NOTION 4, ReWire 2, and the Mac

[Surfwhammy]

I did a few experiments earlier this morning, and 64-bit ReWire 2 (Propellerhead Software) is working very nicely on the 2.8-GHz 8-core Mac Pro (20GB memory) here in the sound isolation studio . . .

(1) CLOSE ALL YOUR MUSIC APPS: This includes any other apps that might be doing ReWire, and it might be a good idea to do a clean boot, which can be a warm boot, to ensure that nothing else is running and everything is spanky . . .

(1) SET THE REWIRE APPS TO RUN IN 64-BIT MODE:

If you were doing ReWire on the Mac with NOTION 3, then all the related apps were set explicitly to run in 32-bit mode, so the first thing to do is to uncheck the "Open in 32-bit mode" option for each of the apps via Get Info, where the top half of the Get Info details needs to look like this for Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software), as it does for NOTION 4, Logic Pro 9 (Apple), Digital Performer 8 (MOTU), or any other app that you want to use for 64-bit ReWire 2, where for reference ReWire 2 supports 32-bit and 64-bit ReWire but not simultaneously. And even if you never have done ReWire or set the mode, check it and set it correctly, regardless:



(2) START NOTION 4 AND TOGGLE ITS REWIRE OPTION:

I have NOTION 3 already installed on the Mac Pro, so I did an upgrade to NOTION 4 rather than a first time install of any version of NOTION, even though NOTION 4 installs separately from NOTION 3, and I think that some of the NOTION 4 Preferences were carried over from NOTION 3, although I did so much installing and other stuff yesterday that I might have set everything myself, but regardless this is an important step, and it did something which confirms that it is important . . .

Specifically, I started NOTION 4 and unchecked the "Enable ReWire" option, followed by quitting NOTION 4 . . .

Then I restarted NOTION 4 and checked the "Enable ReWire", and when I closed the "Preferences" dialog, I got a message indicating that NOTION 4 was configuring ReWire, so this indicates to me that this step does something, in part because prior to this I could use NOTION 4 to control Reason 6.5 but LogicPro 9 was not seeing NOTION 4 as a ReWire object . . .

[NOTE: For each of these tests, I quit the applications at the end of each test, where the slave(s) are exited first and the ReWire 2 host controller is exited last. The fourth (4) and fifth (5) tests could be done without the intermediate step of closing and exiting all the ReWire 2 applications, but I like to keep each test separate and distinct to avoid any possibility of the ReWire 2 infrastructure and the applications themselves becoming confused or having an odd glitch. And I do this because ReWIre 2 is doing a virtual festival of highly time-based computing, and everything needs to be pristine, in which case it works very nicely, accurately, and reliably, provided the various applications are coded correctly, which is not always the case with every DAW application . . . ]

(3) RUN NOTION 4 AS THE HOST CONTROLLER AND REASON 6.5 AS THE SLAVE:

Since Propellerhead Software defines the ReWire standard, as well as the ReWire infrastructure software, it is a good idea to download Reason 6.5 for testing purposes, since Reason 6.5 does ReWire as a slave flawlessly, and it is the gold standard in this respect, so one of the key tests involves determining whether an application can act as a ReWire 2 host controller for Reason 6.5, and NOTION 4 passes this test on the Mac running Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) . . .

(4) RUN THE DAW APPLICATION AS THE HOST CONTROLLER AND REASON 6.5 AS THE SLAVE:

The next test I recommend involves testing the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application with Reason 6.5 to ensure that the DAW application is able to act as the ReWire 2 host controller for Reason 6.5, which Logic Pro 9 does, and at present it is the only 64-bit DAW application I have, although Digital Performer 8 will arrive in a day or two, and it is a 64-bit DAW application, so I will do these next steps with Digital Performer 8 in a few days to verify that it also works correctly with NOTION 4 and Reason 6.5 . . . .

