Using Hubi's LoopBack Device

Software synthesisers are being touted as the answer to the home musician's prayers. You don't need to splash out thousands of pounds on a rack full of sound modules when you can get the latest, or oldest, sounds for a fraction of the cost in a soft synth program. However, as we have already seen, there are some problems for the unwary. Here we show one way to work with a sequencer like Cubase and a software synthesiser without forsaking the sound card's own synths. Theoretically this method should also work with multiple software synths, although you'll need a very fast PC. A more sensible use would be to add an additional sound cards to the PC - perhaps a dedicated MIDI card like Yamaha's SW60XG, for example.

Why Bother?

Standard sound cards and drivers, like Creative Labs' offspring, only allow one application to control MIDI devices such as a software synth or the hardware synthesiser(s) built into the PC's sound card. A standard setup would have the sequencer, maybe Cubase or Cakewalk, listening to the signals sent by a MIDI keyboard. As this is attached to a sound card, a Creative Labs SBLive! in this example, the sequencer is programmed to the card's MIDI IN port (SBLive! MIDI In (4400)). When a note is played on the keyboard the sequencer will capture the notes and instruct a synthesiser to play them, while it records the MIDI data to disk for playback later. Everything should work fine if the card's hardware synth is being used, and even the SBLive!'s own software synth will be OK, but introduce something like Native Instrument's Generator and it just isn't happening.

The solution is to install a utility called Hubi's LoopBack Device. It works brilliantly but, unfortunately, its instructions are aimed at those who already know what they are doing - an assumption we will not make here. This utility provides a number of links in the sequencer's pick list that we can think of as extra virtual synths. When you have configured your version of Rebirth, Unity DS-1or Generator you'll be able to choose them as easily as a built-in synth or SoundFont instrument using these links because each one will be assigned to a different synth.

Step One - Installing The Software

Fig. 1

Double-click the downloaded Zip file and it will copy the LoopBack Device's installation files into a new folder. Alternatively use a utility like WinZip to control exactly where the files go.

Go to Windows 95/98's Control Panel and double-click the Add New Hardware option. Don't worry that you don't have any new hardware - this is like adding virtual wiring inside the PC.

Fig. 2

Windows will ask if you want it to search for new hardware. As we haven't actually added any, you'll need to choose the "No, I want to select the hardware from a list" option and click Next.

Fig. 3

Choose the "Sound, video and games controllers" item and click Next. Ignore the lists of standard hardware and choose the Have Disk button.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Navigate to the folder where you unpacked the Hubi's LoopBack Device files. Press OK. If you see something similar to fig. 5 click OK and Finish.

Fig. 6

You should be confronted by a rather scary control panel like the one in fig. 6. Fear not, choose a number between one and four and click on it in the Last Port box. This defines how many virtual MIDI ports you'll have, corresponding to how many extra software synths you'll be able to use. These are the links that we mentioned above.

In this example we'll be using a maximum of three software synths, which will be more than enough for most average PCs. If you are thinking of running more than one synth, there are a few configuration tweaks you'll need to know about.

Click OK and restart the PC when asked. You absolutely must do this for the software to work.

Step Two - Configuring The Synths

Fig. 7

Open a software synth and find its MIDI settings options. Ensure that its Input is one of the new LoopBack ones, denoted by an LB prefix. In this example we'll use the first LoopBack link, LB1. The synth's Output port should be its own synthesiser output. After you have done this the synth won't be playable on its own. You have to open the sequencer before it will work.

Step Three - Configuring The Sequencer

Fig. 8

Open the sequencer and make sure that it has a keyboard as its MIDI Input, as shown in figure 8. Go to the track list or equivalent and choose LB1 from the synth pick list (figure 9). Select this track and play a few notes on the keyboard. You should hear the sound of your software synth playing as normal.

Fig. 9

You can record it in MIDI tracks (figure 10) and treat it just like another standard sound card synth. There may be some latency, where there is a gap between pressing a key and hearing a noise, but this is a separate issue, and not related to the sequencer/synth synchronisation.

Fig. 10

Uninstalling The Software

If you have found that your PC just cannot handle the processor demands of a software synthesiser you may wish to uninstall Hubi's LoopBack Device. Do this by opening Control Panel and choosing the Multimedia option. Choose the Devices tab and pick MIDI Devices and Instruments. Choose LB1 from the list and click the Properties button. Select Remove and it'll be gone forever (or until you get a better PC/MIDI card).

Author: Simon PG Edwards 16 August 1999

Have you found your way here from a search engine or link from another site and cannot see the site navigation tools at the top of the page?
Visit www.PCMusic.Org to experience this site properly.