# My Very First Template....



## 98bpm (Oct 18, 2020)

So, I've taken the step to start building my very first orchestral template and I'd like some advice for a rookie who's not using a slave computer or VEP like the heavy hitters here. I have a 2013 iMac with 4 cores, 3.5 GHz i7 and 32 GB of RAM. My DAW of choice is Cubase 10.5. I'm currently a hobbyist.

After watching several YouTube videos on the subject, I took a swing at it, adding my first instruments on my hard drive (spinning disk, no SSDs yet) to create string sections. Some videos I watched suggest routing the individual mics from the Kontakt Instrument to separate outputs so you can control the sound better. I notice this is making a HUGE impact on the amount of memory when I use the individual mics. For example, the 8dio Adagio Violas - Chamber .nki file is about 390 MB with the mixed mic, but shoots up to .75 GB when I activate the Close and Far mics.

In order to get different libraries to sound cohesive, I like the idea of using individual mics, but I'm getting worried about memory. Should I just use the mixed mics to save memory? If so, any suggestions on getting different libraries to sound like they belong together? Should I just use the separate mics and just render the tracks to audio when memory runs too low?

Your thoughts?


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## MartinH. (Oct 18, 2020)

98bpm said:


> (spinning disk, no SSDs yet)



You should change that in the upcoming sales. On prime day there were 1TB samsung ssds for 99€ on amazon. I expect deals like that to return around cyber monday/black friday or whatever these sale days are called this year. HDDs are such an extreme bottleneck for building a full template, I'm very sure you'll hit a wall if you try without upgrading to an SSD first. Especially if you use different mic positions. SSDs will help with RAM usage too by allowing you to lower the DFD buffer size in kontakt. That makes instruments use less RAM. 



98bpm said:


> In order to get different libraries to sound cohesive, I like the idea of using individual mics, but I'm getting worried about memory. Should I just use the mixed mics to save memory? If so, any suggestions on getting different libraries to sound like they belong together? Should I just use the separate mics and just render the tracks to audio when memory runs too low?
> 
> Your thoughts?


It's a "pick your poison" kind of situation. Both are compromises. Would you rather compromise on the sound and maybe get away without freezing tracks, or would you rather have more controll over the sound but freeze and unfreeze tracks all the time? Also it's not an all or nothing choice. On some libraries e.g. you might get away with using just the tree and close mics, but leaving out A/B and sourround mics, thus only doubling the memory usage instead of quadrupling it. And if the mixed mic sounds good enough, there's no reason you can't just use it as is, and take more control (and memory) on other instruments. You could keep your most commonly edited sections in a setup that doesn't need freezing and only do that on tracks you'll be changing less often. Bottom line is, you'll need to experiment, and most likely this won't be the last template you're building. 
For getting libraries in the same room, I recommend Panagement for changes to perceived distance and stereo width (no panning!) and EQ. And always use a reference track. Mockup a couple bars from it, and try to get your template to sound as close to the real thing as possible. You won't fully achieve the same sound, but you'll learn a ton.


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## 98bpm (Oct 18, 2020)

MartinH. said:


> You should change that in the upcoming sales. On prime day there were 1TB samsung ssds for 99€ on amazon. I expect deals like that to return around cyber monday/black friday or whatever these sale days are called this year. HDDs are such an extreme bottleneck for building a full template, I'm very sure you'll hit a wall if you try without upgrading to an SSD first. Especially if you use different mic positions. SSDs will help with RAM usage too by allowing you to lower the DFD buffer size in kontakt. That makes instruments use less RAM.
> 
> 
> It's a "pick your poison" kind of situation. Both are compromises. Would you rather compromise on the sound and maybe get away without freezing tracks, or would you rather have more controll over the sound but freeze and unfreeze tracks all the time? Also it's not an all or nothing choice. On some libraries e.g. you might get away with using just the tree and close mics, but leaving out A/B and sourround mics, thus only doubling the memory usage instead of quadrupling it. And if the mixed mic sounds good enough, there's no reason you can't just use it as is, and take more control (and memory) on other instruments. You could keep your most commonly edited sections in a setup that doesn't need freezing and only do that on tracks you'll be changing less often. Bottom line is, you'll need to experiment, and most likely this won't be the last template you're building.
> For getting libraries in the same room, I recommend Panagement for changes to perceived distance and stereo width (no panning!) and EQ. And always use a reference track. Mockup a couple bars from it, and try to get your template to sound as close to the real thing as possible. You won't fully achieve the same sound, but you'll learn a ton.


I had been looking into SSDs and I am having tough time finding a solution for my computer. I want get 2 or 3 SSD drives and place certain libraries on them like EWQLHO, Ivory II, BFD3 and Kontakt Libraries that stream from disk, but I need SSDs that will work with the USB bus on a 2013 iMac (upgrading the computer isn't an option right now). So for now, I have a thunderbolt (1st gen) HDD with lots of space, but it takes time. Good point about the DFD buffer size in Kontakt. Will definitely look into that if I can put together away to get compatible SSDs for my computer. I'll look into Panagement as previously, I had been reading about VSS2, but it seems like abandonware now.


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## Saxer (Oct 18, 2020)

Work in stereo until you have some music ready you want to mix. From there you can load mic positions as needed and bounce them to audio per section. It‘s much more fun to work with some CPU and RAM headroom.


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## 98bpm (Oct 18, 2020)

Saxer said:


> Work in stereo until you have some music ready you want to mix. From there you can load mic positions as needed and bounce them to audio per section. It‘s much more fun to work with some CPU and RAM headroom.


That's definitely something to consider. I suppose I could activate up the outputs I plan to use so the channels show up in Cubase, but only use the default mics in the instruments until the composition is done and then activate the other mics in order to mix and create stems. Food for thought.


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## Eloy (Oct 18, 2020)

98bpm said:


> So, I've taken the step to start building my very first orchestral template and I'd like some advice for a rookie who's not using a slave computer or VEP like the heavy hitters here. I have a 2013 iMac with 4 cores, 3.5 GHz i7 and 32 GB of RAM. My DAW of choice is Cubase 10.5. I'm currently a hobbyist.
> 
> After watching several YouTube videos on the subject, I took a swing at it, adding my first instruments on my hard drive (spinning disk, no SSDs yet) to create string sections. Some videos I watched suggest routing the individual mics from the Kontakt Instrument to separate outputs so you can control the sound better. I notice this is making a HUGE impact on the amount of memory when I use the individual mics. For example, the 8dio Adagio Violas - Chamber .nki file is about 390 MB with the mixed mic, but shoots up to .75 GB when I activate the Close and Far mics.
> 
> ...



This is a great SSD link for you.





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Internal Drive Options for iMac (2.70 GHz, 21.5-inch, Late 2013)


Easily find compatible Internal Drive Options for iMac (2.70 GHz, 21.5-inch, Late 2013).




eshop.macsales.com


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## 98bpm (Oct 18, 2020)

Eloy said:


> This is a great SSD link for you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the link. I'm shooting for an external solution, however.


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