It seems over the last 4 or 5 years the tendency for plugin makers to create emulations have ramped up almost exponentially. HEAT, UAD, Slate, Native Instruments, Waves, analogue hardware, tape & tube emulation, analogue console sounds...
How can one not jump on the band wagon? I sure as heck did using all manner of plugins including Heat and NLS, etc. Over the last two weeks though I have been preparing to move from TDM to HD|Native. I was convinced I wouldn't do it because of the plugins I was using (Heat in particular), so as an experiment I re-did a few old mixes starting from scratch using only the stock plugins in Protools HD10 plus a few additional plugins.
After finishing the mixes, all I can say is... Wow! Haven't I been wasting my time and money over the last few years! The new mixes sound more open, and more natural. Almost frighteningly so. That analogue quality that I loved so much when I first started using Heat & NSL, even though it use used rather sparsely, now just sounds like harsh and unnecessary distortion. Don't get me wrong, my clients still left content. The mixes still sound fine... but they leave me feeling almost like mixes were trying to be analogue more than trying to be good mixes!
3 weeks ago I would have grimaced at the thought of not having Waves SSL channels for my drums, or Heat, etc. Now I am content as can be with the included Channel Strip, plus Exponential Phoenixverb & Valhalla Vintageverb for reverb. Sub-mixing into busses with hardware compression and inserts (ie: Smart C1 + API 550B on bus 1, Varimu + Ibis on bus 2, etc) to add any vibe. I could quite happily sell the C1 and use the Waves SSL comp... but there is something so harmonious about having just one of the real thing, as much as that sounds like a load of wank. I do absolutely believe it is gratuitous to think you need more than one instance of a lot of plugins.
Perhaps the music world would be an entirely different place if plugins were sold by the studio rather than seemingly infinite instances. Like a plugin bundle that included 1 instances of an SSL bus compressor, a pair of 1176's, etc like a high end studio would physically have.
This isn't intended to be a criticism for analogue emulations, nor the people using those plugins. That train is on its rails and running full steam ahead. Its just nice to have a bit of a reality check once in a while, despite the growing trends out in internet-land. If you get some spare time, give it a go! You might find as I did that having all those options ultimately just weighs down your mix, time & money! There is a lot to be said for simplicity and the good ol' mantra of 'less is more'.
How can one not jump on the band wagon? I sure as heck did using all manner of plugins including Heat and NLS, etc. Over the last two weeks though I have been preparing to move from TDM to HD|Native. I was convinced I wouldn't do it because of the plugins I was using (Heat in particular), so as an experiment I re-did a few old mixes starting from scratch using only the stock plugins in Protools HD10 plus a few additional plugins.
After finishing the mixes, all I can say is... Wow! Haven't I been wasting my time and money over the last few years! The new mixes sound more open, and more natural. Almost frighteningly so. That analogue quality that I loved so much when I first started using Heat & NSL, even though it use used rather sparsely, now just sounds like harsh and unnecessary distortion. Don't get me wrong, my clients still left content. The mixes still sound fine... but they leave me feeling almost like mixes were trying to be analogue more than trying to be good mixes!
3 weeks ago I would have grimaced at the thought of not having Waves SSL channels for my drums, or Heat, etc. Now I am content as can be with the included Channel Strip, plus Exponential Phoenixverb & Valhalla Vintageverb for reverb. Sub-mixing into busses with hardware compression and inserts (ie: Smart C1 + API 550B on bus 1, Varimu + Ibis on bus 2, etc) to add any vibe. I could quite happily sell the C1 and use the Waves SSL comp... but there is something so harmonious about having just one of the real thing, as much as that sounds like a load of wank. I do absolutely believe it is gratuitous to think you need more than one instance of a lot of plugins.
Perhaps the music world would be an entirely different place if plugins were sold by the studio rather than seemingly infinite instances. Like a plugin bundle that included 1 instances of an SSL bus compressor, a pair of 1176's, etc like a high end studio would physically have.
This isn't intended to be a criticism for analogue emulations, nor the people using those plugins. That train is on its rails and running full steam ahead. Its just nice to have a bit of a reality check once in a while, despite the growing trends out in internet-land. If you get some spare time, give it a go! You might find as I did that having all those options ultimately just weighs down your mix, time & money! There is a lot to be said for simplicity and the good ol' mantra of 'less is more'.
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