Is it really about the plugin?

Here is a two part video in which I recently watched and it got me to really think about my own personal mixing style.  We all are looking for that bit of special magic to help that next mix shine better that the one before.
 
These video were an eye opener for me,  I think we all can relate in some way..
 
The Very Best Plug-in Choice Part 1
The Very Best Plug-in Choice Part 2
 
 
Enjoy!!

Love Joe Carrell. Always great advice from a very down to earth guy.
 

My observation is that the experts seem to work so fast. Half the reason is because they start with great tracks and don't just throw plugins on because they have them.

The art in mixing is knowing sound when you hear it, and how, if at all something needs to be added (a plugin) or taken away to improve a sound or the balance of many sounds in a composition.

Unfortunately there aren't any shortcuts to learning.

totally agree with his philosophy
 
if I were to make a suggestion at all about gear vs plugins and the amount of plugins....  it will probably be cliche but it all comes down to garbage in vs garbage out.
 
get your incoming signal chain as good as you can get it with quality analog gear and a quality interface/converter and at that point.....  you should only really need plugins to help you gain control over all the pieces and put them where you want them.  this of course is in the context of recording/mixing a band.  electronic stuff often created by synths within the daw is a different ballgame and not an area where I spend much time.
 
really good source material almost mixes itself.
 
most of my mixes have 2 or 3 plugins tops per channel.  a channel strip emulator first in the chain for some basic eq and compression, and a console emulator next to add a little bit of drive to taste.  sometimes a gate for drum stuff.
 
I buss groups of instruments together and on that buss I have a good glue type compressor, and a console emulator for the buss.  sometimes I will add eq to the buss also just to slightly shape the whole instrument group.
 
thats usually it though.  kind of replicating a real world scenario where youd be running everything into a console and having a few outboard pieces of gear hooked into some of the busses.
 
I use sends and stuff for reverb and delay for if/when I need them.
 
And I get most of my loudness with parallel compression blended in
 
if I find myself feeling like I need a whole host of plugins to get any particular piece to sound the way I want it...  I probably just need to re consider how I am capturing the source material.  Move the mic.  use a different one.  eq the guitar or bass amp differently etc.
 
especially in the context of an album or even like a 3 song demo...  the last thing I want to do is paint myself into a corner by throwing everything including the kitchen sink at a mix, and then try to find a way to recreate that for the remaining songs so that they all sound like they go together on the same album/demo.  Its hard to match the feel from song to song when youre employing sixty two different plugins and turning knobs like crazy lol

Just think how much better Sgt Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Brothers in Arms etc. would have been if they'd had plugins!

Blades

Just think how much better Sgt Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Brothers in Arms etc. would have been if they'd had plugins!

I'm sure you might have said that tongue in cheek, but my reword would be:
 
Just think how much different Sgt Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Brothers in Arms etc. would have been if they'd had plugins! 

Some moron would have used Auto-Tune on the vocals for Michelle

hype is definitely part of it.  
 
Watch the videos by dave pensado.  He's always talking up a couple plugins no matter what he is covering.  I generally like listening to what he has to say...  but it always struck me as forced.  Probably for the sake of advertising, and not actually because he stuffs all those plugins in all his mixes.  no doubt he uses some, but not to the level that he acts like
 
for confirmation... watch the pensados place episode with andrew scheps.  Scheps starts talking about how he has transitioned to 100% in the box and pensado was blown away.  He responded like "surely you dont mean you dont use any outboard gear for mixing.  or what about just for mixdown etc".
 
sheps just kept saying "nope...  Im 100% in the box now." and pensado was pretty shocked
 
know what that tells me?  all that surprise in his response sure makes me think that pensado doesnt truly have as much faith in plugins as he makes it seem like he does while regularly hyping them.
 
 
 for the record....  im totally on board with in the box.  capture good stuff at the start and mix it totally in the box and you can get great results. lots of people are nowadays
 
eventually the plugins truly will be as good as the original gear that they are trying to emulate.  they wont simply be 'like' that gear.  they will truly respond just as well.  when we get there...  then it will be all about the plugin to a degree
 
 
 

 

I'm sure my plug-in library pales in comparison to Scheps.

I'm sure Scheps does have a massive plugin library, but I'm willing to bet he could take the plugins you or I have and still turn out a great mix.  I truly believe great gear makes a difference in mixes, but that it's NOT the difference in mixes.  Give me the same gear that Scheps has and I'll turn out a bad mix.  Give him the gear I have and he'll get pro-level results. 
 
All artists use paint, but not all artists turn out a Mona Lisa.  Even if I had DaVinci's paint I couldn't do what he did.  The Mona Lisa didn't happen because he had magic materials, it happened because he is a genius who knew how to use what he had. 
 
Anyway, my .02

telecharge

jude77
 
I'm sure Scheps does have a massive plugin library, but I'm willing to bet he could take the plugins you or I have and still turn out a great mix.

Yeah, I was trying to be cheeky (hence, the smiley) with a nod to the OP, but I guess it didn't land.
 
But one has to wonder, if the pros don't use all those plugins, then why have them cluttering up their menus? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

they are still mortals like us....and they love this stuff....  so Im sure they do in fact geek out in trying all the new stuff like a lot of us would just to see what they can do with it.
 
i think when it comes down to it...  they rely on them in a bit of a different way.  many of these guys already have everything they need....  so they probably arent on the hunt for 'that sound' when auditioning plugins.  but rather.....  they are trying to see if any of this stuff can actually act as a suitable replacement for the real deal.
 
just different perspective is all but i have no doubt that they tinker around like the rest of us even if only for the sake of curiosity

BENT
"All You Need Is Ears" George Martin
 

dwardzala
I didn't watch the video, but placing an EQ before and after a compressor allows you to reduce unwanted frequencies (perhaps low freq build up) before the signal hits the compressor and then to sculpt the sound after the compressor.  You can do it all before the compressor, but it allows a bit more control if you use two.  I don't use this technique much because I really like the PC EQ and there can be only one in the chain.

 
That's a great idea.  Not sure why I hadn't thought of it before.  Thanks for sharing.



This is a technique I use when i feel it's needed, using an Aux track for the second PC EQ works well for me.