VSTi for dummies question

joey2000

New member
Have never used, can someone confirm at a very basic level how these do or can work, not sure I'm clear. Basically you open it up/install to your DAW and using the DAW you configure it to "map" to your keyboard and then play it as if it were just another voice/tone/whatever you want to call it on your keyboard, right? (Presumably you can also do the MIDI thing but I'm just interested in actually playing)

But can you only play that sound through the DAW, or are there ways (with some VSTis if not all) to permanently assign that sound to a user slot on your keyboard (assuming it has them, which I think almost all do now), i.e. then you can play that sound just as you would any preset? and/or are there other ways to use it that don't mandate a DAW?
 
The VST/i is used as a MIDI sound module in the DAW.

Well, back with the Sound Blaster Sound cards they had a stand alone software keyboard splitter that would take three zones.

Today, there are stand alone VST Hosts that you fire up from the computer desktop, and VST that have a stand alone mode
 
Whether a VSTi can do what you want, depends on the VSTi itself. Most require the DAW to be the host, but some operate in stand-alone mode. In this mode, the DAW is not needed, and once you have configured the VSTi, you can drive it with an external keyboard.
 
....."then you can play that sound just as you would any preset"?

Not really, but there is MIDI control. Even on my pss-790 the patch browse up and down scroll keys would step through the GM instruments in my computer sound banks. Today. there are controllers that let me choose the VST/i and then the patch, but I don't think that is "standard" , and some not so easy to use.

Like with a recent question about sequencers, one feature thing may only be on one keyboard model and basically only ever found there. The MFG will play the feature game, but it can be hard to tell what you are getting
 
Thx. Generally (if there is a generally), is it a quick n easy setup and I hope easier the 2d time onward, i.e. you set it up in the DAW and after that it's saved and there when you come back? The appeal of superior sounds is obvious enough, but if it's a hassle every time I want that sound to have to fire up the DAW, do whatever to set it up, blah blah blah, the appeal fades....
 
It should be just like hooking up to a hardware sound module. Things that are DAW plugs will have that overhead, but it pretty painless unless you have big samples pushing the capacity of the computer
 
Typically, "installing" a VSTi or other type of VI plugin simply means copying its DLL or equivalent file* to some directory on your computer-- usually, but not necessarily, some directory where you've installed all or most of your other VIs-- and then making sure your DAW knows to look in that particular directory when it's scanning for new available plugins or starting up the plugins it already knows about. (* The exact file extension depends on the type of plugin technology used-- VST, VST2, VST3, AU, etc.)

Some VIs have actual installation programs that unpack all the included files and put them in their appropriate locations (usually based on some destination directory that you've specified).

Others are just a DLL or similar file in a compressed folder that you must "install" yourself, maybe with an included folder of presets.

The second kind, that you must "install" yourself, might sound scary-confusing ("What? It's just a DLL file? What the *BLEEP* am I supposed to do with it?"), but it's really not at all difficult to install one; and once you've done it the first time and seen how easy it is, you shouldn't have any trouble "installing" additional VIs.

Usually the hardest part is telling your DAW where the new VI is, but that's a "done deal" if you've put the new VI in the same folder as all or most of your other VIs. If the new VI got installed to its own special directory by an installtion program, you just need to open up the popup window in your DAW where the list of known plugin directories is kept, and add the new VI's directory to the current list. You might need to restart your DAW after that, but most DAWs have a "rescan plugins" option that will scan through the list of plugin directories to see if any new plugins were added that the DAW doesn't know about yet, to keep you from having to restart the DAW.
 
Thx. Generally (if there is a generally), is it a quick n easy setup and I hope easier the 2d time onward, i.e. you set it up in the DAW and after that it's saved and there when you come back? The appeal of superior sounds is obvious enough, but if it's a hassle every time I want that sound to have to fire up the DAW, do whatever to set it up, blah blah blah, the appeal fades....

Once you've loaded a VST onto a track within a DAW, and you've set it up for the sound yo want, when you save the project and re-open it, the VST will be sitting there with the settings you used for it.
 
There will be no shortages of stuff to buy ! Have fun

A decent keyboard can be a good place to start
il_fullxfull.769596592_1hwi.jpg
 
There will be no shortages of stuff to buy ! Have fun

A decent keyboard can be a good place to start

Heeeee. :D I've got samples from that one. Sounds nice with some reverb on it.
Listen to this recognizable tune ;) i've made whit it (and in reverse, for fun).
 
I know it was the Piano, but that doesn't mean it sounds right. I have two old Yamaha that were refined to some degree, but calling them sounds cheesy is well earned. hahaah We had real instruments in my youth - like the kazoo ; )
 
It sounds like that because i did a quick job in a one tone sample program. It would sound better if i used the total sample pack (but to much work for a quick joke).
And perhaps i better had left the reverb out.
But who cares when just foolin' around a bit.
 
It is fine, but we used to have a piano in every classroom. I should re-sample my washboard. Many VST/I have horrible washboards : )
 

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