Pushing the I7 to the limit!

[c24kgold]

I just wanted to find out how far some had pushed the limits of the I7.

For example, we have a fairly large band which has 3 keyboardists.
We also have a percussionist with an Octapad and Axiom 25.
We also have a guitarist with a 2 octave keyboard for small parts. (Flutes, French Horns...)
There are times when we are running all 5 of these musicians through the unit at the same time for live shows.
I have 3 parts designated for the other 2 keyboardists and 4 parts designated for myself.
(The fourth part is setup for whenever I need to play a part with the Yamaha Breath Controller Unit, BC-3)
I have 1 part for the percussionist and 1 part for the guitarist.
So we are using 12 of the 16 parts.

I use an 8 port midi box to merge all the signals and reroute them through the midi out and then into the I7.
The 3 keyboards run out stereo from 3 of the 4 stereo outputs.
The other 2 small boards run mono out the 7 and 8th outputs.
We have a computer running Sonar which triggers everyone's patches at the beginning of every song.
I have one midi cable running from the computer into the 8 port midi unit.
Sonar triggers the studio set at the beginning of the song, then a split second later it sends the 12 patches for the 12 parts. Along with separate panning, volume, and reverb control changes.

The I7 only has 1 reverb unit, so the 1 keyboardist (Which has a motif) uses the main reverb unit in the I7.
The other 2 keyboardists have Fantom units. (His an X8 and mine a G8.)
We run our stereo outputs to the mix in on the Fantoms, which we then use the inboard reverb units from the Fantoms. This also in turn balances the outputs, getting rid of the need for DI's.
The guitarist runs his feed through his effects processor with an A-B switch.
The percussionist never uses reverb because he mostly uses timpani's (Which the I7 timpani's have a very nice natural reverb) and other parts. (Such as bells and whatnot.)

Although there are times when we use only one part per person. When we are playing strings or brass I have it setup with one part panned the entire keyboard with a strings or brass section and then the upper half also plays a trumpet or violin and the lower half has a trombone or cello. We do have to monitor how heavy we are playing and adjust voices accordingly, or we run into polyphony issues.. So far we have not had a problem with polyphony.

[Macska]

Wow that's incredible!

The limit? I've barely realized the basics haha. But I've only had it for about 2 weeks XD

I've been trying to set it up to work with my fantom g most smoothly. Could you tell me how I can save live sets on the fantom to load straight to the 16 channels I have set for the integra? Mine always loads to internal sounds, and I have to scroll down to the external channels.

[PauloF]

I just wanted to find out how far some had pushed the limits of the I7.

For example, we have a fairly large band which has 3 keyboardists.
We also have a percussionist with an Octapad and Axiom 25.
We also have a guitarist with a 2 octave keyboard for small parts. (Flutes, French Horns...)
There are times when we are running all 5 of these musicians through the unit at the same time for live shows.
I have 3 parts designated for the other 2 keyboardists and 4 parts designated for myself.
(The fourth part is setup for whenever I need to play a part with the Yamaha Breath Controller Unit, BC-3)
I have 1 part for the percussionist and 1 part for the guitarist.
So we are using 12 of the 16 parts.

I use an 8 port midi box to merge all the signals and reroute them through the midi out and then into the I7.
The 3 keyboards run out stereo from 3 of the 4 stereo outputs.
The other 2 small boards run mono out the 7 and 8th outputs.
We have a computer running Sonar which triggers everyone's patches at the beginning of every song.
I have one midi cable running from the computer into the 8 port midi unit.
Sonar triggers the studio set at the beginning of the song, then a split second later it sends the 12 patches for the 12 parts. Along with separate panning, volume, and reverb control changes.

The I7 only has 1 reverb unit, so the 1 keyboardist (Which has a motif) uses the main reverb unit in the I7.
The other 2 keyboardists have Fantom units. (His an X8 and mine a G8.)
We run our stereo outputs to the mix in on the Fantoms, which we then use the inboard reverb units from the Fantoms. This also in turn balances the outputs, getting rid of the need for DI's.
The guitarist runs his feed through his effects processor with an A-B switch.
The percussionist never uses reverb because he mostly uses timpani's (Which the I7 timpani's have a very nice natural reverb) and other parts. (Such as bells and whatnot.)

Although there are times when we use only one part per person. When we are playing strings or brass I have it setup with one part panned the entire keyboard with a strings or brass section and then the upper half also plays a trumpet or violin and the lower half has a trombone or cello. We do have to monitor how heavy we are playing and adjust voices accordingly, or we run into polyphony issues.. So far we have not had a problem with polyphony.

Very clever setup c24kgold, congrats!!

Are you using SN Patches, SRX or a Mix of the two?

