Document: VSL_PerfTool_Manual_v2_OPUS_1.doc Document version: 2.0f Date: 2004-03-11 1 Vienna Symphonic Library Performance Tool V2.0f for OPUS 1 (Windows) Introduction Thank you for registering your product and for downloading this manual. At the time of writing (March 2004), we are preparing video tutorials to give you a more personal insight into the abilities of the Performance Tool. You will be informed via newsletter as soon as these tutorials are available! As you will find 3 different manuals du to the slight differences between library editions, we want to make sure that you read the right one for your purchase: This manual is exclusively for users of OPUS 1. If you have purchased any other product of the Horizon Series (Saxo- phones I, Solo Strings, Overdrive, Concert Guitar, Glass & Stones, Mallets), please refer to VSL_PerfTool_Manual_v2_Win_HOR_all. If you have purchased the First or Pro Edition or upgraded these products with any product of the Horizon Series, please refer to VSL_PerfTool_Manual_v2_Win_MULTI. In a nutshell, these are the steps to take to activate the right Performance Modes for your Performance Tool: 1. Register ALL your products on our webpage www.vsl.co.at/user. 2. Go through the activation process as described below. 3. Download the Tool Presets from our user area. Getting started Registration In order to activate the appropriate modes of the Performance Tool, you have to register your product at the Vienna Symphonic Library website. In case you haven’t done so yet, please follow the instructions in your product’s manual. Installing the Performance Tool The first place to start after installing the DVDs is to install the Performance Tool. You
Vienna Symphonic LibraryPerformance Tool V2.0ffor OPUS 1 (Windows)
Introduction
Thank you for registering your product and for downloading this manual.
At the time of writing (March 2004), we are preparing video tutorials to give you amore personal insight into the abilities of the Performance Tool. You will be informedvia newsletter as soon as these tutorials are available!
As you will find 3 different manuals du to the slight differences between library editions,we want to make sure that you read the right one for your purchase:
This manual is exclusively for users of OPUS 1.
If you have purchased any other product of the Horizon Series (Saxo-phones I, Solo Strings, Overdrive, Concert Guitar, Glass & Stones,Mallets), please refer to VSL_PerfTool_Manual_v2_Win_HOR_all.
If you have purchased the First or Pro Edition or upgraded theseproducts with any product of the Horizon Series, please refer toVSL_PerfTool_Manual_v2_Win_MULTI.
In a nutshell, these are the steps to take to activate the right Performance Modes foryour Performance Tool:
1. Register ALL your products on our webpage www.vsl.co.at/user.
2. Go through the activation process as described below.
3. Download the Tool Presets from our user area.
Getting started
Registration
In order to activate the appropriate modes of the Performance Tool, you have toregister your product at the Vienna Symphonic Library website. In case you haven’tdone so yet, please follow the instructions in your product’s manual.
Installing the Performance Tool
The first place to start after installing the DVDs is to install the Performance Tool. You
can download the Performance Tool from the Vienna Symphonic Library website(http://www.vsl.co.at/user). As you have registered your products (see above), youhave access to the download area located in the user area. The Performance Toolcomes in a .zip file which is not very large, so it will download fairly quickly even with anaverage modem connection.
To install your Performance Tool, copy the .zip file to a folder of your choice. IfGigaStudio runs on a separate computer, burn a CD (or use a data stick!) on thecomputer that contains the file, then insert the CD or the data stick into your GigaStudiocomputer and extract the .zip to this computer.
Once you’ve extracted the contents of the .zip file to a folder of your choice, run “VSLMIDI Tool Installer.msi”. The installer will guide you through the setup process.
Attention: If you have already installed an older version of the PerformanceTool, please make a backup of your personal Tool templates!Otherwise, the installer could accidentally overwrite your settings!
Activation
When you start the Tool for the first time, you will be asked to activate the relevantmodes for your purchase. You can do this either online (if your GigaStudio computerhas an internet connection) or offline.
IMPORTANT: If you just extended your Opus 1 with a Horizon Series product,please make sure that you register your purchase and activate the HorizonLegato for all Legato instruments of the Horizon Series. For the guitars, pleaseuse the Guitar Legato. We applied a new mapping scheme to theseinstruments, so they NEED the corresponding Legato Mode.
To activate the Tool online, start your internet connection. Then mark the option“Instant Online Activation” and click “Next”. Enter your e-mail address and the passwordof your VSL user registration. Then, click on “Activate!”. The modes for your registeredproducts will be activated automatically.
For offline activation, mark “Offline Activation” and click “Next”. Note down theComputer ID shown in the box. Activate the browser on your internet computer, go tohttp://vsl.co.at/activate and follow the instructions. The Response Key will begenerated immediately, and a copy will be sent to your e-mail address. Enter it in thecorresponding box of the Offline Activation Wizard and click “Activate!”. Thereafter, click“Finish” to complete the activation process. The Performance Modes for yourregistered products are now activated.
MIDI Router
If you want to run GigaStudio and your sequencer on a single computer, you will needto create virtual MIDI Ports. The Vienna Symphonic Library provides you with the VSL
MIDI Router which was specifically designed for that purpose. It is available fordownload in our user area. Please read the enclosed VSL MIDI Router manual to learnmore about it.
This manual assumes that you are conversant with the functions of GigaStudio. Pleaserefer to the GigaStudio manual if any questions arise concerning its setup andconfiguration.
The Performance Tool
General information
The Vienna Symphonic Library Performance Tool is a stand-alone application that re-interprets the MIDI information it receives from your sequencer. It gives you access tocustomized MIDI events that bring out the exceptionally expressive capabilities of ourPerformance Set instruments.
Depending on your purchases, you will find the following Modes within the PerformanceTool activated (if you are a proud owner of ALL Vienna Symphonic Library products, youcan of course access all of them after you’ve gone through the activating process):
First Edition and Pro Edition
Orchestral Cube: Alternation Mode
Performance Set: Alternation, Legato and Repetition Mode
Horizon Series
OPUS 1: Alternation and Horizon Legato Mode
Mallets: Alternation Mode
Glass & Stones: Alternation Mode
Saxophones 1: Alternation, Horizon Legato and Repetition Mode
Solo Strings: Alternation, Horizon Legato and Repetition Mode
Vienna Concert Guitar: Alternation, Guitar Legato and Repetition Mode
Overdrive: Alternation, Guitar Legato and Repetition Mode
This manual describes the use of the Performance Tool with OPUS 1 from the HorizonSeries, which uses the Alternation and Horizon Legato Modes.
The Performance Tool is a stand-alone application that re-interprets your MIDIinformation to give you absolute authenticity in sound. For your OPUS 1, it basicallyoperates in two modes chosen according to the selected Performance instrument:Legato and Alternation Mode. The Performance Tool settings of a given instrumentare preconfigured for each Performance instrument.
In short: When you open, e.g., “VC-8_mV_perf-leg_porta_f” (a celloensemble with forte portamento legato), simply load the Horizon LegatoMode (plus the appropriate Tool settings “12 CELLO-ENS_perf-leg.pal”)into the corresponding channel and correct port of your Performance Tooland you are ready to play!
If you experiment with the settings, you should save them under a new filename so that youcan load the default setting if anything goes wrong. For instance, one shouldn’t really try torun a legato instrument in Alternation Mode if one doesn’t want unexpected results.
The Performance Tool is intended as a tool for the real-time performance of legato andalternation sequences played on the keyboard. If you’re editing your MIDI tracks in yoursequencer’s editor, and skipping passages or running loops, the music may not alwayssound as originally recorded. Naturally, when you record and playback your completedsequence, you will hear the intended result.
If something goes wrong after editing your sequence or the Performance Tool settings,the Legato and Repetition Modes has a reset function. For a soft reset, simply click theReset button. However, due to extensive testing and improvement of our performancealgorithms, the need for a reset should occur very rarely.
The Bypass button in the Mode display does exactly that – it works like a MIDI throughchannel, passing on MIDI events without going through the Performance Tool.
For best performance control, we recommend using an 88-key master keyboard, soyou can access all preconfigured keyswitch functions while you’re playing. But, ofcourse, you can also use the matrix editor and enter the notes and functions step bystep, or fine-tune what you’ve recorded.
The instruments and their settings are documented in the Vienna Symphonic Librarymanuals, which you can refer to if you’re unsure how to set up a specific performance.You can also download the Range Finder guide (PDF) from the user area of our websitewww.vsl.co.at, which gives brief descriptions of the instruments and their playing ranges.
