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With the advent of digital audio,
the line between hardware and software in music
technology has begun to get a little gray. More
and more, synthesizers and effects units are very
sophisticated formulas that run on the same kind
of computer chips that are in use in many other
devices. What defines the "sound" of an
instrument is no longer the transistors and tubes
that make it up, but the programming that runs on
it.
And as making music with computers
becomes commonplace, it has become more and more
obvious that we could remove the middleman so to
speak, and run these programs directly on the computers
that run our sequencers and audio programs. What’s
more, these "virtual" instruments could
be integrated directly with these programs, making
our computer not just the controller of instruments,
but the instrument itself. They are sent MIDI (both
note values and controllers) and respond with audio
just like real-world instruments.
This has brought about a flood
of new Virtual instruments, allowing someone who
is making electronic music to build an entire studio
within their computer without the need for a single
piece of outboard gear.
What are the advantages of using
Virtual Instruments?
Cost
Many virtual instruments
cost less than $200 (and some are free), and even
the more expensive ones are less than $500, still
much less than the cost of most synths (and certainly
less than the cost of a Hammond B3).
Space
Virtual instruments take
up no space except for a little bit on your hard
drive. You can fit your whole studio in your briefcase.
Gigging just got a whole lot easier.
Cost of entry for designers
It costs a lot less to create
a Virtual instrument than the tens of thousands
it costs to design and manufacture a hardware instrument.
This has the advantage that people who probably
could never have got a job at Roland, can now design
crazy, out-there instruments from their bedrooms
and send them out to the world via the Internet.
Multiple instances
Want seven Prophet 5’s
and four Hammond B3’s? No problem. Just create
more instances.
But what are the downsides?
Resale value
Unlikely you will be able
to recoup your investment in Virtual instruments
a couple of years from now by selling them on eBay.
Because of the legalities involved, used software
doesn’t tend to be a popular item.
Sound
Okay, let’s be frank
with ourselves, as tremendous as these instruments
are, they are never going to sound exactly like
the real thing. The instruments that try and sound
like real world instruments will always suffer from
comparison to their larger and harder counterparts
and the great records they were used on. But for
someone like myself, the chances of me ever having the
real thing are pretty slim. So if virtual instruments
get me 90% of the way there, then that’s 90%
further than I was.
Tiny knobs
With virtual instruments
come virtual knobs. And with virtual knobs comes
the frustration of trying to musically tweak a parameter
with your mouse. Fortunately, help is here for this
as well, and I will touch on this near the end of
this article.
Drain on your CPU
Here is the biggest issue.
Every instance of an instrument uses up some of
your CPU; the more sophisticated the instrument,
the more CPU power it uses. DSP cards like the Pulsar
XTC from Creamware may make this a thing of the
past, however.
Virtual Instruments
Okay, so now you see why virtual
instruments can be a boon to any studio, even one
loaded up with hardware synths and drum machines.
What kinds of devices are out there? I have divided
them up into four categories.
The Samplers
Software samplers are the
simplest to understand and are the closest replicates
of their non-virtual cousins. They play back recordings
(samples) when triggered from a keyboard or other
controller. They read existing sample libraries
and behave just like the hardware samplers you are
used to. However, editing and creating libraries
is much more simple. Now you can just drag and drop
your samples from your hard drive on to the keyboard
and paint out the key range. Want to edit the sample?
Just jump into your favorite stereo file editor
and you’re off to the races. Your only limit
to the size of your samples is the amount of RAM
you have in your computer (and for Nemesys’ Gigasampler
or Steinberg’s HALion, not even that).
The two most popular software
samplers right now are Unity DS-1 from Bitheadz
and the EXS24 from Emagic (see my review). Until
recently the EXS24 was only available for use in
Emagic Logic sequencer but now is available as a
VST plug in. Coming out very shortly is Halion from
Steinberg, which will certainly be very popular,
and looks like a terrific product.
