Ultra Fast Plug-in Search And Insert By Hotkey

Over the past few weeks I've been checking out Reaper. There's a lot I don't like, but I definitely got impressed by the Plug-in search by name function, and wanted to build the same functionality for Logic. I really hate scrolling through menu's, even when they are organised in well defined categories.

 

So I created a macro to search all Plug-ins (native and 3rd-party) by name, and insert it automatically in a selected Plug-in slot. Here's a short demonstration, this movie is me searching and inserting Plug-ins in real-time:

 

 

INSTALLATION

 

Enabling this macro is easy, only a few steps to make it work:

 

• • Install Keyboard Maestro. If you don't have it, you can get it here:

https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/main/ . It's worth every penny.

• • Download this .zip file with the macro's. Unzip and import in Keyboard Maestro by dropping it on the Keyboard Maestro icon in the dock.

 

• Enabled/disabled Plug-ins[/i]

 

The macro is not aware of enabled or disabled Plug-ins, it's rather crude as it just scans all the Plug-in component files on your system. If you want, you can move your disabled components to a different folder. I placed mine in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Disabled. For Waves Plug-Ins, you can't do this for a single Plug-in, only for all of your Waves Plug-ins.

 

Plug-in Type

 

It would be great if the list of possibilities is restricted to the type of Plug-in that is suited for the slot: audio effect, MIDI-effect, or instrument. I haven't found a way to implement this yet. If you have any ideas, let me know.

 

Hotkeys

 

As with all macro's in Keyboard Maestro, you can change the trigger hotkey yourself. It's best to use a hotkey that is not used by Logic, as Keyboard Maestro will capture these and your Logic hotkey won't work anymore.

 

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

 

Standalone App

 

I wish this functionality was part of Logic, but it's not, and we don't know when it will be, if ever. And I wish I was a Cocoa developer so I could create a little app instead of a macro that depends on third party software and sell it for a couple of bucks and buy a Jupiter 8 one day. But I'm not.

 

However, I think using Keyboard Maestro is one of the best things to do if you want to improve your workflow. It's easy, not too expensive, and let's you trigger almost anything with anything (including MIDI). For me, this macro alone would justify buying Keyboard Maestro. By the way, I'm in no way attached to Stairways Software. I'm a freelance Dutch music producer and sound designer that happens to have a master in Artificial Intelligence.

 

Feedback

 

I tested this macro on my system with my Plug-ins. Please let me know if you have suggestions to move it from cool to uber-cool.

Edited September 13, 2019 by speakerfood

Very cool, will try this out!

 

I was indeed working on an app to do this (as well as plugin reorganisation), I started it some years ago after *years* of waiting for plugin organisation in Logic, but got Sherlocked when Apple finally added the Plugin Manager to Logic while I was developing it, and thus removed much of the upside and marketing power of the app, so I put it on hold.

 

However, as a dedicated Launchbar fanboy, I still *desperately* wanted to be able to add plugins in this way, so was looking at repurposing the app a little. The mechanic used is different, but the principles are the same - initial scan to see the available plugins on your system, hotkey to bring up the app window, type a letter or two to filter the available plugins, return to add the plugin, and it works great.

 

Anyway, I'm also a KM user here, so I'll check it out and see what the workflow is like - thanks for doing this!

I had a quick look, created an ALL category and added all plugs there, the scan is ok.

 

There were some reasons for plugins not to be loaded. Some were due to my manual renaming of the plugin in the plugin manager (so the name your macro expects is different from the menus), others where it just doesn't work due to format differences (ie choosing a stereo plugin on a mono channel - which you already know about). There were some other things too, it took about 12 attempts before I could get a plugin loaded, but I got one in the end!

 

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made and I'll have a play with this to understand the behaviour, and if I can make any helpful suggestions I will do... Good stuff!

Thanks. Let me know what your findings are, definitely useful to know the differences in names from the scan, and names in Logic. These can be added to the online 'dictionary' so the scan will improve over time.

 

I had a quick look, created an ALL category and added all plugs there, the scan is ok.

 

There were some reasons for plugins not to be loaded. Some were due to my manual renaming of the plugin in the plugin manager (so the name your macro expects is different from the menus), others where it just doesn't work due to format differences (ie choosing a stereo plugin on a mono channel - which you already know about). There were some other things too, it took about 12 attempts before I could get a plugin loaded, but I got one in the end!

