Way too many plugins and choices - Need advice to fight GAS/Huge plugin folder

[worldfever]

Hey community,
maybe this is the wrong subforum for this, but i thought I'd post it here since it mostly relates to effects.
To preface I've been making since around 2012,I make quite sound design heavy music and have always been fairly productive, released on some of the more prestigious electronic labels and have had fun making music, however over the last 2-3 years, as many people here probably do, have amassed so many plugins. I really enjoy trying out new things, and experimenting with new tech, i know its not a secret that limitations breed creativity. I'm struggling a lot with the amount of choice I have for every task, and the amount of sound design processes I could possibly do, that it often detracts me from just...making music. I've tried to limit myself by uninstalling by making like a curated collection of things in Ableton via collections, but then often I do venture off again, kind of getting "fomo" for things that I know I even have bought, and installing things that are probably unnecessary again.
It all takes away from just making music, but I also can't kind of seem to limit myself, feel almost like "cursed" with knowledge of all the sick things that are out there or that I have even bought.

I just wanted to hear if anyone has been going through something, or has any advice?

[Michael L]

Never heard of that problem before.

Maybe read the user manuals of all your plugins and see what you discover.

[foosnark]

I have chosen to see the diversity of available plugins as a feature, not a bug.

On my most recent album release I used 52 different effect plugins. 33 of them, only once. 13 different reverbs, 5 different delays and 3 plugins that are both/hybrid, plus the delays/reverbs I have in hardware.

I didn't feel slowed down by the choice. I've got enough practice and done enough exploration that I have a pretty clear idea of what kind of character I can get out of each plugin. I have a habit of working fast, making a choice and sticking to it (unless it doesn't work) rather than endlessly comparing options. For me the music creation process is one of discovery, of trying something and then following where it leads rather than having a very specific intent from the start. So I'll just pick something based on a whim or a vague desire to go a certain way, and then run with that. The choice leaves a noticeable imprint on the final result, but also it's not a critical decision because I could have made a different choice and gotten a different, but still good result.

People say that limitations breed creativity, but so does exploration. It depends on your mindset. The kind of limitations I've chosen work with are things like "everything on this album is going to be based around sus2 or sus4 chords" or "every odd-numbered track is going to use FM synthesis but no reverb, while even-numbered tracks are going to be reverb-heavy but use no FM" or "make drones with a bass guitar" etc.

So for me it's not a creative problem, I just have to watch the budget. Given that music is my main hobby, I have no debts and a decent salary, and I manage to keep my spending modest with a few small plugins here and there, this isn't too serious a problem either.

[yzcoruhT]

Hi,
So I'm not alone! I've been dealing with the exact same problem for the past few years, and it wasn't until this year that I managed to get down to a functional and practical minimum by selling plugins. Currently, I only use 2 synthesizers, 2 compressors, 2 equalizers, 2 reverbs, 1 delay... etc. etc. And most importantly, I've also focused on DAW stock plugins. They may not have such fancy GUIs, but they work well. After years of browsing, scrolling, and creating presets, I'm finally doing what matters most: making music. I've also reduced my drum samples: from 4GB, I have 200MB, which I actually use all the time, some since 2008, but that bank was free, others too... you download, but in the end, you just accumulate clutter on your HDD. Limitation leads to creativity. Creativity leads to fun. Fun leads to a finished song. At least that's how it works for me. But I believe that this is not universal and that there are people who need a wide range of colors and brushes for creativity. I can make do with a pencil and an eraser. What did I buy this year? Not much, and whenever I bought a plugin, it was to replace another one I already had, because it had features that the current one in my folder didn't have. What did I buy on Black Friday this year? Nothing. What did I download for free on Black Friday? Nothing yet. I'm considering paid web hosting, but I definitely don't want to invest in collecting plugins.

y-

[billinder33]

First step in solving a problem is realizing you have the problem, which you've already done, so congrats on that.

I went through the same issue recently. Used to sound design everything including crashes, hats, clicks, sweeps, background sounds, etc. incredibly time consuming. At some point I was questioning whether that all made sense, given my often extreme time constraints when it comes to songwriting.

Around that time I watched an artist who I respect on a live stream and his philosophy was to write as fast as possible. So he started composing and between Splice, Serum, and his local sample library he knocked out about 70% of a track in about 90 minutes. Very different from my approach and way faster. 3 'instruments', and maybe a handful of FX including what's built into Ableton.

