Blue Cat's Tutorials

Tutorial - Customize the Colors of your Plugins

This tutorial shows how to customize the FreqAnalyst Pro plugin's user interface by changing the color of the displayed curves. It is a very basic skinning tutorial. All you need to know is how to express a color with the html hexadecimal RGB color codes.

If you need more information about how to load another skin for your plugin, please read our Getting Started (UI) tutorial or your plugin user manual.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro In Sonar

This tutorial shows how to use the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP) in Cakewalk Sonar, in order to modify the parameters of an effect on a track according to the envelope of an other track.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro In Sonar (Live)

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP)'s real time capabilities in Cakewalk Sonar: use it to let any instrument influence the parameters on any effect for any other instrument in a 'live' context. This tutorial shows these capabilities with Blue Cat's Stereo Chorus freeware effect.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro In Ableton Live

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP)'s real time capabilities in Ableton Live: use it to let any instrument influence the parameters of any effect for any other instrument. This tutorial shows these capabilities with Blue Cat's Stereo Chorus free effect.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro In Cubase (Live)

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP)'s real time capabilities in Steinberg Cubase: use it to let any instrument influence the parameters on any effect for any other instrument in a 'live' context. This tutorial shows these capabilities with Blue Cat's Stereo Chorus free audio effect.

Tutorial - Real Time Ducking: the DPMP as a Voice Over Tool.

This tutorial shows how to perform real time ducking in your favorite host, using the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP). The following example is a typical "Voice Over" situation where you want to add a voice over a musical content, and you want the music to get quieter when the person is speaking, and the music louder when nobody is speaking. It's a typical radio station or movie making use case.

To do so we will use the Peak Meter Pro analysis tool to control the volume of the music track with the freeware Gain Suite tools: the gain applied to the music track will be inversely proportional to the speach (voice) track volume.

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar, but you can transpose it to any other DirectX or VST host such as Sony Vegas, Ableton live, Cubase... See our other Tutorials to learn the basics of the DPMP in these hosts.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro in Energy XT

This tutorial shows how to use the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP) in energyXT, in order to modify the parameters of an instrument or effect on a track according to the envelope of an other track.

Note: this tutorial was written by Rahul Savani. He won a free DPMP license for this tutorial.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro in Cakewalk Project5

This tutorial will teach you how to use the Peak Meter Pro envelope generator in Cakewalk Project 5.

Download the tutorial as a pdf file

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro In Samplitude

This tutorial shows how to use the Peak Meter Pro audio analysis plugin (DPMP) in MAGIX Samplitude, in order to modify the parameters of an effect on a track according to the envelope of an other track. This example shows a simple ducking application, using the envelope of a source track to modify the gain of a destination track. Note that Samplitude does not support VST MIDI output routing, so this tutorial uses automation curves for the control of parameters.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro & Automation In Sonar

This tutorial shows how to use the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP) in Cakewalk Sonar, in order to record the peak envelope of the audio signal as an automation curve.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Digital Peak Meter Pro in Sony Vegas

This tutorial will teach you how to use the Peak Meter Pro envelope generator in Sony Vegas. You will be able to reuse the envelope for audio or video effects.

Download the tutorial as a pdf file

Tutorial - Using DXi plug-ins in Sony Vegas

This tutorial will teach you how to use any DXi plug-in in Sony Vegas: Sony Vegas does not support MIDI automation, so if your plug-in supports the MIDI Dxi protocol, it is removed from the plug-ins list, and you cannot use it!

You will learn here a way to activate the Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP) for Sony Vegas, but it's applicable to any DXi plug-in. Please download our freeware DXi Manager tool to follow this tutorial.

Tutorial - Real Time (Side Chain) Dynamic Equalizing

This tutorial shows how to perform side chain dynamic equalizing with the Dynamics plugin product and the Stereo Parametr'EQ stereo equalizer plugin. The destination track can of course be the same track as the source track so that you perform dynamic EQ on a given audio track. The goal is to apply dynamics processing (expansion, compression, gating...) to one or several given frequency bands only.

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar as a host, but you can use any other host provided it supports MIDI CC. For more information, check our other Tutorials for other hosts (the Digital Peak Meter Pro tutorials explain how to use MIDI I/O in many hosts).

Tutorial - Dynamics Processing and Monitoring

You will learn how to monitor the dynamics processing of an audio track thanks to the automation output capabilities of the Dynamics plugin. The interest of monitoring the compression or gating applied to an audio track is to know where it occurs and adjust the parameters to fit the audio material with perfection.

Tutorial - Real Time Side Chain Dynamics Processing

This tutorial shows how to perform side chain compression, ducking or gating with the Dynamics plugin and the Gain Suite free plugins. Side Chaining consists in using a track signal to control an effect on another track:

In our case, the envelope detection is performed on the source signal, and the gain computed by the dynamics processor is applied to the destination track.

Tutorial - Blue Cat's Dynamics Video Tutorial

This video tutorial by Streamworks Audio covers all features of the Blue Cat's Dynamics plugin. The three first minutes of the video, covering the basics of the plugin, are free. To see the whole video, you can use the following coupon to get 25% off: 0655727f37cab.

