Stop me if you've ever thought,
"If only I had this particular plugin, my mixes would sound better!"
It's a perfect way to blame your lack of mixing skills on your lack of software, instead of the lack of knowledge.
When you installed your DAW, it probably already had enough plug-ins to get a good mix going, but we immediately think they aren't enough...
The Overabundance of Plugins
There are simply so many.
It's easy to get carried away with wanting the newest plugin on the market because you've justified it to yourself somehow. (And it doesn't hurt that Waves keeps slashing their prices...)
But guess what?
A new plug-in won't magically save your mix.
All the Waves plugins in the world won't save you if you don't know what to do with them. Plugin overkill creates decision anxiety where you keep testing one compressor after another. One EQ after another.
Before you know it, you just spent an hour being an unpaid plug-in tester instead of a mixing engineer...
Talk about a waste of time.
I realize that testing out new plugins to find one you really like is definitely something you should do. But if you're constantly searching for the next best thing you'll never discover how to make the most of the plugins you've already got.
And once you've found the ones you like, then it's time to have fun and...
Simply, mix.
Stick with the EQ, compressor, delay and reverb that you like the most. Save some time and actually spend it mixing, not plugin-hopping.
And if you want to learn how to use the ones you've already got, I can teach you inside Step By Step Mixing.
That's what Karen, one of my students, did. She is a college student who is about to graduate and she purchased Step By Step Mixing to replace her current tutor, and have a solid reference point when making mixes. Even with a college education, she got my book
to help her improve the way she mixes and "find the best sounds possible" as she says herself.
If you can relate to her story, grab your copy here:
https://www.audio-issues.com/stepbystepmixing/
