Running two VST apps simultaneously?

Cantabile
#1

I’m a new member here. Thank you for allowing my participation.

I have a question if you please. Is it possible to run/trigger two VST drum apps simultaneously with Cantabile?

I have been attempting to run Addictive Drums 2 and EZDrummer 3 at the same time on my older HP laptop (Win10, i5 processor, 12GB RAM, 500GB SSD) connected to an ASIO Focusrite Scarlet 4i4 audio interface, directed through a small Behringer mixer being triggered from my Pearl MimicPRO drum module.

I have this working with each app separately. However, when I open up a second app, only the first one is being triggered. The drum app’s MIDI Setup’s “Active MIDI Input’s” USB2.0-MIDI option cannot be activated on the second app (i.e., cannot be checked). Therefore, input from the module is only being directed to the first opened drum app – nothing to the second. Is it possible to allow the USB2.0-MIDI to be checked/activated on both apps simultaneously?

Any suggestions, directions, tutorials, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Steve K.

#2

Hi Steve and Welcome to the Forum!!

The answer is yes. Cantabile is very flexible as far as routings go so setting up what you want should be do-able. Each Physical MIDI input port that Windows recognizes is available as an input source for Cantabile’s Virtual MIDI port system. In addition once in the Cantabile environment you can route any Virtual port you configured to any loaded VST in the Song you are working up. A question though would be which version are you using, it can affect the advice we give here because of the different feature sets of each version. I would recommend these video tutorials to get you started:

There is also a written guide with more detail here:

If you need some help just post your questions on the Forum.

Cheers, :slight_smile:

Dave

#3

Sorry for being so naïve and if I’m a bit overbearing here simply disregard this post.

As noted, I am attempting to run Addictive Drums and EZDrummer simultaneously with Cantablie Lite v4.0. I did watch much of the tutorials. However, being a complete newby to most MIDI and VST, I’m still having a problem trying to configure/run electronic drum software through Cantabile. Is there some other “absolute” beginners guide tutorial or literature that directly addresses Cantabile & eDrums?

Again, sorry for being so demanding, of which is surely not my intent – just asking.
Steve K.

#4

Hi Steve,

Not really, when you configure/run I am not certain what you mean. Are you playing them live with triggers or using the Sequencers in the drum VSTs? How you would configure depends on what way you want to trigger the drum sounds. If you could show a picture of how far you got and a description of what isn’t yet working it will be a place to start from.

Dave

#5

Thanks for getting back to me Dave. I think this may be a bit beyond my pay-grade as I really don’t know where to begin. All I want to do is trigger two separate electronic drum apps (EZDrummer and Addictive Drums) simultaneously from my drum module. That is, when I hit a drum pad, both EZD and AD will trigger their corresponding assigned sound. I was told Cantabile can do this. However, I have no idea where to begin.

Again, I thank you for your input and concern. However, for now I believe I am just going to pass on this completely. If/when I become more familiar or knowledgeable with MIDI, VST, etc. I may revisit this. But, until then, this will be on hold.

Much appreciated,
Steve

#6

Steve -

Well, I started there as well. Didn’t even know that a mic produced a mono signal, rather than stereo.

Bit by bit, we all learn - by a combination of poking around Cantabile, reading the on-line documentation, surfing this forum. The payoff (at least for me) has been substantial. I’ve been doing live shows incorporating a wind synth feeding dozens of software and hardware units, complex FX chains, and straightforward MIDI control.

Sending MIDI input to two VSTs simultaneously is straightforward in Cantabile. It might be clearer if you are using the wring diagram view (as opposed to the list view). That’s how I got started and still use the wiring diagram often.

Yes, all this can take away time from actually making music, but it opens a world of possibilities …

#7

I hope you are right Clint. I’m not giving up on this just postponing for a bit.

#8

esskaykay, I notice that you keep referring to Addictive Drums and EZDrummer as “apps”. You need to use them as plugins within the Cantabile app.

Running multiple apps won’t work, but running multiple plugins within a host app works no problem.

Once everything is running inside Cantabile it’s super easy.