Plugin Design.
With the current boom of accessible music production thanks to DAWs VST and AU plugins have become an interesting case study.
When I first started using Ableton Live I remember coming across loads of YouTube videos about the next best plugins, top 10 lists etc. It’s very much a product of consumer culture, and our general economic culture of perceived constant growth.
Under neon loneliness, Motorcycle emptiness. Under screen-lit loneliness, free VST emptiness?
(I just remembered journeys on the bus to middle school where me and a friend would write parody songs with about as much eloquence as could be expected of two 11 year olds.)
When I got my new laptop with my left over student loan earlier this year I didn’t transfer any if the plugins I had on the previous laptop. I usually just use the stock Ableton Live plugins, ValhallaDSP delay/vintageverb, and some Spitfire Audio pianos. If I feel as though I want a new effect to play around with, I try to make one in Max for live.
This leads to something Ive covered in a few of these blogs already regarding user interface/experience.
I think I would like to create my own plugins for people to use (as open-source donation-ware) and so a critical analysis on usability, aesthetics, accessibility and information is important.
Skeuomorphism has its positives and negatives as this articulates better than I could, but to keep it simple, I think it shouldn’t be considered in the design of plugins. It perpetuates the visuals of the classic studio without design justification, and can end up limiting the devices potential , especially when the designs are unergonomic and represent non-physical properties. Perhaps this is why an enjoy using Ableton’s stock plugins as there is an emphasis on concise design.
Last year Theo recommended Freakshow Industries’ plugins to me. I think that their distribution method is interesting as their products are available for a reasonable price or as donation-ware with a free guilt trip. Jokes aside, I think it is a fair, moral and ethical way to release their plugins.
“We are creators of subversive and ridiculous audio production effects built for sound designers and experimental music producers. We have no intention of making safe and traditional, baby-food smooth, color-by-numbers effects. We mean to dissolve the demons of creative stagnation, opening portals to new and unique sound with exceedingly affordable audio product.”
my major irk with Freakshow Industries products are . Their edgy DIY aesthetic is standout and complements their overdriven and saturated products and distribution method. I don’t however find them very intuitive to use, I find them quite cluttered and have mixed thoughts on the ‘mystical post-apocalyptic’ presentation as tongue in cheek as it may be. I suppose it’s supposed to be a satire on the aesthetification of tools, or just a bit of fun, but doesn’t change the fact I find it unpractical. I would still commend them as a company and recommend the plugins though.
I also came across a small company called Pure Magnetik that make many interesting effects but also suffer from this ‘mystic audio tool’ syndrome.
Maybe I just have issues with the idea that the sounds produced are beyond the rational. And I say that as someone who does enjoy music with similar elements such as Coil, ill have to have a think about why I have an issue with it at the moment, or maybe ill change my mind at some point in the future – who’s to say the tool isn’t as important as the music (much like peoples opinions on guitars, some people revere them, others see them as tools).
The iconography of a hammer and sickle intruded my thoughts, but its used a symbol of those who use use the tool, not the tool as the repressor.
Tirade aside, I think the Puremagnetik devices focus more on the background art on them opposed to the interface of the design (with a few exceptions)
I think the Output plugins are very well designed, however it’s difficult to see them through the eye-watering prices. They are probably one of the larger companies here though so have more resources.
https://output.com/products/portal
Valhalla Delay vs Soundtoys Echoboy
Valhalla delay still takes inspiration from physical delay units but minimises it to a simpler and clear user interface.
Last year we had Felisha Ledesma as a visiting practitioner, who with Ess Mattisson make the Fors Instruments for Ableton Live. I find the Fors max for live devices to be some of the best designed devices available. They are simple and visual, only using numbers when necessary, and have visual abstractions that are not only interactive and appealing but make a lot of sense when using them, with visible feedback matching changes in sound.