What can a Midi track do that an Instrument track can't?

[lgreen100]

If you use Xpand!2, that comes with Pro Tools, you can use the Xpand!2 instrument track and 3 midi tracks to play 4 different instruments by assigning different midi channels to each instruments. The instruments can play different parts. I learned that watching Russ Hughes build song with Xpand!2 on the Pro Tools Expert website. I use this technique al the time!

[Michael Carnes]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

I very often feed multiple MIDI tracks into a single VI, using different MIDI channels of that VI. Instrument tracks don't allow that.

With complex sample libraries (Spitfire, Orchestral Tools, etc) there are often multiple articulations for each sound (let's say, mutes, flutter tongue, etc). They're typically accessible by keyswitches, but keeping all of those straight is a royal pain. Those libraries will often let you load single articulations into a multitimbral wrapper (usually Kontakt). You can set a MIDI track for each channel and choose the articulation based on the MIDI track. You can then just drag the notes between tracks until you get what you want (there's a little more fiddling than that, but I'm keeping it simple to make the point). No more worrying about keyswitching.

[L-Dogg]

Originally Posted by massivekerry

You trolling?

Sometimes you only want a MIDI track to feed data to plugin that follows pitch or CCs (like VocalSynth, Auto-Tune, etc) and for folks like me, who have hundreds and hundreds of Instruments loaded in a server like Vienna Ensemble Pro, it's just better and more stable to have Pro Tools only sending MIDI to all of those tracks, instead of adding the load of hosting those instruments being put on the CPU.

Originally Posted by GOOOTOOO

I don't understand what you mean by this. For example with autotune, are you saying you would use some aspect of midi data to control the automation of autotune being applied to an audio track?

GOOOTOOO....

I'm not the best expert on this but......let's say you have a super orchestral library and you call up a violin sample and you play a nice violin passage on the keyboard. When you play it back.....it sounds nice but also very staid or plain. In other words.....almost fake sounding and even the high quality of the sample doesn't cover the fact it is a basic MIDI recording and not real.

This is because a real violin player will be using all sorts of approaches.... attack, how he bows, when he changes from an up bow to down bow, slurs and sustained or staccato notes etc etc.....and all the other little artifacts a real player does or gets like the little sounds when he changes bow direction...... which you were not doing when you input the notes-other than perhaps aftertouch or velocity. With CC messages.....and if the VI supports it....you can add those after the fact in the MIDI edit window and make the performance more believable. For example you can hold a note on a keyboard forever........the string player can't.....he has to reverse his bow......a horn/wind player has to breathe etc etc/

People who know how to use CC on these orchestral libraries can do amazing things. Guys like Hans Zimmer etc.

As far as VEP....Vienna Ensemble Pro.......you can have your VI on a separate computer and connect it to your Pro Tools computer via ethernet cable (I think that is still how it is done) and you call up the VI in Pro Tools. VEP has it's own GUI...a mixer window thingy.....but it, as well as the VI itself is being hosted by the other computer which takes the CPU hit off your PT computer.

Make sense? It's pretty cool although I only tested it a few times.......like I said I am no expert at this by any means.

I truly hope I have not just dispensed wrong info.

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

I very often feed multiple MIDI tracks into a single VI, using different MIDI channels of that VI. Instrument tracks don't allow that.

They do, but it's a waste of instrument tracks if the VI in question does not have multiple outputs. You can send different MIDI channels to it, but the different sounds will all come out of one stereo output, leaving all (but one) of the aux sections of the instrument tracks unused.

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by GOOOTOOO

I don't understand why midi tracks are kept around as an option. It seems like everything they do can be done with a Instrument track, plus more.

You are correct here. An instrument track is a MIDI track plus an auxiliary track. But as in many of the replies here (especially the ones that relate to different articulations of one instrument, or sending different channels to a multi-timbral VI with only one output) it's overkill to use several instrument tracks. So MIDI tracks do have their use. Even if it's only to help you save instrument tracks.

[nedorama]

Originally Posted by lesbrunn

They do, but it's a waste of instrument tracks if the VI in question does not have multiple outputs. You can send different MIDI channels to it, but the different sounds will all come out of one stereo output, leaving all (but one) of the aux sections of the instrument tracks unused.

Wrong.

VI's that have multiple instruments (Hybrid, SampleTank, Kontakt, etc) are capable of hosting multiple instruments, each with their own volume and pan info even if you don't have the ability to have multiple aux outputs. Still very useful. Otherwise, you're suggesting to create a new instrument with multiple copies of the same VI? Why?

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by nedorama

Wrong.

VI's that have multiple instruments (Hybrid, SampleTank, Kontakt, etc) are capable of hosting multiple instruments, each with their own volume and pan info even if you don't have the ability to have multiple aux outputs. Still very useful. Otherwise, you're suggesting to create a new instrument with multiple copies of the same VI? Why?

Not wrong. Just a matter of choice. I used to mix various instruments within their plugins 10 years ago when computers weren't so powerful. Now they are, and I do it because

1. I can?
2. I have a wider spectrum for processing individual instruments in their own tracks using plugins of my choice...

Some VI's have lots of options for internal processing, so I go along with that sometimes. No hard and fast rules, I just do what needs to be done to get the sound I want. In any case I have a very wide range of VI's and it's not all the time that I choose multiple sounds from one VI.

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by nedorama

Wrong.

Otherwise, you're suggesting to create a new instrument with multiple copies of the same VI? Why?

Not necessarily multiple copies, just taking advantage of the fact that each instance can have a separate output for each instrument. So if I want two instruments from one VI, I can have just one instance of the VI with its main output and have it route audio through another output into a second instrument track. The second instrument track will of course contain the midi data for the second instrument, without the need for a second instance.