setup, so if you set your audio device to work at 48 kHz, recordings will be at 48 kHz.

Can i import 24/48 WAV files without changes ?

When the audio engine is running at 48 kHz then an 48 kHz audio file is imported without change. But if you import an audio file with a different samplerate than the audio engine samplerate, then MuLab automatically resamples the audio file so to match the audio engine samplerate and saves it as a new audio file in the same folder. The original file is not changed. That's how it currently works. Realtime resampling of audio files with a different samplerate may be added in a future version.

2) Is there an audio time-stretching tool included in MuLab ?

Not yet. If it's about stretching drumloops, then there is good support for slicing drumloops and stretching them that way.

Is there an alternative ?

Using external audio editing software.

3) Is there easy multi timbral tracks (for orchestral VST for example) ? Without messing with complicated settings...

Yes. Please see http://www.mutools.com/info/docs/mulab/composer.html
(scroll to the bottom for the section about MIDI channels)

4) About external VST : i will use ProjectSam (an orchestral VST running with Kontakt) and Stylus RMX (it needs the drag'n'drop feature because you drop drum sequences from the VST directly into the composer), are they compatible with MuLab ?

I can't say for sure as i can't constantly test all latest versions of all plugins, but i'm confident the answer is yes because MuLab supports dropped MIDI files.

5) When you buy a MuLab key do you have the next minor changes in version for free ?

Yes.

Do you only pay for a new "major" upgrade in version ?

Yes, indeed.

6) Do you absolutely need Mux to handle all external VST or is it just optional ?

It's optional, you can directly insert a VST in a rack.

Hope this answers your question.

[quilys]

4) About external VST : i will use ProjectSam (an orchestral VST running with Kontakt) and Stylus RMX (it needs the drag'n'drop feature because you drop drum sequences from the VST directly into the composer), are they compatible with MuLab ?


Yes and yes, I use Kontakt v5 and Spectrasonics Stylus RMX drum machine daily and both together works awesome, also remember that in Mulab after you set up the first instrument track , with one click you can add more " Sub-tracks" , change the midi channel with one click and you can use 16 Kontakt full instruments module and all the RMX midi channels (the RMX is multitimbral) and get a full arrange with just two VST instruments,also fromthe RMX just drag-drop the midi file from the loop and Mulab will recognize it perfectly, all can works in different MIDI Channell if you want, the Kontakt and the RMX, and Mulab handle 'em in a perfect sync, I love my Daw, enjoy it!

[Corto]

Thanks to both of you for your quick answers !

[arienrolle]

Does Mulab have an arpeggiator?

[MuTools]

Not yet a built-in one, but that's quite high on the wishlist.

But it does have a Sequence Player module with which you can do similar things.

[arienrolle]

Okay -- I'm kinda freakin' out, 'cause I've managed to put together what I think could be the base for a really good track.

However, somehow I'm only hearing sound playing from one track/mixer channel -- even though no other track or channel is currently muted. Is there some sort of master mute override/deselect that I can trigger to hear all of my tracks again? I've been trying to troubleshoot this on my own (even examined the connections via the modular view) but I cannot figure out why I'm having this problem.

[MuTools]

However, somehow I'm only hearing sound playing from one track/mixer channel -- even though no other track or channel is currently muted. Is there some sort of master mute override/deselect that I can trigger to hear all of my tracks again?

No, there only are the mute/solo buttons on the racks themselves. Are the level meters of the 'muted' tracks showing signal? Are there any tracks muted?

Also this tip: Right-click a track or rack mute -> "Reset All Mute/Solos".
Does that help?

[arienrolle]

Okay. I solved it.

Seems that when I was reordering tracks in the mixer panel at the bottom of the screen, I accidentally dropped an instrument track into a Master track effect slot. That apparently caused a loss of audio through the Master track from all but one of the song tracks. I'm still not sure why I was still getting audio from one of the tracks, though.

[MuTools]

Maybe that other rack was not routed to the master rack but directly to audio out?

[arienrolle]

Perhaps. Unfortunately, I'd already updated the track output settings so I can't say for sure.

[arienrolle]

Another question.

I've been using the 'Render Selected Parts As New Sample' option under the 'Sessions' menu to bounce instrument parts to new tracks. However, I would like to bounce instrument parts as audio to new tracks in such a way that I can do some of the audio slicing processing that I've seen done to an imported loop in this tutorial video:

Is that possible from within MuLab, or do I first have to export audio from MuLab as a loop and then import it for slicing?

[MuTools]

I've been using the 'Render Selected Parts As New Sample' option under the 'Sessions' menu to bounce instrument parts to new tracks. However, I would like to bounce instrument parts as audio to new tracks in such a way that I can do some of the audio slicing processing that I've seen done to an imported loop in this tutorial video:...
Is that possible from within MuLab, or do I first have to export audio from MuLab as a loop and then import it for slicing?

I'm a bit confusd by your question cause that's indeed what you can do with the newly created sample by "Render Selected Parts As New Sample". If you enable the "Create New Part Using Result" then a new track playing a new MuSampla is created. Open the MuSampla editor, then open the audio editor, there you can create new markers, slice the sample, etc. In fact you can do all this directly from the audio display in MuSampla too (though it's smaller)

[arienrolle]

Okay. I seem to have missed a couple of steps. I'm visually-challenged and it's a bit difficult to follow the tutorial videos with no narration. I'll try the steps you've indicated here.

I really like the pattern sequencer. I especially enjoy the abolity to choose from previously sequenced patterns -- great for remixing instrument parts! Seems to me that this approach is much more powerful than a traditional arpeggiator.