VST INSTRUMENTS AND PLUGINS PT 2 (BLOGISODE)

Hi Steemit friends, (attention i have unintentionally tagged the openmic forum by accident and beeen informed i can't post there sorry)

After yesterday's feedback from the first VST episode it looks like VST's are a good topic to discuss and i thank everyone who supported the beginning of this new blogisode. I hope i don't disappoint as we go ahead and i will respond to replies as we go along. Please up-vote these episodes and share them with some you think might find them useful as well. Ok, whats in today's discussion? ooohh, some good stuff i think. I am going to now share the VST's and plugins i use and some other ones that are popular and useful. I will also discuss the quality of service i have received from these companies as well along with the user friendly quality of their products. So lets get into it and we will start with VST instruments, because they are so popular. I have also added links to all the products i mention at the end of this blog so you can look and listen to the samples from these companies.

TOONTRACKS
First up on the plate is the first VST i purchased years ago and mentioned it yesterday, its called EZ DRUMMER by TOONTRACKS. I found this one around 2009 or so when i was recording my first Album. I was using an Alesis drum machine and it was a little too basic for what i needed, it just sounded so artificial, it was slow to program and so on. When i found ez drummer i got the CD rom installer with it (Its now all online download as most are these days) i also had the basic interface and have used that for years. They have since updated their basic drummer and i would like to update but I'm not in a rush. I installed the HOST VST and played around with it for a few hours and before long i was able to really get my own beats down and then i also had to learn the Drum mapping segment of my DAW as well.

the original base ezdrummer VST

At the time i was using Steinberg's Cubase 6 ARTIST DAW and the drum mapping was very easy and straight forward, i still think its better than the Protools mapping which is just regular midi style, but its fine. The samples of the EZ DRUMMER even back then were so good and i still use this original software host. The samples are clear, in 44.1 quality which is good enough. I think the Superior drummer version uses 48kHz in their samples so they are even better quality. Then you can also look at their sample drum library and they often have sales on their base packages a lot of the time, and they have almost any genre but are good at the samples for metal and rock. EZ Drummer have also moved into other areas such as piano plugins, Mix presets and mastering as well, but as an engineer I use other tools and methids, but if you like and trust presets from good producers these are an option. All in all TOONTRACKS is a great reliable company, they try to help and respond pretty quickly but i always allow 24 hours for a respond before trying again. These guys are based in Europe so i think they use Euros as their currency but also have a local conversion next to the Euro price i think. Toontracks have also updated alot of their original sample libraries and also now use a dowload manager which is very easy to use and will install your libraries for you, just make sure you have the pathway set correctly and they give you that option when you install. So Toontracks, i think deserves an 8/10 for all their work.

This is their piano plugin with song creator inbuilt software

KONTAKT
The Next one i use is KONTAKT PLAYER and also purchased the KOMPLETE 9 package on disc, which has about 13 CD ROMS of data to install and takes bloody ages!!!.(about 10-11 hours if you don't sit around waiting) it also has a download manager which allows you to get updates on all the software regularly. Komplete is good and their plugins (instruments) are good quality and getting better. I don't think they are equal to East West Quantum Leap but they have a great range of products especially some new and old synths. If you're a DJ and Use ableton this is a good pack to consider for some powerful straight forward synths. With KONTAKT you can buy the KOMPLETE pack or you can just buy individual plugins. If you do it this way you will need their HOST VST, kontakt player 5.5 i think it is, and they provide a free version of this for you to down load. KONTAKT have done well though in the fact that their HOST VST is the 'go to' HOST for the majority of plugins as i mentioned in the first post. They have a very nice HOST interface, easy ton use and it allows you to use your own samples that you have made and all you do is open a new 'instrument tool' to play your samples. This engine is very versatile and pretty simple to use, you can alter any sample, whether from a purchased library or your own, anyway you want. I have rarely had to contact these guys if at all and a few YouTube videos can help you learn 10 times more about what you can do with this VST HOST.
I would give these guys 9/10 for their host and perhaps 7 or 8 /10 for their sample libraries. oh, they also create their own physical instruments too such as the "Machine" for DJing and Keyboard midi controllers with their own more updated interface which allows you to access any sample you have in a more simplistic way for fast work flow. All in all i give them a 9/10.

here is a demo of the Kontakt interface with a basic plugin, you can see all the libraries listed on the side for easy access.

