BLACK FRIDAY is upon us and it’s one of my favorite times of year as a beatmaker, dj, producer, drummer & Audio Director. It can also be a very costly day BUT as I’ve shared with many, don’t buy plugins you don’t need. Audiophiles tend to be rather “nerdy” when it comes to both software/hardware and we and tend to hoard everything we can, for often, no good reason. We buy things with the idea of “just in case” but I’ve learned over the years that if I don’t have it already and have done ok without it, I probably don’t need it (yet) 😉!
I used to personally have tons of hardware when I made beats years ago and as I got older, I wanted to simplify things and make my workflow as efficient as possible. As time has moved on, being efficient and practical can make the difference between landing a client or not, as fair/unfair as it may seem. Another reason for the simplification is that you start to run out of room and realize that you have tons of gear that LOOK GREAT, but are you still using it? It’s a tough question to answer, but the more honest you are with yourself, the better you will get at accomplishing what you set out to do musically and beyond.
With being said, that’s where I got rid of essentially all my hardware and started working “in the box” or digitally, as I prefer to call it. We can debate that choice for years to come but honestly, I’ve become so much more efficient with my time and learning your tools becomes mandatory to be able to create and produce quality results. For many people I collaborated with and/or worked for, they knew the basics (which is fine!) but could never push the envelope so to speak with their hardware because it was a long tedious process that most didn’t want to go through. They preferred to spend their time creating instead of learning. (with YouTube, that’s no longer as much of an issue). The nuisance of faulty wires, troubleshooting all the connections and more that came along with the hardware maintenance became a little less appealing and frankly not worth what I was personally trying to do at this stage of my career.
Fast forward and enter the “digital age” and the BLACK FRIDAY sales that inevitably force us to spend! In the picture above, there are a couple of plugins/websites that I deem worthy of looking at for their sales and plugins I already have or will be purchasing over the next couple of days.
YouLean Loudness Meter 2 PRO VERSION
Fabfilter Pro-R2
Waves Smack Attack
Native Instruments Expansions
Waves (yearly free plugin giveaway)
Pluggin Alliance (great deals)
Kilohearts - HAAS
From this list 2 of them have been standouts to me recently and although there are variations of these types of plugins available (like all plugins) these are now 2 of my go to plugins in all my mixes.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m finishing off the mixdown to a full-length record to be released within the next couple of weeks (before the end of the year) and I’ve been using these plugins in all my mixes. YouLean Loudness Meter 2 & Kilohearts Haas have now become part of almost all my mixes whether it be mixing down full tracks or even just with some of my beats in my beat stores.
The PRO version of YouLean is on sale, which I will be upgrading too, but even the FREE version of this plugin is powerful. I personally find it to be more accurate than other loudness meters I’ve been using, and I was convinced quickly after only discovering this plugin recently.
For those that haven’t been exposed to the HAAS effect, this plugin is truly a game changer in many ways and again, although I’ve used other plugins to create the same effect, this little baby has saved me time and allowed me once again to become a little more efficient in what I deliver. I won’t bother going into further explanations about both, as everyone has different uses for these tools, but I would highly recommend looking at them and with BLACK FRIDAY sales upon us, now is the time to do your homework.
The other set of plugins for me come from Fabfilter and with their newly released R2, this is another baby on the wish list that stacked with their 25% discount + the other plugins from their bundles that I have, the price becomes very reasonable. For anyone that hasn’t taken the time to use Fabfilter products, they are pricey, but they become the pillar of most of your mixes. BLACK FRIDAY is your day to invest in these and I would highly recommend everyone to have a look and listen.
(side note, I’m not sponsored by any of these companies so this is just me sharing my tools which I get asked frequently.)
So again, I ask – “What’s in your cart? “, I’ve shared what’s in mine!
2 other small points, I’m working on another mix to post on my YouTube channel as the views have been rather encouraging for people wanting to hear SOCA/DANCEHALL mixes, so look out for that shortly.
I’ve also got another Smooth / Soulful hip hop beat that I had a ton of fun making while using some of the aforementioned plugins.
Check it out here:
Happy Shopping Talk Soon!