# Software & Plugin Strategy A living reference for what software I own, when to reach for what, and default signal chains. See also [[Recording Studio Setup]] for hardware and [[Studio Routing & Monitoring Setup]] for routing. --- ## What I Make **Mostly solo (some with Avi):** Dense layered electronic — synths, pads, evolving textures, rhythmic synths, bass. Influences: Monolake, Jarre, Future Sound of London, Tangerine Dream. Experimental/modular work from the Eurorack. **With Avi:** Rock — classic and prog rock. Guitar-driven, more traditional arrangement. --- ## My Plugin Ecosystems ### Ableton Live 12 Suite - All built-in instruments (Drift, Wavetable, Operator, Analog, Collision, etc.) - All built-in audio effects - Suite packs (orchestral, synth, drum kits, loops) - Max for Live devices ### Native Instruments Komplete 26 Ultimate - Kontakt 8 + full library (orchestral, cinematic, ethnic, sampled instruments) - Massive X (wavetable synthesis) - FM8 (FM synthesis) - Absynth 6 (semi-modular, atmospheric) - Reaktor - Guitar Rig 7 Pro - Battery (drums) - Effects (Raum, Replika XT, Phasis, Supercharger, etc.) - 100+ Expansions (Maschine-oriented — not relevant, no Maschine hardware) - iZotope Elements (redundant — own full versions) **Komplete Strategy: What to actively use vs. ignore** Active use — instruments that justify the license: | Instrument | Role | |---|---| | Kontakt 8 | Platform for orchestral/cinematic/sampled content — both NI and third-party libraries | | Massive X | Sound design, basses, leads, wavetable | | FM8 | Electric pianos, bells, FM textures | | Raum | Reverb with character (especially on synths) | | Replika XT | Delay with more flavor than Ableton stock | | Guitar Rig 7 | Re-amping recorded DI guitar when Pod Go isn't right | | Session Guitarist / Bassist | Quick realistic guitar/bass sketch parts | | Absynth 6 | Atmospheric pads, evolving textures | Ignore — covered better by other parts of the setup: - Monark → real Sub37 + Arturia Mini V - Retro Machines / Super 8 / Reaktor synths → Analog Lab Pro - Battery → Ableton Drum Racks (more integrated) - Expansions → no Maschine, Maschine-oriented content - iZotope Elements → own full Ozone/Neutron/RX **Upgrade philosophy:** No obligation to upgrade every cycle. Kontakt libraries keep working. Upgrade when Kontakt compatibility becomes a blocker (third-party libraries requiring a newer Kontakt version). **Kontakt as a platform (not just NI libraries):** Kontakt's biggest long-term value is as the *host* for third-party sample libraries. The ecosystem is massive — Spitfire, Cinesamples, 8Dio, Output, Heavyocity, etc. all build on Kontakt. Keeping Kontakt current matters more than whether you use NI's own libraries. Think of it like this: - NI's included orchestral libs (Symphony Series, Session Strings, etc.) = solid, professional, included in what you own - Third-party Kontakt libs = where you go when you need something specific (a particular string tone, hybrid cinematic percussion, niche ethnic instruments) - Keeping Kontakt updated = keeping the door open for any third-party library that catches your ear So the value chain is: **Kontakt (platform) > third-party libraries you choose > NI's bundled libraries > everything else in Komplete.** ### Arturia - Analog Lab Pro (full preset browser, deep editing) - V Collection 11 Intro (subset of vintage synth/keys recreations) - Sound banks: Floyd Tribute packs, Explorations Vol. 6 - *No FX Collection* ### iZotope - Ozone (mastering) - Neutron (mixing — channel strip, EQ, compressor, gate, exciter) - RX (audio repair — de-noise, de-click, spectral editing) --- ## When to Reach for What | Need | First choice | Why | Backup | |------|-------------|-----|--------| | Piano / Rhodes / Wurli | Arturia (V Collection) | Matches Astrolab patches, consistent sound | Ableton Suite