Check Streamworks Audio's video tutorial

Tutorial - Monitoring an effect chain with the 'Multi' Series

The 'Multi' analysis plugins series offer the ability to compare the measurements made by several instances within an audio project. In this tutorial you will learn how to use this capability to monitor an effects chain and see the influence of an effect on the audio signal. In this example we will study the effect of Blue Cat's Widening Gain as a stereo widening/narrowing effect. We will use Blue Cat's StereoScope Multi multiple instances analysis plugin for our measurements.

This tutorial uses Steinberg Wavelab as a host application, but you can use any other VST or DirectX compatible host application.

Tutorial - Export Plugin Presets to Share them with the Community

This tutorial shows you how to export your presets in order to share them with the community on the Blue Cat Audio website.

This tutorial uses Blue Cat's Stereo Triple EQ for the demonstration but is applicable to all our plugins, on both windows and Mac.

The idea is to use Blue Cat Audio's cross-platform preset format so that your presets can be read on any platform / plugin format combination. The presets are exported one by one as a file and can then be read on any other platform.

Tutorial - Compare the Audio Spectrum in Several Projects

This tutorial shows how to use the FreqAnalyst Pro spectrum analysis plugin to compare the spectrum of several tracks in different projects, using the save/restore capabilities of the plugin.

The following example uses Steinberg Wavelab as a host application and the VST version of the plugin. This scenario is also applicable to any other host with the DirectX, Audio Unit or VST versions of the plugin (it works for example within Cakewalk Sonar for the DirectX version). Presets sharing will also work between PC and Mac platforms.

Tutorial - Analyze and Enhance the Spectrum of your Mix

This video tutorial shows how to use Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst Pro plugin to check the spectrum of your mix and help you modify it. The gearwire.com team demonstrates some of the functionalities of the plugin.

See the video tutorial on gearwire.com

Tutorial - Mixing Session With Blue Cat Audio Plugins

This video tutorial shows how to use Blue Cat Audio plugins in a simple mixing session. The gearwire.com team demonstrates the use of Blue Cat's Dynamics, Parametr'EQ and Widening Parametr'EQ.

See the video tutorial on gearwire.com

Tutorial - Getting Started with Plugins User Interface

Get used to the user interface features of Blue Cat Audio products! They have been designed for an optimal workflow, so here are the tips and tricks to save time. All these functionalities are explained in details in the user manuals, but this is a summary of the main things you want to know before you start using the plugins.

Tutorial - Using MIDI Control in Sonar

This tutorial will help you understand how to use parameters MIDI control in Cakewalk Sonar. It is applicable to any DXi plug-in (MIDI enabled DirectX plug-in).

Tutorial - Create an original MIDI Controlled Stereo Wah Pedal

In this tutorial you will learn how to create an original Wah pedal-like stereo effect: the wah effect will move from the sides of the stereo field to the center when you push your foot controller. As a prerequisite, you should read our Wah Pedal tutorial so that you are familiar with the basics of MIDI control. This effect is of course suitable for a guitar track, but can be as well used for keyboards, organs, or even voices.

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar 5, but it is applicable to any other VST or DirectX host software. If you have issues setting up your host software to control MIDI parameters, please refer to our other Tutorials.

Tutorial - Create your Own MIDI Controlled Wah Pedal

This tutorial will help you create your own MIDI controlled Wah pedal and customize its parameters to match an existing Wah pedal or create a brand new virtual one: yours. You can use this custom wah pedal with your guitar, but it is also very useful with an organ or a synthesizer (remember: in the good old days, many hammond organ players had fun with Wah pedals). This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar 5, but it is applicable to any other VST or DirectX host software. If you have issues setting up your host software to control MIDI parameters, please refer to our other Tutorials.

Tutorial - Mid Side Processing

Mid / Side processing explained.

Download this tutorial as a pdf file

Tutorial - Using MIDI Connectivity in a Modular Host (Plogue Bidule)

This tutorial shows you how to use the MIDI connectivity of our plugins in a modular host such as Plogue Bidule. We are using the Mac version of Bidule in this tutorial.

The scenario here is very simple: we will be using a first audio source (Audio Source 1) to modulate the volume of another one (Audio Source 2). It can typically be used for side chain compression, ducking, automatic voice over etc. We will be using the Peak Meter Pro plugin, but the tutorial is applicable to any of our plugins with MIDI output.

Tutorial - Monitor Mid-Side Channels, Mono Compatibility and Phase Inversion

This tutorial shows how to use the Widening Meter Pro analysis plugin to monitor the Mid and Side channels on a mix. It allows you to check the mono compatibility of a mix, as well as its "stereoness". This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar 6 as a host application, but any directX or VST compatible host that supports automation will work.

Tutorial - Multiple Tracks Real Time Spectrum Analysis

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the multiple instances features of the FreqAnalyst Multi spectrum analysis plugin to provide you with visual help for mixing. This tutorial is based on a very simple project with bass, drums and vocal tracks. It is of course applicable to much more complex audio projects. We will be using FL Studio as a host application, but you can use any DirectX or VST plugins host application. Note that this tutorial is also applicable to other 'Multi' analysis tools such as the Blue Cat's StereoScope Multi plugin.

The Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst Multi multiple instances analysis plugin is based on the following principle (click for full size):

We will thus instanciate a plugin on each track we are interested in and then choose the source and destination curves in the routing panel.

Tutorial - Real Time MIDI CC Mapping with Blue Cat's Remote Control

This tutorial shows how to use the Remote Control plugin to map a given MIDI controller on a given channel to a different one, and change its response curve at the same time.

The principle is to use the Remote Control control surface as a MIDI CC mapper:

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar 6 as a host application, but any directX or VST compatible host that supports MIDI routing will work.

Tutorial - Level Monitoring with Blue Cat's Remote Control

This tutorial shows how to use the Remote Control MIDI control surface and Blue Cat's Peak Meter Pro analysis plugin (DPMP) to monitor several tracks in a same screen, on graphs or meters you can customize the way you wish.

The principle is to use the DPMP to generate envelopes which are then displayed all at once in the Remote Control user interface:

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar 6 as a host application, but any directX or VST compatible host that supports MIDI routing will work. See our Peak Meter Pro Tutorials for more information about how to use MIDI routing in other applications such as Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, Energy XT etc.

Tutorial - Remote Monitoring and Control with Blue Cat's Remote Control

This tutorial shows how to use the Remote Control MIDI control surface and Peak Meter Pro audio analysis plugin (DPMP) to monitor and control several tracks in a same screen. Before you read this tutorial, please read the Remote Monitor tutorial first and reuse the same project as a basis for this tutorial.

The principle is to add gain plugins from the freeware Gain Suite and control them with the Remote Control user interface which we already used to monitor the same tracks:

Tutorial - Using Blue Cat Audio plugins connectivity in Reaper

This tutorial shows how to use our plugins MIDI connectivity within Reaper. We use Blue Cat's Dynamics plugin as an example, but you can use any other audio plugin which provides output parameters, such as our audio analysis plugins.

These capabilities let you use any characteristic of a source audio signal to perform a side chain on any parameter of the destination signal. Our example shows how to perform side chain compression with this system.

Tutorial - Connecting plug-ins together in Logic for advanced side chain effects

This tutorial shows how to use the connectivity capabilities of our plugins within Logic. We use Blue Cat's Peak Meter Pro plugin (DPMP) as an example, but you can use any other audio plugin which provides output parameters, such as our audio analysis plugins.

These capabilities let you use any characteristic of a source audio signal to perform a side chain on any parameter of the destination track. Our example shows how to perform side chain filtering with this system: the Peak Meter Pro plugin (aka DPMP) is used to generate an envelope based on this source track amplitude to control the band pass filter gain of the Triple EQ free plugin on another track.

Our Logic session is initially composed of two audio tracks: a source and destination track. We then use Logic's powerful environment to route the side chain control data from the source to the destination.

As of today (Logic Pro 9.1), Logic does not support MIDI routing between plug-ins, so the solution we propose here is based on Logic's environment. It requires a bit more learning if you are not familiar with it, but it is also more powerful than what some other hosts provide.

Tutorial - Using Blue Cat Audio plugins connectivity in Pro Tools

This tutorial shows how to use the MIDI connectivity of our plugins within Pro Tools. We use Blue Cat's Peak Meter Pro plugin as an example, but you can use any other audio plugin which provides output parameters, such as our audio analysis plugins.

These capabilities let you use any characteristic of a source audio signal to perform a side chain on any parameter of the destination track. Our example shows how to perform side chain filtering with this system: the Peak Meter Pro plugin is used to generate an envelope based on this source track amplitude to control the low pass filter gain of the Triple EQ free plugin on another track.

Our Pro Tools session is initially composed of two audio tracks: a source and destination track. We then add a MIDI track to carry the MIDI side chain control data.

Tutorial - How to Use the Free Presets Available on this Website

This tutorial shows you how to get and load free presets for your favorite Blue Cat Audio plugin.

This tutorial uses Blue Cat's Dynamics for the demonstration but is applicable to all our plugins, on both windows and Mac, provided that some presets have been published for them on this website.

Tutorial - Using Grouping Capabilities of Blue Cat's Gain Suite Plugins

The Blue Cat's Gain Suite free volume control plugins offer the ability to link several instances of the same plugin to control them with a single slider. This tutorial shows how to use this capability to control the balance between two tracks (the drums and bass tracks in this example) with a single slider.

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar as a host, but you can use any other VST or DirectX compatible host application.

Tutorial - Simple Dynamic Stereo Enhancement

This tutorial shows how to use the Widening Meter Pro and the freeware Gain Suite plugins to enhance the stereo perception of a track. It's a very simple example of how to connect the measurements capabilities of the Widening Meter Pro to other plug-ins parameters:

The principle is to use the Mid channel level to influence the side channel gain. This way the stereo perception of the sound is dynamically modified, depending on how loud the mid channel is.