Of course, we also provide preconfigured presets for you. Please download the ToolTemplates from our user area to have the right settings available for your work!
IMPORTANT: You have downloaded a copy-protected Performance Tool. In orderto activate the right modes for your purchase, please register your products onour website www.vsl.co.at/user. This will just take a minute and it will make yourlibrary an even better investment, as there is no way for unauthorized users toaccess the famous Performance Tool! Thank you for your time and understanding.
Setting up the Performance ToolAs the Performance Tool is a stand-alone application, you have to make sure toconnect your applications in the right order.
For a test run, you can skip the sequencer (or the keyboard if you want to play anexisting piece or compose a sequence for testing purposes), but the normal setup willlook like in the diagram above.
In the upper right-hand area of the Performance Tool display, you will find drop-downmenus for “MIDI INPORT” (where your MIDI comes from) and “MIDI OUTPORT” (where itgoes to – up to 4 with each GigaStudio and depending on your soundcard).
We suggest that you assign “OUT” 1–4 (for the different ports of the Performance Tool)to “Nemesys InPort1–4”.
For the “MIDI IN PORT” choose the right port of the ports available on your GigaStudiocomputer.
If you are working on ONE computer, you will need to create virtual MIDIPorts. The Vienna Symphonic Library provides you with the VSL MIDIRouter which was specifically designed for that purpose. It is available fordownload in our user area. Please read the enclosed VSL MIDI Routermanual to learn more about it and its relevance to the Performance Tool.
Attention: GigaStudio’s IN Ports must be disabled when you work with thePerformance Tool! To do so, go to “Settings – Hardware/Routing” and set allMidi IN Ports to “none”. Don’t forget to press “Apply”.
The settings of the individual MIDI channels only display the modes that are activatedfor your purchase. “NOT AVAI” simply is an indicator that this mode is not available, i.e.,you don’t need it with OPUS 1.
The File dialog
In the file dialog, located in the upper left-hand corner of the Tool window, you will findtwo entries which are new in v.2:
Activation: this will lead you through the Activation Routine. Select this option when-ever you upgrade or buy another product of the Horizon Series that operates withadditional Performance modes.
ShowEnabledModes: this option shows the modes currently activated for yourPerformance Tool (this can be helpful to verify upgrading).
Loading the right settings
Complete Tool settings (.vlp files)
Use the “File” menu to “open” and “save” settings for the whole Performance Tool, i.e.,for all MIDI channels at once. This is used for complete setups with several instruments.
Mode settings (.pal files)
To load the right settings for the mode of a single MIDI channel, use the “open” buttonin the window in the lower part of the Performance Tool which opens as soon as youchoose your desired Performance Mode.
You can also drag and drop files: .vlp files (overall settings for the wholetool) will open when you drag them to the upper part of the PerformanceTool. Instead of drag and drop, you can also double-click .vlp files.
.pal-files (the settings for each separate mode) have to be dropped on the lower part ofthe Performance Tool.
IMPORTANT: You are currently working with version 2 of the PerformanceTool. Of course you can keep on working with all the settings and templatesyou’ve already programmed.
Version 1 of the Performance Tool only had 1 Port. Therefore, when you loadv1 .vlp´s into the Performance Tool v.2, the first one will automatically beloaded into Port 1, the second one into Port 2, and so forth.
The .vlp files of the Performance Tool v.2 use ALL 4 Ports, so that you cancreate setups with up to 64 MIDI channels!
Settings navigation
Use <Arrow left> and <Arrow right> to jump to the next position in e.g. the Alternation
Click an edit button and move your mouse up and down to adjust the value. You canalso enter a number in a highlighted field.
Use “0” and “1” to set the values within a matrix or the Style Display.
To “fine-tune” ms-values, click in the field and use “+” and “–” to increase or decreasethe value step by step.
To adjust MIDI notes (e.g. in the Play Zone), use the virtual keyboard that pops up whenyou click into the field and hold the left mouse key.
With our re-designed Performance Tool you will find the “Style Display” for AlternationMode very useful, as it always shows what you are currently playing. If you don’t needto see the matrix for editing reasons, you can adjust the display by clicking the“Reduce/Expand” button.
