VST Plugins

VST stands for "Virtual Studio Technology" and strictly speaking I don't use VST plugins as I'm a Mac user. Apple's version of VST instruments are "Audio Units" and VST is a proprietary technology of Steinberg who make Cubase.

But nearly all VST plug ins are available to the Mac user as Audio Units and everyone calls them that anyway (much like when I was young everyone called a vacuum cleaner a "Hoover"), so for practicality that's what I'll do here.

After Digital Audio Workstations, plugins are the most important pieces of software available to the computer musician. Whether it be a synthesizer or effects unit, emulating the functions traditionally provided by outboard gear has become big business in music software and there are VST emulations of pretty much every bit of classic analogue studio equipment.

I'm not going to go into a long debate now about whether analogue or digital is better and although I know which of the side of the fence I stand on, I'll leave that for another page.

But there are many reasons why much analogue studio equipment has often been superceded by VST, but amongst the most important are that VST is often easier to use and more reliable. In my opinion neither of these points necessarily make plugins a better proposition, but they are a lot cheaper, which I suspect is the main reason for their ubiquity.

Suffice to say that whether you like it or not almost everyone uses a VST synth or effect at some point in the music production process, and not only those writing electronic music.

VST plugins - related links:

• 3 Plugins I Couldn't Live Without. Part 1 - Compressors








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