I felt castrated without this plug-in

Every few minutes my computer came to a screeching halt.

The playback would stop and my audio software would pop up a message. Turns out my 7-year-old Macbook Pro couldn’t handle all the processing I was applying to the tracks in my mix.

After an hour of starting, stopping, starting, stopping, starting, stopping, the snarling impatience inside me couldn’t handle it anymore!

Fuck it! I’m buying a new computer!

This had I just needed to be shoved over the edge. So…I bit the bullet and even got overnight delivery so I could finish the session.

However, replacing studio computers is easier said than done.

All the software you need to re-install. All the licenses you need to revalidate.

All the software downloads you need to redo.

And all the lost passwords…

So many lost passwords.

Once I’d gotten most of my stuff up and running I could go back into my mix to finish it.

But there was one plug-in missing that I had forgotten to install and I simply couldn’t finish the mix without it.

It was Ian Shepherd’s Dynameter.

It’s my go-to plug-in to know whether or not my mixes are dynamic enough. It just sits on the master bus and analyzes the dynamics of your mix. If you’re in the green (and sometimes up to the dark orange….sorry Ian!), then I would be happy with the overall loudness and dynamics of my mix.

But if my mix was sliding into the shitty brown color territory then I knew I was doing more harm than good.

I had gotten so used to checking my mixes with it that it was impossible to mix without it. It felt like something was missing from my workflow and I felt completely castrated without it.

So, before I could finish the mix I reinstalled Dynameter and made sure I wasn’t suffocating my mix with too much compression and limiting.

Trust me, your mixes will thank you for using it and soon you won’t know how you finished mixes without it.

You’re welcome.

Björgvin

If you liked this post, share the love: