When to stop with plug-ins/effects?

Hurlant Chamber

Hurlant Chamber

Active Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2015
Location
North West
Say if I add an plug-in to the track and select preset 14 out of 100 - it sounds decent so I keep it. By not checking the other 86 presets first I could be missing out on something that sounds better. If you're dealing with multiple plug-ins the potential time you could spend checking and tweaking every preset is huge.

Is this just a case of getting to know every plug-in you use inside out? Or do people generally stop once it starts sounding how they want it to?

Cheers
 
Sort of self explanatory this one. I get what you're asking though.

That's part of the charm to music production really. The 'limitless-ness' of everything.

Flicking through presets then tweaking is one way of doing it or getting to know the synth and then crafting and forming the sounds you want is another but simply just sitting there with a blank canvas for a few hours and tweaking knobs (*insert homo joke*) to snatch a fragment of unique inspiration out of the ether is the way forward imo. That is also the best way to learn what you are using too.

But back on point, it is difficult to decide, but just stop when it sounds good, as you're making the track you will figure out if the sounds or elements can stand the test of time, the more you repeat things and still like it the closer you are to creating a track that will appeal to others. If you get sick of it then its more than likely shit and you need to try something else out. Not always the case but most of the time it is, that's why its good to get a second opinion on things.
 
It depends on what you want?
If you're just randomly trying to come up with cool sounds then you can sit all day. But you should save your rack/channel/whatever when you hit something you like, before you tweak away and do something entirely different. By the time you're tired of fiddling around you should have a small collection of nice stuff you can write some music with.

If you however are trying to achieve a specific sound then you should basically just do a tweak, reflect on the change you made, revert it or keep it based on whether or not it brought you closer to your goal and then try to figure out what's next on your path to your desired sound.
 
@lug00ber knows, duplicate the track when you find something you like and continue you till you have a bunch of decent ones, then check back the other edits and pick the best. Best not to get too caught up in this stuff tho or creativity dies
 
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