a few days ago I sent a video to Brad but now I think this might be interesting for you too. In this video I show you my recent Cantabile setup which is not yet finished and it needs to be cleaned.
The main goal is, to have total control over racks and plugins. That also means that every rack has the same structure.
I’d like to know if you miss something in this setup. And I also would like to know if you have any ideas of other plugins that I could use for compressor, EQ und multi-FX. I’m not that happy with those I have now. One requirement is, that they are either freeware or cost just a little money. In the end this workstation should be sold to the customer and though a few plugins need to be installed to get started. Of course I’d like to keep the initial costs as low as possible.
It would be perfect, if there is a plugin, that has everything under the hood like a few FX, compressor, gate, EQ, etc. But I was not able to find such a plugin for a reasonable price.
If you have any questions or recommendations for improvements I’m happy to hear that!
Always like your attention to details. This is very interesting, although it is quite a complicated routing and workflow setup, and far beyond my current needs on stage. I am consistently blown away by the wide array of uses C3 provides to imaginative people, such as yourself. I always enjoy seeing how other people use C3, and the video really explains your use much better than 10,000 words to read, which tends to send me into a nap, lol. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, I can tell you’ve spent alot of time on this. Yep I think the Network API and a node.js script could clean this up significantly. I’ve sent you an email.
Actually, the Melda free bundle you seem to be using is not so bad to my ears
For am alternative free option, I’d recommend ReaPlugs - pretty clean and low on resources. Basic fare: EQ, Comp, Gate, plus a nice multitap delay and multiband compressor. Plus, of course ReaJS which allows you to roll your own audio or MIDI FX (and a great library of already existing ones).
Dead Duck software also have a pretty comprehensive bundle of free basic plugins, including a nice channel strip (actually two channel strips, one with and one without a limiter - the limiter adds additional latency, so you may want to omit that one). Be aware that these plugins aren’t the most resource-efficient ones; they do create some load on your CPU.
For full channel strips, there are also a couple of other options: bootsy of Variety of Sound offers a nice channel strip (Nasty VCS), unfortunately 32 bit only.
Then there is an interesting concept called T-Chain that allows you to build your own channel strip from a mixture of free and paid modules - the free version is already pretty decent, but I haven’t played with it a lot - I have a number of channel strip modules that I paid for
Not sure what you’re looking for in terms of multi-FX. Blue Cat have some nice free individual modulation effects (Chorus, Phaser, Flanger); the delay in ReaPlugs is pretty decent. Reverb-wise, I’d look at Ambience, TAL reverb or Voxengo old skool reverb.
Thanks for the tipps. But I know all of them and I also use them.
The thing is, that every rack should has the same structure. So the reason why I look for a nice multi-FX plugin is, that I want to keep the plugin-count per rack as low as possible. If I would add all those individual modulation plugins in a rack and I have 5-6 racks in one song, the song would have tons of plugins loaded which at first may lead to a loss of oversight and of course at second will lead to higher load-times of the song.
It would be great having a plugin that covers all that stuff inside one plugin… but I’m afraid that is not yet on the market
Hmm, there’s Tone2 Warmverb MultiFX - used to be free, but now goes for 59 €. If you still have an old copy of ComputerMusic around, it was included for free sometime in 2016 I think…
Plus of course HOFA System - but the free version is too restricted to my taste (only 1 EQ band in parametric EQ, only 1 reverb algorithm, …), and the full version is a bit steep @ 139 €… And it’s definitely a bit complicated.
I already saw the Ton2 Warmverb but the EQ is also too limited. I need at least two parametric mid-bands.
Well… I want to ship the keyboard (as soon as it’s ready to be sold) with MUX from Mutools. This is at 99€ (incl. their DAW) and comes with some nice modules. Maybe I can build something in that that covers everything… but I need to check that more deeply.
This is not necessary for modulation-FX. This should be part of the instrument (so part of the rack) on my system.
For reverbs and delays you are right and this is how I do it in a live performance.
Thanks for the hint to Waves. I’ll take a look at it.
//edit: The authentification process is a problem when it comes down to selling this instrument. You’d (resp. the customer) needs an account at Waves.
I’m starting to make a new cantabile Setup on a new machine and new controller keyboard. Is it possible to share your template? It sounds interesting to me, to have a good starting point.
