VST Plug-ins and VSTi Plug-ins

jay_isaacs

November Phoenix
Ok guys, I've read loads of info on these little things and am feeling rather bamboozled! Can anybody tell me what sort of things I can use them for and how to use them correctly?
For example, could I use them to produce drum tracks for my compositions? AND if so, do i have to use a midi controller? I have a casio keyboard with a midi in and midi out. Will this do the job and how do I need to set it up?

Sorry for being so thick!!

Thanks in advance.
 
Ok guys, I've read loads of info on these little things and am feeling rather bamboozled! Can anybody tell me what sort of things I can use them for and how to use them correctly?

A VSTi is an "instrument", meaning that (generally speaking) you feed it MIDI and it outputs audio. A VST is an effect, you feed it audio and it processes that audio, and outputs the processed audio.

For example, could I use them to produce drum tracks for my compositions?

Yes, a VSTi can do that, assuming it has been designed from a drum patch.

AND if so, do i have to use a midi controller?

It helps, but it's not required. You can tap out beats on your PC keyboard, or create MIDI note events one-at-a-time in your DAW. A keyboard is probably less tedious though.

I have a casio keyboard with a midi in and midi out. Will this do the job and how do I need to set it up?

Yes. Plug the MIDI out into your soundcard's MIDI in. If you don't have one of those, get a USB MIDI input (or just get a MIDI controller with a USB out). You can plug the soundcard MIDI out into the Casio's MIDI in, although you might not need that, unless you are sending program or control changes from your DAW software out to the keyboard.
 
thats great - thanks for that mate.

one more question then, i have heard people talking about midi sound modules - what are these and are they essential?
 
thats great - thanks for that mate.

one more question then, i have heard people talking about midi sound modules - what are these and are they essential?

Usually a module is an add-on bit of hardware you stick in a hardware synth. It adds another bank of sounds to the synth. These can be either samples of real instruments, or true synthesized sounds.

With a software DAW, you can either use the general MIDI bank on your soundcard (generally cheesy sounds), or you can use a better library that comes with the DAW, or you can use a VSTi that uses samples or patches, as a hardware module might have. There are several popular VSTis (EZ drummer, etc.) for drums that come with loads of samples and/or expansion packs.

Then there are also VSTs for drums that don't use MIDI, they use sample replacement instead--replacing real drum hits on incoming audio with samples. Drumagog is the most popular. Those are more useful if you are recording acoustic drums that don't sound as good as the samples, or if you just want a totally different sounding kit than what you have. But if you're starting with MIDI data, it's pretty much the same result as a VSTi.
 
Since answering your questions would require a book....
SURPRISE! They're already out there and you should start a reference library...

Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!
You can also find on the magazine shelves there "Computer Music" and "MusicTech" magazines that have PICTURES showing you how to do stuff with vsts and vsti's....

Other sources of info on vsts and vsti's are already out there:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
 
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