Vortex VSTi - Multi Timbral Groove Machine Beta

[soundklinik]

Thanx for reply,
I found why the 2 pots jump on maschine, the 2 unmarked pots on maschine are the readouts of volume on Vortex. You know what I mean? They act as audio signal strength, turned into pots!! More signal, they "turn" more

Again, I have no idea what causes to put master volume to minimum, and why the 2 volumes are acting as audio readout. (On Vortex left top next to MAN)

ASTRALP:
I'm not aware of any unnamed pots, where are they on the GUI? Again if they are jumping around the controller must be sending their corresponding CC Values. You can find a list of CCs that Vortex responds to at the back of the manual (CC Assignments).

I meant pots in Maschine. I took a snapshot of the screen, but I don't know how to upload it here, sorry
Maschine, upon loading a VST, immediately knows/shows all assignable pots in several pages, usually up to 16. (But I know you know all this, just to clarify)
When I open maschine and load Vortex, all is set to default, and nothing is sending CC7 out of maschine...Why should it?, yet it seems to, but only to Vortex!, it is the only VST that I have seen it done to.
I tried several times, it does it all the time.
I managed to fix the recording problem-(wrong path).
Do I have to install to disk C? Should I uninstall and re-install Vortex in default folder,HDD=C?
Now I have it on disk H, (that is where I try stuff), and because my HDD C is an SSD disk and I try to keep there only EXE/program files, and NO libraries and temp files...
let me know what you think, thanx

[Astralp]

Ahh right, I don't have Maschine and so I'm unfamiliar with the ways things work. The LED indicators do use patch storage, I'll double check they are set to private, although not all hosts respect the private flag and so you would just have to ignore them if that's the case.

If you send me an email via the contact form, I'll send you a version with midi logging so I can see what midi messages are coming into the plugin. I have no idea why maschine is sending cc7 0, but apart from vst automation there is no other reason why the knob would be set to zero..

Doesn't matter where you install as long as it's in your VST Plugin Directory. On the todo list is to add a more sophisticated record path using the registry, but for the time being just manually add the path to the config file and as long as the directory exists that's where the files will be saved. If you change it you have to click the update button to let Vortex know it's changed.

[soundklinik]

Question about libraries:
There seems to be a great number of possibilities between banks, programs, instruments, MSB/LSB, yet they seem to be empty, or if I click on them, Vortex crashes, (when I click on a number that is not assigned to a bank/program)
You say that the full version comes with an Installer and more samples etc...(I understand I am trying a demo)
In the future, with the full Vortex, will I be able to make my own kits, banks, import wav samples, etc?

[Astralp]

It shouldn't crash, but I don't think I updated the demo on the last beta so it may not have had that fix yet. I'll update the beat when I release the next beta. In answer to your question the sample installer for the full version adds 12 banks of drum kits, and has 3 banks of instruments (more to come in future updates).

Don't forget that Vortex at heart is a midi sequencer and so the MSB/LSB Program change is just the standard midi way of selecting banks & presets. Midi devices can use these in whichever way they like and so the system always has to have 3 values between 0 and 127 to cover all possibilities. The internal Rompler uses the same system for selecting presets.

Currently the Vortex sound engine is simply a rompler, so currently you can override setting using the CCs which gives a lot of scope for shaping existing presets. The idea of editable sounds/samples is still open to debate, but my current thinking is to have a deluxe version of Vortex which will add much more complexity including user sample loading/ preset creation internally. I want to keep Vortex easy to use, and so adding lots of features which increase the learning curve by a factor I'm reluctant to add. As it stands it is easy to learn, and can be used with external midi devices when the internal rompler doesn't fit your needs. It is weighted more towards a quick way of making complex music from a series of sequencers than a fully fledged music making system. I think the less is more aspect is one of it's strengths. But yes it would be nice to also have an advanced version, the beauty being that if you know Vortex already, you would only have to learn the advanced features and not be overwhelmed by it all.

I may also make an external VST for creating presets/drum kits that sits alongside Vortex. But it won't be for a while, after v1 is released there is still a lot of work to do such as the sub sequences etc..

[musikmachine]

Hey Andy,

I can confirm about the jumping knobs in Maschine. I had thought it was due to the CC steps being modulated, odd one that. Btw you can't route mutltimbral instruments in maschine so it's not possible to use the direct outs to process the internal sounds. Can't sequence midi on different midi channels either, this is why i don't use Vortex in Maschine as much.

Anyway, just a quick post, got to get back to testing Vortex.

[Astralp]

Well hopefully the audio level knobs will be hidden in the next beta. What about the Vol knob, does that happen to you?

I've made a midi logger VST which does basic logging to the screen and c:/debug.txt

Midi Logger

Hmm right well that limits Vortex's usefulness quite a bit in maschine then! Do you think they'll add muti-timbral functionality? Seems a big thing to miss out in a host..

