What Is The What?

Bonus points for impenetrable metaphors!

Boy, have you come to the right place. I'll try to keep my reply in sound bites.

Project5: If it were today, I might not have ever bought it strictly for the soft-synth workstation aspect. But then, it's almost four years later, the arsenal gets added to, duplications pop up in other apps, ... When compared to Sonar, right now I use the P5 strengths of of getting something going very quickly. Not just a scratchpad, but when you're close to completion, I think that you'll still want to finish off in Sonar.

Don't get too taken in by the 'loop' perception. It's a lot more versatile than that implies. There's a lot of avenues to take with this app by pushing it a little, and those became more apparent (for me) after getting a little more involved in it. FWIW: I spent a week or so thinking that it was a $300 mistake that would gather dust, but time and some effort proved otherwise.

There's some overlap/similarity between Dimension Pro and Rapture. Some people view that as repetition. I see it as an advantage; both in the learning curve, and in making both synths work together in concert. Dimension Pro is geared and optimized for 'real-world' sounds, and the majority of the provided content reflects that intent. Not all of it, mind you. A quick glance at the offerings will tell you that there's a lot of crazy **** going on under the hood, and it's quite capable of many 'synthetic' results.

Now, Rapture. To be completely honest, there's very little that I find can't be done with this synth. If you've ever spent much time with hardware synths (let's leave out sample playback synths for the moment), this is the type of feature set that you dreamed might be possible one day. You don't have to necessarily be a preset programmer. There's a ton of free available content for both DP and RP.

And there's an update around the corner for Rapture. It appears that this synth is headed to the next level. That's a bit of a cursory look at your questions. Don't let me get started on the specifics ... If all this sounds too 'fan-boy' for you, I can assure you that I'm a jaded cynic who doesn't gush over anything that doesn't bowl me over. I've been through the process and come up empty more times than I can count.

What's the price that you're looking at? I can't remember the 'Virtual Instruments' bundle that I happened across online a month or so back, but I think that it was around three bills [USD].

get a price on all 3 for $340.

That's a good deal. I can't remember the exact specifics of what the Sonar -> P5/Dimension Pro path was ($200 +$99, or $199 total?), but either way, you're getting Rapture for $40-$140. Attn: Greg H. Re: those commission checks. It's spelled b-r-o-c-k-w ...

Seriously, I think that you'll be happy with your purchase. I'm primarily a guitarist as well, and this package (along with Sonar for serious audio) is a large part of what I use all the time. Welcome aboard.

Now I just need about 8 more hours in the day.

Standard pointer to a jump-start here. Check out the Project5 Wiki for a ton of related information.
There's some sections specific to Dimension Pro and Rapture as well.
Edit: Direct links added.

how do *you* personally use P5/Rapture, specifically as a guitarist.

Oh, boy. You opened the floodgates now.

I very rarely record direct guitar into Project5, unless it's a one-off, or a simple acoustic guitar piece with minimal accompaniment. I might do something like record some guitar phrasings, load them into Rapture or DP, and process/automate that with pattern files. I've got a whole library of .ptn files with automation, and it's just as easy to create from scratch, or mix and match. Then I'll rough in a drum track; something simple that sketches out the changes and will be replaced later on.

From there, it's either off to the foundation with some bass variations, or keyboard comping, depending on the type of project. Best part is the EZ Replace Synth for auditioning, quick arrangements in the Arrange Pane, and fast variation edits in the Editor. At this point, the final drum track(s) might start to take shape, as I play the 'rhythm sections' off of each other. I usually have at least four or five alternate keyboard synths and takes to pick and choose from here.

Don't look for a Groove Matrix explanation here. I've tried to incorporate it a few times, but it's just not for me. I can see where it might be, but right now the implementation is way too limited for me. There may be the need for a few 'quick entrance' phrases here, so I'll work on the SFX, or perhaps flying in a pre-made vocal comp with one of the sample-based synths. This approach would also include stuff like using the Process menu, or hacking the MFX and Arpeggiator to force it to 'write to track'.

When I get to here, it's either Rewire to Sonar, or importing the .ptn files to it. The raw materials are fairly well-completed, and I can get down to Sonar's forte: audio and real mixdown. That's not to say that there isn't some more 'back & forth' again, but we're talking generalities here. Break out the 'big gun' processing, and concentrate on molding the raw elements into a coherent piece.

With Rapture, I mentioned loading phrases. More often, I'll 'steal' some content from Dimension Pro, split it by note ranges and velocity layers, and play a 'virtual' guitar from a MIDI guitar or keyboard. (OK, I think that I'm a fairly good keyboardist; more a synthesist. Pianist? No. My training is all informal and self-taught.) Between the two (DP and RP), there's enough content and and processing options to cover most any situational use. And more importantly: with high-quality results. I'll confine that to the single example above.

Hey, if you're so inclined, you can always contruct a phrase with any patch/preset, process it with something crazy like Spectron, and then load it right back into the synths again. 'Resampled', in a manner of speaking. I could go on, but I think that's probably more than enough for one sitting. That's not to say that other synths/hosts/processing don't slide in along the way (Xphraze is a current 're-discovered' favorite), but that isn't what you asked about.

Good enough for now? Free free to follow up.

ORIGINAL: ibcoleman
Bonus points for impenetrable metaphors! Thanks!

For B, that statement's like waving a red flag at a bull.

Wait ... that's not impenetrable ...



Otherwise ... I can't think of anything much more to say other than what B did. P5 is generally a faster way to get musical ideas down than traditional hosts - that's its forte. I don't do the GM, either, but there are devotees lurking about the P5 forum. Dim Pro and Rapture just sound good. And are versatile. That, in a nutshell, is what "they do", I guess. Don't forget to try before you buy - see for yourself.