Using Plugins

There are different types of plugins that can be used in OpenMPT. You have the pre-installed DirectX Media effects, VST effects and VSTi Instruments.

Plugin types

DirectX Media effects

These are pre-installed effects that you can apply to your channels or instrument. They will allow you to apply commonly used effects, like echo, reverb, compressor, notch-eq, chorus, distortion, etc. Unlike most VST effects, their quality is not that good, and they do not offer a user interface (GUI) using the [edit] button. The only benefit of using these plugins are, that XMPlay offers support for them.

VST effects

VST effects are plugins that you can download and install into OpenMPT. They were not specifically made for OpenMPT, but instead, alot of applications can use VST effects. This makes it possible to have thousands of different plugins with all their personal "things". Like above, they can do virtually anything to your sound. They are there in many forms. They can also show you information about your audio. The main difference between the standard effects, is that usually VST effects has a very good quality, and a GUI to tweak them.

VST Instruments (VSTi)

The VST Instrument uses the same technology as the effects described above. In addition, they allow midi messages and translates them into tones, which you can define usually. Instead of altering existing sound (although there are VSTi's that do so) it generates one for you. The benefit of this, is that the sound can be unique each time it is being played (depends on the plugin ofcource).

Installing plugins

Depending on your plugin, it can require several different steps to get your plugin working in OpenMPT. Before I'll explain how you do it, I'll give you a small note first: If you install a plugin to use with a song, first install the plugin, then load that song. You could loose the settings for that plugin if you save the song.

Installing the plugin itself

The first step you'll need to do, is install the plugin itself. This can be done in several ways. Some plugins provide an installer, while other plugins give you a compressed file. Extract the .dll from the file, or use the installer to get the .dll file on your harddisk. I recommend using a standard directory for your vst plugins (example: c:openmptplugins or c:vstplugins). It doesn't matter if the installer or you make a folder inside your plugins directory. Some programs are sensitive for that, OpenMPT is not.

Adding this plugin to OpenMPT

• Open OpenMPT, and go to the plugin manager (menu View->Plugin Manager...)
• Press the [ Add Plugin… ] button
• An open dialog will be promted. Browse to the directory you installed the plugin to (eg. c:vstplugins)
• Depending on the type of plugin (VST or VSTi) it will be added in this list.

Using a plugin in your song

Adding a plugin to your song

At the bottom of the general tab in your song, you'll see the pluginslots. They are initially empty. Select an empty slot, and press the [ Select ] button. This will open the Plugin Manager. You can add a new plugin, but we'll assume now that you have added it in an earlier stage. Unvold the effect or instrument to access your plugin. You can double click the plugin, or select and press [ Put in FX?? ].

The plugin will be placed in the pluginslot. You can access its GUI (if it has one) using the [ Edit ] button.

Creating a chain of plugins

It is possible to create a chain of plugins. This basically means that the audio will be processed by a plugin, and then its result will be processed by another plugin. I'll assume you want to add just one plugin to form a chain of 2 plugins for this example. First add the 2 plugins (or add the 2nd if you had the first one from the example above) and use different pluginslots (must be lower in the list). Select the pluginslot of the 1st plugin. On the right, select OUTPUT: [Master ] and change to [ FX??: plugin ] where this points to the 2nd plugin. You'll see that this list only shows plugins from that number till the end. This was done to prevent circulair feedback loops, where audio is being processed indefinatelly by the chain, which will crash OpenMPT.

2 Methods There are 2 methods to use plugins in your song, but note: you cannot use both at the same time!.

Applying the plugin on the instrument

You can apply a plugin and its chain to an instrument. This will mean that any time this instrument is being played, the plugin will be used on it.

• Open the instrument tab
• On the right side, next to plugin: select the pluginslot.
• If your plugin is a VSTi, you will need to set a midi channel too, which should be happening automatically.
• For VSTi's, you can also set the bank and patch information. This can be useful on some plugins to set their sound.

Applying the plugin on the channel

You can apply a plugin and its chain to a channel. This will mean that anything played in that channel will be altered by your plugin and its chain.

• Open the general tab
• Select the right channel
• From the dropdown box, select your pluginslot.
• If your plugin is a VSTi, you will need to set a midi channel too. You need to do that on an instrument, so create an instrument (can be empty), and give it a midi channel.
• For VSTi's, you can also set the bank and patch information. This can be useful on some plugins to set their sound.

Applying the plugin as Master

There are actually 3 methods, but this method is always possible. You can make one plugin (or its chain) to be applied on any sound. To do this, select the pluginslot and check the [x] Master checkbox.

Tweaking plugins

If you use your plugin on the channel, you can use the button that displays the plugin to access the GUI (see above on how to make it visible). If you use your plugin on an instrument, you can press the edit button in the instrument tab, or on the pattern tab after the instrument selection. (eg: [15. MyBeautifulFlute ][V] [edit])

If the plugin doesn't have a GUI, a standard edit window will popup. In case you are tweaking your VSTi, note that you can play a note by pressing your default note-keys (like q = c-4)

Using Midi Macros (Zxx)

TODO: Describe Midi Macros

TODO: Describe how to setup and use Midi Macros.

You can watch a tutorial here

Plugin FAQs

How can I control a VSTi's volume?

VSTi playback is controlled by MIDI messages that are generated from the pattern data. Most VSTis respond to a "velocity" value, a part of a note-on MIDI message which represents how "hard" a note is played (e.g. how hard a key on a piano is struck, how hard you blow into a trumpet etc...). In MPT, when a note is sent to a VSTi, the volume column defines the associated velocity.

The nature of this metaphore implies that a velocity value must be associated with a note. There is no generic way of controlling the volume of a specific MIDI note during its playback. Therefore, the best way to achieve this is to use midi macros:

• If the VSTi has a volume param, map a macro to that param.
• If not, map a macro to the dry/wet

Then control that macro from your pattern. Unless the VSTi has params for controlling the volume of multiple voices, both of these solutions will impact the volume of all notes being played on the VSTi. To manipulate them independently, you'll need multiple instances of the VSTi.

Finally, note that with some VSTis, the velocity can be mapped to a number of different parameters (e.g. cutoff freq), so you might need to configure your VSTi before velocity has an impact on volume. An example of such a plugin is FabFilter One.

How do I pass keys to plugins?

It can be desired to enter text in a plugin's window. Think about naming a preset whitin the plugin itself, or entering a register key. By default, all keys entered into the plugin will be routed to MPT and thereby not executed in your plugin. You can however enable this function. While editing the plugin's parameters, go to the options menu from your plugin dialog, and enable Pass keys to plug.