How to make your own VST plugin for Ableton Live
Studio 56 is a VST3 and AU plugin that runs in Ableton Live on Mac and Windows. You describe a sound and it builds a new instrument or effect that you play right in Live.
Add Studio 56 to Ableton Live
Start the free trial, download Studio 56 and set it up. Then open Live and go to:
- On a Mac: Settings › Plug-Ins › Audio Units › Rescan
Turn the Audio Units switch on (Audio Units v2 in newer versions), then press Rescan. Settings is called Preferences before Live 12. - On Windows: Settings › Plug-Ins › VST3 Plug-In System Folders › Rescan
Turn the switch on, then press Rescan. Settings is called Preferences before Live 12. - Browser › Plug-Ins › Studio 56
- Drag it onto a MIDI track
Sign in inside Studio 56 and it’s ready.
Make your first instrument
Open Studio 56 on its MIDI track and type the sound you want into its chat, like “a wide pad that slowly opens up over each chord.” Studio 56 drafts a design for you to approve and then builds it in the cloud, which usually takes about 5 minutes.
When it’s ready it plays in the same Studio 56 on your MIDI track, with presets to start from. Play it from your keyboard or from the notes in a MIDI clip.
Use your effects in Ableton Live
Effects play in Studio 56 FX, which comes with Studio 56 and sits beside it under Plug-Ins in Live’s browser. Drag it onto an audio track, or after an instrument on a MIDI track, and choose the effect you made.
Your Live Sets keep their sounds
Everything you make is saved in your Studio 56 library and on your computer, so your Live Sets open with the same sounds and play without a connection. Making something new needs a connection.
What it costs
Making instruments and effects takes Pro, which makes about 20 instruments or effects a month. You can use what you make in songs, videos, live shows and commercial releases. The one thing you can’t do is sell the instruments themselves.