Best Approach for use within DAW

Instrument X
1

I am about to pull the trigger and purchase licenses for Instrument X and want to use it “properly” in my DAW (i.e. Cubase Pro).

I will likely be using Dorico Pro to create a score that I will want to import using MusicXML into Instrument X. Obviously it is easier to do that in a single instance of the plugin (with ARIA support) rather than creating multi instances of Instrument X for each instrument (i.e. Trumpet, Violins, etc). If I was to do the latter, then I would have to do a lot of importing and cherry-picking the track that I want to use for that single track/instrument.

So is the first approach (i.e. a single multiinstrument instance of Instrument X on a single Cubase track) the way to go? I assume also that I’d set up multiple outputs to isolate the different players into their own audio busses.

Interested to hear from others what works best - in order to be able to work quickly and efficiently.

Thanks
Martin

2

Hello Martin,

To use both Synth V and Instrument X in Nuendo 15 (which is almost identical to Cubase), when I import a score I do not create as many instrument tracks in the DAW as there are actual MIDI tracks.

Instead, I create a single instrument track, into which I load either Synth V or Instrument X depending on the need. I then place all the MIDI tracks directly inside that instrument. After assigning the appropriate voice or instrument to each track within the plugin, I go to the instrument settings.

In Synthesizer V Studio (SynthV) or Instrument X, the principle is the same: the plugin must expose multiple audio outputs to Cubase, then Cubase must activate those outputs and create the corresponding channels in the mixer.

In the plugin (Synthesizer V or Instrument X)

  1. Click the Settings icon (gear wheel).

  2. Go to the Audio tab.

  3. Locate the Track Output Mode parameter.

  4. Change it from:

    • Mixed Output

    to:

    • Separate Outputs

At that point, each vocal track in the project can be routed to a different output.

Assign outputs to the tracks

For each vocal track:

  1. Select the track.

  2. Open the track properties.

  3. Choose:

    • Output 1

    • Output 2

    • Output 3

    • etc.

Depending on the software version, this parameter may be called Audio Output, Track Output, or simply Output.

In Cubase, you will see all the tracks appear in the MixConsole.

In the Project window, the tracks will appear as if your instrument track (SynthV or Instrument X) has become a kind of folder track, containing all the individual tracks inside it.

This is extremely efficient, because it gives you full control within the DAW over panning, effects, volume levels, and so on, while keeping only a single plugin instance open, which helps preserve your computer’s resources.

Good luck with it,

Best regards,

1 Like
3

That’s all fantastic advice and fits with some of my own experiments to date. It is very interesting to try and streamline the workflow. I’ve also been trying to drag and drop midi parts quickly created (sometimes with step input) from Cubase into Instrument X. My biggest issue there is with the window management - having to juggle the placement of my windows to support good drop targets.

There also seems to be a few missing / annoying things in the Instrument X UI - such as being able to toggle the cursor follow playback behavior.

Thanks again for the reply. It was greatly appreciated.

4

This is precisely my use case (Dorico/Cubase) and I’m trying to streamline a workflow and create a template to reduce friction as much as possible.

I’m using the ARA bridge so the template has an audio track with that enabled. From Dorico of course I export a musicxml file (only the score is necessary since you can select the channels you want). I export a tempo map and I export audio for any staves I want to mix in with IX (percussion, missing instruments like bass clarinet and I double strings).

As for IX I’ve decided to have an instance per family. That way I have the flexibility down the road to add in bass clarinet, contra bassoon and so on if those become available in IX and I won’t run out of ‘slots’ in the multi-out channels. I’ve create mic presets so when I load new tracks from xml I can quickly dial that in. The way I have the audio output channels pre-configured does rely on the same order and position in the IX plugin. So for example I’ll typically have 2 flutes and a piccolo in my score. But if I didn’t happen to write anything for one of those, I still have to have that channel represented in IX so the output channels are routed and grouped correctly. Hope that makes sense.

That’s about all I can think of atm.

5

Thanks for the response Steve.

I’m definitely going to try out the different family group approach that you described.I’ve also been playing with creating my own mic presets - as well as adding a decent reverb (in my case Cinematic Rooms) to the different groups in Cubase. The results are more than acceptable but will still support some tweaking.

Do you have any idea about how IX sets the stereo position of the different instruments. It seems that this is built into the mic mixes. I was experimenting with also positioning the different audio outputs from IX (in Cubase) using stereo combined panners - in order to better situate them across a stage for feeding in the reverb.

Thanks again for the reply. It is greatly appreciated.
Martin