Note that this text has been written for the AweVBank Version 1.41: ------------------------------------------------------------------- How to unleash the power of the AWE32 Virtual Bank Manager by Mathias Hjelt / Murexware Here's a description of how Markus Eisenstoeck's AWEVBank smoothly can be incorporated in your daily compositional adventures and make your AWE seem more easy to use than ever. It's all based on my own experience with the program, and doesn't cover every feature available, so don't forget to read the help file and the rest. Configuration ------------- Keeping the following options enabled ensures smooth and trouble-free operation in all situations: Automatic upload of new loaded bank Automatic upload if virtual bank changes If you sometimes want to replace one or more instruments of an SBK loaded into a user bank, enable the "Refresh Bank before loading a virtual Bank into it" feature. This restores original bank before the instruments of a VBank are loaded, which means that previously done replacements are cancelled, which frees up valuable memory on the AWE. The "Save/Load User-Bank information in virtual Banks" feature is very handy in case you want to include full SBKs in your VBank. This also fixes a problem which the VBank one-by-one instrument loading introduces: when you add several instruments that use the same samples to a VBank, it's unavoidable that each instrument will get its own copy of the samples, which means that 2 variations on a 1MB piano sample set will consume 2MB of AWE RAM. Loading the pianos as one SBK using this feature solves the problem. Whether you like the "Dispaly only instruments that are actually used" feature or not is up to you. I have it on. "Windows is always on top" is handy when changing a VBank in realtime while working with a sequencer. Virtual or not? --------------- Everything doesn't need to be done in the dynamic and virtual ways of AWEVBANK. Instruments that you use regularly can be residently loaded as regular SBKs, just in the same way the old AWE Control Panel handled stuff. Use the "Load SBK-File" pop-up menu entry when the AWE32 panel is activated to load a regular SBK into the currently selected user bank. However, unless you have lots of memory on your AWE, only do this with stuff you use very often. Getting goin' ------------- First of all, I have AWEVBank in the start-up folder, so it is launched automatically when Windows is started up. This way it's always available when needed. One VBank file per song has proved to be very practical. If the .AWB file is stored under the same name as the song file, this doesn't cause any mess at all on your disk. A separate dir for AWB files maybe nice. Even if a song doesn't use any virtual instruments, a VBank file for it may be practical in another way: the effect type selections you make in AWEVBank are of course stored in this file. It's of course possible to send regular GS-compatible effect type sysex messages to the VBank Sysex Interface (never send them to the regular AWE driver!), but choosing effect in a drop-down menu is much more handy. Besides that, you already have the file when you suddenly notice you need to add some instruments (more about that later). The Sysex Interface ------------------- This is where the VBank Sysex Interface driver (see separate installation & operation text) comes in handy. When you've created a VBank and saved it, chose "Copy SysEx to Clipboard" item from the pop-up menu in the Bankmanager panel. This places an ASCII string containing a virtual bank load message in hex format in the clipboard. Then open up the sysex message editor of your sequencer and paste in this string. Make sure the destination port of this sysex message is the VBank Sysex Interface. If the sequencer has got some sort of feature that automatically sends the sysex messages of a song when it is loaded, turn on this option for the virtual bank load message. In Cakewalk, this is called auto-send. The very, very cool thing about this is that as soon you load a certain song, the virtual bank and the effects settings you've specified for it are loaded, and all the needed instruments are stuffed into the AWE just like a breeze. No more need to fiddle with any damned Control Panel whenever you change song, no more need to have all instruments you ever want to use loaded. You save time, nerves, and AWE memory. Instrument loading ------------------ Trying out different instruments from different SBKs in realtime is simply cool. Let's say you have a horn riff, and want a good sound for it. Just pop up AWEVBank, and load an instrument into a virtual bank. Let the sequencer play a loop on a few bars of horn stuff, using the bank number & instrument of your virtual bank. If the first sound isn't OK, just double-click some other instrument, and the previous one is replaced, the new one is automatically loaded and stuffed into the AWE. Depending on your sequencer, the sound will either be taken into use directly or not. If it doesn't start playing your new sound right away, you need to upload the instrument again (for example by replacing the instrument with itself, i.e. double-clicking the source patch once more), alternatively resend the program change for that channel, which most sequencers do that when playback is started. The double upload trick can be done automatically: just put DoubleUpload=-1 under [Settings] in AWEVBANK.INI. flag in AWEVBANK.INI. Browsing through lots of SBKs and instruments in realtime really makes it easier to find the right instruments without having to keep them all loaded into the AWE all the time. Personally I have one bank with various kicks, one with snares, and so on, so when I'm working on a drum beat, I can just pop up the program anytime and catch new sounds quickly. Very handy and easy on the AWE RAM. Whenever you've changed the bank, just save it and make sure you've got the load sysex in your song. Next time you open this song, all the right brasses, drums, acid buzzes, and not to mention effects settings will be set up for you automatically. Switch to another song, and the instruments are replaced other ones. Is this heaven? --------------- Close. The only things that stop this from leaving the surface of the earth completely are mainly caused by Creative's funny ideas. But it doesn't stop the program from making your music making smoother than ever, it makes your AWE usable even with smaller amounts of on-board RAM, it saves time, and well, it looks cool. The reason why I got in touch with Markus and suggested he'd add a sysex interface was that I immediately realized the power of this program when I first saw it. I had had plans to make something like it myself, but I thought, "why bother, this is all I need". So I ended up writing the sysex driver part, and he added the necessary interfacing stuff in the code, and a new even more powerful tool was born, and I could finally get into using the AWE seriously. I truly hope that many, many others find this project as useful and handy. But remember: the AWE32 Virtual Bank Manager is not free, it's shareware. Pay your registration to get rid of the instrument limitation, and to show some appreciation and ensure the future of this project. PS. Check out the AWE32 Pages Of Naked Truth at HTTP://www.compart.fi/~mhjelt/ --Mathias C. Hjelt / Murexware