Hello ! i would like to give me some suggestion on how to organize-categorize my instruments !
right now i have organized them regarding of their size and then regarding of the developer but as i have many many libraries sometimes i cant tell whats this library for,
so i think of organizing them ragarding their instrument type !
piano,strings,percussion etc. any suggestions are welcome ! how you organize your instruments ?

 

I'm organizing my VSTs like:

-Synths (used regulary)
-Synths (used sometimes)
-Drums
-Delays
-Distortion
-Filter
-Reverbs
-FX other
-Utilities
-Mastering

Quite ok for my workflow.

 

Good ! but thats mostly vst effects ! what about instruments ! i use i huge variety of instruments like Guitars,pianos,strings,woodwinds......

 

As a matter of fact I mostly use synths, if I grab instruments I use Kontakt anyways.

Anyways, I'm on Live 9, so I do not need categories any more, I just type in the name of the VST I want to use in the finder, much faster than browsing through folders.

 

When I first started collecting VST's, I sortd them by: Developer > Product ...
But lately I've been thinking of by: Category > Developer Product

Go to the sarch page at KVR:
http://www.kvraudio.com/q.php
Scroll down to "Tags / Categories", and click on "Find" at the right side. A selection list will drop down.
That is roughly what I use to sort my stuff.

But the point is that some VST's are dedicated solely for an instrument type.
Others are multi-purpose. eg. a typical VA synth (VCO - VCF - VCA) can emulate all types of instruments!
So I add the categories of Synth - VA, Additive, FM, PD (phase distortion), Hybrid, Resonator (plucked string etc.)...

Don't know if this scheme helps or confuses *_*

 

plugin_path/native instruments/
plugin_path/sonnox
plugin_path/waves
plugin_path/psp
etc...

some daw have inteligent options to sort by developer/company as S1, some not... as Live, but you can't get wrong with list bellow

 

and don't use to many plugins...

 

THanks, I never thought about that...
MY organisation is for pretty much everything (and when I can't find it in DAW): START menu, search. OR DESKTOP.

MUST TRY

 

It will be great to have option of some kind of aliases or groups... in DAW, to do the following

Code:

create group -> delay
-> reverb
-> synth 
-> etc... 

and, choose plugins from list and add to one of the group I create...

In plugin list, there will be category of sorting TAB, ALL / BY PRODUCT / BY USER GROUP / etc...

Just something like favourite list's ... (am I wrong, I see something like this in Reaper ?)

... it will be great

 

Personally, I don't use a vast number of plugins with any regularity. So I keep my vst folders pretty tidy and my plugins are not voluminous. So I tend to just make a folder (I am using Sonar X3C, not sure if other DAWs are capable of custom plugin layouts or not) labeled "Instruments" and throw the 15-20 vsti's in there. Then I make an "Effects" folder for my processing vst's. I throw plugin bundles together in sub-folders (eg, all the individual plugins from Ozone 5 go in one folder, all BBE Sonic Sweet in another, etc.). And any plugs that are just 1 plugin (eg, the full Ozone 5--not the indivual module plugins) go in the root of the "Effects" folder. Pretty simple. And because I don't use more than say, 30-40 effects plugins total, my folders are pretty tidy. I find that I can easily find what I am looking for with this setup. However, those with LOTS of plugins may have a different experience of a setup like mine.

Hope this didn't bore you to death.

 

Oops, forgot I was going to comment on this lol. Personally, I hate this type of setup as I have to go to a separate sub-folder just to get to my 2 reverbs. For those with lots of plugs though, this is nearly essential. For me, lumping them basically in one main folder gets me to my plugs quick and easy.

 

wow I love how everyone is really not on his question. Well to organize INSTRUMENTS I use this set up in my external drive… I first have two options Studio or Company. Company has all my business stuff relating to music, like projects for clients and so forth. Studio is where I make music. Then its organized by install files which has everything I need to install (Kontakt, RTAS plugins, Massive etc. ) Inside that massive install folder I have its respecting patches so I always keep patches and software in the install directory. Then going back to where I see the folder install files I have Loops folder , which is then categorized by Vocals and vox related, foley and sfx, electro, hip hop, and guitars. Then going back to where you see the folder install files (one back) you will also see drums, secret samples (which is sub categorized by vinyl, albums, orchestral, asian inspired, and various). In kontakt I have all my libraries listed first with the developer then the product. Like 8Dio dub step would be like at the top alphabetically it goes down to waves factory tambourines. Thats how I can have access to many files, but can find almost anything quick. No matter what though you will have to spend lots of time searching for the right sound. Know that, and I typically spend 20+ Hours on a single song, mostly looking and mixing, when I play its literally a fraction of the time, because not only will the sounds make or break your song, so will the mix.

 

hahahah jiemayn has right ! i have many kontakt libraries and i need to organize theese libraries !
im thinkin organizing them by instrument type as i said strings,pianos,bass,drums percussion
but what to do when it comes to libraries with multiple sounds like colossus,vi one ?
and im not really sure about the categories ! do we have any convenient list ?
the categorie on kvr is not for me !
anyway thanks anyone for your replys !

 

then say it's kontakt library, you just say instruments... and everyone think about vst's

 

Here is how I have my sample libraries organized:

-Bass
-Drums
-Guitar
-Keys
-Orchestra
-Other
-Percussion
-Piano
-Synth
-Wind
-Bundles

"Keys" is everything which has keys but is not a piano: so for example Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Harpsichord etc.
In "Other" I put everything which doesn't fit in any other category, like the Sexual Effects library
"Bundles" is for libraries which contain a lot of different instruments, like the Kontakt Factory library, Omnisphere, Kore 2, Ethno World, etc.

Hope that helps

 

@nikon i say instruments because omnisphere,nexus for example are not kontakt libraries !
VST's are fx VSTi's are virtual instruments !

thanks gulliver ! they are great categorized and yes it is a very very good suggestion and it really helps thats what i wanted !
what else could be added to this categories ? any other suggestion ?
maybe choirs ? or it is included in orchestra ? :-D fx maybe ?
at this moment i have categorized my libraries depending first on their size 10GB+,1GB+ etc and then by developers !
i think this will be a better method to organize my libraries and will help me to compare them and i hope that finally delete the ones i dont need !
sometimes i find libraries that i didnt remember that i had
what are your thougts about this method guys ?

 

Here's my system

Keys (Pianos and Organs)
Basses
Guitars
Drums
Strings
Brass
Woodwind
Percussion (drums)
Percussion (tuned)
Orchestral
Libraries (Ie Kontakt 5, Colossus, Broadway Big Band)
Synths
Plucked (Harps)
Voices
Atmospheric
Novalty

each to thier own.

Regards

K

 

thanks kraken !
i see that you have strings,brass,woodwinds outside the orchestra folder !
whats inside orchestra then ?

 

@ faunus

I don't have any choir libraries, but yeah, that could easily be an additional category.
Or you could just put it inside "Orchestral".

For me, if I make a new category or not depens on how much I need/use the instrument.

To categorise libraries by theis size makes not much sense to me, because the size doesn't tell you anything about their quality/usefulness, and also nothing about the kind of instruments included.

 

Your question/topic only shows two things:

1. You don´t have real/true problems ...

2. You do not understand the principles of our universe ("simplex sigillum veri" / A. Einstein)
and therefore for the source/true base of creativity (living/organic "things" are created
out of nearly "nothing" => the information / inFORMare counts = your brain/spirit ...).

Maybe you should rethink your situation and recognize your "real" problem here (= reduction).

But maybe you are a collector of warez ...

Best regards,
KanaDeva