Newbie .... need help with adding VST synths MMM 2020 ( Premium )

Steven-Wood wrote on 11/27/2019, 4:41 PM

So, the title says it all really.

I would like to try and add a couple of VST Synths to MMM 2020.

I have set a folder to download the VSTs to and have set the VST Plug In path (in MMM) to "point to" that folder. I have downloaded a couple of Synths ( zip files ) and am not sure what to do next.

All the videos I have found are for older versions of Music Maker....and they all mention an "add" button in order to add the VST into the Music Maker synth pool.

MMM 202 doesn't seem to have an "add" button.

I can locate the VST Plug In folder ( the one I created ) in the File Manager within MMM2020 - but the files I downloaded do not appear ( or, if they are visible, appear to be empty )

Cheers

Steve. ( confused newbie )

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 11/27/2019, 5:12 PM

@Steven-Wood

Hi

. . . . add a couple of VST Synths to MMM 2020 . . . .

Which VST's are you trying to add and have you extracted the files from the Zip file and placed them in the VST folder?

What you see and get depends very much in the type of VST you are adding and if they are compatible with Music Maker (MMM) ie:

Instrument VST - these should show up in the Instruments tab once the VST files have been scanned by MMM they may not however have an image associated with the VST that MMM can use for the tile image so they are displayed with a generic icon.

The image below shows the Tunefish4 with a generic icon, the TALNoiseMaker and Tyrell N6 images I added to the same location as the VST dll files.

Effect VST - should appear in one or more locations - the Object effects rack, Track effects rack, Mixer - Track fx and/or Master fx.

HTH

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Steven-Wood wrote on 11/27/2019, 5:29 PM

So I was just trying a few "freebie" ones.

I actually just got one to work ( TAL Bassline ) …..yaaaay!!

I think the mistake I was making was adding the zip file to my VST SYNTH file rather than unzipping and copying the dll file.

Cheers

Steve.

ps - gonna check out the ones you have....can you recommend any others or good sources of decent VSTs ( preferably free ones)

johnebaker wrote on 11/28/2019, 1:00 PM

@Steven-Wood

Hi Steve

. . . . can you recommend any others or good sources of decent VSTs . . . .

I have several DSK instrument VST's which are free and many of them are very good, a few are not so good.

There are many other free instrument and effects VST's available on the Internet, however I found that a high majority are very basic and not worth the effort of installing - you can soon lose many hours just testing them.

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

browj2 wrote on 11/28/2019, 1:18 PM

@Steven-Wood

Hi Steve,

Just to follow up on what John EB mentioned, make sure that you are using the 32 bit version of the VST's. I put my VST's and VSTi's in subfolders under:

C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins

and yes, you need the dll's not zipped files. Some of them, like DSK, have a subfolder with .SEM files. You need these as well.

If you find any that are useful, I suggest that you get the 64 bit version as well, for the future. These will go under:

C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins

I do have some that go elsewhere when they are installed, and I have to track down the location and add in the VST path in Music Maker.

John CB

 

John C.B.

VideoPro X(16); Movie Studio 2024 Platinum; MM2025 Premium Edition; Samplitude Pro X8 Suite; see About me for more.

Desktop System - Windows 10 Pro 22H2; MB ROG STRIX B560-A Gaming WiFi; Graphics Card Zotac Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX-3060, PS; Power supply EVGA 750W; Intel Core i7-10700K @ 3.80GHz (UHD Graphics 630); RAM 32 GB; OS on Kingston SSD 1TB; secondary WD 2TB; others 1.5TB, 3TB, 500GB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB; three monitors - HP 25" main, LG 4K 27" second, HP 27" third; Casio WK-225 piano keyboard; M-Audio M-Track USB mixer.

Notebook - Microsoft Surface Pro 4, i5-6300U, 8 GB RAM, 256 SSD, W10 Pro 20H2.

YouTube Channel: @JCBrownVideos

Steven-Wood wrote on 12/2/2019, 1:02 PM

@Steven-Wood

Hi Steve

. . . . can you recommend any others or good sources of decent VSTs . . . .

I have several DSK instrument VST's which are free and many of them are very good, a few are not so good.

There are many other free instrument and effects VST's available on the Internet, however I found that a high majority are very basic and not worth the effort of installing - you can soon lose many hours just testing them.

John EB

Ain't that the truth......... spent a few days trawling the web and found some pretty cool synths / drum machines etc.

 

Thanks to all the guys here who offered advice.

Now all I gotta do is stop tweaking and get creating.

 

 

Steven-Wood wrote on 1/2/2020, 1:13 PM

Just a little update.....

 

Have spent quite some time researching, downloading and testing a number of VSTi's and have come up with a list of those that I think are really good.

 

These may be "old news" to many of the guys here on the forums but some may find the list useful in narrowing down their search for decent synths to use in their projects.

 

Re-creations of "real" synths

MiniMogue VA ( by Voltkitchen) - superb model of MiniMoog

Polly ( by KBplugs ) - excellent Polymoog sim ( no presets … have managed to create the Gary Numan / Vox Humana sound with a little tweaking and a couple of fx from MMM's fx suite)

ODsay ( by Elektrostudio ) - best free ARP Odyssey vst out there.

scP5 ( by EFM ) - Prophet 5 sim with decent presets.

OB-Xd ( by discoDSP ) - Oberheim OBx / OB-8 vst with a tonne of available presets.

 

Non "brand" VSTi's

Synth 1 ( by Ichiro Toda ) - brilliant little synth with around 25000 user tones available on the web.

Tyrell Nexus 6 ( by U-He ) - another great synth with an absolute tonne of presets around the web ( note - quite "system heavy" especially on older computers - but well worth a look )

TAL Noise Maker ( by TOGU Audio Line ) - great sounds and easy to use ( good GUI ).

Lokomotiv ( by Archetype Instruments ) - very simple and fantastic sounding virtual analogue synth.

Firebird 2 ( by Tone2) - used to be a "payware" synth, now a freebie plus hundreds of presets available.

 

Again, HUGE thanks to the guys here who helped me out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

toddbooster wrote on 1/4/2020, 1:46 AM

@Steven-Wood

If you find any that are useful, I suggest that you get the 64 bit version as well, for the future.

The future is already here, and quickly becoming the past.
I jest, but in all seriousness, how is Music Maker only 32 bit in 2020?

Chantal-Rioux wrote on 6/2/2020, 2:30 PM

@Steven-Wood

Hi

. . . . add a couple of VST Synths to MMM 2020 . . . .

Which VST's are you trying to add and have you extracted the files from the Zip file and placed them in the VST folder?

What you see and get depends very much in the type of VST you are adding and if they are compatible with Music Maker (MMM) ie:

Instrument VST - these should show up in the Instruments tab once the VST files have been scanned by MMM they may not however have an image associated with the VST that MMM can use for the tile image so they are displayed with a generic icon.

The image below shows the Tunefish4 with a generic icon, the TALNoiseMaker and Tyrell N6 images I added to the same location as the VST dll files.

Effect VST - should appear in one or more locations - the Object effects rack, Track effects rack, Mixer - Track fx and/or Master fx.

HTH

John EB

Thank you for the tip, I was looking for a way to add the image of the external vst and with your tip, I could work it out! I included a .jpg image file with the same name as the instrument dll file and it worked perfectly! Thanks again!