(1) MIDI Config of Arturia Analog Lab not stored persistent
For certain controller/slider settings I’m using the feature to have different MIDI configs in Arturia Analog Lab (latest version) per track.
This information is stored in the song only temporary.
a) I can configure it, switch to another song, switch back and its there ok
b) Saving the project and reloading it from disk forgets this setting und gives me the Arturia default config.
Screenshot :
(2) huge amount of memory usage and slow performance on song switch
I’ve created a project with ~40 songs, each of them containing (average) 4 layers, 5 songs containing MIDI backing tracks.
a)
the project (preload : yes) now takes nearly the complete amount of memory my machine provides (~ 10 GB of 16 total).
Is that normal/excpectable by default ?
How can I find out which track/layer/instrument is consumpting the most (to eliminate/replace it) ?
b)
switching songs now takes about 4 sec to songs with no tracks and takes nearly 20 sec to songs that are containing backing tracks (although I’m using “preload”!)
Especially the last fact is not acceptable on stage. (I’m workig with an i7-8650, SSD)
Can you give me some advice to shorten that ?
At the moment I’m separating the MIDI flow into ~10 tracks to route them to separate VST Instruments or external MIDI ports. I’m not using “shared” instruments at the moment. Would that help ? Where can I find a tutorial on that ?
Whats best practice here to get best performance out of the machine ?
This is a problem of the plugin. VST Live stores and restores all possible data as defined in the VST protocol(s). It is to be expected that those data survive as long as the host (VST Live) is active, because the plugin keeps it in its private memory.
We will try to contact the developers.
Yes and No. It depends entirely on plugins used.
Unfortunately we cannot find out how much memory plugins consume. When preloading, VST Live shows the amount of memory that plugins use to store data in the host (see above), but that is usually just a fraction of what they consume for samples etc.
VST Live so far keeps all loaded plugins in memory for fast switching times. We will add purge options soon, so for instance when you have a linear setlist progression, it can release plugins for the previous Part or Song. That will take time, how much again depends entirely on the plugins used.
Check your plugins (incl. mixer channel inserts). VST Live does nothing but activate plugins when you change Parts or Songs. After having done that once (as with preload), all time consumed when switching is down to plugins.
It could be that the System is swapping because of memeory shortage. That will cause huge delays even with an SSD.
Try to identify plugins which consume too much, or take too long to switch even after preload. Also try the new “Preload Parts”, which takes much longer but should make sure that every possible preload action has been taken.
You may also want to try to use Shared Instruments if applicable, this can make a huge difference.
Maybe try to get more memory…as said we will add options for purging, that may relax the memory situation but will make it take longer to switch (back).
You say “tracks” so not sure how you organize your project. Are those Layer Tracks?
As for Shared Instruments: in Layer Instrument, simply select from the “Shared” menu any other Instrument of any other Layer you have already instanciated. Note that changing a shared Instrument (plugin editor, and its audio channel) changes it for all Layers refering to it, but the Layers are still seperate. So you can address multiple slots of the Shared Instrument using MIDI channels (multitimbral operation), or simply use the same sound in multiple locations. When a Layer is set to use a Shared Instrument, it automatically switches controls to MIDI, because changing audio controls affects all other Layers sharing that Instrument. However all MIDI controls can be different for each Layer w/o affecting other Layers.
thanks for your answers. So I played around with “shared layers”.
My approach now was to create lets say 5 globals NOT SHARED layers containing five VST instruments, and adding them to parts as “shared layer” where needed.
I can “Copy Layer” in the Globals and “Paste Layer Shared” in the (non global) Part. I did not find the “shared menu” you mentioned.
Where can I see (and check afterwards) if the layer is a “shared” or a “non shared” layer ?
When I share e.g. a Roland XV-5080 plugin, it shows a white “S” right besides the description, when I share an Arturia Analog Lab plugin it does not (?)
You wrote that the layer controls automatically switch to MIDI when being part of a shared layer. My tracks keep on being Audio after “Paste Layer Shared” - ??
How can I send a program change (including msb/lsb bank) to a shared instrument to be able to have different sound on the same shared instrument when switching to another part ?
