Hi, my name is Jose, and I'm new to the forum, so I hope everyone is doing well, that the post is in the right place and that it doesn't break any rules.
I've read a lot of posts about Windows and Mac, but the part that interested me is that many claim that Mac is the best for music producers because the plugins are accessible. So I decided to register on the forum to ask them: which plugins are accessible? At least Kontakt isn't, unless you have their keyboard, but I honestly don't plan on buying it. So, which vst do you use? Especially for instruments.
I would like to add that I use Reaper on Windows, and the accessibility is bad but acceptable. But since I read very good opinions about accessibility on Mac for musicians, I wonder if there are more accessible plugins on Mac because the truth is that on Windows they are almost not, or at least you need some visual help.
I appreciate everyone's help and answers.
By jose reaper, 23 October, 2024
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Comments
logic.band
Some plug ins are accessible, and some are not. Go to logic.band and email cookie monster (Steve Martin) to find out which are accessible.
Smile. Good luckd!
Bruce
Depends on the jaw
This largely depends on the daw you’re using. I.e, i have found that most pluggins are accessible via logic and reaper, while these same pluggins are not accessible in pro tools. However, if you can, i'd recommend getting into music composition, go for a komplete kontrol keyboard. For production... I cant help much there but, this largely depends on the daw your using if pluggins will be accessible or not. As said reaper and logic, most pluggins are accessible right out of the box, which won't be the case in pro tools if you use these same pluggins, you'll need to rely on vocr if you want to access them.
Speaking of daw, I have…
Speaking of daw, I have reaper and garageband. Is there a similar option low cost for amateurs? Like I've heard only great thing about them but I won't spend $700 or so on a professional grade device just to discover and have fun with it for 4 months only. Thanks! Sorry if it's off topic just pm me with any suggestions. (as long as the company software to modify the firmware on the hardware has a decent level of accessibility)
I only use reaper
i only use reaper, and i honestly don't plan on buying the komplete kontrol keyboard, because i think i can do the same things with other vst's other than kontakt, and if i need little visual help to load some kontakt library i can do it with my wife but, in reality i would like to avoid it. that's why i ask you if you use or know of vst's accessible with reaper and voiceover, as i indicated before. pianos, guitars, and others. by the way, can the mainstage instruments be loaded in reaper? by the way excuse me if my english is not good, i'm actually using google to translate.
ezmix3
In case it helps anyone, the EzMix3 plugin is not accessible with VoiceOver, even using VOCR. I couldn't even select an instrument category. But in Windows it is fully accessible and without the need to use OCR. Using NVDA, I was able to use the plugin completely. I clarify that as I said before, the DAW used in this case is Reaper.
My experience so far
Hi,
I've been using Logic Pro since January 2024. Logic PRo itself is quite accessible, especially when you use already-existing keymap or take action and configure your own keyboard shortcuts for the things you need.
Regarding the plugins:
Many plugins are quite usable using control view. It's a view where you have different controls (mostly sliders) in a table that you can interact with. However, especially in big third-party plugins, I find the control view to be very unstructured not very helpful. Plugins are designed to work in editor (graphical) view, but this view is not accessible for most plugins.
The control view is mostly sufficient for mixing stuff imo, like Compressor, EQ, Reverb, Delay etc and for Logic’s stock instruments like a few Synths or the new studio instruments in Logic Pro 11. Examples for third-party mixing plugins are the FabFilter plugins, which i find very usable in Control view even though I would be more happy to use editor view for a more structured UI.
For third-party instruments, I found the most to be quite inaccessible in Editor view and even unusable in Control view because you have more than 1,000 sliders in there which are poorly labeled and often do nothing.
If you want to mess around with VOCR, much more is usable in Editor view, but for me personally, that's not what I would want to. I want to make music and not to wokr around issues all day long.
For instruments that are not stock instruments in Logic, Komplete Kontrol with its NKS Standard is much better because you can quickly go through your instruments and presets and have mapped parameters to specific controls of the Komplete Kontrol keyboard which allows you to modify the preset further and even automate such parameters. So with Komplete Kontrol, you have more sounds available in an accessible way.
third party instruments
To be honest, third-party instruments like Kontakt are the best you can use for real music. The rest sounds like a toy. That's why I prefer to use third-party instruments, and Kontakt is among the best. Not to mention the MainStaje piano, which looks like the lowest-end Roland. That's why I prefer to use instruments from companies dedicated to just that, VST instruments, and not instruments from companies dedicated to DAW, which is a different job. Of course, that's my opinion and it doesn't have to be correct. Another thing is that I don't want to buy the Komplete Kontrol keyboard, since I think it's very expensive for its style. There are better options with better prices, and since at the moment I'm not 100% dedicated to creating music for others, but I do it to publish on my social networks and I don't have any income from that, I won't spend money on something that won't make me money at the moment. When my financial situation improves, I'll probably buy it. By the way, thanks to everyone for your opinions, for me, you're the best!