Manuals foe Free Plugins

Rich_S

Rich_S

Member
I have a 16-year-old who wants to run before she can walk with regard to composing and recording. As I was advised in this old thread, I downloaded some of DSK's free plugins for her. Today she came to me looking for a certain type of orchestral percussion, saying she didn't have anything like that. I dug around in DSK Overture, and found a whole percussion section, but it's all under one VST instrument, with all the different drums, blocks, bells, triangles, etc. spread out over about 70 keys on her MIDI piano. At the very least, it would be nice to have a list saying what instrument is mapped to what key.

I told her that where free software is concerned, the first thing that gets jettisoned is the manual, because programmers hate to write manuals. I was hoping there was some sort of user-created documentation out there, but didn't find any in a quick wen search. I felt kind of lame when I explained she'd just have to play around with it, find what she wants, and then create and maintain her own file of notes, so she doesn't forget it down the road.

So, my first-round question is, does anybody know of a source of user-created documentation for DSK's freebies? More generally, any advice for an analog Dad who's kid wants to know it all NOW? I don't know all the answers (my experience is analog rock 'n' roll, her interests are digital and orchestral), nor do I have the time to hold here hand every step of the way. On the other hand, just turning her loose with a computer, and keyboard, and the world wide web, and saying "figure it out" doesn't seem very helpful at all.
 
I don't have an answer for the DSK stuff, butI can suggest that whatever DAW program she is using should have the means to create a map. She will have to go through the tedium of mapping out the keyboard, but she would only need to do it once.

What DAW is she using?
 
To add to what Chili said, the GM standard has a clearly-defined drum kit, so you should be able to refer to any number of sites for a list of what keys play what percussion sounds. However, the GM2 standard has multiple drum kits, and other standards (e.g., GS and XG) also have multiple drum kits, so there can be quite a bit of variation as to what types of percussion sounds are included and what keys they are assigned to, and a given VST plug-in might have its own mapping. Nevertheless, most drum kits tend to follow the general layout of the GM drum kit to some degree. Also, VST plug-ins-- free or otherwise-- will usually include a list of what MIDI messages are supported, what CC numbers are used, etc. Note that this might be in a simple "read me" text file that gets installed in whatever folder the VST plug-in was put in; so if you know where the plug-in was installed, go look inside that folder to see if there's anything besides a DLL file.

EDIT: Okay, I just downloaded DSK Overture and checked inside the ZIP file. There is a "read me" file, but it doesn't contain any information related to MIDI. :(
 
Last edited:
DSK Overture and DSK Virtuoso both have orchestral percussion. I've used both from time to time.

The way I figure out what particular percussive sound I want is to play up and down the keyboard until I find it. (Or I drag a note up and down the piano scale in Reaper).

That way you also get an idea of what other percussive sounds are available.
 
Based on what I saw, the percussion sounds stretch from C#1 (MIDI note 25) through C6 (MIDI note 84). It might be possible to create some sort of list, but some of the sounds are difficult to describe. :)

I've already got a few other DSK plug-ins, but I think I might download all of the free ones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top