Digital Audio Workstation & MIDI > Vision & Studio Vision by Opcode

Teach me about Galaxy

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Syntho:
As a convert to Studio Vision, I'd like to start using Galaxy instead of my old copy of Sounddiver. The SVP manual took a while to digest and it's looking like I'll have to do the same with Galaxy. Especially since I plan to integrate Galaxy with SVP.

To get me started, can someone explain the difference between bundles, banks and libraries? I understand that Banks are like Program bank A, Program bank B on a synth, and that a bundle can hold any/every type of data bank that that synth has (patch bank, combi or multi bank, FX bank etc). But where do Libraries come in?

Any tips or tricks I should know of generally? I can't wait to see how it integrates with SVP.

IIO:
if it is the same as in sounddiver the library is simply "all you ever saved" in the form of single patches.

GaryN:
It's simple.

BANKS are exactly what you imagine they are. Exactly like a bank of patches in a synth. You upload and download them as such.

BUNDLES are well, bundles of BANKS you gather together for organizing. They may be all from one synth and maybe organized into types like Piano, Horns, Strings etc. BUT they can also be multiple BANKS for different / multiple synths too. Galaxy can load/reload ALL of your synths simultaneously from a BUNDLE of patches of their corresponding BANKS. You can imagine say, a "smooth jazz" BUNDLE where all your synths get loaded with soft keys, Rhodes-type stuff etc; maybe an EDM BUNDLE with lots of perc and bass stuff.  Got a couple of devices you gig with? You can make a "Gig" BUNDLE to easily load those and then go back to whatever you were working with afterwards.
You can make song BUNDLES where all of the patches used on a recording can be recalled for a remix or such. Lots and lots of possibilities.

LIBRARIES are the final way to sort out and file patches. They hold unlimited numbers of patches and are intended for sorting types: A library of Pianos of all types, of orchestral sounds of whatever. Say, you're looking for just the right patch for something; you step through ALL of the patches of a type one-at-a-time till you find it. Every time you select one, Galaxy will load it into the synth in a blink.

Once you get stuff organized into BANKS, SVP will "subscribe" to whichever one you use on a project. The patch names will be stored with and appear in the song file. SVP will prompt you to load the necessary banks when you load the songfile.

Yes, it's like Logic and Soundiver, but Opcode was first.

The main "tip & trick" you need is patience. The initial sorting and organizing is critical. If you have lots of patches and/or lots of devices, it's a BIG task.
Just naming / renaming patches, weeding out duplicates, testing them etc. is a LOT of work. BUT at least you only have to do it once.
If you put in the time and effort to sort it all out though, that time will pay dividends forever as long as you use the software.

Syntho:
I read the entire Galaxy manual (much shorter than expected) and now I'm getting the hang of it. The manual wasn't as clear about sending/receiving patches as I'd like. The example it gave said that with an editor window open, the Send/Receive menu performs slightly different actions than if a library or bank is open.

On page 143 it says, "if you choose store patch or send bank, the current edit will be saved first. Then the patch will be stored or the Bank sent.". "Store Patch"? Do they mean Send Patch? Because the closest thing to Store Patch is in the Program Menu where it says "Store Current Edit", and that saves it, but doesn't send it, and Send Patch doesn't save it, but it does send it. That line in the manual is confusing.

I think in general to store a single patch on my synth, I have to send it to the buffer first (if it's not already there from the Editor window), then manually save on the synth itself. And to get everything reflecting what I see in Galaxy, I've got to send the whole bank, or save one patch at a time manually which is time-consuming.

PS: The manual is slightly different than the actual program. For example, there is no 'keyboard echo' (I'm taking it they mean Keyboard Thru?) and the midi keys window is in the Windows section and not the Play menu.

The other thing I'm gonna have to reread is about how Galaxy and SVP integrate - inserting sysex data for patches and all of that into SVP.

GaryN:

--- Quote from: Syntho on July 17, 2017, 08:30:30 PM ---On page 143 it says, "if you choose store patch or send bank, the current edit will be saved first. Then the patch will be stored or the Bank sent.". "Store Patch"? Do they mean Send Patch?

--- End quote ---
I think so. You're right - "Send Patch" makes sense. It's a typo.

--- Quote from: Syntho on July 17, 2017, 08:30:30 PM ---PS: The manual is slightly different than the actual program. For example, there is no 'keyboard echo' (I'm taking it they mean Keyboard Thru?) and the midi keys window is in the Windows section and not the Play menu.

--- End quote ---
Correct again. "Keyboard thru" is the intended term. (In fairness, when this stuff was written, waaay back when, much of the terminology was not yet settled)
Also, I think you're referring now to "MouseKeys" not "MIDIKeys" and that is in the Windows Menu section.

--- Quote from: Syntho on July 17, 2017, 08:30:30 PM ---The other thing I'm gonna have to reread is about how Galaxy and SVP integrate - inserting sysex data for patches and all of that into SVP.

--- End quote ---
Now we're heading into the weeds for sure. I think you'll find that the general expectation back then was that SVP handled the sequence and Galaxy handled the synth data - you would just send patch changes and controllers etc from SVP during sequence playback as needed.

SVP can capture and store sysex as a sequence that you can later trigger if needed. You can see it, edit it if you're familiar with the format, but there's no special "sysex editor" function in either app.

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