MSI question

Discussion of all things related to the MOTU Symphonic Instrument.

Moderator: James Steele

Post Reply
tonester

MSI question

Post by tonester »

Hi:

I've been experiment with MSI in DP6, trying to set up templates and all that. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but technically I could have a 64 piece orchestra, right? Since there are 4 banks of 16 channels, I could put a different preset on each channel, and set up MIDI tracks for each of them, all from one instance of MSI?

I guess the only thing limiting me would be RAM and polyphony, which may not even be an issue, since instruments like percussion don't really require many voices.

am I right in what I'm assuming here? If so, this thing could be a monster.......

Thanks,
anthony
carrythebanner
Posts: 1028
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: North America

Re: MSI question

Post by carrythebanner »

Yes, you can definitely do that. If you need more than 64 sounds, just add another instance of MSI.
"I don't see any method at all, sir."
1nput0utput
Posts: 1477
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:21 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: USA

Re: MSI question

Post by 1nput0utput »

tonester wrote:I guess the only thing limiting me would be RAM and polyphony, which may not even be an issue, since instruments like percussion don't really require many voices.
You have to consider factors like hard drive performance, RAM usage, other resource-intensive parts of the project like effects plug-ins and other VIs, etc.
The leading cause of wrong answers is asking the wrong questions.
tonester

Re: MSI question

Post by tonester »

carrythebanner wrote:Yes, you can definitely do that. If you need more than 64 sounds, just add another instance of MSI.
That's what I thought I was reading according to the manual, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't reading wrong. So this thing can be pretty powerful. Ethno can do the same thing.

So I think it's a pretty powerful VI. I see a lot of negative posts about it though. I don't get it. I think it sounds pretty good to my ears. Maybe not VSL quality, but the price is certainly right. And apparently, it's pretty flexible as well.

Thanks,

Anthony
:D
User avatar
dcoscina
Posts: 240
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:27 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Milton, ON

Re: MSI question

Post by dcoscina »

tonester wrote:
carrythebanner wrote:Yes, you can definitely do that. If you need more than 64 sounds, just add another instance of MSI.
That's what I thought I was reading according to the manual, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't reading wrong. So this thing can be pretty powerful. Ethno can do the same thing.

So I think it's a pretty powerful VI. I see a lot of negative posts about it though. I don't get it. I think it sounds pretty good to my ears. Maybe not VSL quality, but the price is certainly right. And apparently, it's pretty flexible as well.

Thanks,

Anthony
:D
Anthony, you are absolutely right. I spent some time with MOTU SI this week in DP and I got a whole new level of appreciation for this. The strings, in fact, sound much better than a lot of other libraries in its price point. Miroslav is nice but only in its non-looped samples and its short articulations are under represented and weak. MOTU SI short string articulations are actually very good. The upper range of the violins is actually quite good to my ears- as good in their attack transient as the EW's and VSL's of the world. Perhaps not on the level of LA Scoring Strings but that library is much newer and more expensive.

The brass are decent but I dearly wish MOTU would do a nice update to some of the wind samples which are by far the weakest of the lot. But I love the player bundled with SI- it makes customizing keyswitches, changing the ADSR or filters or even x-switching a synch.
Mac Pro 2.66 ghz w. 15 gb RAM, DP 7.24, Kurzweil PC3x, MOTU 2408Mk3, Symphobia 1&2, LASS, VSL VI/VE Pro,MOTU Mach5.3, SI & Ethno 1, Omnisphere, Trilian, CineBrass, Albion, tons more...
oldecuriosity
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
Contact:

Re: MSI question

Post by oldecuriosity »

Agreed . . . I've been increasing my usage of SI in projects and I'm liking it more and more. I especially have found a good use for the piano sounds. Maybe not as high quality as Ivory, but it definitely gets the job done at a great price with an easy, powerful interface.

That being said, the brass is ok at best but with the right levels, reverbs, etc., . . . well, let's say I've heard a whole lot worse.

DP 11
iMac M1 (24-inch, 2021) 16GB RAM
OS X 11.6.2
anaigeon
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 7:00 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Re: MSI question

Post by anaigeon »

There are nevertheless some problems; the strings are "slow" to my taste, this makes very short notes sound weak.
And some notes can't be hold long enough (voices, recorders...).
I know people must breathe, but real players or singers can sound longer than some MSI instruments. In final cadences I often have to rearticulate some notes which would normally be tied, because they stop too early :-(
Post Reply