I’m working on a new trance-style project. I got the inspiration when I was sent a youtube clip of Armin Van Buuren. It was one of his “in the studio” segments where he talks about how he goes about producing various parts of tracks, as well as where his inspiration came from for said tracks (this youtube video, to be exact). This series is a pretty cool set of videos where Armin likes to talk about his creative process, and you get to see the raw audio of his track in its original layers. This is where I first heard about the Fab Filter.
I downloaded the demo of FabFilter. I have to say, it’s pretty impressive pack of software. That is to say, once I got everything working. One of the biggest issues with this set, is the mysterious compatibility issues everyone seems to be having with 32-bit vs 64-bit. Typically, you’d be thinking of operating system when you download this program. I have a 64-bit operating system, so I should download the 64-bit version, right? Wrong! You need to download the version that matches the DAW you are using. For example, if you are using Logic Pro , it will work just fine as that is a 64-bit program ( Logic Pro was coded 64-bit). Ableton Live on the other hand, is 32-bit , and that information isn’t in the forefront.
In order for you to use FabFilter with Ableton Live, you absolutely HAVE to make sure you download and install the 32-bit version, even if your computer is 64-bit (not to get confused). I had to troubleshoot this for a while and thought it might be important to pass along this information, because this is honestly this looks to be a fantastic set of tools, and I’ll hopefully get the hang of everything before my trial time expires.
How to download FabFilter and get started:
Step 1: Visit the FabFilter Website (here) and go to Downloads
Step 2: Grab the Full Downloader (Honestly, why not? Give everything a try!)
-> Download for 32-bit (Ableton users!)
Step 3: Install in the same place the rest of your VSTs are hiding
Step 4: Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts!