GeorgePaul wrote:The only fly in the ointment is that I use a combination of Vienna Symphonic Library, NOTION and some other VST’s and when I use “PERFORM” mode in NOTION on large scores, say 30 instruments, there are sound dropouts even if I use the maximum Audio Buffer Size (1024 samples).
I wonder if using a larger interface, Fast Track C400 for instance, could solve the problem. (Paging Dr. Surfwhammy !!!)
I hope when NOTION becomes a 64 bit application these kind of problems will be over for good.
The primary problem is that NOTION 3 is a 32-bit application, which maps to its having a maximum 4GB application workspace . . .
With what one might call "regular" VSTi virtual instruments, what happens is that they become part of the NOTION 3 application workspace, and for example with IK Multimedia VSTi virtual instruments the practical upper limit is in the range of 20 to 25 staves, where there is one VSTi virtual instrument per staff . . .
VST effects plug-ins also become part of the NOTION 3 application workspace, and the rule I use here in the sound isolation studio is to do VST effects plug-ins work in the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application (DIgital Performer 7.24 [MOTU] or Logic Pro 9 [Apple]) after I record the NOTION 3 generated audio as soundbigtes in the DAW application via ReWire, since this strategy has NOTION 3 focused on working with music notation and VSTi virtual instruments while the DAW application is focused on working with VST effects plug-ins and soundbites . . .
I use the qualifier "regular" with respect to VSTi virtual instruments, because there is a way to run a separate VSL server via Vienna Ensemble Pro 5, which at least in theory reduces the footprint with respect to NOTION 3. However, I do not have these products, so I am going mostly by the information provided at the Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) website and various posts to this FORUM . . .
Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 (Vienna Symphonic Library)
It might be possible to run VSE Pro 5 on the same computer as NOTION 3, but the examples about which I have read in this FORUM have it running on a separate machine that feeds the machine on which NOTION 3 is running . . .
There are ways to simplify VSTi virtual instruments, which probably has some beneficial affect, and for example you can limit the number of articulations that are loaded into an instance of an IK Multimedia VSTi virtual instrument, which is the way I do it, noting that the IK Multimedia VSTi virtual instruments can have as many as 16 articulations loaded, and some of the "articulations" actually can be entirely different instruments . . .
And since I use NOTION 3 for doing instrumentation in layers in a recording strategy rather than for live performances, my focus is on keeping everything simple, since having a lot of instruments is easy, although it requires cloning NOTION 3 scores, which is different from needing to have everything loaded for a live performance . . .
[NOTE: For example, if I need 150 instruments for a song, I start with a single NOTION 3 score which has 20 to 25 VSTi virtual instruments, and then I clone it 7 times, where I keep 5 of the instruments common to all the scores, where the 5 common instruments are used for references to basic rhythm, chords, simple melody, and so forth. And a key part of this strategy is to compose the structure of the song as part of the doing the first NOTION 3 score, since modifying the structure (verses, chorus, bridge, interlude, and so forth) later is a bit more work, although it is not so much work as to be impractical, hence is possible when necessary but is best avoided by early planning . . . ]
On the 2.8-GHz 8-core Mac Pro here in the sound isolation studio, I leave the NOTION 3 buffer sample size at the default, which is 256 samples, and this also is the setting I use for Logic Pro 9. It works, and it is peppy. In my experiments, when I increase the buffer size the music skips or has problems keeping on tempo, which also is the case with Digital Performer 7.24 (MOTU), where the strategy is to set the buffer sizes reasonably low to avoid timing and lookahead problems, which includes latency, where latency is a big problem to the point that for vocal microphones I use direct monitoring, since running vocals through VST effects plug-ins causes enough delay that it becomes impossible to sing due to the echoes, even though I like echoes (just not when I am singing and there is latency in the echoes) . . .
SUGGESTIONS
(1) The bundled NOTION 3 N2 and N3 instruments have smaller footprints, and one of the primary reasons for having them is to facilitate live performances, so for live performances it tends to be better to use the NOTION 3 N2 and N3 bundled instruments . . .
(2) Keep the total number of VSTi virtual instruments within a reasonable limit for your Mac . . .
(3) Experiment with smaller NOTION 3 buffer size . . .
(4) If possible, avoid using VST effects plug-ins in NOTION 3, since VST effects plug-ins also use resources, and there are some massively heavy VST effects plug-ins, where just one or two of them overwhelm NOTION 3 (for example, AmpliTube 3 [IK Multimedia] and Panorama 5 [Wave Arts]) . . .
(5) If the external digital audio interface has buffer and other parameters you can set via the Mac, then do some experiments to determine which parameter values result in the best performance . . .
THOUGHTS
I expect that this general problem will be resolved by NOTION 4, since it primarily is a problem related to NOTION 3 being a 32-bit application . . .
However, with NOTION 4 as a 64-bit application, this introduces a new problem, which is the hardware performance of the computer when running computationally intensive 64-bit applications . . .
As a general rule, 64-bit applications run more efficiently and faster in a 64-bit operating system, while 32-bit applications are less efficient and slower in a 64-bit operating system, even when there is a 32-bit compatibility mode "sandbox" or whatever, because the 64-bit operating system and processors are designed to work most efficiently and fastest with 64-bit stuff, which one might call "native" in the sense that it does not need to be made arbitrarily smaller or "non-native" . . .
And it is important to understand that the potential "problem" is different in the sense that it is more focused on what happens when a computer actually is able to run applications that were designed specifically for the "native" or perhaps "ideal" mode of the operating system and associated hardware . . .
Using an analogy, metaphor, or simile, it is similar to running an 8-cylinder engine on only 4 cylinders and getting everything finely tuned but then deciding to run the engine on all 8 cylinders, and I created a separate topic in this FORUM on hardware requirements for 64-bit computing to provide a few clues, which is fabulous . . .
Hardware Requirements for 64-bit Computing (Notion Music FORUM)
Fabulous!