SPITFIRE

Spitfire do a good range of acoustic instruments and odd sound samples as well. I bought these last year for about $350 with a student discount but the package is normally about $500 bucks. They have a good HOST engine for their purchased packages, the most popular and worth while being 'ALBION ONE'. This package comprises a huge host of symphonic instruments and also has a lot of remashed samples for atmospheres made from the symphonic samples. Their instruments for strings and drums are very very good, beautiful sounds and you can play with their articulations and control their sound well. Some of the features they boast about are their mic positioning options in the plugin control window. Basically there are about 4 mic positions you can use which include, a close mic position, a decca tree position (decca trees are used for surround sound mic recording and hang above the orchestra, usually over the conductor, but suspended up higher about 3 meters or so) and two others which i currently forget but allow for expanding the environment. they also have some reverb controls, velocity and so on.

the Albion One Interface

The downsides are a few, Spitfire libraries take a little while to load up because the instrument qualities are so good, this can get a little annoying at times when you need to use quite a few so the best option is to use a multi-instrument multi timbrel set up which i will explain in later blogisodes. Another issue that is debatable is their license use on your samples. They actually request in their license agreement that their samples not be used for commercial use even after you purchase them. This is a little odd, but they suggest that their instruments should be used for creating a virtual image of a real orchestral recording, and not rely on them to be used in professional musical or film compositions. I understand their position and this is a worthy tool, but hey, as a new producer can't afford to pay 60 piece orchestra, he or she, should be able to use these products to complete a project as it suits considering we have paid $500 to use the samples. Spitfire is a British company and they are really innovative and have some good libraries. they even have $2 single sample libraries of weird and unusual creations, so if you're a sound designer with quirky interests check these out. All in all Spitfire are great, with a good bunch of libraries, good quality samples, (except for one piano vst i bought, which wasn't very good, its the gershwin or something for like $40, just too muddy) i would give these guys an 8/10 overall, but they are good samples and i use them often. Infact i chose the albion one package over the East west subscription because 1. i prefer to own my products outright and 2. the symphonic samples just sounded deeper and warmer, smoother than the EW products.

HEAVYOCITY
These guys are just cool as, great samples, they load easy and fast, they love smashing things with compression and have a small but very powerful range of samples for loops, drums, instruments and mainly focus on thematic and cinematic sound. These guys are awesome!, you get a pretty quick response from them, their website is clean and tidy and they pop right into your KONTAKT PLAYER. I want to get more of their libraries when my budget allows for it. They are affordable products and worth the money, i have used their samples with a bit of mixing for film projects i've had quite often. I purchased the EVOLVE sample pack for a few Hundred bucks and as i said, its always come in handy for doing adverts and upbeat music. but i think i need to expand now as Evolve is getting a little old and has been used by many folks in the industry. To give you an idea, TV shows like CSI and others are most likely using their samples as i have heard some very 'similar' styled background music in these shows that sound just like evolve. So all in all, i give them a 9.5/10

here is a few of the instrument interfaces for evolve inside the KONTAKT PLAYER library

8DIO

i have only stumbled on to these guys about a year ago, and boy, i think they have some of the best VST samples on the market, plain and simple. I recently bought, a few including the Barbary voice pack, a single violin plugin and the ACOUSTIC GRAND ENSEMBLE pack in their recent summer sale at 40% off. If you want to see what that one sounds like i have a youtube video on it recently at audionrg on youtube. These samples are pretty amazing, as usual though with any plugin you normally have to do some minor tweaking to get it sounding just right and i found this on the voice samples as they seemed a bit midid like when adding more voices in some ranges. The violin sample was JUST what i wanted, and the AGE pack is beautiful amazing and very cleverly designed. If you want some top notch VST instruments then 8dio should be at the top of your list! check them out. Essentially, this is the second product i have chosen over EastWest products, EW are fantastic, but i find SPITFIRE and 8DIO outshine EW in a few areas and are just either more organi and modern or warm and refreshing in tone and quality. As a sound designer, this is what im always looking for, that element of non generic quality in tone and playability. i give 8dio a 9.8/10

SO those are the main instrument VST's i have and now lets take a look at the VST tools for audio production.

