more polyphony

[mjm]

I have a 24 note polyphonic synth with a 6 track sequencer built into it. My main problem, is that when I am recording songs on the sequencer, I "run out of notes" This is very frustrating to me. I know that there are keyboards with more polyphony, but they are expensive, and I have limited funds.

I have a pc, and am aware of software such as Cakewalk, that can give you unlimited tracks to record on, but is there any software that will give you unlimited polyphony? It would be great to be able to record a song with out having to sacrifice the sound I am looking for because there aren't enough notes. Thanks for any info!

Mark

[JohnBussoletti]

No software give you unlimited polyphony, but there are some software synths that give 32 or 64 note polyphony. Check out the Yamaha software synth and the Roland VSC-XX synths. They typically have some latency (as much as 450 msec), so its hard to play along, but if you're sequencing everything, they're fine for playback. In addition your sound card (assuming it has a synthesizer of some sort in it, as most do) can provide an additional midi port with additional polyphony. The Sound Blaster Live card offers 64 note polyphony via two midi ports, each with 32 note polyphony, for example. The new Audigy card may do even better.

If your sound card supports both midi in/out as well as having its own synth (most that support midi do), and your sequencer will support multiple midi ports, connect your synth to the midi in/out, run your sequencing software so that you have some tracks mapped to the synthesizer port(s) on your PC, and some mapped to your outboard keyboard (midi out). If you have a software synthesizer in addtion, map additional tracks to the port corresponding to your software synthsizer. Route the audio outputs of the sound card and your synth to whatever mixer/external amplifier system you use and have at it. (Nearly) instant orchestra at your beck and call.

[chas]

Cubasis VST 2.0, pretty decent sequencer & basic DAW, comes with a couple of basic VST instruments for around $80. Haven't needed to use them myself though. http://www.steinberg.net/products/ct/mac/cubasisvst/index.phtml?id=030209&sid=02891846.

Also, of course, adding another module or two is probably the best option. Your built-in sequencer may let you assign some channels to the MIDI out insted of internal sounds, or if you use a PC to sequence (recommended - It'll open up a whole new world as far as what you can do), you just connect the module to your MIDI through on your keyboard. You'll need to figure out how to enable and disable recieve on individual channels on your gear, so that for instance Ch 1-5 go to kbd 1 and ch 6-9 go to #2. But some of the $200 home keyboards are surprisingly nice now! You might also check for used items, especially MIDI modules (no keyboard). Last year's toys get cheap pretty quickly if they're not collectibles. I've seen used Proteuses around occasionally. Come to think of it I have an old Roland MT32 on a shelf I'd be willing to part with...

[Satchriani]

Polyphony has nothing to do with your software. It's the quantity of voices that your module can play back at the same time. This includes sustained notes. If your midi playback device cannot play more than 24 voices at the same time, that's where the limit is. I would say 90% of all roland sound modules have 64 voices. I have a JV2080, and have done some pretty complex arrangements, and I think only once hit my note limit.

[brzilian]

If you are using software with digital audio capabilites (Cubasis, Cakewalk Home Studio 2002). You can record the midi track, record it as an audio track and move on from there adding more tracks in the same fashion. The only bad thing about this is that once you bounce a MIDI track to audio, you can no longer edit the note data.

Cakewalk Home Studio 2002 is a better alternative to Cubasis (more tracks, etc...). It is basically Sonar without some of the pro features. It comes with 2 soft synths and does the Loop based audio editing like Sonar.I have also found Cakewalk softare to have less of a leaning curve than Cubase/Cubasis.

I picked up my copy at Guitar Center for $69.
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/HS/HS02.html

[ikm]

Try SampleTank http://www.sampletank.com

128 notes polyphony on a PIII/G4 500