Updating BIG (classical large orchestra) old MIDI files to record in 5.1

My first thought is about the Firewire.  Built in to the Laptop? Straight from the Motif through Firewire into the laptop into Sonar?
Will this give you good audio quality?
While taking in MIDI via USB at the same time?
 
I'm fearing a USB - Firewire latency/timing nightmare!
 
Brian

I would abandon the Motif and use soft synths for this. It will probably need some editing but it will be worth the effort. No hardware sound module can match the quality of a sampled sound with basically unlimited layering and articulations. GOP and Kontakt will serve you well. You can augment those with Dim Pro and other synths.

Turning MIDI into audio is not that CPU intensive and you can do it in stages.

Now when I say abandon the Motif you don't have to replace it completely though you may wish to. Use its sounds for sounds that are more or less background in nature. To lend richness or use sounds that are very good from it.

I do the this sort of thing with X1 and an Roland XV 5080 with add on cards. But I rely on GOP, Kontakt and Dim Pro. Not to mention Battery 3.

Or if you're feeling a bit cash rich - go out and grab a copy of EWQLSO Platinum (or similar)

dmbaer,
My files are old wrk files. I tryout the 'freezing' one or more tracks. It's the creation of the audio tracks and handling them next that will be a big issue.

Bobcat

I must admit that I never had latency issues when I was running this file in it's entirety (all 68 tracks) through to all 8 synths simultaneously. That was Windows NT with a Pentium processor.

 
But were you recording them bak into the same DAW? 
Sending MIDI out is one thing (to outboard synths) - sending it while simultaneously recording the audio back in is another story!
 
Brian

John, Thanks for the continued feed back. However, I was not clear in my response, since I meant that combining several midi tracks to one synth (channel) effectively would reduce the CPU resources, however, in doing so, I would not have individually controllable audio tracks ready for the mix, they would be premixed into a stereo tarck. So less load on CPU but less flexibilty later.
Or perhaps I'm wrong there. Is there little difference in CPU load when I send (for example) 8 separate MIDI tracks to a single softsynth to produce 8 unique audio tracks vs. 1 premixed track.

While I have no doubt that todays softsynths may give more control, when I had my rack of 8 syths (all different BTW: Yamaha TG-77 & EX5, Roland XV-5080 & SE-ME1, Korg 03/RW, Kurzweil 2500R, etc.) there was no CPU load to deal with or be constrained by, only potential MIDI lag, which I delt with as previously mentioned.

I'm not saying that the old way is better (it isn't) but rather that the new way is different; where the added flexibility and control comes at a cost (litterally and figuratively.)

As for the GPO demo's I had listened to them and unfortunately, I wasn't fully impressed. However, I attributed that to the production of the demos, and not the quality of the GPO set. It sounded to me as if the maker of the demos had little experience with actual symphonic music. Typically, in these demo's, no one uses a real known public domian piece of orchestral music to make a real comparison. This kind of thing is done to target the customer who wants an 'orchestral sound' who doesn't really know about orchestration or listens to a great deal of purely symphonic orchestral music. My guess is that making this kind of demo is too expensive to do well for such a small population of buyers (such as myself).

It all boils down to my learning the new techniques for realism. Not unlike a photorealistic painting. The trick is honing the technique sufficiently so that the audience is looking at the detail of the subject and not the technique of the painting. If I'm playing Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe" for someone, I want the response to be to the music, and not the production. If they say, "That doesn't sound real" then I failed. I'll ask what about the recording 'doesn't sound real' and use that to correct the issue.

Bobcat

Your orchestras would sound best using Vienna Ensemble Pro 5/MIR. MIR is the key. Especially when used with Vienna samples. But you can load ANY VST in there as well. I use VEP5/MIR inside Sonar. You can even use Networking to link multiple computers all running in Sonar on your main computer. I'm getting ready to download another room pack probably today. 11,000 impulses per room. Place orchestra members 1 at a time or sections at a time, face them in the direction you want, load the conductor mic position for a great in your face sound. you can use VEP5/MIR to place multiple mic arrays anywhere in the room you please and output to 5.1 maybe 7.1 too. Haven't used it in sonar in surround yet. And I understand VST3 is a much better way of running it though with muliple midi/audio ins/outs, and currently X1 and X2 don't support VST3. Looking at other DAWs for this purpose. Check out the demos though at VSL's website. I could never run my samles through anything else now... :)