Itâs more exciting, educating and fulfilling to explore sounds myself than to only use finished presets. But itâs nevertheless often through these (especially from the cloud) that I learn how to use and tweak modeled sounds. YT tutorials are sometimes an enormous source of inspiration too. And of cause goes without saying (then why did I say it then?) listening to all sorts of music.
Regarding plugins; through a heated debate here I was persuaded (thanx for that @Andyjcp ) that such finished products wasnât necessary with the capabilities of the QC. Thus finding it limited my development, so I only got the Neural free plugin gift. And until Now it has proven to be true. Itâs fun and easy to play, but it doesnât make me explore the settings or implement the blocks in my own experiments (yet). And it have shown not to inspire more new riffs than any other cool presets.
No doubt some use these modern devises to hide a lack of talent or willingness to practice behind, not being able to create own ideas, sounding thus like everything else. Nothing new in the music world there. Maybe itâs unconscious, this artificial âperfectionâ just lulling our creativity to sleep? Itâs fx quite widespread in modern metal. Metal becoming the glazed pop normie conform over-consumer thing. While some mainstream pop is getting more gritty (showing a more honest and true underlying BS superficial not so romancing, consciously or unconsciously).
People are slowly beginning to turn away from what looks like the blind alley of perfection, going back to more imperfect recordings, as in the past. That hidden unknown buzz from a cab thrust picked up by the crash mic in the mix as a beautiful subtle overtone. The imperfect perfection in the teenage headphones. The little thing you only recognize when someone points it out (twelve years later), and then it forever sticks out like a concert hall loud fart in a sudden hard cut at an opera aria premiere.âAhem!ââShush!!!â
Are we seeking âimperfect perfectionâ with the human touch here or âperfectionâ editing, potentially leading to stale emotion simulation sounds in the end, not to mention AI slop? (then why did I mention it, I donât get it?)
Actually see modelers and plugins as possible enhancements, easy access and a welcoming opening for more and new aspiring musicians. As long as itâs developing inspiration and creativity, and not getting a too easy access for more superfluous slop that floods a lot of real gems on streaming platforms. Which is already the sad, overwhelming case. Yet as long as people are having fun creating, right?
Simply put, partially summoned up, possibly the most important aspect of whatâs stated here is: Use these sound devises as a means, as inspiration tools to explore and create. Not just as a means in itself; otherâs predefined sounds for us, in the end getting us nowhere. What is inside you, your connection with the source, not only what comes through someone else. Donât let your ability for inner growth only depend upon outer things, such as gadgets.
I can relate to that balance between using presets and building sounds from scratch. Presets can be great learning tools, but real growth often comes from experimenting and understanding how each parameter shapes the tone. Exploring on your own tends to create a deeper connection with your sound and can lead to more unique ideas.
Funny thing is some donât wanna find their own solutions, but wants them served on a platter. Some donât even try and it shows. Serving such is not helping, thatâs misunderstood assistance out of a good heart. Really just keeping them down, keeping themselves dependent on otherâs âexpertâ knowledge, learning not to take responsibility as grown-ups. Itâs not that thereâs no food for thoughts, there are abundances. Scourering through some elements that maybe arenât useful for the specific solution one is looking for might just broaden oneâs horizon unintentionally.
The elephant in the room here is lacking developed talent (not that it doesnât exist), similar to so many other fields of art today, trying to hide behind and/or compensate with technology. Finding the inspiration to develop. As talent of many artists develops constantly, more features are also constantly needed for those who try to keep up in their hiding. Tech devises are supposed to heighten our talents, not hide the lack of it, which is just further holding them back.
Of cause the other way around there are limits to oneâs abilities at a given level, for my own account the technical stuff can be too demanding. A too high of a learning curve, causing overload into analysis paralysis. Thus more advanced possibilities would be wasted on me â at least for Now. Simply out of my reach at the given level Iâm at in the moment. H#ll, even different levels of obtaining new stuff occur on different days, as we all know. Yesterdays flow meets todayâs limits.
An FRFR cab needs a good modeler to sound good. A modeler needs a human being to sound good. And the human being needs something deeper to tab into inspiration and creativity. Something that has way more depth and doesnât have knobs to turn.
âAhem!â
âShush!!!â
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