A subspecies of the software
sampler is the software drum machine. These devices
are designed largely to play non-pitched samples
and allow for manipulation of these samples in real
time. The two major products now are the LM4 from
Steinberg and Battery from Native Instruments. However,
there are several new entries into this market such
as FXExpansion’s Dr. 008 that are slated for
release soon that should give these a run for their
money.
The Software modeled instrument
These are Virtual instruments
that use software to model the inner workings of
famous instruments. These differ from samplers in
that they don’t use recordings of the instruments
but try to mimic the way that these instruments
create and manipulate sound. Some examples of this
are the B4 from Native Instruments (Hammond B3 organ)
and the EVP88/EVP73 (Fender Rhodes and Wurlizter
electric pianos). Both of these do really excellent
jobs of sounding like their counterparts. Now, if
somebody would just make a virtual clavinet!
Other
Some people creating virtual
instruments don’t feel the need to have any
grounding in a hardware-based reality. They just
create something new from scratch. Reaktor and Absynth
both from Native Instruments are great examples
of designers playing to the strengths of virtual
instruments. Reaktor is really a toolkit for people
to build their own synths, using any method from
subtractive to granular, and to whatever level of
complexity their computers can support. The user
can upload and download these new virtual instruments
they have created. Some truly amazing sounds can
be made using Reaktor. And Absynth seems to be an
entirely different, but also very unique instrument.
Built as an experiment by its designer, it hosts
a wealth of rich and deep textures that are very
modifiable.
The Virtual Studio
These are packages that include
not just instruments, but sequencers, mixers, effects,
everything you need to make electronic music all
in one package, often for a fraction of what it
was cost to buy these things separately. The most
popular product in this category right now is Propellerheads’ Reason.
If you have no existing system and are looking for
everything all in one package, Reason may be a good
choice. A comparable product to Reason is Storm
from Arturia (www.arturia.com).
Compatibility
"Okay, that's great, but
which Virtual Instruments will work with the stuff
I already have?"
Excellent question. Virtual
instruments come in four different flavors:
- VSTi — The
virtual instrument standard
created by Steinberg. Instruments
that support this standard
can run in any VST 2.0 compatible
host (Logic, Cubase).
- DirectConnect — This
is the standard created by
DigiDesign, so of course
it is for use with ProTools
or another TDM compatible
host.
- MAS — This
is the standard created by
Mark of the Unicorn for use
with their program Digital
Performer.
- DirectX — This
is the Microsoft standard
used by such programs as
Cakewalk/SONAR.
So finding out which instruments
will work with your system is simply a matter of
determining which standard your system supports,
and then choosing compatible instruments. You must
also be aware that VST instruments are platform
dependent, so you must ensure that not only is the
host software VST compatible, but that the plug
in is available for your Mac or PC. Most instruments
support more than one standard so finding a match
is usually not that difficult. Check the bottom
of the product pages to see which standards each
instrument supports.
"They sound good, they’re
cheap, but where are the knobs?"
As I promised, there is a
solution for this problem as well. Currently several
companies are making products that designed specifically
for providing tactile control of virtual instruments.
Usually a small box with just knobs or sliders,
the devices allow you to tweak parameters and modify
them in real-time. Some devices such as the Encore
Electronics Knobby or Slidemate are programmable,
allowing you to quickly switch between different
sets of parameters depending on which instrument
you are using and which parameters you want to tweak.
Ranging from very simple (the Native Instruments
4Control) to the more sophisticated (the Knobby)
to a controller that can operate your entire studio
(the Steinberg Houston), these controllers allow
you to work faster and more intuitively.
Summary
Virtual Instruments have revolutionized
the computer studio, allowing for the creation of
sounds both vintage and cutting edge at a fraction
of the cost of hardware based devices. Although
they bring with them their own unique set of challenges,
VST instruments are opening the door to a whole
new world of sound exploration and portability.
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