3 <dfn>Plugins</dfn> are bits of software that get loaded by Ardour in order to:</p>
5 <li>Create various audio or MIDI effects</li>
6 <li>Generate audio by functioning as "software instruments"</li>
10 They are usually written by 3rd parties, though <a href="@@plugins-bundled-with-ardour">a few come as part of a standard Ardour install</a>. The sources for plugins are many and varied; see <a href="@@getting-more-plugins">here</a> for some information on how to get them.
14 Ardour supports a variety of different plugin standards:
17 <dl class="narrower-table">
18 <dt><abbr title="Linux Audio Developers' Simple Plugin API">LADSPA</abbr></dt>
19 <dd>An early, simple, lightweight plugin <abbr title="Application
20 Programming Interface">API</abbr>, audio effects only,
21 plugins have no editors/GUI of their own (Ardour provides one, however).</dd>
22 <dt><abbr title="LADSPA Version 2">LV2</abbr></dt>
23 <dd>An extensible, full-featured plugin API, audio and <abbr
24 title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr>, plugins can provide their
25 own <abbr title="Graphical User Interface">GUI</abbr>s but may use the
26 one Ardour provides instead.</dd>
27 <dt><abbr title="Audio Unit">AU</abbr></dt>
28 <dd>OS X only, full featured, audio and MIDI, plugins can provide their own GUI</dd>
30 <dt><abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr></dt>
31 <dd>Plugins using Steinberg's VST plugin standard. Varies by platform:
33 <dt>on Linux</dt><dd>(native) Linux VST plugins fully supported (VST2.4)</dd>
34 <dt>on Windows</dt><dd>(native) Windows VST plugins fully supported (VST2.4)</dd>
35 <dt>on OS X</dt><dd>(native) macOS VST plugins fully supported (VST2.4) since Ardour 5.5</dd>
39 <dt>Windows VST Plugins on Linux</dt>
40 <dd>VST plugins for Windows, but being used on Linux. <em>Not
41 supported by normal builds of Ardour. <a href="@@using-windows-vst-plugins-on-linux">Read
46 <h2>Adding/Removing/Copying Plugins</h2>
49 Within Ardour, plugins are just another type of <dfn>Processor</dfn> and so
50 the techniques for adding/removing/copying/moving processors apply to plugins
51 as well. These techniques are covered on the
52 <a href="@@processor-box">Processor Box</a> page.