(5) RUN THE DAW APPLICATION AS HOST CONTROLLER WITH TWO SLAVES (REASON 6.5 and NOTION 4):

At this point, you have verified that NOTION 4 and your DAW application successfully are able to be ReWire 2 host controllers, so the remaining step is to repeat the fourth step (4) followed by starting NOTION 4 and adding to the ReWire 2 session as a second ReWire 2 slave, which also works very nicely on the Mac, as demonstrated in the following QuickTime movie, which is a bit on the large size, but it has better screen resolution so that you can look at the Logic Pro 9 user interface while I am babbling about various stuff, which is what happens when I I drink very strong coffee continually for 24 hours, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: Special thanks to the Techno Squirrels, who did the Reason 6.5 Demo song that I used in the video, where for reference I added a MachFIve 3 Jazz Bass stereo track and a MachFive 3 Hammond B3 Organ stereo track using music notation in NOTION 4, so what you hear is the Reason 6.5 Demo song by the Techno Squirrels and two stereo tracks from NOTION 4, all done in real-time on the fly via ReWire 2, with everything running in 64-bit mode in Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) . . . ]

Logic Pro 9, NOTION 4, Reason 6.5, and ReWire 2 -- 64-bits -- High-Resolution QuickTime Movie -- MOV (19MB, approximately 6 minutes)

Fabulous!

I use Digital Performer and Logic Pro, because they work, and while I am intrigued by the ability of Cubase 6.5 to do VST 3.5.1 virtual instruments, the Steinberg website at present indicates that Cubase 6.5 only does 32-bit ReWire . . .

Rewire and the print option within the Score editor are currently only available in 32-bit mode no matter which host application is in use!

[SOURCE: Cubase 6.5 Specifications (Steinberg), Mac OS X 64-Bit Support (Steinberg)

THOUGHTS

It is very important to understand that ReWIre 2 is a very complex technology, which is highly time-based, since it acts as a pipeline between two or more applications, where part of the work is done by each application but another part of the work is done by the ReWire 2 infrastructure, and since ReWire 2 is doing real-time interapplication communication, timing is critical, and all it takes to cause problems is an incorrectly set parameter, a slower than expected response from one of the applications, or any of a virtual festival of what non-programmers typically consider to be inconsequential and frivolous stuff, except that (a) everything matters and (b) the aforementioned tests are not selected randomly based on turnips falling off a turnip truck . . .

The fact of the matter is that Apple, MOTU, Notion Music, and Propellerhead Software know how to do Mac Apps, and they have been doing Mac Apps for a long time, and since Propellerhead Software created, defined, and engineered the ReWire 2 industry standard and corresponding infrastructure software, using Reason 6.5 is an excellent test application to determine whether a ReWire 2 host controller correctly does what it is supposed to do, and since the other side of the coin involves a DAW application acting as ReWire 2 host controller, it makes sense to focus on Logic Pro 9 and Digital Performer 8 . . .

Digital Performer 8 and Reason 6.5 are a bit expensive, but they are not the most expensive DAW applications, and Logic Pro 9 currently is priced very attractively now that it is in the Mac App Store and Apple is focusing on increasing its market share in one way or another, and as an additional bit of information, I do not consider Reason 6.5 to be a DAW application per se, because it is a complete standalone application with its own unique workspace, and this perspective is based in part on Reason 6.5 not being a ReWIre 2 host controller, instead being only a ReWire 2 slave, and while it is a truly fascinating digital music production application, it is highly focused, which here in the sound isolation makes it a elegantly sophisticated and vastly powerful "helper" application rather than a full-featured DAW application . . .

The key bit of information is that this stuff works on the Mac, which is the reason that I do digital music production on the Mac using a very specific and carefully selected set of professional digital music production hardware and software, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

[Surfwhammy]

Digital Performer 8 (MOTU) arrived this afternoon, and I installed it and then did some ReWire tests, which worked nicely once I got Digital Performer 8 configured correctly . . .

[NOTE: This is the Mac version, since (a) the Windows version of Digital Performer 8 has not been released and (b) I do everything on the Mac . . . ]

The key bits of information are that if start with a project from a previous version of Digital Performer and NOTION 3, then the Instrument Bundle information for NOTION will be incorrect, since it points to the 32-bit ReWire stuff, so you need to delete these instruments, as shown in the video (see below) . . .

Also the transport rewind oddness continues to exist, and the solution is to insert four empty measures at the start of NOTION 4 scores, where the strategy is never to rewind the Digital Performer 8 transport earlier than the first beat of the fifth measure. My view continues to be that this is a bug in Digital Performer, because it causes Digital Performer to crash, and the general rule on the Mac is that applications crashing is not indicative of stellar software engineering, where NOTION 4 does not crash in this scenario, although it does become a bit confused, because once Digital Performer 8 crashes, it is not there to tell NOTION 4 what to do, hence NOTION 4 just keeps doing the last thing it was instructed to do . . .

