VST-heads of the forum unite

[susu.exp]

I see a lot of musicians that record on here and apart from AU and DX plugs, VSTs are the most used (and since I started this one, the ones I use). Useful freeware plug-ins, interesting others, tricks to use, that´s what this thread is for.

To start out, I´d like to name my 3 favorite freeware plug-ins:
1) TLs Pocket limiter (http://hem.bredband.net/tbtaudio/archiv ... lugins.htm). Simple limiter with soft knee characteristic. I use this a lot on bass, vox and otherwise clean guitars.
2) Dominion (http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.p ... &subItem=4), nice envelope shaper that can spice up drums.
3) Voxengo SPAN (http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/). Spectrum analyzer. Always good to have around.

[hackenslash]

Pretty much the only plug-in I use is Addictive Drums, for which I'm also one of the official beta testers. A fair bit of the mapping in the latest version is based on my requests.

I also use the Sonalksis FreeG, but only because Cubase has no RMS master meters. I don't actually do mastering in Cubase, I use Wavelab for that.

For everything else, I use conventional instruments and external hardware.

[susu.exp]

I´ve always used Battery III for my drums (http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... battery-3/). Less graphical than AD or BFD but I like that style (and use Reaktor 5 as well, so I don´t need to think a lot about the common NI elements).
I think I´ll try out the Sonalkis.

[hackenslash]

I didn't like Battery (although it was an earlier generation I used) or BFD. I never liked the way the samples were layered. That was the thing that AD brought to the table first and best, namely enough sample layers to avoid machine gunning. They were the first to give a realistic response when an event comes in the decay envelope of a previous event. The mapping was a bit naff at first, but they've sorted all that out now, and I love it.

[susu.exp]

Well, Battery uses pure velocity maps for each cell, but allows you to link multiple cells in a round robin sequence. I generally build up one cell, make a few copies and add one additional sample mixed in at low volume in each of the copies. Then I combine those copies. It´s got enough options for retriggering as well, from choking the old sample, to triggering a "new trigger" envelope on the existing signal, to latting it decay to... My biggest gripe is that some crash library sounds are gated - that´s something I´d like to have control over.

[SafeAsMilk]

Are you guys using Battery and AD for triggering or for building your own drum tracks? I've used Drumagog for years for triggering (VST, staying on topic ), and while it can be a sonovabitch on detailed/fast playing, it's generally done a pretty good job. I haven't played around with many other triggers, though. Ideally I'd like to have the situation I presume hackenslash usually has--tons of outboard gear and musicians who are actually good with their instruments!

I use a lot of the Waves Renaissance plugs, especially the RVox and the de-esser. I also enjoy the PSP MasterQ and Mix Saturator...but then again I'm usually recording/mastering pretty noisy stuff.

[hackenslash]

I use a Roland TD6 to trigger AD. I don't use grooves, I play.

[felltoearth]

I do different music from you guys I guess. I use Live, Reason and Recycle primarily. All beats are typically done with the Reason rack.

VST wise, Pro-53, Absynth, Jasuto (a graphical modular synth - unwieldy but I love it) and Grooveagent. I use Grooveagent more for the sounds than for it's ability to compose. Like Hack, I like to "play" my own drum parts.

[felltoearth]

Oh, and M-Tron.

[susu.exp]

I do have a rather cheap drum controler I used for a while (I haven´t bough new drumstick in years...). These days I mostly program my tracks using the MIDI Editor.

Jasuto looks like early versions of Reaktor did.

One thing to note about Battery now that I think about it is the ammount of stuff you can do "under the hood". It´s far more sampler than simple drum package and to get the most out of it, you need to program the cells to serve your needs.

[THWOTH]

PSP Vintage Warmer and Wave Trueverb are my goto guys for masteriing...

A bit of tweakery is necessary for both, but both interfaces facilitate and encourage this even though the presets are pretty good. I have an almost pathological aversion to using a preset for anything.

[SafeAsMilk]

PSP Vintage Warmer and Wave Trueverb are my goto guys for masteriing...

A bit of tweakery is necessary for both, but both interfaces facilitate and encourage this even though the presets are pretty good. I have an almost pathological aversion to using a preset for anything.

Vintage Warmer is the shit, though I need to buy the new version...since I've updated to OSX 10.6 it doesn't work on Cubase or Logic anymore PSP Saturator works really nice, though.

If I may ask, how/for what reason do you use reverb while mastering?

[THWOTH]

PSP Vintage Warmer and Wave Trueverb are my goto guys for masteriing...

A bit of tweakery is necessary for both, but both interfaces facilitate and encourage this even though the presets are pretty good. I have an almost pathological aversion to using a preset for anything.

Vintage Warmer is the shit, though I need to buy the new version...since I've updated to OSX 10.6 it doesn't work on Cubase or Logic anymore PSP Saturator works really nice, though.

If I may ask, how/for what reason do you use reverb while mastering?

I've used it when mastering acoustic music - almost exclusively small group, pianoless jazz - recorded closely in a dry environment, to give the impression of space. I know this is a bit non-traditional but I pop a little on at the end of the effects chain so that the reverb isn't compressed by another process, it's the only point I use reverb. As long as you bear in mind that this is where you're heading its no problem. There's always limiting to do after that, but I see this as something you do after you've made all your creative decisions, a technical exercise in preparation for production - I use Waves L2 for that.

[hackenslash]

Vintage Warmer? Ptooey!

I use external hardware for this, for which there is no substitute. All sims of this nature are much to crisp for my taste.

