Getting It
Thursday, June 29th, 2023 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioI think it's been in the 80s today, but with the humidity so high, temperature means nothing. It's just stifling outside.
We got a little rain in Naperville while I was at work, but nothing here at home.
--<>--
But the main focus of this entry is just that... I finally get how the modern DAW model works.
Because, last night I said I paid 70 bucks for a single plugin... and I didn't even understand exactly what a plugin was.
But then today I did a bit more reasearch and found out... oh!.. I can get sampled instruent voices out there online for free!
Samples of instrument voices are in VST format... which stands for Virtual Studio Technology.
And they're kinda like downloading fonts! Need some flutes? Don't go pay for flutes! Go get them at a free VST site!
But VST is just one type of file that comes under the heading of a "plugin," for a platform like FL Studio.
--<>--
And suddenly this all made sense, because it's similar to what goes on with modern video game platforms.
And, when I was telling this to Tim, who does web design, he was like, "OH!.."
Because that's how WordPress works too... where you have a popular platform and then people independently come up with plugins to use with that platform... and some cost money, but others are freeware.
--<>--
And I did go out there and download a ton of instruments, flutes, trumpets and other horns, xylophones and marimbas, cellos and violins... etc.
And I successfully installed them into FL Studio and they work!
So I'm a very happy camper tonight!
--<>--
But... yeah... that's how everything is in the 21st century!
So, if you're younger, and you're laughing at the fact that it was so difficult for me to get my head around a very obvious modern concept, which is not at all new... then, yes, you should laugh.
That's fine.
But we all just kinda, pick up the rules of the modern world as we get invovled with it, in our youth.
What happens is, if you take a long break from one sector of activity... in my case, a 15 year break from home studio recording... you come back to a place that's changed a lot... but which is populated mostly by people who just... picked it up!
So nobody understands what it is you're so confused about... because THEY... didn't live in the world of 15 to 30 years ago, when things were different.
--<>--
The things I was looking for... sampled digital instrument voices... still exist. But they don't come packaged with a piece of hardware or software anymore.
And there's not even an emulator out there of... say, a high end Casio keyboard from 2000... with all the voices it had installed on the ROM.
Because you can just put together your own library of sampled instruments... and then plug them into whatever DAW you happen to be using.
--<>--
But DST files are only the simplest form of plugins... like I said... very similar to fonts for a word document.
And there are plugins that do... all kinds of crazy ass shit to the sounds, or to the overall production.
So... for me, there's more to learn there, but... in the end, the whole thing is about putting together your own virtual studio using plugins that matter for you, with what you're doing.
So... getting a grasp on that today... the big picture model of a platform for which third party plugins are being created all the time... both for profit, and for free... was a big step forward.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
We got a little rain in Naperville while I was at work, but nothing here at home.
But the main focus of this entry is just that... I finally get how the modern DAW model works.
Because, last night I said I paid 70 bucks for a single plugin... and I didn't even understand exactly what a plugin was.
But then today I did a bit more reasearch and found out... oh!.. I can get sampled instruent voices out there online for free!
Samples of instrument voices are in VST format... which stands for Virtual Studio Technology.
And they're kinda like downloading fonts! Need some flutes? Don't go pay for flutes! Go get them at a free VST site!
But VST is just one type of file that comes under the heading of a "plugin," for a platform like FL Studio.
And suddenly this all made sense, because it's similar to what goes on with modern video game platforms.
And, when I was telling this to Tim, who does web design, he was like, "OH!.."
Because that's how WordPress works too... where you have a popular platform and then people independently come up with plugins to use with that platform... and some cost money, but others are freeware.
And I did go out there and download a ton of instruments, flutes, trumpets and other horns, xylophones and marimbas, cellos and violins... etc.
And I successfully installed them into FL Studio and they work!
So I'm a very happy camper tonight!
But... yeah... that's how everything is in the 21st century!
So, if you're younger, and you're laughing at the fact that it was so difficult for me to get my head around a very obvious modern concept, which is not at all new... then, yes, you should laugh.
That's fine.
But we all just kinda, pick up the rules of the modern world as we get invovled with it, in our youth.
What happens is, if you take a long break from one sector of activity... in my case, a 15 year break from home studio recording... you come back to a place that's changed a lot... but which is populated mostly by people who just... picked it up!
So nobody understands what it is you're so confused about... because THEY... didn't live in the world of 15 to 30 years ago, when things were different.
The things I was looking for... sampled digital instrument voices... still exist. But they don't come packaged with a piece of hardware or software anymore.
And there's not even an emulator out there of... say, a high end Casio keyboard from 2000... with all the voices it had installed on the ROM.
Because you can just put together your own library of sampled instruments... and then plug them into whatever DAW you happen to be using.
But DST files are only the simplest form of plugins... like I said... very similar to fonts for a word document.
And there are plugins that do... all kinds of crazy ass shit to the sounds, or to the overall production.
So... for me, there's more to learn there, but... in the end, the whole thing is about putting together your own virtual studio using plugins that matter for you, with what you're doing.
So... getting a grasp on that today... the big picture model of a platform for which third party plugins are being created all the time... both for profit, and for free... was a big step forward.
°¦}
