Ooo, I'd love to start trying to do better with my own production, but I use Reaper and don't know which plugins will work with it. Any recommendations for anything that would help with production in Reaper that I can get before the sales are over?
Vicky - honestly, I know I am swimming against the tide, but I am convinced almost everything can be done with free plugins. I know my mixes are no reference but this is not due to the free nature of the plugins! Happy to recommend some if you have any ideas for what you'd like to do...
Adam, I must balance the books here - since starting to use plug-ins from the likes of Waves, Izotope, Celemony, Scuffham and a few others, I have to say that it has taken my music onto a completely different level. Like you, I do NOT hold myself out as a reference point!
I accept that if I had tried harder with the packaged plugins I could have got more out of them, but it is not just sound (although it is a big part of it), it is also about ease of use, especially for those of us who, no matter how many videos we watch, and no matter how much we read, find music production a little confusing at times.
I know I have spent too much on these over the last few years, and there are plugins I have paid for that I never use. However, music is my passion and I have been fortunate enough to be able to invest in the search for what I am after. The plugins I DO use, and have used regularly for a long time now have given me a lot of pleasure, have much improved my music, and that for me is a big part of what writing and producing music is all about.