manual/_manual/11_working-with-plugins.html

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layout: default
title: Working With Plugins
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<p><dfn>Plugins</dfn> are bits of software that get loaded by Ardour in order to:</p>
<ul>
  <li>Create various audio or MIDI effects
  </li>
  <li>Generate audio by functioning as "software instruments"
  </li>
</ul>

<p>Ardour does not come with any built-in signal processors of its own
(other than volume faders) and it also generally doesn't ship with any
plugins. They are written by 3rd parties, though we do provide <a href="/working-with-plugins/getting-plugins/">some
  information on how to get them</a>.
</p>

<p>
Ardour supports a variety of different plugin standards:
</p>
<dl class="narrower-table">

  <dt><abbr title="Linux Audio Developers' Simple Plugin API">LADSPA</abbr></dt>
  <dd>An early, simple, lightweight plugin <abbr title="Application
  Programming Interface">API</abbr>, audio effects only,
  plugins have no editors/GUI of their own (Ardour provides one, however).</dd>
  <dt><abbr title="LADSPA Version 2">LV2</abbr></dt>
  <dd>An extensible, full-featured plugin API, audio and <abbr
  title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr>, plugins can provide their
  own  <abbr title="Graphical User Interface">GUI</abbr>s</dd>
  <dt><abbr title="Audio Unit">AU</abbr></dt>
  <dd>OS X only, full featured, audio and MIDI, plugins can provide their own GUI</dd>

  <dt><abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr></dt>
  <dd>Plugins using Steinberg's VST plugin standard but compiled
  specifically for the same platform as Ardour is running on
  (i.e. Linux VST for Ardour users on Linux, Windows VST for Ardour
  users on Windows). (Note: Ardour does not support VST plugins on OS
  X, just like Apple's Logic DAW). </dd>

  <dt>Windows VST Plugins on Linux</dt>
  <dd>Plugins using Steinberg's VST plugin standard and compiled for
  Windows, but being used on Linux. <em>Support for this plugin format is not available in
  regular builds of
  Ardour. <a href="/working-with-plugins/windows-vst-support">Read
  more...</a></em>
  </dd>
</dl>

<h2>Adding/Removing/Copying Plugins</h2>

<p>Within Ardour, plugins are just another type
of <dfn>Processor</dfn> and so the techniques for
adding/removing/copying/moving processors apply to plugins as
well. These techniques are covered on
the <a href="/working-with-plugins/processor-box">Processor
Box</a> page.</p>

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