Ability to create audio plugins in C and JUCE from setting up your first project, to implementing various DSP, to recalling your settings when you open a saved project. Understanding of plugin architecture for audio effects and synthesis plugins. Best practices and industry tips, tricks, and secrets. Creating multiple formats (VST, AudioUnit, VST3, and RTAS) from one codebase: Just choose the plugin format and click “run.” Create both 32-Bit and 64-Bit executables. Run your plugin as a standalone application (Windows or Mac). It means you don’t technically need a DAW to use the plugin. A) Computer C DRIVE PROGRAM FILES VST PLUGINS b) Computer C DRIVE PROGRAM FILES (x86) VST PLUGINS 3) There is also confusion in the PROGRAM FILES (x86) as there is a STEINBERG folder where some of my plugins automatically file themselves under.

Welcome! In this tutorial series we will be learning how to create audio plugins that run as VST, VST3, AU, RTAS, AAX or as a standalone application.

Audio plugins are programs that are loaded into a host software (such as Ableton Live, Logic or REAPER). They process Audio and/or MIDI data and can have a graphical user interface. Here are three examples (U-He Zebra, Sonalksis FreeG and D16 Decimort):

As you can see, the GUI usually contains some controls (the knob being the most common) that change how the plugin processes incoming data. A plugin has presets (in the screenshot they’re called Combo and Emulator) that store all knob positions and other values.

We’ll start with a simple distortion plugin. After that, we’ll create this subtractive synthesizer plugin step by step:

We will use C++ and the WDL-OL library. It is based on Cockos WDL (pronounced whittle). It basically does a lot of work for us, most importantly:

  • Ready-made Xcode / Visual Studio Projects
  • Create VST, AudioUnit, VST3 and RTAS formats from one codebase: Just choose the plugin format and click run!
  • Create 32/64-Bit executables
  • Make your plugin run as a standalone Win/Mac application
  • Most GUI controls used in audio plugins

It also gives you most GUI controls used in audio plugins, and some commonly used audio algorithms like for example resampling. This forum thread has screenshots of a lot of plugins that were done using WDL.

The different plugin formats all do more or less the same, so normally there would be a lot of copy & paste in your code. As a programmer you want to stay DRY, so sooner or later you’d write an abstraction layer over the different formats. This work has already been done in the form of IPlug, which is a part of WDL. These are the annoying parts of audio plugin development, so we can now focus on the fun stuff, such as:

  • How the plugin processes incoming Audio/MIDI
  • What the plugin looks like
  • How it integrates with the host (automation, presets, etc.)

Another good thing about WDL is its permissive license: You can use it freely for commercial applications. See the links above for details.

Make

How To Create A Vst

How we will do this

Programming Vst Plugins

The chase is better than the catch.