Steinberg V-Stack Operation Manual

							V-STACKVST Instruments 6 – 61
Depending on the selected VST Instrument, you may also need to 
send MIDI on a specific MIDI channel. For example, if the VST Instru-
ment is multi-timbral (check its documentation for details) it can play 
back different sounds on different MIDI channels:
•If you are using VST System Link, select the desired MIDI channel for 
the MIDI track in the host application.
•If you are using V-STACK by itself, make sure your MIDI keyboard is 
connected to the correct MIDI port and sends on the desired MIDI 
channel. Select this MIDI channel from the MIDI Channel pop-up in 
the bottom right corner of the instrument slot. You can also select the 
All option to receive on all MIDI channels. To easily stack multiple 
VSTis, simply set them to receive on the same port and channel.
Now you have activated the VST Instrument and routed MIDI to it. You 
need to make sure the audio from the instrument goes where it should:
5.Look at the Mixer (if it’s not shown, open it from the Devices menu).
You will find one or more additional channel strips for the instrument’s audio outputs. 
VST Instrument channel strips may be in mono or stereo, depending on the instrument 
(the features are the same for mono and stereo channels, but stereo channels have 
“double-width” level meters, showing the level for both sides of the stereo signal).
6.Use the pop-ups at the bottom of the channel strips to route the In-
strument audio to the desired output.
•If you are using VST System Link, you should select one of the output 
buses used for VST System Link – this will route the audio from the 
VST Instrument into the other application. 
There you will need to select the corresponding bus as input for an audio track and ac-
tivate monitoring for the track, to hear the sound.
•If you are using V-STACK by itself, you simply select the output con-
nected to your listening equipment, mixer, etc.
Try playing the instrument, from your MIDI keyboard or by playing back 
the MIDI track in the other VST System Link application. You should 
see the level meters moving and hear the sound of the instrument, 
provided that your listening equipment is properly set up.
• You can use the Mixer to adjust level and pan, add effects and equalizing 
– this is described on page 68. 
						

							V-STACK6 – 62 VST Instruments
Setting a key zone and transposition for your VST Instrument
When loading a VST Instrument, you can specify a key zone that will 
be used to play the notes for the VST Instrument and also its transpo-
sition. The key zone setting works like a filter (similar to the settings for 
the MIDI port and channel): only notes falling into the specified key 
zone will be routed to the VST Instrument. These notes will be played 
using the transposition settings. Proceed as follows:
1.Load the desired VST Instrument in a slot in the VST Instruments win-
dow and specify the desired MIDI port and MIDI channel (see above).
2.Specify a key zone by clicking on the Lo Key and Hi Key value fields 
and selecting a note value from the pop-up menus that appear.
3.Specify the desired transposition by clicking on the “Semi.” and/or 
“Octa.” value fields and selecting a transposition (± 11 semitones or 
± 5 octaves) from the pop-up menus that appear.
When you stack several VST Instruments that receive on the same 
MIDI port and channel, you can use different key zones to trigger dif-
ferent VST Instruments. When you want the instruments to play the 
same notes simultaneously, simply leave all key zone and transposi-
tion settings as they are. 
						

							V-STACKVST Instruments 6 – 63
A note about VST Instruments and CPU power
You can have up to 16 VST Instruments activated at the same time, dif-
ferent models or several instances of the same instrument. However, 
software synthesizers can consume quite a lot of CPU power – keep 
an eye on the VST Performance window to avoid running out of proces-
sor power.
• Although it’s possible to deactivate a VST Instrument by clicking its 
“power button”, it will still require some processor power. To minimize 
unnecessary CPU load, remove all VST Instruments that you do not need 
by pulling down the pop-up menus for the slots and selecting “No VST 
Instrument”.
Selecting patches
To select a patch for a VST Instrument, use its patch pop-up menu in 
the VST Instruments window.
The available patches depend on the VST Instrument. Not all VST 
Instruments come with pre-configured patches.
Selecting patches via MIDI
If the VST Instrument supports the VST 2.1 standard (or later), it 
responds to MIDI Program Change and Bank Select messages, just 
as with “real” physical MIDI instruments. This means you can select 
patches from your MIDI keyboard or from the other VST System Link 
application. 
						

