One of the beautiful things about most DAWs is that they can be expanded with plug-ins - helper programs that extend the capability of the "host" program they're running in. Plug-ins can take the form of signal processors: compressors, limiters, equalizers, amp/speaker simulators, or effects such as delay, reverb, chorus, pitch shifting, time expansion or compression, flange, phaser, and so on. Or, a plug-in can be a virtual instrument: a software synth or sampler, or an emulation of an acoustic instrument such as a piano.
Antares Auto-Tune 5 Native
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| The Antares Auto-Tune plug-in allows you to correct errant pitches in vocals or monophonic instrument tracks. |
Everything Old is New Again
A recent trend is the release of plug-ins that "model," or duplicate the characteristics of vintage hardware processors. Can't find (or afford) a vintage Neve EQ? There are plug-ins that can closely duplicate the sound of one readily available at much lower prices than the equivalent hardware. There's an added benefit: With a hardware device, you're limited as to the number of places you can use it simultaneously. Plug a single-channel EQ into the insert point on your mixer, and that's it, you can't use it somewhere else without physically moving it. With a plug-in you simply load up another "instance" of the processor - you can use as many simultaneous instances as your computer has the power to run. Another benefit is that all the settings for a plug-in are saved along with your song in your DAW. So if you come back to the song you're working on a day, a week, or a year later, everything should load back to exactly where it was when you left. No need to try to reset dials or use cables to patch everything back close to where it was the last time you left off.
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Focusrite Liquid Mix |
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| The Focusrite LiquidMix provides 32 channels of hardware-accelerated compression and EQ. |
Hardware-accelerated Plug-ins
Even though today's computers are phenomenally fast and powerful, many plug-ins (such as a convolution reverb, for example) can place impossible demands on the computer's processing power, even bringing your session to a grinding halt. One way to avoid this is to install a separate DSP processing unit that handles the plug-in load, leaving your CPU free to concentrate on other audio tasks.
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Synthogy Ivory version 1.5 |
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| Synthogy Ivory is a plug-in that features samples of three renowned pianos and supports Audio Units, VST, and RTAS formats. |
Virtual Instruments and Samplers
Other audio software plug-ins are virtual instruments; software synthesizers and samplers. These little beauties can either emulate a vintage ARP, Moog, or other analog synth or follow a completely new digital path toward sound design Nirvana. Software sampler plug-ins have really come along in the past few years. Sound libraries have gotten exponentially better (and larger), and the programming and processing capabilities in the software samplers is completely over the top. A new category is software instruments that are dedicated to playing back a particular sound library - it might be an orchestral plug-in that plays a huge library of samples, a drum set instrument, a big band instrument plug-in, or whatever. The range of virtual instruments is huge, and covers just about every type of sound you could possibly want.
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A Few Things to Think About
Plug-ins might come from the manufacturer of the host DAW or from the myriad third-party plug-in developers that have appeared over the last couple of years. There are a couple of things to be aware of with plug-ins:
Does your chosen DAW support the plug-in's format? There are a variety of formats out there: RTAS, VST, TDM, MAS, Audio Units, Direct X, and more. Some host manufacturers also have proprietary formats that aren't open to third-parties. If your DAW doesn't support a particular format, there are "wrapper" programs available that will make a VST plug-in compatible with an RTAS host, for example.
Does the plug-in run on your computer's internal processor or does it require DSP acceleration hardware? If it runs on your computer's processor, does your machine have enough juice to run it effectively? Some plug-ins can suck up an amazing number of CPU cycles, leaving you with much less power for running other plug-ins and audio tracks. |