I use a similar setup regarding the integra-7 outs used as Stereo (A= Main, B=Bass, C= Strings, D=Drums), directly into the Presonus AudioBox 1818 VSL and the MIDI box (UM-550) where I merge and Mix the 2x 2Channel MIDI keyboard Controllers (A-800 Pro and PCR-500) and the Integra-7, V-Synth XT and iPad (Line6 Midi Mobilizer II), and the result is a very flexible setup.

Regarding Polyphony, never ran into issues until now (knock wood...) opposed to what happened when I had the Fantom Xa, that was always cutting notes. This was one of the reasons why I had to buy a SonicCell...
Now with the Integra and the V-Synth, I'm layering more than I used to do with the fantom and I get much better results.

[SparkyCanada]

I use an 8 port midi box to merge all the signals and reroute them through the midi out and then into the I7.

Impressive set-up!

Wondering what you use for an 8 port midi box? In the market for something like that.

Thanks,

SparkyCanada

[Mystic38]

there are a number of straight 8 port midi boxes, but the best midi box by far is the motu express xt . you can create setups for any amount of cross connect ..and once programmed, no computer is required.

I use an 8 port midi box to merge all the signals and reroute them through the midi out and then into the I7.

Impressive set-up!

Wondering what you use for an 8 port midi box? In the market for something like that.

Thanks,

SparkyCanada

[SparkyCanada]

there are a number of straight 8 port midi boxes, but the best midi box by far is the motu express xt . you can create setups for any amount of cross connect ..and once programmed, no computer is required.]

Thanks, will check this one out....

SparkyCanada

[PauloF]

there are a number of straight 8 port midi boxes, but the best midi box by far is the motu express xt . you can create setups for any amount of cross connect ..and once programmed, no computer is required.]

Thanks, will check this one out....

SparkyCanada

You can also try to get second hand UM-880 !
This machine is also very flexible and very easy to configure with several setups to choose from in a second
I have a UM-550 and just regret not having the 8 port one

[howardS]

SparkyCanada wrote:
Wondering what you use for an 8 port midi box? In the market for something like that.

You could grab one of these mergers from Midi Solutions here in Canada. I have not tried that one but have heard good things about them.

[SparkyCanada]

You could grab one of these mergers from Midi Solutions here in Canada. I have not tried that one but have heard good things about them.

Will check these out as well - thanks!

SparkyCanada

[howardS]

Great. Let us know what you choose and how it works out for you.

[c24kgold]

there are a number of straight 8 port midi boxes, but the best midi box by far is the motu express xt . you can create setups for any amount of cross connect ..and once programmed, no computer is required.

Yes the Motu is what I use.

[c24kgold]

Could you tell me how I can save live sets on the fantom to load straight to the 16 channels I have set for the integra? Mine always loads to internal sounds, and I have to scroll down to the external channels.

I have each of the parts in the intergra set to the corresponding channel.

Part 1 = Channel 1
Part 2 = Channel 2
Etc...

I am the one using the G8 so in my Live set I mute the internal sound parts and unmute the channel that I need. For example, I use channel 11 through 14. So in the Live set I have all the parts muted except for those 4 channels. It seem that you already know this, but you have to scroll down a ways to get to the individual channels. I use multiple live sets, that way I can have different reverb settings assigned to each live set. I can also have multiple live set for when I need to split the keyboard a certain way for a particular song.

[c24kgold]

Are you using SN Patches, SRX or a Mix of the two?

I use a mixture of both.
For example, for our strings I use the SN Strings Sect. as a base over the whole span of the keyboard.
I then mix in, at a slightly lower volume, the SN Cello that spans the lower half of the keyboard.
I then mix in, at a much more lower volume because the SN Violin can be overpowering, the SN Violin that spans the upper half of the keyboard.
I then have the two solo parts to slightly over lap on the split and have each one gradually fade in and out as you cross over the transition point.
That is a feature that was added to the Integra and I really like it.

For the brass, I use the PCM Tpt Section as base and as with the strings I use the SN Trombone for the lower half. However, I used to use the SN Trumpet for the upper half, but I wasn't happy with the sound. It was too thin, so instead I use the PCM Royale for the upper half and it has more body for the upper register.

We use similar setups for Sax sections and such.

We do use the SRX Sounds as well. I wish you could load more than 4 cards.

[c24kgold]

Wondering what you use for an 8 port midi box? In the market for something like that.
SparkyCanada

I would suggest the Motu.
It is very stable for running a lot of signals through it and it is programmable.

[Monkey Man]

Agreed.

I have 2 of them and even a spare after I had difficulty sourcing one a few years back. MOTU had an issue with a chip supplier and went silent on whether the units would ever be produced again (Express 128 was the current model then but I think you could still by the Express XT). I panicked and bought a s/h 128 as a spare.

Swear by 'em. The Clockworks app allows serious, detailed editing of routing and mutes. You can mute anything on any channel - very handy for preventing unwanted controller or other data loops. Once set up the way you like it, you'll forget it's even there... for years... and years.

Highly recommended. Thumbs up. It's a goer. Go you bloody good thing, MOTU.