 

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made and I'll have a play with this to understand the behaviour, and if I can make any helpful suggestions I will do... Good stuff!

Hi, Very interested in that macro, but I can't seem to find the zip file you're mentioning, could you repost it ?

Thanks very much.

Hi Lorenzo, I converted the macro into an application, but forum rules forbid me to link to it. If you do a little searching you will probably find it!

Hey speakerfood, I did a search... and found this.

 

(linked YouTube video was since removed by speakerfood)

Haha, nice one David

Currently trying it, does not work here, control click does nothing... I have followed instructions as per the doc but to no avail (Logic 10.4. / Mojave).

Any clue ?

Currently trying it, does not work here, control click does nothing... I have followed instructions as per the doc but to no avail (Logic 10.4. / Mojave).

Any clue ?

 

Hi Lorenzo, is English your system Language? I am currently busy making PlugSearch available for all other languages Logic can run in.

Nope, french, but if needed I can try to switch to english to see if it changes something ?

I released PlugSearch V2, which is compatible with all languages and keyboard layouts, and also works on Catalina. Make sure you follow the instructions on the PlugSearch support page if you are upgrading from V1.

interesting. just bought plugsearch, hoping to use it with keyboardmaestro and logic pro x. fingers crossed that ctrl-clicking and option-clicking will work after i restart my machine.

 

[edit], ok, got it to work. it had been requesting accessibility access in the background, which request i guess kinda meant that the app got slightly confused. restart -> works.

interesting. just bought plugsearch, hoping to use it with keyboardmaestro and logic pro x. fingers crossed that ctrl-clicking and option-clicking will work after i restart my machine.

 

[edit], ok, got it to work. it had been requesting accessibility access in the background, which request i guess kinda meant that the app got slightly confused. restart -> works.

 

Thanks for buying it. Hope you enjoy it! I'm running Keyboard Maestro at the same time without any issues BTW.

And no need to click anymore, just press control or option!

Thanks for buying it. Hope you enjoy it! I'm running Keyboard Maestro at the same time without any issues BTW.

And no need to click anymore, just press control or option!

 

Lovely! Have you mapped Keyboard Maestro so that you can use this plugin to, say, load a FabFilter Pro-Q with one single shortcut, such as,oh, shift-1?

 

If so, what kinds of delays did you set up in Keyboard Maestro to accommodate any possible delays that PlugSearch might introduce while searching?

I'm running Keyboard Maestro at the same time without any issues BTW.

And no need to click anymore, just press control or option!

 

Ok, found a way to make it work:

 

nice! Thanks for making this shortcut possible. Gotta go map some more shortcuts

Hey guys. Where can I find the Logic file that you are reffering to in the post?

Just wanted to let you know that version 2.9 of PlugSearch has been released. New features:

 

• Custom key commands

• Plug-in Database

• Support for custom Plug-in names

• Show/hide Plug-ins

• Import/Export custom names

Never managed to make it work on my French keyboard, any clue ?

Never managed to make it work on my French keyboard, any clue ?

 

Don't know what version you are using, but since version 2.0, PlugSearch has support for all keyboard layouts.

Need to try again, then, but I was using 2.6 and couldn't make it work whatsoever.

Cannot test it anymore, my trial has expired since long, can you do something for me ?

Re Plugsearch

 

are we supposed to get a notification of updates? just found this post by accident and was on only 2.8

Also is there any info on the added features?

 

Thanks !

 

Bill P

Re Plugsearch

 

are we supposed to get a notification of updates? just found this post by accident and was on only 2.8

Also is there any info on the added features?

 

Thanks !

 

Bill P

 

Hi Bill,

 

I will resend the notification, information about the new features is in the notification mail.

 

Cheers,

Rinus

Hi Rinus...just to clarify, I received no notification email at all about the update (yes I checked Spam)

will look out for your new one

thanks

Bill P

Satisfied PlugSearch customer here!

 

I'm wondering if there's a way to use it with a Stream Deck to trigger plugins on the next available slot by hitting those lovely squishy buttons. As an RSI sufferer, it'd be lovely to crave out a chunk of mouse activity that's no longer necessary!