[offtopic] Midi Choir just got knighthood!

[tulamide]

Congrats, Martin!

Midi Choir made it to a top list of free VSTs, people should use in 2021.

https://youtu.be/fAXSUcPzBk4?t=67

[Spogg]

Well deserved too!

Congrats to Martin from me too.

[martinvicanek]

Thanks for the link, Tula. Hehe, one of fifty knights - well it could be worse. The guy already reviewed MIDI Choir in an earlier video. Funny most of the feedback I get are questions about signal routing in their DAWs. Admittedly I had the very same question myself the first time I wanted to use my own creation as a VST plugin. I still don't know except for Reaper (and FL Studio which Adam helped me with).

[tulamide]

Funny most of the feedback I get are questions about signal routing in their DAWs. Admittedly I had the very same question myself the first time I wanted to use my own creation as a VST plugin. I still don't know except for Reaper (and FL Studio which Adam helped me with).

It would have been a lot easier if you'd exported it as an instrument

But I can help you with the free DAW Cakewalk by Bandlab (I use the German version, but I think I translated it 99% correctly):

(1) The most important step is to configure Midi Choir as a synthesizer. To do that, you open the Cakewalk plugin manager (in menu "utilities"). In the manager, find midi choir (under VST audio effects). Click on it. Now, under VST configuration click on the button labelled "Plugin properties". In the new dialog click "configure as synth" so that the checkmark appears. Click on "OK". Click on "Close". Quit Cakewalk and start it again. Midi Choir will now be listed under the instruments tab.

You only need to do this once for each installation of Midi Choir (32-bit, 64-bit), or when installing a new version.

(2) Open Cakewalk. Create an audio track. Select the audio file you want to edit, or set your microphone up, rec-arm, etc. for live input. Create a midi track. Create some midi notes just as you see fit, or play live. Now add Midi Choir to the audio track's FX SLOT. Midi Choir's midi input is now exposed to the DAW. Go to the midi track and under the output dropdown select Midi Choir's input (e.g. in my case it's labelled "MIDI Choir 3.1_64 1"). Done.

Martin, remind everyone that they will only hear audio if a midi note is active. When testing the configuration, I'm sure many people will forget that.

[martinvicanek]

Many thanks again, Tula! I can see that it is not straightforward in Cakewalk (and possibly also in other DAWs).
IIRC the trouble with exporting MIDI Choir as an instrument is that in that case the unprocessed audio input is always heard at the output (in addition to the MIDI pitched signal). Maybe I should investigate some more. And I should probably include some of your hints in the manual as well. Thank you again!

[martinvicanek]

I am reading that VST3 adds the option of using audio inputs for VST instruments. Which means that VSTi with an audio input had not been specified before, therefore it would be up to the DAW manufacturer how to handle such a situation.

[tulamide]

My remark may have been too general.
But I grounded it on the experience that for most tools making use of VST (including Cakewalk) only instruments have a midi input. That's limitating, of course. Audio inputs are less of a problem, since most DAWs support sidechaining or audio as an oscillator, which both are just audio inputs.

But if in doubt, keep it as it is. As you could see, there's always a way to make use of MIDI Choir, even on more strict DAWs like Cakewalk.

[trogluddite]

Which means that VSTi with an audio input had not been specified before, therefore it would be up to the DAW manufacturer how to handle such a situation.

The differentiation between "effects" and "instruments" seems mostly to have been because Steinberg's own DAW, Cubase VST, used different kinds of sequencer tracks and virtual "racks" for MIDI, audio, and FX busses. Many other sequencers then followed this paradigm, but some haven't (for example, in Reaper, there is just one generic kind of sequencer track which can freely route MIDI and audio channels).

The lack of audio inputs was what originally distinguished "intruments" from "effects" (the VST spec' always allowed MIDI for both as a means of parameter control, though not all DAWs supported it for FX). The addition of audio inputs to instruments thus removes the technical distinction between them - though the usefulness of the taxonomy is apparently still recognised.

[martinvicanek]

Thanks for the clarification, Trog!