While I chose to run VEP7 on a solitary MacBook pro, it is simply a case of going to my DAW (in this case Logic Pro) and plugging in the VEP7 plug-in, to get Logic to talk to my newly constructed template, and once there, a little bit of noodling with MIDI-channel settings is required, then all was well. This takes nothing away from VEP7 building any template is a time-consuming business and, as hinted earlier, it’s quite likely you’ll go back and tweak it as you desire further requirements or inclusions. Building a page for each within VEP7 is not terribly difficult, but it can be considered a little time consuming.
VSL’s included samples operate from within their own Synchron Player plug-in, while many other sample-based packages rely heavily on Native Instruments’ Kontakt. Helpfully, this can be done in layers, so it’s perfectly possible to have multiple libraries running in harmony. Loading up VEP7 for the first time and the immediate call of duty is to start building up a construct. I also enjoy the ability of starting afresh, without pre-constructed templates, so the flexibility of VEP7 is a truly appealing prospect. It’s at this point I have to confess I’m one of those composers who has a template or five, which exist in something of a state of flux, as things get added, replaced or ejected on a regular basis.
#Vienna ensemble pro with ilok install#
Regrettably, it’s important to point out that VEP7 will not be able to exploit DAW-specific plug-ins, so if you have a favourite from within the inner sanctum of your chosen package, VEP7 will not see it, but any included AU or VST plug-ins, which may install with your DAW, should be seen. VEP7 will also operate in a standalone mode, so if you have need to play live and want to use an AU/VST based plug-in which is not available in a standalone mode, VEP7 will happily oblige, offering a useful and simple method of allowing access to your chosen instrument, without the need to launch a DAW. This is only part of the story, though if you have a desire for some fairly decent orchestral sounds on a budget, VSL has kindly bundled in the Epic Orchestra 2.0 sample suite, which will give you some pretty good and very workable orchestral sounds, including a stripped-down Appassionata Strings, and some very decent woodwind, brass and percussion, too. Taking this logical concept further, VEP7 can be hosted on a second computer, taking the strain of the plug-ins away from the DAW-based computer, and again offering considerable benefits for workflow.
This means that the samples only have to load once, speeding up access to each cue as the loading cycle is significantly shortened as a result. No surprise, then, that media composers enjoy the ability to load up a sizeable template, which might include everything from a symphony orchestra to a bank of soft synths and more, while their composition-based DAW might talk to it. Many might question why there is a need to do this and this really depends on how you use your system and how often you might switch songs or projects.
Firstly, it can be used alongside a DAW on the same machine. In essence, Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 is a host package for plug-ins, but it can be considered a beast with many heads. It was not uncommon to see professionals with up to eight PCs (it was a PC-only package!) being deployed to host those millions of samples, but in 2008, the GigaSampler package was discontinued, and this is where Vienna Ensemble stepped firmly into the breach. I tried somewhat successfully to use EXS24 in Logic for this purpose, which quickly became the poor cousin to the Hollywood industry standard of the GigaSampler package, developed by Tascam. As many of us can recall, it was difficult to run that many samples on a single computer in 2002.