I am 'new/uninformed/ignorant' in the relationship of virtual instruments, hosts, vsts, etc. I would like to use live Kontakt 5's NY Grand, scarbee, transistor and farfisa organs, and I would like to use VB3 tone wheel organs, too. NI produces the Kontakt5 sounds as samples; VB3 is a program that emulates a B3's innards and AFAIK is not a program that is NI friendly or compatible. I am using all Kontakt 5 sounds that I can load into an "instrument bank" and call them up quick and easy - so I guess that is like a 'host,' but I don't really know. How can I organize these sounds/programs to manage them for live performance. I really do not know what a host does, but I surmise that it is a place where all the tones sit ready for use. Is there a host I can use for these disparate programs? Do I use the VB3 as a standalone? if so how can I call it up on the fly? Any advice is deeply appreciated!

If you're on a Mac, check out Apple's MainStage. It's on Apple's AppStore for peanuts and is a no-brainer, if you want a host for live work.

If you're not on a Mac, get one…

/Joachim

The second opinion could only be understood as a joke. The first one... well, I have Maionstage since version one, and it never convinced me, but I guess on the Mac it's the best you can have.

On Windows, OTOH, you have a great host, and it's totally free (and really light, not like Mainstage). It's called VST Host, and it's from Herman Seib.
It's what I use for testing VIs, and do sound design.

BTW - you have another great host, and it's even much more than a host. It's light, and a complete DAW. It's called Reaper, and you can download and use it for free, even on the Mac.

I use an i5 Macbook Pro. Apple touts Mainstage as shipping with Logic. Will it work with Presonus Studio One2? Can I plug Kontakt 5 and Guido's VB3 into Mainstage and use them live?

Thanks for the information

I think there's a bit of confusion. People either play VST's live to make music (that's probably how you want to do it) or they program DAWs in a studio to make recordings. In the latter camp you must use a "host". This is a container that holds all your different instruments (VSTs) that each may hold many different sounds (patches) as well as the sheet music (midi files). The host sends the midi to the VSTs, and tells the VSTs which patches to use, and combines all those different signals.

But that's not what you probably want to do...you just want to play. So software instruments come in two varieties: ones that need a host (like VB3) and ones that come in both hostable versions and in standalone versions (like Kontakt). You might find it easier using Kontakt in the standalone version (.exe) so you don't need a host. But since VB3 only comes in a .dll version you must use it in a host. SAVIhost is great and free, but I prefer Cantabile Free since it would let you save a single setup that holds both Kontakt and VB3 .dll's (I'm not sure what you mean about them being incompatible; you can play them at the same time if you wish) and will let you program a key or button on your keyboard to switch between them at a press of a button.

Welcome to the wild world of software instruments! (And ignore the comment about Macs; they do make good DAWS (another word for a full-featured host) but so do PCs. Some folks are rabid about one platform or the other.

You can "try it out" for free (Meaning the demo is fully functional -- not crippled in any way).

But if you intend to use it regularly, you need to buy it. It's cheap - $60, but not free, as this poster implies.

Bottom line, well worth the $60 for a full-featured host/DAW.

But if all you need is a simple VST host, then try out SaviHost.

(Read carefully the post here by AnalogGuy1 who goes into a bit more detail).

You're right, of course. What I meant was that he can use it for free to see if it suits his needs, without being conditioned in any way.
Regarding SaviHost, it's a one plug-in only version of VST Host, and since the OP wants to run at least two plug-ins simultaneously, then I think it's VST Host that makes sens, not SaviHost. Besides, VST Host has more feature, EG, he can even use VST FX to process the instruments.

So you're already on a Mac. Then you can disregard the well-meaning advice about excellent Windows programs.

(Just for the record, I use both platforms - so I'm not "rabid about one platform or other" as somebody felt compelled to comment who didn't bother to check the OP's platform, an i5 Macbook Pro.)

MainStage is tailor made for live playing and it isn't designed to work together with any DAW (although you could Rewire it). It will host any combination of AU compatible instruments and allow you to create presets of your instrument setups complete with MIDI channels, specific sounds (patches), transposition, etc. and you could then call up these MainStage presets using patch change commands from your controller. You can also assign screen controller for practically everything.

That said, MainStage does have a bit of a learning curve and if you're just starting out on your computerised live playing adventure, it might be a bit of a handful.

So, like AnalogGuy1 explained, you could use the Kontakt standalone and complement it with a small host for the VB3. I'd suggest AudioPluginPlayer (APP), which is a very neat and simple application (a bit similar to SAVI Host for the PC). It's on the MacApp Store for just a few bucks.

HTH,

Joachim

Thanks for the great information. I'm downloading Main Stage - $30.00. Whenever I get VB3 I'll arrange everything I use in Mainstage. I'm mainly doing it to use other sounds besides K5, and along with K5. Plus I enjoy the learning curve.