If You Were Going to Downsize Your Music Software/Plugins, What Would You Keep?

[Milkman]

I keep everything. Why would I downsize a software library? If you have trouble managing your resources, I recommend learning to manage your filesystem and/or backup volumes before errmm 'downsizing'. Data has this magical ability to be folded and compressed down into archive volumes so you dont actually have to lose anything, and then when you are looking for inspiration 10 years down the road and dont feel like spending more money, you get to rediscover your archived content for free.

This is also the title of a pinned post on Native Instruments, from about 6 months ago lol, when one of their brand managers posted, I paraphrase: "Im cleaning out all my old plugins to make room for new stuff. Who's with me??"

[zerocrossing]

my collection contains more than 10 thousand vst plugins
all freeware, as far as i know

i have saved them on dvds
twice, in case of dvd failure

a lot of them, i find...
cannot be found anymore

i learned the lesson of keeping things...
from my days of collecting cds
i would get rid of bands like bauhaus only to want it again later
i got rid of my eagles greatest hits a decade or so ago
and now i get the urge to get that cd

the difference is that it's easier to get that eagles cd...
compared to vst plugins i mean
yup, some are extremely hard to find now

for example, i cannot find the vst plugins by the developer named...
direct approach

I forget his name at the moment, but one of the original developers of html had this affliction where he never forgot anything. In an interview they asked him what it was like to remember everything, and he said that he imagined it was like forgetting everything.

Anyway that's what your post reminded me of.

[zerocrossing]

I keep everything. Why would I downsize a software library? If you have trouble managing your resources, I recommend learning to manage your filesystem and/or backup volumes before errmm 'downsizing'. Data has this magical ability to be folded and compressed down into archive volumes so you dont actually have to lose anything, and then when you are looking for inspiration 10 years down the road and dont feel like spending more money, you get to rediscover your archived content for free.

This is also the title of a pinned post on Native Instruments, from about 6 months ago lol, when one of their brand managers posted, I paraphrase: "Im cleaning out all my old plugins to make room for new stuff. Who's with me??"

I'm the same, though I leave stuff behind when I'm moving to a new computer. My bigger problem is leaving demos on my machine. I have to periodically go through my plugins to purge things.

[BONES]

People seem to take these mental exercises very literally, rather than in the spirit in which they were created. I can't really get rid of a lot of things because we have 25 year old songs we may need to resurrect at some point. I also have a band-mate who is constantly dredging up old instruments and effects in his work so I have to have everything he has installed or it's a PITA to share projects. But without those constraints, in a desert island type situation, I reckon I could get by very nicely with -

- Studio One (v6)
- Union
- Korg ARP 2600 (it's a two-fer, it can do SEM stuff as well as cover for the Odyssey)
- DS Thorn
- Invader 2
- GR-8
- Kontakt Player + Shreddag3 Stratos and Precision plus a few Heavyocity things
- TRK-01 Bass (which means the Reaktor Player, too)
- JP6k
- Atomika or Schwa Olga

I'd be mostly happy with the effects that come with Studio One. The only real exceptions that come to mind are Green Oak's Tungsten, Smaolab's Tarabia Pro and maybe KIT Plugins' Burier.

[Daru925]

Well if there is enough space in my desert island inventory, i'm keeping ableton live with stock synths (drift, meld, wavetable and operator) and effects.
And if there is some extra space left, let me squeeze in these kontakt libraries: samplemodeling brass and strings, scarbee rickenbacker bass.

[machinesworking]

I could get by with.

Digital Performer

Instruments
Falcon
Plasmonic
MPC
Hive
Diva
Atomika
Kontakt
EWHO Opus

FX
Speakerphone
Fury
Amplitube/Tonex
Limitless
Synestia

I could also get by just fine with Live Suite alone, or Logic.

[audiojunkie]

I could get by quite easily in Linux with just the following:

* Reaper DAW

And these plugins:

* Repro
* Diva
* Hive 2
* TX16Wx
* TAL-Sampler
* Speedrum 2
* TAL-Drum
* Surge-XT
* Quanta 2
* Dexed
* Uhbik
* Guitarix.vst
* Linux Studio Plugins
* Airwindows Consolidated

[foosnark]

Why would I downsize a software library?

This. Sometimes plugins fall by the wayside as I realize I'm not using them and that's fine, but I can't see deliberately setting aside/selling a whole lot of plugins. But I'll answer for my own curiosity anyway:

DAW:
Bitwig

Synths:
Aalto
Easel V
Kult
Myth
Serum 2
Synclavier V

Delays:
Echobode
Imitor
Integer
Valhalla Delay

Reverb:
BX_Aura
Desmodus
Fog Convolver
Raum
all the Valhallas
Velvet Machine

Modulation:
Efx Refract
Ripple Phaser
Tube Modulator

Distortion:
Maul
Rift
Runciter
The Scream

Lo-fi/degradation:
Wavesfactory Cassette
Plgoue Chipcrusher
RC-20 Retro Color
Speakers

Dynamics:
Elephant
MagicDeathEye
Supercharger GT

Filter/EQ:
Curves Equator
Filter Table
Toneboosters Equalizer Pro

Saturation:
Noveltech Character
Saturn 2
Spectre

Other:
Pitchproof
SpecOps
Iztope RX De-Click
Brusfri
MAnalyzer
MOscilloscope
Youlean Loudness Meter
Sound Forge
VCV Rack

[Milkman]

I always know if any software in my environment isnt cutting the mustard in a real way that matters to me. 99% of what Ive collected over 26 years is still in my primary image (I use a backup system to image it all every 2 weeks), and probably 1% of what I've used has been retired due to just not sounding good, support problems with a vendor, etc.

