Audio Software Goodies

[filkertom]

It's been awhile since I've mentioned this, and there are some very, very nifty things popping up:

• True Pianos is finally going to be announced soon. I've been waiting for this for months. (If you've forgotten why this is gonna be so cool, here's a video reminder.)
• Studio Cat is having a group buy for their Reverb Tools IR, a bunch of tremendous pro-level Impulse Responses for convolution reverb plugins. (Note! It is not itself a reverb plugin.) It's normally $49, now $20 until Jan. 28.
• Semuta is a bizarre and wonderful audio toy for Mac and PC. I can't really describe it, but... there's a button on the lower right that looks like a screw head; it's the toggle for the help function, and once it's on a mouseover displays what any given feature is. The "screw" in the upper right exits the program.

Anything new on your musical horizon?

Comments

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Technically, it's VSTi -- a VST instrument. What you're thinking of is a VST effects plugin. Same tech, different purpose. Remember also that, with most modern software, VSTs can be applied on a per-track and per-bus basis as well as on the final mix, and when used that way they can process nondestructively. Boy, this stuff is fun. :)

Dumb question time again

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

I understand the nondestructive processing bit. (I still have n-tracks on one of my computers, so I have Climbed the Learning Curve. Ah, the young'uns who can download Audacity and have a noise-filtered, normalized podcast in seven clicks. They don't know what we had to do, walking through the software docs uphill, both ways, ...)

But I have one more question, sir (and then, thinks Columbo, I'll have nailed Smith for the murder of Jimmy Hoffa): if I'm understanding correctly, the VSTi is not a standalone app but a plug-in, which means I will need another app that does live-processing and output if it's a live performance (or, for us mundanes, making our Casio keyboards sound a little less like sh**). Apparently, Audacity doesn't do everything I need in audio software...

Re: Dumb question time again

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Unlax, rewind. :) Audacity doesn't handle it because that's not its purpose; you need something that properly wrangles MIDI. Best and easiest way to start for free is to try something like Reaper (http://www.cockos.com/reaper/) or Luna Free (http://www.mutools.com/).

Re: Dumb question time again

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Or rather !sknahT (you did say "rewind")