It made me think about my own process. Should I limit the number of synths I use? Should I use more presets? Should I start using samples? Should I build my own sample libs and just use them? Should I subscribe to Splice or some similar service?

I know your original question is about buying and owing so many plugins and the overwhelming number of choices that introduces, but I would suggest the issue is actually your PROCESS of writing, and that's that you should be looking at.

FWIW, like most people here I own an obscene number of plugins and instruments. I'll actually be buying a couple of targeted ones this black Friday. But I'm focusing on plugins that solve specific problems, not ones that create more choice or redundancy. For instance, as tempting as something like Nexus 5 is, I already own Omnisphere, so I won't be buying since it would just creates more choice, but not necessarily better outcomes.

I hope that helps.

[djanthonyw]

You’re going to have to spend some dedicated time on shooting out plugins in each sub category and only keep 1 to 4.

You should be shooting out in this order for:

1. Sound (tone /quality)
2. Features
3. How well you click with the interface

Get rid of the rest.

[heyheycnv]

Two things:
One is I have so many plugins that all these sales going on don't really affect me a lot. I was tempted about some synths on sale this week and then realized I already had some very similar ones. Started playing around with them and boom, had a fantastic new piece of music to build on in a day. Reverbs, saturators, EQs....have so many already.

Second is that after 30 plus year of playing bass/guitar with live bands I'm not feeling very creative with those tools. I love playing bass but when coming up with a part/riff lately I think that's something I played 5/10/20 years back. I can punch in A-D-E in a synth, mess with the sounds and come out with something quite fresh and interesting to my ears. It's also why I revisited writing songs and riffs on the classical guitar. Things sound new.

[vanerio]

Once you know what technical plugins should do: limiting, clipping, eq... you notice that 90% of plugins out there are unnecessary, or marketing traps.
My advice/experience:
- Try to learn what plugins do in theory, analyze the ones that do it better through tests, discard the rest (e.g. what should a compressor do? does this plugin accomplish that as much as I would like? Is it better than my DAW compressor? Y/N). So that implies some technical learning.
- 75 % of the times your DAW plugins are more than enought.
- Low CPU plugins tend to be more refined and they are well cared for. Choose them.
- Plugins under high prices / abusive licenses tend to mediocre or not better than those of your DAW or others less expensive.
- About creative plugins (reverbs, delays): if you close your eyes and they sound similar to your DAWs or the ones you have, stick to your DAWs.
- Think modular: e.g. last Valhalla reverb came without ducking because ducking can be done more freely with compressors. Apply that to everything.
- Never purchase a new plugin without thoroughly comparing it to the ones you already have. If they only add +5% extra, forget about them.

[yzcoruhT]

I agree with you about ducking in Valhalla reverb. For example, FL Studio can perfectly solve ducking using Peak Controller (or, as you mentioned, a compressor). I often feel that many "bedroom producers" are chasing the "holy grail" that will solve all their production problems and take their work to the next level. Maybe so. But I believe that if you learn how to use a few plugins perfectly, master them, and know when use them, more importantly, how to use them, it's much better than just randomly trying out different plugins, browsing through presets, buying presets, buying plugins because they have a fancy GUI, look like HW emulations, so they must have "mojo" in them, etc., thinking that it will make me a better producer. I myself have found that I didn't use a purchased plugin in my regular work, so I tried to put it on every other effect chain just because I had paid for it once, so I HAD to use it. The realization that "less is more," that I should organize my plugins and get rid of 75% of them, was liberating for me.

[vanerio]

I agree with you about ducking in Valhalla reverb. For example, FL Studio can perfectly solve ducking using Peak Controller (or, as you mentioned, a compressor). I often feel that many "bedroom producers" are chasing the "holy grail" that will solve all their production problems and take their work to the next level. Maybe so. But I believe that if you learn how to use a few plugins perfectly, master them, and know when use them, more importantly, how to use them, it's much better than just randomly trying out different plugins, browsing through presets, buying presets, buying plugins because they have a fancy GUI, look like HW emulations, so they must have "mojo" in them, etc., thinking that it will make me a better producer. I myself have found that I didn't use a purchased plugin in my regular work, so I tried to put it on every other effect chain just because I had paid for it once, so I HAD to use it. The realization that "less is more," that I should organize my plugins and get rid of 75% of them, was liberating for me.

I agree with you too!
The no ducking in Valhalla thing was also said by Sean (Valhalla developer), you can see it here.

