How to Insert Native Instruments Plug-ins in Logic Pro

This article explains how to insert Native Instruments plug-ins in Logic Pro, including:

  • Inserting instrument plug-ins (e.g. Massive, Kontakt, etc.) in a software instrument track.
  • Inserting effect plug-ins (e.g. Guitar Rig, Supercharger, etc.) in an Audio FX insert slot.

    Note: Some NI products can be inserted both as instrument or effect plug-in (e.g. Absynth 5 / Absynth 5 FX, etc.).

Inserting NI Software Instruments in Logic Pro

  1. Open Logic Pro and create a New Project. Click the Add Tracks + button located above the track headers to open the New Tracks dialog.

    Note: When opening a new empty project, the New Tracks dialog will appear automatically.

  2. The New Tracks dialog will prompt you to choose a type of track. Select Software Instrument and click Create.
    01_Select_Software_Inst_Track.png
  3. A new software instrument track will appear in the Track area. To load a Native Instruments plug-in, make sure the Inspector is shown and that the Logic Library is hidden. To do so, click on their respective icons in the Control Bar on the upper-left side of the Main window. The Library symbol should be greyed out and the Inspector symbol highlighted. In the Inspector, you will now see the software instrument track's channel strip.
  4. In the software instrument track's channel strip, click the Instrument slot.
  5. Browse through the drop-down software instruments menu and select the plug-in you wish to load. In this example, we choose to load a stereo instance of Massive.
  6. After loading the plug-in, its interface will open automatically for editing. If you wish to open it again after closing its window, click on the plug-in name in the channel strip, in our example Massive.

You can now play the plug-in's sounds via a MIDI keyboard or record MIDI data on the software instrument track in the Tracks area for playback.

Inserting NI Audio Effects in Logic Pro

  1. In the Inspector channel strip of an audio or software instrument track, click an empty effect Audio FX slot. In this example, we will use the software instrument track that contains the Massive plug-in we have previously loaded.
  2. Browse through the Audio FX drop-down menu and choose the effect plug-in you wish to load. In this example, we choose to load a stereo instance of Supercharger GT.

Supercharger GT will now process the output signal of the audio or software instrument track. After loading the effect plug-in, its interface will open automatically for editing. If you wish to open it again after closing its window, click the effect plug-in's name in the channel strip, in our example Supercharger GT