plugins

some have said that men who drive big flashy cars are compensating for something in their personal life. i've always said that a guitar player's ego is directly proportional to the size of their pedalboard. in studio world, it seems the appropriate metaphor is plugins. talk to any kid fresh out of recording school and the first thing they'll talk about is plugins. the disdain you're picking up from me is really targeted at my younger self who was very guilty of such offenses, i should point out. why on god's green earth would anybody ever need 28 different kinds of EQ and 35 compressors? i mean, i understand the subtle differences between a few added features here and there. but seriously? i once was talking to an intern who was telling me about a project he was working on. apparently he was pretty proud of the fact that he had to put an average of two EQs and one compressor on every track of a full band. really? the unspoken yet implied message was this: more plugins = better recording. and of course, better recording = bigger ego. instead of spending all that time tweaking compression ratios and zeroing in on the perfect frequency, maybe do a little prep work by making sure the drummer has a good sounding kit. maybe even have a conversation about what they are playing and whether or not it's the right thing for that part of the song.

i could be totally wrong about all this stuff. maybe all the big engineers and producers out there use boatloads of plugins to hammer a square peg into a round hole. i've just found it easier to find a creative solution rather than a technical one.