[foosnark]

I have chosen to see the diversity of available plugins as a feature, not a bug.

Maybe I should add, I've been making music with plugins since 2003 (and very seriously since 2016). Plenty of time both to accumulate plugins and to get a lot of experience with them, and with very rapid sound design and overall turnaround time. And I also recognize my approach isn't for everybody.

[zerocrossing]

My advice is to stop thinking of your choices as precious little miracles that need to be perfect. The “miracle” doesn’t come from the plugin or from any hardware. The miracle comes from you.

I’m a lot like you. I love variety, new toys to explore, and experimenting. Sometimes I have something specific in mind, and then I will go straight to my favorite tool to get it done. I know those tools really well. Alternately, sometimes I’m not really thinking about anything specific. In that case, I’ll scan my arsenal and often pick out something just because I’ve not used it in a while. Then the trick becomes figuring out how to make whatever I picked work. Sometimes it’s a fail, and I have to go through the process again, but usually it works and I end up with something interesting.

This probably will forever prevent me from having a signature sound, like many people have, but it suits me perfectly. I’m also not really interested in a lot of new plugins. For example, I don’t care if someone releases a UREI 1176LN compressor emulation. I already have several. I know them all well, and how they differ, and I’m more than satisfied with them.

I also know what “holes” in my collection are, and I’m on alert to find better options for them. For example, I was really GASing for something that both did vintage wavetable style sounds very well and had a lot of audio rate modulation and analog (or analog style) per voice distortion. It really didn’t exist, at least not to my satisfaction, until Sounobuno released the Polyvera. So my GAS in that case, has been perfect satisfied.

[slackhead]

A technique that has worked for me is to setup a template in my DAW that consists of one drum instrument (with a preloaded sound set) and two or maybe three synths. Then across a bunch of channels (I usually do 12) add the same clean EQ and the same coloured EQ plus perhaps a compressor or a clipper on the drum instrument. In my sends I will choose two reverbs (one for shorter ambience / room and one for longer tails) and one or two delays. I will also add a couple of modulation or special effects on empty channels.

I then aim to make three or four songs using only what is in this template and resisting the urge as best I can to bring in other plugins. This really helps to focus on what is already setup without death by choice.

It takes me back to the way I worked before plugins were around when I was very much limited to the (pretty basic) hardware that was to hand - and was much more productive

Of course, sometimes the songs demand something extra but usually I make sure it is just for finishing touches where I know exactly what is needed and can go straight to the plugin I want for that particular task. If a song is not working with what you have setup leave it aside and move on to another.

Once a few songs are complete, try changing one plugin (say a synth) to give you a bit if fresh inspiration for a new set of songs, but keep to the limitations of what is left in the template.

[zerocrossing]

I have a habit of working fast, making a choice and sticking to it (unless it doesn't work) rather than endlessly comparing options. For me the music creation process is one of discovery, of trying something and then following where it leads rather than having a very specific intent from the start. So I'll just pick something based on a whim or a vague desire to go a certain way, and then run with that. The choice leaves a noticeable imprint on the final result, but also it's not a critical decision because I could have made a different choice and gotten a different, but still good result.

Well said. I’ve been thinking about this video, and how it perfectly matches my own style of working.



I know a lot of artists who really obsess over every detail. This is definitely a way to be, and it can provide some great results, but it’s the exact opposite of how I want to work. I think those artists are the type who thrive on limited choices. It’s just another way of thinking. There are obviously no correct answers, and “limited” can mean something different to everyone.

[DCrown]

Eat more oatmeal instead of plugins.

No kidding, I made new plugin folders in Reaper with my fav VST and VSTi only and then I sold a lot of plugins.

Choose your fav synth, one only !
Mine is Avenger plus two more just in case options.
Choose one drum plugin, one only!
And two more just in case.
Mine is Atlas plus Boom and Superior drums.
Choose one comp, one only!
And one more just in case.
Kotelnikov + 1176 emu.
Choose one eq etc.

Sell all the rest.

Your daw has lots of good plugins in addition anyway. My most used comp is ReaComp and eq is ReaEq.

This year I bought one Cherry audio synth and Shaperbox update.
I would only start buying again if Yamaha started releasing plugins. (will never happen, I guess).

I saw a video how young generation will produce music in future, well, it can be done today already.
You just need AI software, you don't need plugins anymore or the ability to play an instrument, simple, isn't it? Problem with too many plugins solved by the future.