Waves
It would have been physically impossible to make my audio gains in the past few months without Waves plugins. A plugin is software inserted in the audio chain of your DAW (digital audio workstation). It is generally an emulation of the original processing hardware desired. They are indispensable for sound-shaping.
Mixing “in the box” is a term used to describe mixing done completely using a computer. The only hardware used is your audio interface where you can monitor what you’re mixing or plug in microphones or guitars if you choose. The advantages are immediacy and convenience. One can change gear at the click of a mouse, unlike the old days of unplugging the unwanted hardware, dragging out the gear you want to try, and plugging it all back in.
Waves Audio was founded in 1992 . Its first product was the Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer. It was the first commercially available audio plugin. They now have over 200 plugins that can process audio in a myriad of ways. Each piece of replicated gear has been carefully modeled, down to the 60 or 50hz hum of the original hardware. Waves even puts a couple of extras not on the original equipment!
When I listened to the Beatles while growing up, I dreamed of recording at their EMI (Abbey Road) studios. Their producer (George Martin) used Abbey Road equipment to decorate the sound much like an artist uses colors. I now am able to use that same equipment in software form, from beginning to end (as well as many other studio gear combinations).
Every recording studio is filled with audio processing gear. It is expensive and cumbersome. Each component has its own distinct sonic character. It’s what we look to for “spice” in our recordings. The ability to change these quickly is vital. Waves makes this economically and physically possible. I use their plugins exclusively now and recommend them. They aren’t paying me for this endorsement, either!
Discovery (Pt. 2)
Another discovery I made was the in the music of Tony Joe White. He had just released his 42nd album in September, then unexpectedly passed away in October. Tony Joe White was a true original.
He was driving a dump truck in Marietta, Georgia in 1967 when he heard Bobby Gentry’s “Ode To Billie Joe”. He was inspired to write his southern-based “swamp rock”. He wrote “Polk Salad Annie” (among others), drove to Nashville, signed with Monument Records, and had a #8 hit with fore-mentioned song.
He wrote the huge hit “Rainy Night in Georgia” that was made famous by Brook Benton. Tina Turner would record four of his songs on her 1988 “Foreign Affair” album. (Tony Joe played guitar and harmonica on it as well.)
He made great music right up till the end of his time on this earth, doing what he loved. That’s how to do it!
You can discover Tony Joe White, too!
© 2018 J. Mark Witters Skyypilot.com