As far as I’m aware in most DAWs, and certainly in Studio One, you have to create a track for Scaler and then a parallel track for the VSTi that you want Scaler to drive, then you have to route Scaler’s midi output to the VSTi midi input. You have to repeat this for every Scaler instance and it gets a bit messy.
It would be really neat if Scaler could host a VSTi itself so that only one track is needed per Scaler instance and the combo could be saved as a preset.
Maybe this is going to be part of the proposed standalone Scaler but I’d love to see it in the VST package too.
(There are some chainer and patching VSTs that could be used to achieve this but for such a simple use case that solution doesn’t represent good value for money, some of those tools are 100 bucks)
Scaler should host VSTi instruments directly. This would simplify workflow, improve organization, and allow for preset saving. It would be a valuable feature in both the standalone and VST versions.
FYI I use Bitwig (I played with the eval version of Studio One) and in Bitwig, everything is so much more “direct”. Want to add this device here? Sure, done. Want to chain devices together in a single track? Yep, no problem.
To backtrack: My only real ‘issue’ with Bitwig (and they work hard to bring improvements) is the workflow aspect. Studio One seems to have that absolutely nailed! I loved the panel that allows one to set up macros etc. However, the very reason I didn’t purchase a license, and am happy to settle on Bitwig, is part of what you describe in your post i.e. that “routing” in other DAWs ends up being some convoluted process of adding additonal busses or whatever.
When I use Scaler in Bitwig I simply add it as the first device on a new track channel, and then add whatever VST I want Scaler to ‘drive’ directly afterwards.
Do be aware that by default Scaler uses its own Piano voicings. This will override whatever VSTi you might be trying to drive? I tend to turn the Scaler voicings off completely, so that the sounds are derived via whichever device(s) I add in the chain.
Yes, all DAWs have their pros and cons. My favourite feature of Studio One is being able to drag a part to the file browser and it saves a snapshot of the VSTi, its settings, all the FX on that track and their settings and the midi notes on the part, plus a render of its sound for later browsing. So useful for keeping a palette of your own sounds; you can have a folder for bass sounds, keys, guitars, drum beats, etc.
This fortunately isn’t true for Reaper. I can have one track and load Scaler in front of another VSTi on that track and it will control the VSTi. As well, there is an FX channel on each track and I can load Scaler in there and it can push any VSTi on the track. Routing still works in either of these instances to other tracks.
I guess I’m surprised this seems to be desired even as much as it is. To me, Scaler is a MIDI tool. And just like I would want or need one or more MIDI tracks to drive a VSTi on a different track I like that Scaler works this way. Probably just my workflow habits I guess. Nothing wrong with adding this functionality, I can just choose to not use it. I would just hope that it doesn’t delay getting other features in such as better control over performances and other arpeggiator like functions. Speaking of which the new stuff in Divisimate 2 is kind of stellar.
