Chapter 10 Plugins - Posted on 2017-10-12 by Mike-Cole

I think that there is something really cool about expanding the possibilities of what someone can do with their DAW. That is probably why I love DAW software so much. You are taking a software that is already immensely powerful and adding even more onto that. It is kind of an insane topic to think about. Take for example some of the stock plugins that come with pro tools. The software comes with enough stock plugins to make a professional recording and knowing how to effectively use those will make the difference between somebody in a bedroom who doesn’t know anything about what they’re doing to someone who is getting payed as a professional audio engineer full time. Personally I had owned a DAW before starting at the Recording Connection and I had used compressor plugins and I had messed around with different EQ settings, however I had no idea what exactly they did and why. My mixes sounded very unprofessional because of this and I mostly blamed the fact that I was using “cheap software”. I have however learned that in this industry the saying “it’s a poor worker who blames his tools” rings very true. Even if an audio engineer is working in a bedroom or with less expensive equipment, someone who knows how to use their software correctly should still be able to get a great mix.