I’ve been using the Winamp-VST Bridge plug-in on PC to browse and preview large collections of sample source material. (Ed.: Winamp is the fantastic music player software for Windows, predating — and arguably, better than — iTunes. -PK) It’s great for testing out how things will sound when run through an effect without having to laboriously convert, slice and import files into a sample map.

Here it is running some audio, which I recorded on a Zoom H4 handheld recorder, into the granular delay we’ve been constructing here at Noisepages. If you’re like me and you have folder after folder of field recordings and vinyl samples, this is a super fast way to sift through them to find those golden moments where a combination of a sample and an effect become something new and exciting. Throw things against the wall and see what sticks, quickly and easily - primarily because of things like right clicking on a folder and choosing “enqueue/play in Winamp”, being able to skip around in a file quickly, navigate a playlist, save a playlist of favorites - all without having to worry about file formats. A “real” host is for later, once you have a goal or direction in mind. You can even browse shoutcast mp3 radio streams through your VST effects.

Drawbacks: there is some latency when using the standard DirectX drivers, so you don’t immediately hear the effects of your knob-twiddles. I’m trying out various ASIO Winamp output plugins for a stable low latency solution. Ed.: I use the ASIO drivers with Winamp quite happily. -PK Also, this VST bridge plugin doesn’t send a clock-start signal to Reaktor, so sequenced effects won’t work the way they will standalone or in a standard host. Quibbles aside, this is a great way for PC users to do some quick and dirty sound mangling with a wealth of sample sources.

Reaktor user Dave Pape suggests a program called Audiohijack for Mac users in this thread on the Reaktor forums - but isn’t there a way to do this with Soundflower, too? What do you think, Mac users? What’s the best way to do this on the Mac platform?

Mac Tools, Mac and Windows Automation

PK: I thought about this a bit, too, chatting with Peter D. Iced Audio’s fantastic AudioFinder sample management tool would be a likely candidate; it allows AU plug-in previewing. (It’s also got goodies like a plug-in manager.)

In addition to previewing, there’s also batch-processing. Audio editors like the free Wavosaur for Windows, or Peak (Mac), Audition (Windows), or SoundForge (Windows) all have capable batch facilities that can process your audio with effects. The coolest Mac solution I found is the Process with Audio Units Automator Action for the free Apple automation tool in Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard. None of these will preview, of course, but it’d be fun to make Kore setups and then mangle samples with them, automatically, for dropping into a sampler or performance set! -PK

Winamp and Batch Processing

After discussing batch processing audio through a VST chain with head honcho Peter K., I realized that Winamp can manage this too. You want to hear something sick? The Winamp VST bridge can load Kore 2. That means you can chain Kore effects and third party plugins in Winamp. Now the icing on the cake: in Winamp’s preferences, you can select “disk writer” as the output. Now Winamp will write .wav files in the directory of your choice instead of playing audio through the sound card. Load up the files you want to process in a playlist, hit play, and faster than realtime, you’ll have a directory of batch-processed files.

Winamp was originally programmed by Justin Frankel, the guy behind the Reaper DAW. Both apps are extensible and have their own DSP scripting languages, and both work well with Native Instruments plugins like Reaktor and Kore.