HISE Docs

Installation

Get HISE

If you haven't installed HISE already, grab the latest stable release and come on board! If you want to compile on Linux please take a look at the readme .

System Requirements

Recommended:

After installing you should be able to start HISE either as a Standalone or as plugin inside your DAW. With the stable release you should be ready to go and be able to prototype your first instrument and check out HISE. A crucial part is still missing, though:

If you want to compile and export your VSTis and plugins with HISE you have to take a few extra steps and install some required software:

Setting up VSTi/plugin compilation

HISE itself does not compile anything by itself, but congregates your HISE-project's scripts and files and outsources the heavy lifting to your system compilers. That is why you have to install a suitable IDE (Integrated Development Environment) on your OS environment and a some additional SDKs (Software Development Kits).

Let's get started: Below is a list of every application required for compiling & exporting virtual instruments with HISE . They are all free, but some require that you register an account at their company's website.

Tool Type Link Explanation
HISE Source Code Github The source code that contains the HISE engine.
IDE Application Visual Studio 2017 for Windows / XCode <= 10.3 for macOS
 The main application for compiling native applications for each platform. They come shipped with command-line compilers, so if everything runs smooth you don't need to touch the IDE once.
VST SDK Source Code Steinberg Website If you want to compile VST plugins, you'll need to download the VST SDK from Steinberg yourself (for licensing reasons it can't be distributed with HISE ). Grab the VST 3 Audio Plug-Ins SDK from their website and extract it. In the extracted folder you'll find a .bat file that you have to execute. The folder VST3_SDK has to be renamed to VST3 SDK (get rid of that pesky underscore) and be put in your HISE source code folder under HISE > tools > SDK > .
ASIO SDK Source Code Steinberg Website If you are building a standalone application on Windows, you might want to support the low latency ASIO driver. Get ASIO SDK from their website and put the extracted ASIOSDK2.3 in HISE > tools > SDK > , too.
Intel IPP Application (1.2GB) Download It's strongly recommended to use this library because it will improve the performance drastically and it's obligatory for the convolution reverb.

After installing these programs we're almost ready for compiling plugins with HISE . In a last step we have to point your HISE instance to the HISE source-code via the HISE Path Setting.

Configure the Settings

To access the Settings dialog, choose File -> Preferences or click the little gear symbol on the right of the tool-bar. Now set the HISE Path , which has to point to the root HISE -source-code folder that you downloaded or cloned earlier.

Scroll to the Compiler Settings section in the HISE Settings. You can insert your path by hand or select the HISE source code folder location with the Browse button.

In the Settings you will encounter many other options to adjust your project. Have a look at HISE Settings to learn more about them.

BTW: There you'll also find the Audio & MIDI Settings to adjust and connect your sound-card, drivers and MIDI Equipment.

Compile the latest HISE

A nice side effect of having installed these tools is that you are now able to compile HISE yourself! In this way you can work with the bleeding edge development branch and don't have to wait for upcoming stable build releases.

HISE ships with an adapted version of the JUCE Projucer that can be found @ HISE/tools/projucer/Projucer . The Projucer is a user-friendly application that allows you to deploy HISE on different platforms in conjunction with your preferred IDE.

Open the Projucer and select (File > Open ) the 'HISE Standalone.jucer' file that you can find in the HISE/projects/standalone/ folder. It will present you with compile (debug/release) options for MacOS, Windows and Linux.

Select the Release Version for your applicable IDE and select File > Save Project and Open in IDE . This will open the latest HISE source code in your IDE (VS, XCode etc..). Hit the Compile -Button in your IDE (something with a play-arrow) and let the compiler proceed.

A few seconds (and compiler warnings) later a brand-new version of HISE should jump up. You can find the newly compiled executable in HISE\projects\standalone\Builds\VisualStudio2022\x64\Release\App\ .

Installation FAQ

If you encounter problems installing HISE or face unencountered challenges please post your problem in the HISE Forum and we'll try to help you.

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