Anyone remember phatmatik pro? The old, old autoGAN(I think it was autoGAN? Little text interface where you filled in variables, hit "generate", and it spit out midi sequences?) from like 2005? lol no, but I do keep almost everything. I doubt Ive DELETED / abandoned a license for more than maybe 2 or 3 titles in 25 years. Its just not my core philosophy.

Ah, ok. I can play the game. I abandoned the entire Reason brand after using it for 2-3 years, back in 2002-2004. Cubase and other DAWs were just... more useful to me and my workflow was much better there, and Reason became just a plugin inside my DAW. Then later it just... fell out and never came back. 99% of everything else stays put.

[Milkman]

I keep everything. Why would I downsize a software library? If you have trouble managing your resources, I recommend learning to manage your filesystem and/or backup volumes before errmm 'downsizing'. Data has this magical ability to be folded and compressed down into archive volumes so you dont actually have to lose anything, and then when you are looking for inspiration 10 years down the road and dont feel like spending more money, you get to rediscover your archived content for free.

This is also the title of a pinned post on Native Instruments, from about 6 months ago lol, when one of their brand managers posted, I paraphrase: "Im cleaning out all my old plugins to make room for new stuff. Who's with me??"

I'm the same, though I leave stuff behind when I'm moving to a new computer. My bigger problem is leaving demos on my machine. I have to periodically go through my plugins to purge things.

Demos and orphaned projects, yes. Lol I sometimes create 20 projects in a month, then delete 15 of them after grabbing any good bits out of them. I do a lot of jams with my partner that dont turn into actual tracks and are just for the room, and I always run everything from my DAW so I wind up with a lot of various project files and wavs in my pools. I do have to clean that up every so often, but I never delete actual licenses or 'clean out' plugins.

[cryophonik]

I'm not a software hoarder, so this has never been an issue for me. I don't download freebies unless I plan to use them. For paid plugins, I typically buy things that I know I want without even demoing it. If I'm on the fence, I may download the demo, but it either gets replaced by the purchased version or immediately deleted if I decide I don't want it. And, if I buy something, it's because I plan to use it - maybe not immediately, but my intention is to use it in some capacity eventually, so it has value to me. The caveat is that I sometimes buy (or upgrade my current) software bundles that include things that I want and plan to use, things that interest me and I may use, and some things that I may never use or even load. If the unwanted bundled plugins won't ever be used, I'll delete them (or choose not install them) if possible, particularly if they include a large sample/data library that I don't want taking up space on my drives. Bottom line for me is that I manage my software in such a way that I never feel like I have too many, even though I do have a lot of plugins.

[BONES]

Yeah, I have that "intention to use it" thing, too. It resulted in me buying Arturia V Collection when it was at a knock-down price of $200 and, three years later, I am yet to use any of it. If I was ever going to re-sell a license, that would be it. I keep updating Pigments, too, but I never use that, either.

[mjolnir]

This has become a real issue for me lately.

I can't really get much work done unless I'm really familiar with only very few plugins.
The trick is that I'm going to try and sample my VSTi's as I delete them.

I'm thinking that I'm going to really bite the bullet hard and delete most of my plugins except for some basic effects that I've come to use and like alot.

Other than that, I'm just going to keep a few sampler/sample playback/wavetable plugins. The burden of learning VST/CLAP/LV2 interfaces has become too much. As long as the ones that I keep have good filters and envelopes and don't crash, then I'm okay.

So far, I think I'm covered by ShortCircuit for instrument playback. For effects, I'll keep the basics, especially some collections like DeadDuck and GVST.

The main benefit of all of this, is if I ditch the computer and move to a DAWless sampler way, then it will be easier. I'm only getting older and more and more restless. Meanwhile, almost all of my favorite music is sample based.

[EliasKrause]

If I only had Ableton Live Suite and a good third party synth (I love Pigments), I'm sure it would just be a matter of muscle memory changes to my workflow and I'd be fine. Honestly, most third party plugins are nice to have - not need to have.

Of course, the stock synth devices in Live are great as well, I just really prefer the workflow in Pigments.

[_al_]

Ozone, Pro Q4, Serum 2, Cyberdrive. Think I'd survive with that

edit:
Wouldn't be much fun without Shaperbox 3 or Melda Creative Bundle