R/ableton: /r/ableton Resources, tips and tricks for all things Ableton. Ableton Live, Ableton Push, and Max for Live. Wondiabetict They feel most secure when they are enclosed in a 'den' - owners can now take advantage of this fact and 'crate train' their puppy to their and the dogs advantage. VST is an interface for integrating audio and effects plugins for your Digital Audio Workstation. With the innovation from Steinberg now we can enjoy the magic of audio plugins. Just imagine if VST didn’t exist, we definitely need to invest in lots of hardwares just to get the right sound.
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VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. There are three types of VST plug-ins:
- VST instruments: These plug-ins generate audio and are either virtual synthesizers or samplers. Many VST instruments emulate the appearance and sound of famous hardware synthesizers. Popular VSP instruments include Massive, FM8, Absynth, Sylenth 1, Reaktor, Gladiator, Vanguard, and Omnisphere.
- VST effects: Effects process audio instead of generating it. VST effects function like hardware audio processors, like reverbs and phasers.
- VST MIDI effects:MIDI plug-ins process MIDI messages and send MIDI data to other VST instruments and hardware.
VST Plug-ins
VST plug-ins can be used within a digital audio workstation, in programs like Pro Tools and Logic. They’re frequently used to emulate hardware outboard gear such as compressors, expanders, equalizers, and maximizers. You'll frequently find these distributed to emulate certain models of hardware; there's some for vintage compressors, and you'll frequently find effects that emulate vintage hardware (both in instrumental and stompbox-like effects).
Think of VST plug-ins as really affordable ways to make your home studio sound like a really expensive commercial operation.
VSTi Plug-ins
Aside from VST plug-ins, you'll also find VST-instrument or VSTi plug-ins. These can emulate really cool, but expensive, hardware (like Hammond B3 and Nord Electro). The quality of these VSTi plug-ins can vary from acceptable to really poor; it all depends on the quality of your system resources (RAM and scratch space on your hard drive, for example), and how well-sampled the instrument is. You also want to make sure that your VSTi plug-in offers true polyphonic content, meaning you can make life-like chords that don’t sound too artificial.
Quality
There are thousands of plug-ins available. Some only take a few hours to produce and are free, but the quality is terrible. Some are made by huge companies and sound amazing, but are expensive. VST plug-in developers try to recreate the sound as closely as possible, but the original instrument is probably always going to sound better than the plug-in. You might be trying to get the rich, full-bodied sound of an organ, for example, but who owns an organ? No one has access to every type of instrument, so a plug-in will have to do. The good news is that VST plug-in technology is improving, so quality can only get better with time.
VST Plug-in Standard
Created by Steinberg, a German musical software and equipment company, the VST plug-in standard is the audio plug-in standard that allows third-party developers to make VST plug-ins. Users can download VST plug-ins on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. The vast majority of VST plug-ins are available on Windows. Apple’s Audio Units are standard on Mac OS X (it’s actually considered a competing technology), and Linux lacks commercial popularity, therefore few developers create VST plug-ins for the operating system.
Where to Find VST Plug-ins
There are thousands of VST plug-ins available, both commercially and as freeware. The Internet is flooded with free VST plug-ins. Home Music Production and Bedroom Producers Blog have robust lists of VST plug-in recommendations, and Splice and Plugin Boutique also offer a ton of free plug-ins.
So you got yourself a DAW, and you have some gear like a pair of studio headphones or speakers, and a laptop and you’re ready to either record your own music or produce your first beat. Great!
But then you open up your DAW and you notice that to get practically anything done, you need to utilize some plug-in software.
You come across the term “VST” and you’re not entirely sure what these things are, what they do, and why you need them.
So inn this post we’ll talk about what VST plugins are, which will help to give you some light as to how they work and why you actually need them.
Other helpful posts:
What Are VST Plugins?
VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. It was created by the people at Steinberg to emulate what used to be hardware equipment used in a studio.
Back in the day, if you needed to place an effect on a track, such as reverb, or compression, you would actually have to buy a physical unit, and like hardware reverb, install it on your studio rack, and plug it in your studio console, which is your mixing desk, or workstation.
As everything became more digitized, and from then, moving toward computer-based music production, the trend led away from clunky hardware that filled a studio, to emulating and simulating the same effects and instruments used to create music using software tools instead.
Nowadays, VST plug-ins are good enough to even replicate analog effects and instruments. Being software, they are cheaper and more versatile. What would once require tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment sitting in several square feet worth of space, you can carry around with you on your laptop wherever you go.
