Good day users! I currently am using a Muse Receptor, and although the unit is powerful, the architecture does not make for easy updates to the VST software. I’m currently looking for a solution, and stumbled upon Cantabile. I am currently able to load my entire VST setup into what Muse calls “Live Mode.” Basically, everything I use the Receptor for can be loaded into under 8Gb of memory, so it’s always “active” and I can call up the sounds fast when I need them. We rarely play a pre-assigned set… there are always changes, so I need to be able to switch using MIDI program changes.
How does Cantabile handle this type of interaction? I have downloaded the manual, and see references to rack mode and song mode. How do these compare to what would traditionally be considered a patch?
Cantabile allows you to preload all your vsts before you start a set so you can have fast switching between songs. It is only limited by memory I think because I often load 6 Gb or more samples a set and have loaded 12 Gb on occasion. In this way it is much like receptor except that patches are arranged into songs (that have multiple states, which act like variations on a patch) and these songs hold the Racks (grouped instrument and effects that also have multiple possible states). Once you have all your songs created you can organize them into set lists for easy selection. There is an easy to use binding section to customize your keyboard controller to your particular needs. Of course there’s way more in the guides but that is essentially how I use it for shows. I have a set list of potential songs and select from my keyboard what the leader calls out and go. Hope this helps…
I think Cantabile would probably suit your needs quite well. Dave’s summed the typical use case fairly well, but please post any specific questions you might have.
Yes, that helped quite a bit. I’m going to spend some time with the manual, but I’m sure I’ll have some more questions along the way. Will the free version give me enough insight into Cantabile? I know it won’t have all of the bells and whistles.
I used to use two Receptors live, and loved them. But I moved over to Cantabile for flexibility and have honestly never looked back. So much more flexible and 100% plug in support without fiddling. The set pre-loading is brilliant.
Hi all, I use both a receptor and cantibile-the receptor is controlled via cantibile and syncs up nicely and by using this I can load up a complete set for both keyboards and set each to access their individual plugins-only thing Im still working on is getting them to sync up to the fusion.
I am in the same boat - thinking about moving across to this platform. I am a mac user . - never had a PC. I would much prefer a rack unit. I understand one can build PC into a rack unit. Is it possible to attach a small LCD-type screen to a rack to display what song/instrument you are on? I prefer to get everything set up in the rehearsals, using a laptop or whatever, and then at the gig just have a something very small assuring my I’m on the correct song/sound… Has anyone done anything like this? I wonder if I would save a lot of misery by just getting a dedicated mac mini… But I am intrigued by Cantabile…
Interesting.
I’m still interested in the notion of building a rackmount pc - is it possible I could build 2 for the price of a mac mini? (Good to have a backup)…
There are various rack-mount PCs available, but they tend to be quite pricey industrial style units. But you could easily make your own using something like a Gigabyte BRIX or Intel NUC mini PC. I have a pair of Gigabyte BRIX units in my rack which I tour with, and they work great.
I haven’t been using Cantabile for very long yet but I think the road to what you want is using “linked racks” (meaning several patches can refer to the same already loaded VST to save memory) and using the “preload set list” function (meaning all VSTs will be loaded when you boot up Cantabile, making song/patch switching time trivial).
Hi Neil, slight thread hijack. How do you configure your 2 BRIXes? Do you have them running identical software so you can switch over from one to the other? How do you deal with USB sound cards/midi devices?
I don’t (yet) have them set up as hot-swappable. I have two, set up identically, so that if I discover a problem with one while on the road, or during a soundcheck, I have a backup I can use. I similarly also have duplicate audio and MIDI interfaces, and a few other things for the same reason. In the unlikely event (touch wood) that the machine has a failure during a gig, it wouldn’t be the end of the world to swap over to the other, within a minute or so - I’d have to stop playing. But it (touch wood again!) hasn’t happened thus far.
I send 8 channels of audio (4 stereo pairs) to the front of house, and if I could find a way to switch over to another 8 channels easily, I think that’s actually all I’d need, to make it all hot-swappable.
