Hairy Wizards
Having the power of a thousand plugins often makes me feel like Gandalf. I feel like a wizard who is prepared for the whims of any client. He decides Glitch Hop is a new style and is trending on Twitter while we are in the studio? Check. I got 5 glitch filters and sequencers. Needs vintage gear but cleaner? Check. Universal Audio has a load of that. Someone wants any instrument they can’t afford to pay the union fees of? Check. Kontakt has a ridiculously good library for almost anything orchestral nowadays.
Really, though. Unless you don’t know why you are doing what you are doing, you only want a couple tools for each task. Installing more not only bogs down your DAW, but it is distracting you from your actual task more often than you may think.
Hopefully, you have already found your preferred plugin in every category here. If you have, and it is different from my choice, I would love to hear what it is, why you chose it, what type of music you work with, make, or mix, and what your DAW/Interface is. For every paid plugin I suggest, I will also pick a free plugin that can be also used. After all, most DAWs come with all the tools you’d purely need, if you know how to use them. Preference and ease of workflow is another matter tho
So let’s continue an check out plugins in every category.