WAVES
I bought a few Waves tools when they were on special, and they are always having some amazing specials on their products. i learnt to use wave tools at uni along with others and they are good to learn the basics on, some of them a re very handy, but he is my problem, i find alot of the waves tools, especially their long standing favorites have very outdated interfaces and i think it detracts from the quality they are able to produce. Now that may sound a little silly basing performance on appearance, but some of these products just look out dated and old, too simplistic or too complex, such as some of their convulution reverbs and things. Now some of the tools i mentioning here are more for the engineer minded people, but i like a plugin to be fresh, bold, obvious and modern, wan to know that they are going to do the job i need them to do, and if i have a plugin that looks like a data processor from the late 1990's version of windows publisher or an EXCEL spread sheet, I'm not going to be motivated to spend time learning it.

As you can see, some of the older waves tools look outdated but do work well

here are some more updated modern tools by waves.

That being said, they have some packages that are well worth the money with some good tools like limiters and stereo field expansion (one of my favorite mastering tools..hint hint) even though they look old, they work well. I spent $100 buts on a package that had about 10 tools and i use most of them still. Waves has gotten some big name producers on board and given some of their products a face lift. They do have an awesome range of tools for almost anything you can think of, from multi band compressors to field expanders, their one knob range is great and their doubler in the one knob range looks and sounds really good, but this affect can be duplicated with other basic tools you may already have in your DAW (especially if you use Ableton). They also have a range of some instrument effects for your guitar and vocals as well. Finally, they do have a download manager for their products but its one of the more annoying ones i have had to use and it combines with your iLok usb stick which is good, but again annoying when trying to figure out where you are supposed to put your product licenses.
i like waves stuff, they are good tools, but there are some issues and for that, i give them about a 7/10 overall.

SLATE DIGITAL
OK, now this is getting serious! Slate are my number one on the production tool list. Slate digital are f**kin powerful, tidy and tight! these guys know how to make plugins and offer the best bundle around for the best price. My 2016 subscription expired and and i am itching to renew. These tools are a must package for anyone making music, whether you are a musician, producer or engineer. The plugins are designed beautifully and their response and action are near perfect. The sound quality they produce is fast and effective, but of course nothing can replace the real hardware. However, these tools are simply great, great great!. The only thing i've found that are better are the Universal Audio software, but that's way more expensive. For the price, the package and the help you get should you need it, this is top value! the only annoying thing is their download manager, which always seems to block me when i enter my pass word which never changes but it never remembers so i have to change it regularly, grr.
here is a snap shot of the slate bundle, you can see the tape machine and master compressor in the shot with some other top eq's and their cool rack option to load up.

The slate everything bundle is worth getting because you get everything they have, plus any new software they release for free!, as long as you keep your subscription you get everything, and trust me, for the price, the FGX mastering compressor leveler and Tape machine simulator alone are worth it, but you get, awesome compressors modeled on the best comps out there, dynamic lifters, SSL EQ's preamps, reverbs ahhh its just making me drool taking about what they offer!
Obviously, these guys get a 10/10 for me, its that simple. They have also released a new product which is called the raven i think, and its a touch screen virtual desk and features your daw, mainly protools supported but i think it supports other DAWS as well. Steven Slate and his brilliant programmer and software designer partner are on their game and tough industry competitors to beat.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
these guys make the KONTAKT PLAYER and Komplete and do a number of really good production tools like compressors and EQ, i use their tools in my productions very often and find they have a simple smooth interface and simple design, but work effectively. As i have discussed this brand already i will leave this short and say, NI is a great company and make some good tools worth investing in.

Well thats what i use and find these products a pretty worthy investment, i noticed yesterday in the reply section a few people mentioned some plugins such as NEXUS. I haven't used this one but i will go have a look at it for sure. There are also one or two others to use but i will cover those later as we go through.
In the next blogisode i will look at some plug ins that are included in the DAWS and look at whether they are worthy to work with or whether you should spend money on products like the ones i have mentioned here. I will also try to cover the use of the iLok and what its used for. Until then PLEASE UPVOTE AND PROMOTE THIS BLOG and thanks for your ongoing support. feel free to discuss your favorite VSTs and share as I'm always interested in what you use and whats good cookie!!

Links:
https://www.toontrack.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr5appfSb1QIVQ46PCh3IOQzwEAAYASAAEgIO6_D_BwE
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/
https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/albion-one/
https://www.heavyocity.com/
http://www.waves.com/
https://8dio.com/
http://slatedigital.com/

cheers from me
shan the sound man
UPVOTE UPVOTE VOTE !!