Did you know that there are two versions of Blue Cat’s PatchWork? If like me you hadn't then the excellent Blue Cat Audio PatchWork plug-in actually comes in two flavours: Effect (“PatchWork”) or Virtual Instrument (“PatchWork Synth”). So that is two different plug-ins that you may want to use differently when using VST and AU plug-ins in Pro Tools.

What Are The Differences Between The Two PatchWork Plug-ins?

Both plug-ins do not report the same type to the host application: in many DAWs, the instrument version is the only one that will be listed when inserting a virtual instrument on a track, while the effect will be displayed when you want to insert an effect. But that’s not true in Pro Tools and some other DAWs. Pro Tools lets you choose so you can pick up the right one for what you want to do in Pro Tools

The effect version has an additional side chain input bus, while the synth has auxiliary outputs, so both plug-ins offer different routing capabilities in Pro Tools. On the Effects version, the extra side chain input will let you use the side chain signal in sub-plugins such as compressors, gates… On the Virtual Instruments version, the extra auxiliary outputs let you route aux signals to different tracks.

Does It Mean I Cannot Load Effects In The Synth Version And Virtual Instruments In The Effect Version?

No, both plug-ins will let you load any plug-in, regardless of its type, so that you can mix both (audio and MIDI) effects and virtual instruments in the same PatchWork session. However loading virtual instruments in the Effect version may have unwanted side effects in some DAWs. For example starting with Pro Tools 12, dynamic plugin processing may be triggered and loaded instruments will not produce any sound if PatchWork is fed with silence. So in this case you are better to use the Synth version instead!

PatchWork Show & Tell Review

Russ takes a look at the Blue Cat Audio PatchWork plug-in. It offers the chance to host multiple VSTs, parallel processing, channel strip saving and multi synth hosting in two different formats. Find out how it works and what he thinks.