Best way to get a software instrument into Audition?

[Guy Burns]

I want to put together several versions of a song that will have guitar backing (real recordings by me) with overlays of wind instruments, particularly flute. My partner will be doing the simple flute parts with a real flute, but when it comes to the more complicated solo flute segments – in a separate version of the same song – I may have to use a software flute, or other woodwind. And I want the best, outside of using a real instrument.

GarageBand offers software instruments, but I'd rather not have it cluttering my system. So my questions are:

1. Are there plugins for Audition that allow software instruments to be played?

2. What alternatives are there to Garageband for playing and recording software instruments?

3. Any suggestions for a USB keyboard, compatible with Audition, that has inbuilt software instruments, or third-party instruments, for generating realistic woodwind sounds? I'd prefer each note to have been individually recorded – and not synthesised from, say, one primary note.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Accepted solution]

I'm afraid that Audition doesn't offer the use of software instruments (by which I mean VSTi's) at all. There has been a lot of debate about this in the past, but it's clearly pretty low on the multi-seat clients' want list, so it doesn't seem to be any sort of a priority at all. Potentially, there's a programming interface exposed in Audition that could allow an external developer to add it as an app within the software, but I'm not aware of anybody developing one currently. A return of Rewire has also been suggested...

There are two possible options for you here. One is to download Audition 3 (see the FAQs page), which was the previous Windows-only software version, which has some MIDI facilities in it, but you'd have to find an appropriate VSTi for the flute. The other (and probably a better bet) would be to do what a lot of others do, and use Reaper. I looked on the Reaper forum and there's a page with potentially an interesting link on it - the link leads here: http://sso.mattiaswestlund.net/

Original referring page is here:https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=96806

[Guy Burns]

Thanks Steve. Your links led to several places that my Google searches didn't get me to (not knowing the right terminology):

• Reaper

• Polyphontics

• Orange Tree Samples

• Kontakt (looks like they're the best, but the most expensive)

• Platinum Loops (much cheaper)

Again, thanks.