Photo Credit: Fred again.. (Instagram)
Fred again.. says less is more when it comes to plugins, and saturating your workflow with too many of them may do more harm than good.
British DJ and producer Fred again.. feels there’s very little difference between plugins in your digital audio workstation (DAW), and using too many of them might be stifling your creativity.
“I’ve spent so many thousands of hours wasted on plugins, getting into the weeds with these things,” Fred said on his recent appearance on the Tape Notes podcast. “I’ve made it so that my [Apple] Logic [has] just got this one menu that only has the 12 plugins I use. It just doesn’t matter.”
He tested his theory by trying stock plugins from Logic against other sets, presumably from other major brands, and found that he couldn’t tell which version of his track featured which set. “It doesn’t matter what you choose,” he said. “They’re all great.”
“I did a few days teaching at some [universities] last year and I made a session that made a few sounds, a vocal, some drums, and a guitar thing,” he added. “I made the exact same sound with all Logic [stock plugins], the same sound with another set of plugins, the same sound with another one, and I played it for everyone and it was all the same. […] It just could not matter less.”
“You want to do the things that liberate your mind to be hearing well, not whether or not [you’re using] this compressor or this distortion. […] The thing that’s most dangerous about getting into that is that you’ll forget about whether or not the chorus is wrong, or whether or not the chord progression is actually not serving the feeling right.”
Fred’s advice is to focus on a handful of core plugins and ditch the rest to avoid overwhelming yourself with options that detract from the actual process of creating.
“I’ve seen people make the most incredible-sounding records in every way, so therefore all that matters is the ear,” Fred concluded. “I’ve seen people do it in tape, analog, SSL desk, and it’s incredible, and I’ve seen [Skrillex] do it all in a laptop. Clearly, then, it’s most important to just liberate your headspace.”
