The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => The Bar => Topic started by: Ramshackles on November 22, 2018, 09:14:29 PM
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Daftest day of the year again!
Studio One is giving 50% off, Waves has the usual huge savings
Time to go plugin crazy!
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Some great midi drum stuff for EZdrummer at 9 Euros a pop instead of 25. Just downloaded 2 packs but when am I going to get the time to use it !
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Anybody found any decent freebies ?
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Waves have just released a new one - Waves Sibilance and it's free. Not tried it myself, but early reports from others are good. Waves plug-ins are nearly always excellent.
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Yeah...i grabbed that one too...
Also - Bedroom Producers Blog has a big list of sales and freebies... Including a Free version of Steven Slate Drums...and plugin boutique has a few good deals and offer neutron elements free with any purchase...i got that and use one of the mastering presets on every track I do.
Toontrak EZ strings is really cheap and quite tempting..
And for anyone really serious about getting top quality drums... BFD is half price somewhere there too, I think
Oh... And hello again... I thought that Black Friday was an appropriate day for me to return to forum life 😀
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Ah, that time of year again. Time for me to waste several days trying and failing to get Waves Central to work with Reaper ...
Back to my free plugins. Humbug. (Hi Paul by the way!)
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@adamfarr (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20124) I did manage to get it working with Reaper but it did take a lot of messing about and don't ask me how I did it ;D Waves Central wanted me to update Abbey Road reverb for $162 and as I only paid $25 for it I really didn't want to do that !
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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?
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Ah, that time of year again. Time for me to waste several days trying and failing to get Waves Central to work with Reaper ...
Back to my free plugins. Humbug. (Hi Paul by the way!)
I’m not a Reaper owner myself, but if you contact Waves support I’m sure they’d solve this. When I had an issue they ended up calling me, taking over my PC remotely and sorting that way. Super helpful.
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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...
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I agree with you @adamfarr (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20124) and Reaper seems to handle all vsts pretty well. Computer music magazine is a good starting point for some fabulous plugins or just Google best free vsts
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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.
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Here's a darn good deal @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) and others.
Izotope elements, worth £120, free with any plugin!
Plugins start at £1!
https://www.pluginboutique.com/articles/1401
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I think the main thing I'd like to be able to do is add instruments, like strings, horns, and percussion. I actually have quite a few percussion sounds, so I might not need anything there. I don't know about the rest, though.
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@Yodasdad (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19208) Bargain !
@CaliaMoko (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19928) Try the DSK suite of instruments. There's strings, synth, choir, darkness....etc etc all free
My other big recommendation for a freebie is the Air instruments plugin. There is so much in there including brass, some killer synth and great beats as well. Last but not least try the Thorn synth. That is incredible. The trouble is that too many toys may distract you from your main objective to write songs. Anyway loads of quality stuff out there for free :)
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Yes, the DSK ones are excellent as a starter - the sounds are a bit variable though some are surprisingly good. I have some Sonatina ones, the trumpet especially sounds good. They always need some playing with the settings and maybe eq etc.
+1 with the Air (I think it’s the same as Hybrid 3). Lots of sounds and I think cost £1...
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I was in town, so I took advantage of some unlimited bandwidth and downloaded several DSK packages. We'll see what I can figure out with those.
Thanks!
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@Yodasdad (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19208) I bought a cheapo plugin for £1.49 and downloaded Izotope elements for free. It doesn't have full functionality but it's one helluva product for a freebie. Watched a couple of vids and applied the functionality to a track and I'm good to go. Thanks for the tip. The offer is open until November 30th btw :)
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@CaliaMoko (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19928) As Adam says, some of the dsk plugins are a bit weedy but with a bit of treatment they can be excellent additions to your songs. Anyway, have a play :)
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Another freebie from Waves:
http://waves.com/lpn/cyber-monday-2018/free-plugin
Yodasdad
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@Yodasdad (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19208) . Elements IS impressive but boy is it cpu intensive. I applied it to 8 tracks and it's bye bye computer. I was intrigued by what it could achieve but to my mind it kinda produced an almost too perfect mix and personally I like to work with my own mix style. I won't discard it though as I think it's a great tool especially for vocals and let's face It, they are always the trickiest to get in the mix :)
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I haven't even had chance to play with it yet @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) but I like the sound of it from what you're saying. CPU hungry eh? Maybe it's the excuse I need to save up for a mac pro ;D
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@Yodasdad (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19208) Bargain !
@CaliaMoko (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19928) Try the DSK suite of instruments. There's strings, synth, choir, darkness....etc etc all free
My other big recommendation for a freebie is the Air instruments plugin. There is so much in there including brass, some killer synth and great beats as well. Last but not least try the Thorn synth. That is incredible. The trouble is that too many toys may distract you from your main objective to write songs. Anyway loads of quality stuff out there for free :)
Spot on @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) - Too many distractions spoil the mix.....
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...however I did go for Soundtoys 5 and BFD3, (both half price) but the distractions continue...as Alan Whicker once said, going bankrupt saving a fortune!
It's kind of interesting to hear the Soundtoys fx, I already used Waves a lot, and was very happy with them, although some are quite hungry, Soundtoys are very high quality, but in my view completely different to Waves, so they compliment them.
At pluginboutique one gets rewards that you can spend toward other plugins, so I got Big Kick.
Big kick is a brilliant piece of work, so useful, especially for EDM.
I sold my MPX1 rack unit last year and missed the verb's like crazy on Vox, but not the noisey FX, so I'm right in there, only £26 from Thomann, plus the dreaded iLok3 (dreadlock?) - currently £31 from Amazon.
As for BFD3 - I got that tip from lower down in this thread, as was spurred on to try it as my drumming has always been a bit of beat, I have to say I'm considering selling my kit (but I do love playing it), this thing is brilliant, it's just fiddly to do some of those natty tricks that are easier done on a kit.
After all this upheaval, I'm really not distracted by all this new stuff, there's always a feeling that "I've got it now I must use it" but it's not like that with me, it's more I can use it when I need it now, for my next EDM song I'll be really sorted.
I can't praise the waves stuff enough, some are really brilliant, one just has to go very easy on the verbs especially, but the compressors are simply brill, some of the channel strips and tools are also top class, don't be fooled by their age,or rubbishing it because they are only £20 each, they'll sell more of these at $29 than at $250 as they used to do when they first came out.
Maxx Bass and LoAir are supreme at what they do, just don't ruin yer mix with em.
As for Izotope, I have Ozone, Neutron and Nectar Elements, and can't get on with the first 2 but the Nectar Elements is just fab for a quick Vocal fix, but avoid the auto tune like the plague! I'd rather use the waves comps |(CLA2) and channel strips (Sheps 73) to get what I want, use 2 auxs with Abbey Road Plate and Abbey Road Chambers save it as a fx preset and then I can use them anytime. Sweet. sound a ton better than the nectar elements, by that I mean less processed, less artificial, you just hear the Vocal clear and true.
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...the iLok arrived yesterday from the US, took only 3 days to get here...
Works perfectly and about £10 cheaper than in the UK.
It's a pain yes, but maybe an investment