Understanding virtual instruments

This is Kontakt, a virtual sampler that’s part of the Native Instruments Komplete suite, here with several sounds loaded. These are each assigned to a different MIDI channel (1-16), so they can be controlled separately.

The release of the latest version of Cakewalk SONAR X1 is a good reason to explore virtual instruments — now a major element of better digital audio workstation (DAW) software. Also called softsynths, virtual instruments are software-only versions of what would otherwise be seen as a synthesizer, drum machine, musical sampler or some other digital musical instrument. They can work standalone or integrate with your DAW software via a plug-in standard like VSTi, DXi, RTAS and others.

Virtual instruments have several advantages over the real things. Because they don’t require any hardware (aside from your computer and a MIDI keyboard), they can be cheaper than a dedicated synth, plus they offer a much better onscreen interface to work with. However, the biggest advantage is they combine two very different technologies — MIDI and audio — into a single workflow.

About MIDI and audio

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a protocol invented back in the 1982 and was originally designed to help digital synthesizers talk to one another regardless of their make, model or manufacturer. All it took was a MIDI port at both ends and a five-pin MIDI cable. It’s a universal standard and has hardly changed at all in nearly 30 years. Computers got into the game by adding a MIDI interface to enable recording and playback of the MIDI data. And so began the digital revolution in music production.

As we mentioned, MIDI is a protocol. It records performance data, not sound. When you press a note on a MIDI synth keyboard it records what note it is, how hard you pressed it and when you released it. Fundamentally, that’s it. It doesn’t record the sound the note produced, just that it was pressed. This means the data stream is tiny (measured in kilobytes rather than megabytes). It also means you can change the instrument sound any time while keeping the performance intact — you can even alter the performance just by dragging notes around the screen. It’s totally editable. The main downsides to MIDI are that you always need a synth on hand to play it back (preferably the exact same synth) and it doesn’t work so well for non-keyboard players.

Audio recording records the sound as a .wav file. The file is a lot bigger, but you’re getting an accurate recording that’s fully self-contained. You can’t edit it like MIDI, but you can apply a wide range of audio effects, create loops or do other tricks that aren’t possible in MIDI. So, both forms have their pros and cons.

Best of both worlds

Virtual instruments merge these technologies together. You play and record a MIDI data stream. This is editable, but the instrument you choose produces a virtual audio stream to which you can apply audio effects. It’s also possible to have a single instance of a virtual instrument play up to 16 sounds (or patches) at once — a rack of sounds, each responding to a different MIDI channel. The instrument (synth) then becomes multiple instruments in one: a piano, guitar, bass, drums and so on.

On a complex production it can get confusing with so many instruments, patches, MIDI channel and ports (outputs with 16 potential channels each) to manage. It doesn’t help that every softsynth has its own unique interface and method of working, but if you’re dealing with virtual instruments, a good understanding of MIDI is essential.