If you click on any MIDI channel in the upper part of the Performance Tool, you can alsostep through the different ports by using the keyboard’s function keys F5–F8.
IMPORTANT: As you have registered your purchased product, please make sure that youdownload the tool presets from our user area. Of course you will only see the presets foryour registered products. Download these settings and save them in any place you like.
The direct link to our user area is www.vsl.co.at/user. Log in to enter the download area.
Legato Mode
Loading instruments
The Legato Mode enables you to perform authentic monophonic legato lines on your keyboard.
Specific Legato instruments have been created that work in Legato Mode. Legato instrumentfiles will always have “perf-legato” in their name, e.g., “12 CELLO-ENS_perf-legato”, containingcello ensemble Performance Legatos. The instruments themselves are named “perf-leg”, so“VC-8_perf-leg_f-porta” will be a forte portamento legato, played by the cello ensemble.
To load an instrument, scroll through the GigaStudio instrument display and select the lega-to performance of your choice. For now, we’ll stay with the forte cellos on Channel 1/Port1of your GigaStudio, but of course you may try any other legato instrument you like.
Once the instrument is loaded, assign Legato Mode to Channel 1/Port1 of thePerformance Tool and load “12 CELLO-ENS_perf-leg.pal” by clicking on the “OPEN”button in the line above the legato mode settings. The tool will take care of the complexkeyswitching for you to create a perfect legato performance as you play.
The settings of the cello ensemble Performance Legato will look like this:
Play Zone and Octave Offset
The most important settings for every legato instrument are its Play Zone and itsOctave Offset. These are located in the lower left of the Legato Mode display.
The Play Zone is the real playing range of the instrument. “Lo Note” and “Hi Note” setthe limits for the Legato Tool to work in. If the settings exceed the actual playing rangeof the given instrument, you might hear unpredictable sounds because Legato Modewon’t be able to interpret the Midi data correctly.
The Octave Offset ensures that the instrument can be played in the correspondingrange of the keyboard. Manipulating the Octave Offset will transpose the instrument’srange on your keyboard in octave steps. We suggest working with the preset templatesfor each instrument, as they already come with the correct settings.
Legato threshold
It may be that your performance on the keyboard leaves something to be desired. So, ifyou get too many starting notes (non legato) for your liking, you can use the Legato thres-hold slider to adapt the time within which the tool will recognize two consecutive notes aslegato. If you set this too high, however, almost every sequence will be played legato evenif you intend to play a new starting note. Just experiment with the setting to adjust it to yourplaying style – or play your sequence first and set the legato threshold during playback.
We suggest setting Release Time and Legato Threshold to the same value, sothat possible “gaps” between the notes are covered correctly!
This slider sets the delay time of the note-off event for the legato transition. Its valueshould correspond with the Legato threshold setting.
Function Keys: Ghost, Release Trigger, Repetition Trigger
With the help of function keys, you can access special functions directly on your MIDIkeyboard, or insert them in your recorded MIDI track to make your performance evenmore realistic. By clicking within the appropriate fields, you can set the trigger notes forthe function keys.
Ghost: Press this key to have the next starting note muted. For instance, you couldlater copy these notes to another track to have them played in another technique ofyour choice.
The Ghost function makes it possible to start a legato passage from any other startingnote (from another MIDI track), e.g., from a crescendo, a diminuendo, a sforzato.
An example: In your sequencer, you record a three bar legato passage in piano (soft),using legato performances. But you want a strong accent on the first note of thispassage, instead of the now recorded piano tone. So you decide you want to use afortepiano tone from the "Special Dynamics".
In this case you put a ghost function key prior to the first note. Now the first note won'tbe played, but the second note still has the right transition from the ending of the (nowsilent) first note to the second note.
Now you copy this first note to the MIDI track that is to play the fortepiano note. (Leavethe muted note in the legato track, as the second legato note still needs to know wherethe transition comes from!) Playing both MIDI tracks, you will get the proper transitionfrom the fortepiano note to the legato passage.