There are a few other odd behaviors in Digital Performer 8, but once you do a few experiments the correct "system" emerges, where the key is to avoid doing things that cause Digital Performer 8 to become confused, which in the ReWire 2 scenario also is the case with NOTION 4, where for example it does not appear to be a bright idea to close NOTION 4 when it is a ReWire slave and then to reopen NOTION 4 when the ReWire host controller continues to be running, where the "system" strategy is to do things in a simple way, where you start Digital Performer 8 to make it the ReWire host controller and then start NOTION 4 to make it the ReWire slave, followed by doing whatever you need to do and then closing NOTION 4 and Digital Performer 8, so that everything is closed. If you need to do more stuff, then start everything in the correct order, and it works nicely . . .

Explained another way, make an effort to avoid doing essentially random illogical activities when doing ReWire 2 and everything works nicely . . .

And it is possible that some of the odd behaviors were due to not having used Digital Performer 8 so much, where for example with only Digital Performer 8 and NOTION 4 doing ReWire 2, I was able to start and quit NOTION 4 several times, which for the most part is all I need to do here in the sound isolation studio, since I usually do a separate ReWire session with Digital Performer and Reason when I need to do something with Reason . . .

In other words, keep it simple and focused, and it works . . .

[NOTE: To avoid confusion the rule about never starting earlier that the first beat of the fifth measure does not prevent one from starting at a later point in the song, so it is just a "no earlier than" rule . . . ]

And the advice in the video (see below) regarding not tweaking effects plug-ins in Digital Performer 8 while you are playing or recording NOTION 4 generated audio via ReWire 2, this is basic common sense, and the correct technique is to do the ReWire 2 stuff, followed by closing NOTION 4, at which point only Digital Performer 8 is running, and this is when you do the effects plug-ins tweaking and other Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) focused activities, and the reason for this is that doing other stuff when you are recording NOTION 4 generated audio via ReWire 2 can affect the real-time generated audio data transfers, so keep it focused on what needs to be done at each step in your "system" for producing songs, where common sense strongly suggests that if you were recording a singer, you probably would not be tinkering with effects plug-ins at the same time, at least if you respect the singer and want to ensure that the singing is recorded correctly . . .

This the video that shows Digital Performer 8 acting as ReWire 2 host controller where it is controlling both NOTION 4 and Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software), and while I did not do any recording, I tested and verified the recording aspects later, and everything is working nicely for recording, as well . . .

[NOTE: This is a larger and longer QuickTIme Movie, but it has some useful information, so I decided to use the full version rather than to do a short movie, where regarding the Instrument Bundles and needing to clear them, this occurs when you open an already existing Digital Performer project that was done with an earlier version of Digital Performer. If you start with a new Digital Performer 8 project rather than opening a project started with a previous version of Digital Performer which already has existing Instrument Bundles and ReWire channel assignments, then the Instrument Bundles probably are fine, since there actually will not be any until you create them, and they are "created" by assigning a ReWire 2 channel(s) to one of the tracks, which is done via the drop-down for ReWire 2 channel assignments, although you also can do it beforehand via the aforementioned Instrument Bundles dialog . . . ]

Digital Performer 8, NOTION 4, Reason 6.5, ReWire 2 on the Mac -- QuickTime Movie -- MOV (46.9MB, approximately 14 minutes and 45 seconds)

As time allows, I will doing more tests, where one set of tests will be focused on using Digital Performer 8 for film scoring when NOTION 4 is running as a ReWire 2 slave, which should be interesting . . .

Based on the tests I have done so far, I think that Digital Performer 8 does ReWire 2 with NOTION 4 very nicely when you follow a few simple rules, and this is excellent, because I prefer to use Digital Performer as my DAW application as part of a complete "system", which has NOTION as the foundation, where everything begins with NOTION, even if NOTION only provides the "click" track and reference tuning pitches, because when I do it this way, it is easy to add instrumentation via music notation and VSTi virtual instruments in NOTION later, and the "system" includes a way for NOTION to be the source for MIDI parts that are rendered and played in Reason, where the fourth key part of the "system" has Digital Performer recording real instruments and voices, where some of the real instruments can be MIDI controllers that control virtual instruments running on the Mac Pro, which in the grand scheme of everything covers everything, since via the MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid I also can use real external signal processors in Digital Performer in addition to AU and VST effects plug-ins. . .

Lots of FUN!