Even though it was not designed for such purposes, Blue Cat’s MB-7 Mixer v2 has been heavily used to host VST virtual instruments (VSTi) in applications that do not support them (Pro Tools, Logic, …), in broadband mode (no band splitting active).
But what about using the multiband capabilities of the plug-in? Our first thought was “multiband instrument hosting has not been defined yet, and… It’s not likely to be defined in the near future!” But after thinking more about it and experimenting a bit, we have found a good opportunity here for sound replacement and enhancement scenarios:
When hosting a VSTi on a frequency band, this band gets muted automatically (instruments replace the content of the band with their own sound). So it is very easy to mute part of the spectrum and replace it with the instrument of your choice!
For example, we have been using this to replace part of the the kick drum on a pre-mixed drums track in Cakewalk’s Sonar: in a two bands setup, Session Drummer 3 has been inserted in the first band, playing a kick sequence (close to the original track). The low end of the original kick disappears, and the new kick sequence is now blended with the drums track. This opens up lots of possibilities!
You can also precisely choose how this new instrument replaces the existing sound by adjusting the slopes of the crossovers. With smaller slopes, the original sound will be blended with the new one, whereas with larger slopes, it will be fully replaced.
Oh, by the way… In this example, we have been using the new tempo syncing feature we are working on, so that the Session Drummer sequences are perfectly in sync with the project. And it works perfectly, if your drummer was in sync too… :-).
Stay tuned and check our website for updates! Coming soon on www.bluecataudio.com…!
1. Can MB-7 besides being able to host VSTi’s can it also host VST fx?
2. Are there any randomizations available for presets and modulation?
3. Will there be any Black Friday or Christmas sales coming up?
I am surprised that I just recently became aware of the possibilities offered by MB-7
Thank you for your interest in our software. PLease find below our answers & comments:
1. Hosting effects is actually the main purpose of the MB-7 Mixer.
2. The plug-ins does not have parameter modulation or randomization at this stage.
3. We don’t have black friday sales, but we usually have end of year offers or special introduction prices for software updates.