How to do a complete mixdown in LinuxSampler
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:51 am
Background
I have until now used Ardour as a mixer to mix down and add reverb to my orchestra music. But no more! It may not be obvious to new users, but you can in fact do the whole job in LinuxSampler and automate it from the MIDI sequencer.
Goals
Post-fader
This is the normal behavior that effect sends in LinuxSampler was designed for. The volume level is first attenuated by the channel gain setting and then sent to the effect send, the effect send level control can then attenuate it even more (if set to >0dB). All in all, the send signal level (the "wet" signal) can never be higher than the normal "dry" signal.
Pre-fader
With a pre-fader send the signal is not attenuated before being sent to the effect send, attenuation of the "dry" signal will not affect the "wet" signal level. Why the dry signal level can be set much lower than the wet signal level, perfect for this mixing technique.
Unfortunately there's no setting in LinuxSampler to select the effect send to be a pre-fader send like on regular mixers. But this can be achieved/mimicked by a simple work around: Switch the dry/wet connections around!
MIDI Automation
You can now set and automate the controls in your sequencer:
Of course, if you require insert effects like EQs or a LADSPA/LV2 plugin as send effect then it's less messy to do the audio mixdown in Ardour or your sequencer. Especially if you will record the output. But I hope the instructions above will give new users an idea of what's possible with LinuxSampler. After all it only bring you the tools, how you build the house is up to you.
I have until now used Ardour as a mixer to mix down and add reverb to my orchestra music. But no more! It may not be obvious to new users, but you can in fact do the whole job in LinuxSampler and automate it from the MIDI sequencer.
Goals
- Control both volume and pan from the sequencer;
- Add a send effect like reverb and control send level from the sequencer;
- Make the send work like either like a post-fader or pre-fader send;
- Output two pairs of stereo signals, dry and wet, that can be connected to the same output.
- Create four audio outputs, two will be used for the dry stereo signal and the other two for the wet.
- Add a sample channel. Make sure the channel audio is routed to output 0 and 1 (it's the default).
- Create an effect send for the channel and assign MIDI Controller #91 to control the level. Make sure the effect send audio is routed to output 2 and 3 (it's the default behavior).
- Start the reverb if it's a JACK application (e.g. jconv) or turn on an external hardware reverb and hook it up to your audio interface.
Post-fader
This is the normal behavior that effect sends in LinuxSampler was designed for. The volume level is first attenuated by the channel gain setting and then sent to the effect send, the effect send level control can then attenuate it even more (if set to >0dB). All in all, the send signal level (the "wet" signal) can never be higher than the normal "dry" signal.
- Connect output 0 and 1 to the system output (where your monitors or headphones are connected). This is the dry signal.
- Connect output 2 and 3 to the reverb inputs. This is the wet signal.
- Connect the reverb outputs to the same system output as the dry signal.
Pre-fader
With a pre-fader send the signal is not attenuated before being sent to the effect send, attenuation of the "dry" signal will not affect the "wet" signal level. Why the dry signal level can be set much lower than the wet signal level, perfect for this mixing technique.
Unfortunately there's no setting in LinuxSampler to select the effect send to be a pre-fader send like on regular mixers. But this can be achieved/mimicked by a simple work around: Switch the dry/wet connections around!
- Connect output 0 and 1 to the reverb inputs. This is the wet signal.
- Connect output 2 and 3 to the system output. This is the dry signal.
- Connect the reverb outputs to the same system output as the dry signal.
MIDI Automation
You can now set and automate the controls in your sequencer:
- Volume (CC #7): Controls the instrument volume. The behavior will be the same no matter if you set up the send as a pre-fader or post-fader style.
- Pan (CC #10): Controls the instrument pan. Use this to position the instrument to the left or right.
- Reverb (CC #91): Controls the reverb level. The behavior will depend on if you set up the send as a pre-fader or post-fader style (see above for explanation). Use this to position the instrument depth wise in the pre-fader style.
Of course, if you require insert effects like EQs or a LADSPA/LV2 plugin as send effect then it's less messy to do the audio mixdown in Ardour or your sequencer. Especially if you will record the output. But I hope the instructions above will give new users an idea of what's possible with LinuxSampler. After all it only bring you the tools, how you build the house is up to you.