							V-STACK6 – 64 VST Instruments
Editing VST Instruments
To access the parameters for the VST Instrument, click the Edit (“e”) 
button in the VST Instruments window or in its channel strip (at the 
bottom of the fader strip) in the Mixer. This opens a “control panel” for 
the VST Instrument where you can view and adjust the parameters.
For details about the parameters, see the documentation of the VST 
Instruments.
•Please note that all VST Instruments can be edited using a simplified 
control panel (horizontal sliders only, no graphics) if you prefer this. To 
edit an instrument using this “basic” control panel instead, press 
[Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift] and click on the Edit button for the slot.
•When you remove a VST Instrument from a slot in the VST Instruments 
rack, V-STACK saves all settings regarding MIDI port, MIDI channel, 
patch, transposition and keyzone range. When you load this instrument 
again, the settings are restored. 
						

							V-STACKVST Instruments 6 – 65
Common settings in the control panel
Although the parameters are different for different VST Instruments, all 
control panels have a common area at the top (Windows) or bottom 
(Mac OS X). Here you can do the following:
•Turn the VST Instrument on or off by clicking the power button.
•Select a patch by using the patch pop-up menu or the arrow buttons.
These are the same as in the slot in the VST Instruments window.
•Name a patch you have created by typing a new name in the name 
field (patch pop-up menu).
The settings you have made are automatically saved with the project, regardless of 
whether you name it or not.
•Save the settings you have made as a program file, by selecting “Save 
Instrument” from the File pop-up menu.
This saves the program on disk as a separate file (extension “.fxp”), allowing you to 
load it into the VST Instrument at any time. You can also save the complete set of pro-
grams currently in the VST Instrument by selecting “Save Bank”.
•Load programs from disk by selecting “Load Instrument” or “Load 
Bank”.
If you load a bank, it will replace the current set of all VST Instrument programs. If you 
load a single program, it will replace the currently selected program only. 
						

							V-STACK6 – 66 VST Instruments 
						

							7
The Mixer 
						

							V-STACK7 – 68 The Mixer
About this chapter
This chapter describes how to mix the sound from your VST Instru-
ments, adjusting level and pan and adding EQ.
• Effect handling is described on page 105.
About the signal flow
The following figure shows a simplified diagram of the signal flow:
The sound from a VST Instrument goes to one or several channels in 
the Mixer (depending on the instrument). Each channel can have up to 
five insert effects and an equalizer with up to four bands. There are 
eight effect sends for sending the signal to any of the eight VST send 
effects (or directly to a group or output bus). The final sound of the 
VST Instrument channel can be routed to an output bus or to a group 
channel, for further processing.
VST Instrument 
output
Insert effects 
(up to 5)
Equalizer 
(up to 4 bands)
Send effects
Level and pan
Output buses Group channel
Sends 
(up to 8)
Output routingAudio interface 
or VSL 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 69
A word about window handling
All the “VST windows” (Mixer, VST Instrument windows, effect win-
dows, etc.) are available on the Devices menu.
•To show or hide a window, select it from the Devices menu.
You can also use key commands, as listed on the Devices menu.
•If you like you can also manage the windows from the Devices panel, 
opened by selecting “Show Panels” on the Devices menu.
To hide or show a window, click on its button on the Devices panel. 
						

							V-STACK7 – 70 The Mixer
Mixer overview
There are three different basic elements in the mixer: 
• The channel strips. This is where you mix and adjust the sound of the VST 
Instruments. Here you will also find four group channels, for submixing several 
instrument channels.
• The common panel. This panel to the left of the channel strips contains global 
settings for the Mixer and the channels.
• The Master section. This is where you adjust the master level.
Below you will find separate overviews of these elements along with 
two related windows, the VST Output window and the Channel Set-
tings window.