Classic sounds & vintage techniques FOR THE 21ST CENTURY PRODUCER

Classic music production techniques and gear can breathe life and humanity into your digital productions. And it’s cheaper than you might think. In this feature, we’re going to look at some of the finest vintage plugins out there, and learn how to get revered sounds for free with the Plugin Suite

To say music producers are a fickle bunch is a massive understatement. During the 1980s, for example, we spent years trying to ditch analogue synths and replace them with beautiful, clean digital synths. Then, after we got what we wanted, we decided we didn’t want it after all. The result? Analogue synths are now bigger than ever. Those digital synths have been confined to the Mordor-like wastelands of foolhardy decisions.

The same can be said for the arts of music production and recording. As one generation fought against the limitations of the then-current technology in music making, the next is trying to recreate them. The 1970s and ’80s were largely about reducing tape noise and hiss and increasing track counts to the hundreds. We’d do anything to cut down the noise between tracks while increasing said tracks to 16 or more! Now, it’s all about adding analogue ‘character’ back into music. And production – certainly in the field of pop anyway – has become more about creating one big ‘wow’ sound rather than multiple tracks of ‘meh’.

And, really, this somewhat jarring attitude to music production is great; a result of having all of our cake, eating it, and still not being satisfied. With pretty much any DAW on the market today, you get everything you could possibly need to make music. Unlimited tracks, countless instruments and effects and way too many options. But we’ve realised that this utopia is not quite what it seems. Endless tracks? Endless plugins? Endless perfection? No thanks.