We've recently installed some additional plug-ins for our ProTools system here at the studio. It's tough selecting which plug-ins to purchase, as there are plenty of them out there we'd like to have on our system.
One of my most frequent questions to the revolving door of engineers that work here is what plug-ins they can't live without. The only thing consistent in their answers has been that no two were exactly the same. A few were mentioned by multiple engineers and quickly found their way on top of our list of plug-ins to get.
The Waves SSL 4000 Bundle was first on the list. As a former studio tech in Hollywood, I've changed out upwards of 200 switches on the real thing. It really takes me back to see these channel strips, EQs, and compressors. It's weird to see them without Hennessy stains splashed across the EQ section. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one brings in a
Bernoulli disk. There's gotta be a hack out there to get the little chirping sounds of the 4K computer when you type. I've got some Neve jokes too, so you can look forward to that.
At one point in my experiences, I assisted John Lutrelle in manufacturing a SSL compressor and installing it in a Neve VR 72-channel console. So, if you are in
Westlake Audio's Studio D, that's what the little "JL" in the bottom-right corner of the meter means. That is, if it is still in there and didn't blow up or something. If it did blow up, well, that's a "JL" and not a "CJ" on that meter. If it's still there...the whole thing was really my idea.
Getting back on track... We've just installed the Line 6 Echo Farm plug-in as well. This thing is way cooler than any text describing it can be. I will say the Maestro Echoplex modeling alone is worth the price of the plug-in. From the
Digidesign website:
Echo Models based on: Maestro Echoplexes, Roland RE-101 Space Echo, Boss DM-2, Electro-Harmonix Memoryman, TC Electronics 2290, plus Lo Res Delay, Filter-Sweep Echo, and more. Suffice to say that these delays have enough meat on them to make vegetarians think twice before using them.
Installing SoundBlender was our more economical answer to having the types of effects typically associated with the Eventide H3000. From time to time, when I was working for
Westake Audio we would put a H3000 in-line with the building's paging system. At completely random times, we would take it out of bypass mode and hear the receptionist announce a phone call on line two as though she had taken a big hit of helium. I understand the H3000 was also very useful in the studio. From the
Soundtoys website:
Pulled from the classic Eventide H3000 and DSP4000 that our engineers created, this is an extremely versatile, professional, multi-effect processor. Already used by top audio engineers, guitarists, sound designers, and remixers, SoundBlender lets you have that pro sound for your mixes, too. Dual Delay, pitch-shifting, filters, chorus, flange, intelligent pitch-shifting and more.For those of you playing the home-version of the game, our list of plug-ins is now as follows:
Access Virus Indigo
Auto-Tune 4
Bruno/Reso
Cosmonaut Voice
D-Fi
Fairchild 660
Fairchild 670
Focusrite d2/d3
Impact
JOEMEEK SC2 Compressor
JOEMEEK VC5 Meequalizer
Line 6 Amp Farm HD
Line 6 Echo Farm
Maxim
McDSP FilterBank HD
McDSP MC2000 HD
Moogerfooger 12-Stage Phaser
Moogerfooger Analog Delay
Moogerfooger Lowpass Filter
Moogerfooger Ring Modulator
Purple Audio MC77
Reverb One
ReVibe (of course)
SansAmp PSA-1
Smack!
Sonic NoNoise
SoundBlenderHD
SoundReplacer
Synchronic
Tel-Ray Variable Delay
The Forte Suite
Voce Chorus/Vibrato
Voce Spin
Waves 5.0
Waves SSL Bundle
I can't believe I made it through this post without one
Glade joke. Well, almost.
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