Release trigger: Use this if you want to have the last note of a sequence end with aspecial release sample for increased authenticity. To activate this function, press thetrigger note after the last note is played. The release sample will be played after thespecified release time (see above). Attention: if you hold a note too long, the releasesample will still be triggered after the natural duration of the note, and you will hear thesample as a distinct extra tone. The notes of legato performances are quite long, ofcourse, but for the sake of your computer’s memory they are far from endless …
Repetition trigger: This key has the function of providing a legato repetition instead ofa fresh starting note. Press it before the repetition note when it should be part of acontinuing legato sequence rather than the beginning of a new one.
Alternation Mode
Loading instruments
The purpose of the Alternation Mode is to manage the keyswitches of a combinationinstrument (one instrument containing several articulations) in such a way as to help youcreate naturally dynamic musical phrasings playable as a single line in one MIDI track.
Alternation Mode will only work on Instruments that have keyswitching built into them(especially COMBINATION instruments you find with the “standard”-gigfiles). If you loadup an instrument that does not feature any keyswitching notes, Alternation Mode willhave no effect.
Instruments best suited for alternations often have an “all” in their filename, meaning thatthe instrument is a combination of all the basic instruments of that category. For a start,let’s load “VI-14_standard_all-f” from the cello ensemble (“01 VIOLIN-ENS_standard” under“COMBINATIONS”) into Channel 2/Port 1 of your GigaStudio, as it gives you access toseveral playing techniques at once (with little RAM usage, as it only contains f layers).Naturally, you can also use the Alternation Mode to automatically switch between, e.g.,downbows and upbows of cello staccatos, but for demonstration purposes, an instrumentwith more possibilities might serve us better.
Setting Up
For now, please assign the Alternation Mode to Channel 2/Port1 of your PerformanceTool and load the Alternation settings “VI-14_alt_standard_all-f.pal” by clicking on thechannel’s “open” button. The Tool display will now look something like this:
IMPORTANT: You will notice that there is an additional “style” menu (see above) on theright hand side of the style display. This allows you to choose between “Orchestra”,“Overdrive” and “ConcertGuit”. The correct setting for Opus 1 is, of course, “Orchestra”.This will provide you with the correct playing styles for your style display!
The Style Display
The style display shows the function key of the selected matrix line, the number ofalternating playing styles, and the alternation entries themselves. You can switchbetween the preconfigured playing techniques. These playing techniques need tocorrespond with the order of the keyswitches of the loaded instrument. Thekeyswitches are predefined. Please refer to the mapping list of your library manual tofind out the right settings.
Basically, all of the included Alternation Settings are perfectly preconfigured.
The Matrix
The matrix is where you can set up your individual alternations. There are 12 lines with12 sequence entries each, so you can have 12 different alternation sequences in onesetup, giving you a lot of possibilities.
The first entry of a matrix line shows the number of alternations it contains. Thecontents of the active matrix line are also shown in the style display, so once you’veselected a line you can also work there for a better overview. Changes you make in thestyle display will always be reflected in the active matrix line, and vice versa.
Let’s go to the first matrix line and put a proper sequence in it. To set the number ofalternations, click in the upper or lower half of the alternation counter to increase ordecrease the value. Set matrix line 1 to 5 alternations for now.
“VI-14_standard_all-f” has the following techniques and keyswitches, as do the otherstrings and wind basic sets.
Keyswitch playing technique Style display Matrix
C1 staccato sta1 1C#1 détaché, 0.3 sec. ‘3s1 2D1 détaché, 0.5 sec. ‘5s1 3D#1 sustained sus1 4E1 fortepiano fp 5F1 sforzato pfp 6F#1 sforzatissimo trem 7G1 crescendo-diminuendo (1 sec) pz1 8G#1 tremolo trem 9A1 half tone trills V 10A#1 whole tone trills 11
Remember, the Vienna Symphonic Library uses C4 as middle C, so you may have tosubtract an octave for calculations with your sequencer.
From the available instruments, choose, e.g., staccato (assigned to the symbol “sta1”in the style display) for the first note. To do this, you can either set the number in thematrix line to “1” or select the “sta1” by clicking in the appropriate field and draggingthe mouse up or down. (You can also use the numeric keypad’s “+” and “–” keys, or thenumerical keys themselves.) For the second entry, select “’3s1”, then again “sta1” on 3and 4, followed by one “sus1”.
Now you have a sequence of staccato (1), short détaché (2), two more staccatos (1,1), and a sustained note (4). If you play on the keyboard, this sequence will be repeatedregardless of the duration and spacing of the notes you play.
