Some time ago I went plugin happy. Actually it was more plugin mad. I trolled through sites like VST Planet and Audio Mastermind searching for the elusive plugin that would make my recordings sparkle. Just the faint promise of breathing life into the guitars, or polishing the vocals was enough to sell me. Soon my plugin folder was awash with oddly named effects that rarely did anything discernible. Most I never use, but I was comforted by the thought that I could if I wanted to.
The tyranny of choice. That’s what it comes down to. I played around in a local music shop with a Line6 Pod and was struck by the number of combinations available. With 32 amps and 60+ effects that is over 1920 distinct combinations. It would take quite a while to plough through them all. Pretty soon you’re not playing, but rather playing around, trying to settle on the right sound.
If I had to offer advice to those who are looking to jump into the effect market to tweak their music it would be this: Think of how you want to sound first, then limit your choices to put you in that direction. Good recording and good production may dupe people briefly into liking what is otherwise flat material. One can spend great amounts of time getting the right sound to liven up that which is flawed by bad playing, recording, composition, expression, or whatever. The audience is infinitely more forgiving of sonically imperfect experiences than we are apt to believe, provided the performer can entertain that is.
So forget the giant multi-effect boxes with their plethora of distraction. Instead polish what you have. Learn to compose a song that will stand on its own, without the aid of high production value. Learn how to perform in a way that is expressive without the use of an expression pedal. You will waste less time flipping through presets and twisting knobs, focusing so intently on the quality of your sound, and will spend more time focusing on the quality of your music.