[como baila]

Nothing useful to add ... but KVR keeps dropping my subscription to this thread.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Greetz!

Como

[Astralp]

I only ever get one until I've revisited but apart from that everything is as usual.

[como baila]

I'll add something not useful!

With multisequence, can't VORTEX pretty much replace Maschine?

I mean, I can still run audio in my daw, set up a hardware controller of my preference, use Vortex midi to trigger hard or soft synth or sampler, and route through my daw mixer ...

What more could Maschine do, anyway?

I'm not trying to get flamed ... just asking. I can imagine a little tactile joy and the directness of Maschine vs. Vortex plus the daw ... but I'm not conceiving of anything you could do with Maschine you couldn't do with Vortex and your daw.

Como

[soundklinik]

I'll add something not useful!

With multisequence, can't VORTEX pretty much replace Maschine?

I mean, I can still run audio in my daw, set up a hardware controller of my preference, use Vortex midi to trigger hard or soft synth or sampler, and route through my daw mixer ...

What more could Maschine do, anyway?

I'm not trying to get flamed ... just asking. I can imagine a little tactile joy and the directness of Maschine vs. Vortex plus the daw ... but I'm not conceiving of anything you could do with Maschine you couldn't do with Vortex and your daw.

Como

I'll add a useful observation: If I replaced your brains with that of a chicken, you probably would not even notice

[como baila]

I'll add a useful observation: If I replaced your brains with that of a chicken, you probably would not even notice

I see the wink, so I'll accept your comment as meant good naturedly ... so instead of 'hit and run,' why don't you elaborate on a few 'important' things what you think you can do with Maschine that you can't do with a daw and Vortex?

Then I can consider whether I'd agree with you or you simply underestimate the alternative.

Let's start by saying that if Maschine doesn't include multi outputs from a multitimbral instrument, as is said above, Maschine starts at a significant disadvantage.

As far as my playing around with it goes, Maschine is just a virtual mpc where you can assemble fragments and then link them to make a song. Tell me more, pray tell?

Como

[Astralp]

MPCs are very multi-timbral, I have an MPC1000 and you have 32 midi outs, the 2500 has 128, each pattern has 64 tracks that can target either midi or internal programs. That's why I was surprised that maschine didn't. I had bit of a play on one in a music shop a couple of weeks ago though, and I liked the pads

[musikmachine]

Well hopefully the audio level knobs will be hidden in the next beta. What about the Vol knob, does that happen to you?

I've made a midi logger VST which does basic logging to the screen and c:/debug.txt

Midi Logger

Hmm right well that limits Vortex's usefulness quite a bit in maschine then! Do you think they'll add muti-timbral functionality? Seems a big thing to miss out in a host..

Yeah, both knobs are moving independently but are set to 0 when i turn the master vol down in Vortex.

There are issues with vst integration in maschine, depends on how the plugin communicates but quite a few don't give up a parameter name or they are all named generically like Vortex, i get pages of AP_Midi. Trilian will just give a number for the host automation parameter.

It's been requested ad infinitum on the NI forums along with multimbral routing and midi fx so we can use plugins like the awesome Arp.

But yeah it does limit the usefulness of maschine. I think the next update will bring the goods though.

[musikmachine]

I'll add a useful observation: If I replaced your brains with that of a chicken, you probably would not even notice

I see the wink, so I'll accept your comment as meant good naturedly ... so instead of 'hit and run,' why don't you elaborate on a few 'important' things what you think you can do with Maschine that you can't do with a daw and Vortex?

Then I can consider whether I'd agree with you or you simply underestimate the alternative.

Let's start by saying that if Maschine doesn't include multi outputs from a multitimbral instrument, as is said above, Maschine starts at a significant disadvantage.

As far as my playing around with it goes, Maschine is just a virtual mpc where you can assemble fragments and then link them to make a song. Tell me more, pray tell?

Como

Well for me it's been able to work with it as if it were hardware a la mpc with bidirectional feedback and a huge library which can be accessed via the browser on different levels, you have projects, groups, instruments, plugins, fx, samples etc and you can import and tag your own sample libraries so it's got a great workflow.

It needs work on the midi and routing side though. The closest plugin to Maschine is Geist imo but what a lot this type of plugin lack that maschine has is actual step input. I hope Vortex will have a way to input the notes other than the mouse, in fact i have an FR relating to that.

[MarkSA]

Andy,

I have made a discovery or two. I have installed BlackMagic on the DAW. It works in all the hosts . Though it had slight problem with installing the config bat. After resinstalling the samples twice, it worked.

Ammonite does mostly load, except the output meters are in the red when loaded in the hosts. Cantabile ouput meters show the same.

Vortex doesn't like Reaper or Cantabile. There is path problem (recording) even though the paths are correct. Vortex doesn't create a config.txt.

I have two sound cards installed with directwire.