Hello,
I was just wondering if there is any downsides to using Instrument Tracks for softsynths.

Your thoughts?
 
Thank You,
Adam

If you want a simple sound

declan
If you want a simple sound

 
huh?

I don't use simple instrument tracks. I like having a track folder with an audio track and a MIDI track inside the folder. It just makes more sense to me structurally and is easier to make changes if needed.

With a simple instrument track you are limiting what MIDI and audio controls you will have access to. I never use them myself. 
 
For a single instrument for simple work they will work fine. However if need more you have to split them up to their MIDI and audio tracks.  
 
 

Personally I like instrument tracks. They're not perfect and have their downsides - but nothing that can't be solved by temporarily splitting them, doing what you need to do and joining them again. One example is flipping the stereo interleave button, which for some bizarre reason the Bakers decided to leave off instrument tracks. There are some other documented oddities, like unexpected behavior when cloning an instrument track for instance. 
 
But aside from this, I like the tidiness and convenience of them. They take one lane in your arrangement as opposed to two for an audio/MIDI pair. This makes a huge difference for me in terms of organization. You can have so many more tracks of your arrangement visible at any one time and everything is much tidier. 
 
I'm not sure exactly what isn't accessible on instrument tracks, but most of what you need is contained in the Audio/MIDI tabs of the inspector. For everything else, like I said, it's no bother to just split the track temporarily and access what you need. 

Just to clarify, a simple instrument track takes a MIDI input and provides an audio output. It is the only type of "track" which does this and has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage to a new user is that this appears like a single track (the behind the scenes things are hidden); but the disadvantage is that if the soft synth has multiple MIDI ins or Audio outs, you can limit what you have access to. To fully use the capabilities of a given soft synth, many choose to have the MIDI/audio tracks separated (and these can be inserted as a track folder so they are visually easier to follow).

I have started using Simple Instrument Tracks recently. They are convenient if you don't require more than one input & output for a softsynth. However, I wish these two important features weren't missing:

• Stereo Interleave button.
• Input Gain control (although a control labelled as such is displayed, it actually does something else).

I've started using SITs a lot more recently whereas I was a "dyed-in-the-wool" MIDI & Instrument track user before. I think the main reason is it just makes my life easier/tidier when I'm doing a lot of editing in the TV while using several softsynths.
 
What you gain in convenience you lose in control but as sharke has pointed out temporarily splitting and re-joining them is easy enough.

Simple Instrument Tracks are also helpful when you're using a control surface. They only take up one channel on the surface and you don't have to switch fader banks as often.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
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