Read: Best Plugins for Music Production
Different Types of VST Plugins
There are many different types of VST plugins on the market. But we’ll just cover four of the most common types:
- VSTi
- Effects
- Metering
- MIDI
What Are VSTi Plugins?
A VSTi is exactly the same as a VST, except that instead of emulating effects plugins like reverbs and echoes, they emulate actual instruments. You don’t need to buy an instrument, then, if you plan on creating music on your DAW, you simply need to get yourself a VSTi of that instrument, install it on your computer, and record your music with it.
These are generally synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines. There are VSTis for literally any instrument you can think of. From your standard piano, to exotic percussion instruments, all you need to do is do a google search for your desired instrument + VSTi and you’ll find it.
There are some that exist that are free, and some premium ones that are as good as the real thing (examples are Keyscape by Spectrasonics).
Here are some standard VSTi plugins types that you should have if you plan on making music in your DAW (other than record it into your DAW from a mic or lead):
- At least one synthesizer – these instruments generate sounds electrically.
- A sampler – these take pre-recorded sound samples which you can play back by triggering them with the MIDI notes you write in (with your mouse) or play in (with you MIDI controller) in your DAW.
- A drum machine – as the name suggests, this creates beats and grooves for your music.
What are Effects Plugins?
These are just about as popular as the VSTi plugins that we discussed above. Maybe even more. Mixing engineers are familiar with these plugins, but so should anyone making music on a DAW.
As the name suggests, these are responsible for creating effects by manipulating the sounds generated or inputted into your digital audio workstation. Some examples of these “effects” are reverb, echoes (or “delays”), EQing, limiting and compression.
There are virtually limitless varieties of effects that can be created, and therefore a limitless variety of plugins in existence. From your run of the mill compressors to harmonic exciters. But the ones you should be most concerned with having are the essentials.
Essential Effects Plugins
- Reverb – adds “space” to your sounds by emulating the sound of various types and sizes of rooms and recording environments
- Delay – literally creates delayed signals of your sound over time to give an echo effect
- EQ – used to control the frequencies on a track or mix, such as bass, treble, and midrange
- Limiter and Compressor – often used to change the perceived loudness of audio
What are Metering Plugins?
Metering plugins are used mostly by mastering and mixing engineers. Their purpose is to, as the name suggests, monitor the audio signal either coming into your DAW or being produced by the audio within it.
There are several types of audio signals to monitor. The spectrum analyzer, perceived loudness meter, the phase correction, and VU meter are just a few to name. Once you begin working on your music, you’ll come across the need to see what sort of levels your music is producing. As you become more advanced, you will know what sort of levels to look out for, and therefor find the plugins that will show you that information.
What are MIDI Plugins?
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Lastly, there are the MIDI plugins. These plugins can be very useful for composers and arrangers. They often provide shortcuts for writing, creating, and manipulating notes in your DAW, tasks which, depending upon how many notes you’re dealing with, can otherwise become tedious with time.
For example, a chorder” plugin will play chords for you when you play or write a single note into you DAW. Useful if you’re stuck trying to figure out or coming up with chord progressions.
The arpeggiator takes chords and plays each note sequentially or in a pattern for interesting musical effects at various speeds.
The note repeater is similar in concept to the arpeggiator by creating patterns from notes. You even have MIDI plugins that assist you in making new melodies on the fly from entering a few notes.
You even have MIDI plugins that assist you in making new melodies on the fly from entering a few notes.
Where Do I Get VST Plugins?
Chances are that the essentials that we’ve mentioned already exists within your DAW.
Modern digital audio workstations come with all the basics, plus more. So it’s suggested to stick with getting familiar with the ones in your DAW, learning your way around them, how they are used, when they are appropriate to be used, and so on.
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Once you’ve gotten the hang of these, which will oftentimes be basic, you can find other professional plugins to buy or download some fun ones for free online.
There are countless amounts of plugins out there, as well as plugin resources, so it is easy to get lost when trying to find the one that’s right for what you want.
Best Vst Plugins 2018
Final Thoughts
VST plugins are an essential part of music production. There would literally be no music produced if it weren’t for software plugins. As a digital audio workstation is simply a virtual desk where you can organize, arrange, and create your music, you can think of it as essentially your blank slate.
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Whatever it is you want to do with it, whether it is editing a sound, or creating some effects, would require software to produce that for you.