If I may ask, how/for what reason do you use reverb while mastering?

Gently, and for glue/smearing. If a mix is brittle, which happens fairly often with people's self-mixes, a little smear from a very tiny bit of reverb can soften without losing the highs. Also, applying a little reverb during mastering can help to bring all the instruments in the mix into the same room, which helps to glue a poor mix together.

I generally only apply reverb to stems, because it quickly runs away, even in small amounts.

In reality, though, mastering should not affect your mix at all. If your mixes come back different from the ME, either the ME is poor or the mix was. When you play back a really good mix on the monitors it was mixed on, you should think that you wasted your money on mastering. It is really only preparation for the final delivery medium, and ensuring that it plays consistently across a broad range of systems.

[SafeAsMilk]

Vintage Warmer? Ptooey!

I use external hardware for this, for which there is no substitute. All sims of this nature are much to crisp for my taste.

Next time I've got a few grand to drop on a pair of EL-8 or Fatso channels, I'll be doing the same I'd love to aquire a 1/2" or 1" tape machine, I just don't have the money/room for it...plus I'd have to learn how to use it and keep it in good shape

If I may ask, how/for what reason do you use reverb while mastering?

Gently, and for glue/smearing. If a mix is brittle, which happens fairly often with people's self-mixes, a little smear from a very tiny bit of reverb can soften without losing the highs. Also, applying a little reverb during mastering can help to bring all the instruments in the mix into the same room, which helps to glue a poor mix together.

I generally only apply reverb to stems, because it quickly runs away, even in small amounts.

This makes sense, as does what THWOTH said (sorry to merge responses!) I tend to have to work with less than ideal tracking situations and mastering projects that are more about fixing than anything else, so sometimes the effort to keep things clear can pull apart the mix quite a bit. Using a dab of reverb to bring the instruments together sounds like a good idea.

In reality, though, mastering should not affect your mix at all. If your mixes come back different from the ME, either the ME is poor or the mix was. When you play back a really good mix on the monitors it was mixed on, you should think that you wasted your money on mastering. It is really only preparation for the final delivery medium, and ensuring that it plays consistently across a broad range of systems.

For sure, it's always nice to have to do less work on a mix that's already good Early on, I would "under-mix" (ie, only EQ and compress where absolutely necessary) if a recording was going to be professionally mastered...I figured they've got better hardare than me, leave something for them to do. I would be disappointed when the master would be returned only subtly changed. I'm glad I started giving myself a bit more freedom to play with mixes than I used to

[MarkS]

Now I feel really unsophisticated - when mastering i just turn on the spectralizer (top end) bludgeon it with compression/limiting (ultramaximiser+) and widen it out with the waves s1 imager. That warming thing looks really cool tho. and trueverb has a preset called "studio b" which i always use for vocs.

For guitar i have an old version of amplitube but i also really like the free g-suite plugin, esp. the jcm900 sim. i might use freeamp if i want a really shimmery sound.

[THWOTH]

Vintage Warmer? Ptooey!

I use external hardware for this, for which there is no substitute. All sims of this nature are much to crisp for my taste.

You're one of a dying breed hack, those things went out just after the dinosaurs!

[hackenslash]

Nope. they stayed in after all the young whippersnappers got their comuters.

Seriously, though, to the trained ear, plugins of that nature are horrible. Even a cheap preamp is better than the best of the plugins in this regard, and that's even bearing in mind that I trial every new plugin, and every new version of an existing plugin.

I am official beta-tester for a whole plethora of top-notch plug-ins, but they don't sound as good to my ear as real valves and the vaguaries of circuitry. This isn't just snobbishness, I can genuinely hear the difference.

[SafeAsMilk]

Nope. they stayed in after all the young whippersnappers got their comuters.

Seriously, though, to the trained ear, plugins of that nature are horrible. Even a cheap preamp is better than the best of the plugins in this regard, and that's even bearing in mind that I trial every new plugin, and every new version of an existing plugin.

I am official beta-tester for a whole plethora of top-notch plug-ins, but they don't sound as good to my ear as real valves and the vaguaries of circuitry. This isn't just snobbishness, I can genuinely hear the difference.

I agree that the hardware most plugins are trying to emulate sound worlds better. The Waves SSL plugs are the perfect example of this...brittle and absolutely abysmal. Sadly the plugs are all I got, so I try to make the best of it. But oh, whenever bands come along that actually have the money to bring me into a studio with them...

[SafeAsMilk]

Now I feel really unsophisticated - when mastering i just turn on the spectralizer (top end) bludgeon it with compression/limiting (ultramaximiser+) and widen it out with the waves s1 imager. That warming thing looks really cool tho. and trueverb has a preset called "studio b" which i always use for vocs.

For guitar i have an old version of amplitube but i also really like the free g-suite plugin, esp. the jcm900 sim. i might use freeamp if i want a really shimmery sound.

I assume you're mostly just mastering your own stuff? Careful how much you smash stuff, music always apparently sounds "better" louder but it leads to ear fatigue and tends to sound crummy compared to stuff that still has dynamics. Try listening to one of your masters next to the unsmashed mix with them at the same apparent volume (ie, they sound like they're the same volume even though the unsmashed one is louder, you might be surprised

I've used Amplitube for a few years, so I probably have the same version as you. It gets the job done when you don't have an amp around, though I mostly end up using it to make noise.

I like the VintageWarmer, but my advice is to be sparing with it...unless you're going for that wrecked thing, as I find myself doing at times