Outboard gear is now called software. Programming sounds, edited samples, vocals, even how you record has all changed. And I think it's great! At any given moment, I now have all the space I need to create with all the necessary software too. Don't get me wrong, I am still a hands-on type of producer. I still love my outboard gear, but what I love most is the capability to switch back and forth between.
If you are like me and you are trying to decide whether to keep your outboard gear or not, I want to give you the top 5 reasons that help me in deciding to scale down or not.
#1 Workflow - This is crucial to your creative process. What I ask myself every time I sit down to write, is how am I going to fly through? I think of this like a cockpit of a huge cargo plane. I have all my instruments, landing gear blah, blah, blah. I want to be able to take off, fly and land smoothly. I may run into turbulence here and there (interruptions), but at least I will be able to run my plane as I need in order to fly.
#2 Reproduction - The whole idea behind this is yet another question. Can I emulate the sounds I want from the software as I had it on the outboard gear? The answer is nearly 100% of the time is yes! The other question is really because I started out on a Korg DW 8000, I quickly adapted to creating my own sounds. So I ask myself through the software I am using, can I create a sound from scratch? Again the answer is yes!
#3 Recording- I am not going to go into serious reasons with this one because I believe its obvious with this one. The advancement of Avid's Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Sonar, Cubase etc, allows each user to adapt to how they record vocals, instruments or what have you. Choose your weapon and get on the field. My weapons choice are Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Native Instruments Komplete, Reason (rarely, but I like the flow).
#4 Trouble Shooting - A lot of people don't really talk about all the problems they can run into while trying to accomplish their next hit recording session. However, we cannot avoid a problem all the time when searching for greatness. Make sure you know what you need to do when you need to do it and what really matters most is how often. If a particular download is constantly causing you issues, remember, you're flying high. You can't possibly be at sound mind when your engine goes out at an altitude of 30000 ft. Worst case scenario, I would suggest you dump that junk, slide it to the trash and look for something better. Nothing like a bug that never gets fixed.
#5 Compatibility - If you want to bring a sound into your software or export out, can you do it? I have learned how to integrate my old outboard gear to my new software and I can sometimes reverse the process on this too. Some days I may want to work with my MPC 3000 to do beats instead of taping the keys and vice versa. I got to have my compatibility in check.
You got this and if there is something you can't figure out then there are plenty of youtube videos for just about anything you can run into.
Go get creative!!!
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