Thus, you can easily have similar phrases in your work played in exactly the same waywithout having to worry about programming the keyswitches into your MIDI track.
ATTENTION: When polyphony is switched on, you have to release the keys toaccess the next programmed playing technique! With every MIDI “Note-Off”your next playing technique becomes available!
Base Function Key
The base function key sets the first keyswitch for the alternation matrix. As the matrix has12 keys, you have to take care that they don’t overlap with your instrument’s play zone.For example, the double bass ensemble’s play zone is B0–D4. Therefore, you can placeyour base function key anywhere starting from E4 without overlapping. You can find thecorresponding keys for switching matrix lines to the right of each pattern in the matrix orto the left in the style display, always according to your settings!
Polyphony
The polyphony selector is “on” by default. It serves to smoothe out inaccuracies whenyou play chords, so that you won’t get a staccato chord with one sustained note merelybecause it came a fraction too late. If you do not activate polyphony, Alternation Modewill let you play monophonic lines, but each note you play will automatically be the nextstyle of your choice, regardless of MIDI-OFF events!
Chain Mode
The last item in our alternation setup is Chain Mode. This feature allows you to link the matrixlines so that you will get one alternation sequence consisting of all the matrix lines – insequence! This is especially useful for long sequences consisting of the same articulations. It
is still possible to switch matrix lines while Chain Mode is active. The sequence will jump tothe selected line and continue from there.
Customizing instruments
You can even customize your own Alternation Instruments (and share them with otherusers!). So if you’re interested in programming, this brief introduction will be helpful.
Click on Assign style. A menu will open on the Tool’sright-hand side, showing the available styles. Once you’veset that up, working with alternations will be much morecomfortable because you’ll immediately see whatarticulations you are using.
The numbers on the left each correspond to a keyswitch.By clicking first on a number and then on an articulationsymbol, the symbol is assigned to that keyswitch.
Attention: Having assigned a symbol to a keyswitchdoes not mean that you’ll get, e.g., a staccato regardlessof which file you’ve loaded! It’s only a symbol, and theassignment has to correspond with the articulation andthe keyswitch in the selected file to make any sense.
The full potential of the Alternation Mode will becomeevident once a larger number of playing techniques canbe triggered within one .gig file.
Assigning symbols to playing techniques in the Performance Tool
Now, to set the alternation tool up to correspond with your Alternation Instrument, wehave to assign the symbols to the proper numbers. First, click on “1” in the menu, thenon the symbol you want to relate to the playing technique you chose on your firstkeyswitch (e.g., “sta1”). The style display will show the “sta1” symbol wherever “1” isselected in the active matrix line (see below). Repeat the process for every articulationof the instrument, e.g., select “2” and assign the “’3s1” symbol to it, and so on.
To complete the groundwork, you need only set the instrument’s Play Zone (G3–D7 forthe violin ensemble’s basic set), the Keyswitch Start Key (C1), and the BaseFunction Key which is C1 by default. You can keep this setting for now, but it mayhave to be reset for other instruments. Information on play zone and keyswitch startkey can be found in the manuals for the individual editions.
We hope that you are satisfied with this brief introduction to the intricacies of thePerformance Tool, and wish you a successful and fulfilling creative experience with theVienna Symphonic Library.
Please visit our Website http://www.vsl.co.at regularly for new Performance Tooltutorials and for additional .art files and Tool settings. If you want to know more aboutthe instruments of the Vienna Symphonic Library, check out Instruments Online.
We'd also like to invite you to visit our forum to meet fellow-users of the ViennaSymphonic Library and to share questions and answers about our library. Mosttechnical support questions can be answered by simply browsing this forum, not tomention lots of user tips, advice, and inside information from the creators of the library.
Enjoy!
Your Vienna Symphonic Library Team
Copyright Notice
Information in this training guide, including URL and other Web site references is subject tochange without notice. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this documentmay be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in anyform, or by any means, or for any purpose, without the express written permission of theVienna Symphonic Library GmbH.
Vienna Symphonic Library may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, or otherintellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expresslyprovided in any written license agreement from Vienna Symphonic Library, the furnishing ofthis document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights orany intellectual property.
