Using GPO with Tracktion

Using Garritan Personal Orchestra with Mackie's new Tracktion program

(click on thumbnails for larger screenshots)
Open Tracktion, click on New Project
and select a file name for the project.
Double-click on the file name in the 'projects' screen.
This brings you into the track editing screen.
To enable the click track, select Click.
Metronome settings can be changed under the
Click Track options to the lower left of the screen.
To set the beginning tempo, click on "120.00 bpm, 4/4",
near the top of the screen, and change the value
in the tempo field at the bottom of the screen.
To change the time signature, click on a number
in the "time sig." field and select from the menu.
To change tempo or meter at a specific point,
click the mouse at the place you want the change,
select "insert tempo change at cursor"
and then change the setting.
Connect your input to the first track by dragging it
until the arrow points to the track.
There are two ways to connect multiple GPO instruments to different tracks.  Both ways begin by dragging a "new filter.." into the track's output chain
and selecting "PersonalOrchestraVST (synth)".
This will bring up the GPO Kontakt player,
where you can add instruments.
You can just add one instrument, and repeat this with each track, dragging the "new filter.." to each track's output, selecting GPO and adding a single instrument.

But if you are using a Multi, or want to add all of your
instruments at once, you'll need to do the following.
This is very particular, so be careful to follow each step.
When you add instruments, you'll need to change the
output of each instrument in the Kontakt player...

Instr. 1 = 1/2    Instr. 2 = 3/4   Instr. 3 = 5/6    Etc.
Right click on the GPO filter in the track output
and select "wrap this filter in a new rack filter".
Click on the rack box containing GPO, and drag the box labeled "drag here to insert an instance of this rack"
up into the output of track 2.
Click on the new GPO filter box in the output of track 2.
This will bring up another menu at the bottom.
Change "left output comes from:" to "3. KPIPO 3/4"
and "right output comes from:" to "4. KPIPO 3/4".
Move your input connection to point at track 2,
and in the bottom menu, change the channel # to 2.

Repeat these steps for each track.
To add Ambience (or other effects) to the tracks,
drag a "new filter.." into the space after the GPO filter, and select Garritan Ambience from the menu.

Note: There are no presets available in Ambience.
Right click on the Ambience filter box and select
"wrap this filter in a new rack filter".
Click on the Ambience rack filter and drag the box labelled "drag here to insert an instance of this rack"
up into the output of other tracks.
To begin recording, make sure the purple cursor is
at the beginning, and press the red Record button.
Once you're done recording, you can edit a clip by double-clicking on it.  Right-clicking on the barlines
and dragging to the right increases the view.
The pointer, pencil, and eraser are standard tools
for editing, adding and deleting notes.
To edit or add a controller function, click on the
wheel icon and select the controller from the list.
Select the pencil tool to add or change controller data.
When you're ready to export the project,
select Export to create either an audio or MIDI file.
Input and Output configurations can be made
in the Settings tab, under Audio Devices.
As of this writing, I have not been able to get
GPOStudio to work correctly in Tracktion,
but GPO works quite well on its own.
Tracktion is a very easy program to use, and though
the interface seems a little odd at first, it's nice to
do everything you need to in the same window.
Some things aren't explained or understood too well,
but can be figured out with a little experimenting.

It seems to be very gentle on system resources,
and handles several GPO instruments very well.
Tracktion controller editing is easier to use
than say, Cubasis VST, and also more precise,
which is a big advantage when working with GPO.

For only $80, it seems like a terrific deal.
Like GPO, Tracktion has a dedicated developer
who is in close contact with the program's users,
and who is quick to provide support and patches,
as well as promising continuous updates.
Version 2 is currently in development and
should be out sometime later in 2004.

For more information and questions about GPO,
visit the Garritan website and forum.

For more information and questions about Tracktion,
visit Mackie's Tracktion site and the KVR forum.

- Eric Endres  6/29/04 -