In Summary
With an endless stream of new, ‘must-have’ products, some engineers could be forgiven for thinking that more is more. Although most know that this is rarely true, where exactly does the line exist between enough or too many plugins? We discuss…
Going Deeper
The Big Picture
The ease at which “just a bit more” can grow is pretty staggering when you think about it. Not only does virtually every DAW have ten or more parking spaces per track in which to make things better or worse, but also we can have yet another new tool to fill them quicker than you can say Black Friday. Despite this, the first part of the mix is arguably the most important: where to put the faders. The hope here is to be met with sounds that arrive most or all of the way there.
In the absence of the speed of grab-and go console processing on the way in, the simplicity of interface preamps gives with one hand and takes with the other. Fully In The Box (ITB) productions can sometimes suffer with sounds that will need a bit more processing compared to those recorded with a console. It turns out that light touches to inputs usually have to happen at some point anyway; engineers working ITB just have to do it once everyone’s gone home instead… Even if it’s just a bit of filtering or the odd bit of compression that used to happen in front of the recording, the ITB mix can start with one or two extra inserts filled by default.
Although the aim of any mix is to sound its best by any means, those means still ought to be as direct as possible. With a staggering number of ways to hopefully make things even better (or not), here we talk about when and why more isn’t necessary more.
Simple Or Complex?
It’s well-known that being overloaded with information makes making the right decision more difficult. Doing what engineers do is actually quite complex if all the steps were to be written down - anyone who’s tried to write some ‘simple’ instructions for someone else will know that one! Keeping the DAW mixer free of clutter and using only what is necessary is one of the most effective ways to make the best decisions by keeping things nice and concise. Although the considerations are entirely different to analogue, a shorter path can still help ITB with fewer chances to knock things up or down unnecessarily or to stretch any available delay compensation.
Sometimes audio can arrive that needs more work than would be ideal, especially for those receiving files to mix. In this scenario, adding a utility or a problem solver into any chain will be a case where the cure is well worth using. Luckily, we now have access to a whole tonne of incredible fixers that can bust noise, clicks, pops, or even reverb or ambience. Why wouldn’t anyone add those to their chain?
At the other end of the scale, as mentioned the best case-scenario is putting up the faders to be met with sounds that almost mix themselves. Requiring only light touches here and there, the channel strip plugin or a small cohort of plugin ‘modules’ can excel with this kind of audio.
Decisions, Decisions
Choice is good, but it exists only to offer possibilities, and having choices available isn’t the same as throwing loads of audio plugins at a track. An example would be using one plugin for filtering, another for parametric tweaks, with other disparate tools used gating, compression, and limiting. Although it’s understandable to want to use that plugin that you haven't opened in a while, is there a reason why it’s been gathering dust? It might be better to put it down to experience, and not use something simply because it’s there.
For a given job, it may be necessary to use that forensic uber-equaliser for advanced tweakage or fixes, but other times, the headspace offered by a simple EQ will offer speed and get the job done. The takeaway here is that one well-chosen EQ window (for example) can do virtually any job; it’s just a question of matching the needs of that track to the capabilities of the tool, or to put it another way, using the right tool for the job…
Everyone will have their own preference for keeping it simple; I’m a big fan of channel strip plugins but everyone will have their own way. These often have less complex controls that invite you to make only the changes that will make a useful difference. Although the right EQ will do everything in one window, there are fewer dedicated dynamics tools offering gating/expansion and compression/limiting in the same place; for this, using two plugins might be inevitable.
Ultimately, a slimmer plugin folder is going to save you money, but more importantly time and headspace.
Out For The Count
Simply put, the right chain of audio plugins provides the shortest, easiest path to the desired result. That means the fewest tools with the most concise set of controls that makes the audio the best it can be. In fact, using a chain of one or even no audio plugins at all might be all that is needed, especially when the emphasis is on well-captured sounds staying true to the source, such as in classical or jazz recordings.
Different engineers have varying baseline numbers for their regular plugin count, but for most there are no rules. After all, who is going to restrict themselves at the expense of the result? In our article, Julian dug further into what over-processing actually means to different engineers. Not surprisingly, most could count their regular maximum number of processors on one hand, with the odd “it depends”!
Breaking The Chain
For many engineers, working with a template is the DAW gift that keeps on giving. Much in the same way that hardware based studios would have favourite chains of gear patched in ahead of the console fader, those making similar moves in the DAW will have chains of audio plugins to do recurring jobs on recurring tracks. It goes without saying how the formula of regular tools used in a similar way every time can speed things along, and the template saves time instantiating plugins or unnecessary deliberation while doing it.
Although templates can make life easy where the source is more predictable, curveballs happen. A template with a number of trusted tools can sometimes be too little or too much. When things look like overkill, bypassing or making audio plugins inactive is easily reversed. On the other side of the coin, adding to or swapping out members of a template chain can still be much quicker than starting from scratch for each project.
The Real Magic Bullet
Like any product, audio plugins exist not only to solve the problem, but also to earn a living for those who develop them. Although many developers start out solving problems and simply wanting to make things sound better, it’s just a commercial reality that companies also need you to spend money on the results of their expertise. For that, they can be forgiven, but managing the potential accumulations of similar products in the plugin folder and keeping the project in check is down to the engineer.
Following on from having a slimmer plugin folder, a DAW mixer with fewer audio plugins is easier to manage and will deliver the right results with less complication. For the working engineer, this means being quick and good.
There are some technical disadvantages to using too many audio plugins such as potential gain mismatches, running out of delay compensation, or putting your sounds through endless cycles of re-sampling or other shape-shifting tricks. The most noticeable problem, however, is an overblown mixer that looks more like a game of Scrabble than a place to refine your precious audio. Without space to think, the single most important factor in nailing the mix might not be working at its best: the person dialling everything in.
Learning what works in a mix is the same thing as knowing what not to use. That takes everyone some time to pin down, but staying fresh, listening to the music, and relying on your own judgement is the ultimate magic bullet.
A Word About This Article
As the Experts team considered how we could better help the community we thought that some of you are time poor and don’t have the time to read a long article or a watch a long video. In 2023 we are going to be trying out articles that have the fast takeaway right at the start and then an opportunity to go deeper if you wish. Let us know if you like this idea in the comments.