As we roll into cheap plug in season…

[zeronyne]

Those of you who play PC videos games know what I’m going to say.

 

Hi there, and happy holidays. I hope you’ve had a nice autumn and are rolling into winter with health and happiness.

 

A bit of advice from a guy who has been around a block a few times.

 

I love buying stuff. I recognized my addiction to purchasing things early enough in my life to realize I was going to have to plan carefully for my habits…I went so far as to choose a lucrative career over things I loved to ensure my ability to buy stuff. So don’t think of this as any indictment of consumerism or capitalism.

 

You are most likely being bombarded with alarmingly cheap plug in deals. I bought the entire Urgitone catalog for $99, and of course, my wallet-emptying round of DAW updates is nearing its conclusion for this year. But before you spend a penny on new plug ins, I ask you to try a little thing…

 

Open your DAW. Look at your list of instruments and effects and do a quick calculation of how many of those plug ins you intentionally purchased and have never used.

 

Okay. NOW go crazy and buy shit. Go ahead and be a consumer…but just be PRESENT as you do it.

[Greg Mein]

I bought a new UAD plugin for use with my Apollo Solo a couple months back but it's never gotten installed and I honestly don't even remember which one it was off the top of my head.

I have a solid excuse though, my shoulder was destroyed back in June and more recently has endured a complete hardware replacement. I have been able to play some guitar during the in between time but keyboards really requires a shoulder and keys are essential to me for recording. I should finally be on the downhill slope now and look forward to recording some fab ideas I have. And I'll probably buy some more plugins.

[Philbo King]

So far I've never bought a plugin.  But if I did it would be from Tokyo Dawn.

[Stokely]

Yeah, I bought a few things, as I do every year.

I don't really spend lots of money on "fun stuff" all that often...don't eat out much, don't go out much period other than gigs... and have gig money for plugins and other music items, so this is my time to be a consumer     I have nothing hardware that I need for gigging.  In fact I should probably sell a couple of keyboards.

Still, trying not to just get things because they are a great sale.  Been there done that. I've got at least four channel strip plugins and only ever use one, just as a small example.  And I hardly "need" that one to make music.  They were on sale and everyone raved about them.   But hey, live and learn.   It's the same reason I have had (over the years) a lot of shirts that don't make it out of the closet, bought because they were 90% on the clearance rack.   Better to buy one nice one that you actually like and will wear, regardless of whether its on sale.

[Greg Mein]

Ok so I took advantage of the 3 for $50 at Waves today, don't judge me.

[David Emm]

I'm going to buy a new Mac, so everything will stem from that. I have my eye on a couple of things I think I'd actually use, but first, I'll stabilize what I already have. I've already done a healthy pile of housecleaning, so my sonic palette is in balance. Part of that comes from making good use of physical modelers (tiny system footprints) and low-fat synths like Cherry Audio's.  

[ProfD]

Fortunately, I never jumped into DAW and software to the point of upgrades and purchasing plug-ins Syndrome (PPIS) FFS.🤣

 

About 2 decades ago, thought I would have been a heavy DAW user. Never materialized.

 

I never use the Ableton on my laptop. MPC Software and Audacity cover my needs. I'm immune to cheap plug-ins.😁😎

[David Emm]

11 hours ago, ProfD said:

Fortunately, I never jumped into DAW and software to the point of upgrades and purchasing plug-ins Syndrome (PPIS) FFS.🤣

About 2 decades ago, thought I would have been a heavy DAW user. Never materialized.

I never use the Ableton on my laptop. MPC Software and Audacity cover my needs. I'm immune to cheap plug-ins.😁😎

 

(GASP!) Why you filthy heretic!

 

Eh, I understand. I felt much the same, until I got sick of multi-tracking to tape. I swore to my best musician pal that I would never tackle sequencers, mainly because of my dubious time with a hardware ARP Sequencer. I gradually leaned towards a DAW to escape the madness of hardware sync. After some initial DAW Madness, I took up Logic. I'm no expert, but I've learned to make it behave as a flawless digital reel-to-reel. It DOESN'T GET IN MY WAY. Praise the Lard!

 

One high point: some of those cheap plug-ins can be godsends. Eons ago, a friend owned a 19" Ibanez Harmonic Delay. I was gassed by even the simpler results. Now, that and far more are bursting out of every Internet pore. Building a custom effects rack is a snap, even with just the bundled goods. You can turn the most anemic monosynth into a beast easily.

 

I had a few years of software bloat. I mean, SHINY and all! Its led to a pretty good place, though. Being able to edit with razor precision is the holy grail. Well, that and having a legendary synth for each finger and toe. 

 

Your approach makes sense. Mine is simply different because I bear many scars from the Floppy Disk Wars.        

 

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, David Emm said:

(GASP!) Why you filthy heretic!

 

Eh, I understand. I felt much the same, until I got sick of multi-tracking to tape.

 

...I've learned to make it behave as a flawless digital reel-to-reel. It DOESN'T GET IN MY WAY. Praise the Lard!

 

Your approach makes sense. Mine is simply different because I bear many scars from the Floppy Disk Wars.   

Today's technology is fantastic compared to the stuff we used to cut our teeth back in the old days.😁

 

Nowadays, I focus on music at the piano and use the DAW as a tape machine and editing tool.

 

That way, I don't end up with gear analysis paralysis and/or landing in plug-in purgatory.🤣😎

[Anderton]

On 11/29/2024 at 4:19 PM, Greg Mein said:

Ok so I took advantage of the 3 for $50 at Waves today, don't judge me.

 

Waves makes some plugins with unique functionality, so it's a lot easier to justify those. I lean heavily on Waves plugins for what I do. For example, a lot of companies make multiband dynamics, but the L3-16 ends up in all my mastering projects. Also, I get a lot of mileage out of the Codex synth, even though it's been around forever and seems to fly under everyone's radar.