packs | | Vintage analog synths | Arturia (V Collection) | Juno, Prophet, Jupiter, Moog emulations | NI Monark / Massive X | | Modern sound design / wavetable | Ableton Wavetable or Drift | Lightweight, integrated, fast | Massive X | | FM synthesis | NI FM8 | Deep FM with a usable UI | Ableton Operator | | Orchestral / cinematic | NI Kontakt libraries | Deepest, most expressive | Ableton Orchestral Suite pack | | Drums (electronic) | Ableton Drum Racks + packs | Drag-and-drop, fast iteration | Battery | | Drums (acoustic/sampled) | NI Abbey Road / Studio Drummer | Realistic kits, round-robins | Ableton packs | | Guitar amp/cab | Line6 Pod Go (hardware) | Already in signal chain | Guitar Rig (for re-amping ITB) | | Sampling / chopping | Ableton Simpler/Sampler | Native workflow, warping | Kontakt | | Loops & arrangement starters | Ableton packs | Built for the DAW | Splice (if subscribed) | --- ## Ableton Browser Organization Goal: open Ableton → click a Collection color → see only what matters → start making music. No scrolling through 150 plugins. **Status (Sep 2026):** Collections built out as planned, with minor differences. Big-browser preset favoriting (Analog Lab Pro, Kontakt, Massive X/FM8) not done yet — next pass. **Shift: using the Komplete Kontrol plugin itself much less.** Loading NI instruments directly (Kontakt, Massive X, FM8 as their own plugins) rather than routing them through the Komplete Kontrol wrapper. Fits the lean-and-direct philosophy and the Arturia-first move away from NI as the central hub. ### Collections (colored labels by role, not brand) | Color | Label | What goes in it | |---|---|---| | 🔴 Red | Keys & Synths | Analog Lab Pro, Massive X, FM8, Drift, Wavetable | | 🟠 Orange | Orchestral & Sampled | Kontakt (+ specific patches) | | 🟡 Yellow | Drums | Drum Rack presets, 808/909 kits | | 🟢 Green | Guitar & Bass | Guitar Rig, Session Guitarist, Session Bassist | | 🔵 Blue | Mix Tools | Neutron, EQ Eight, Compressor, Glue Compressor, Utility | | 🟣 Purple | Creative FX | Raum, Replika XT, Echo, Spectral Time, Grain Delay, Corpus, Resonators, Saturator, Hybrid Reverb | | ⚪ White | Master | Ozone, Glue Compressor, EQ Eight | **Kontakt spans two collections (guitar problem).** Ableton labels the Kontakt *plugin*, not the libraries inside it, so Kontakt can carry only one color while its content spans Orange (orchestral/sampled) and Green (guitar). Resolution — treat libraries as content in the preset/Rack layer, not the plugin-color layer: - **Now (#1):** Kontakt labeled Orange (its center of gravity). Guitar (and other) libraries saved as favorites/presets in the User Library and dropped into the relevant collection (Green for guitar). - **Working toward (#2):** promote the keepers to saved Ableton Instrument Racks (macro controls + one-click recall, the dial-up-Rack pattern) and color those directly. Let usage decide what earns a Rack — same logic as the 3-sessions favorites rule. - **General Kontakt policy:** this favorite-now, promote-to-Rack-later approach applies to Kontakt across the board, not just guitar. So Green Guitar & Bass holds three kinds of thing: Guitar Rig, the Session Guitarist/Bassist plugins, and saved Kontakt-guitar presets/Racks. ### Favorite presets within each plugin - **Analog Lab Pro:** Star the patches you actually reach for — don't browse 10,000 presets every session - **Kontakt:** Save go-to orchestral/cinematic patches as Kontakt Multis or favorites - **Massive X / FM8:** Star or tag starting-point presets for common needs (bass, lead, pad, pluck) - **Ableton instruments:** Save tweaked versions of Drift/Wavetable patches as User presets ### FX favorites to set up **Raum** — save presets for: - Large hall (pad wash, long tail) - Shimmer (pitched feedback, ambient) - Small reflective (metallic, tight) **Replika XT** — save presets for: - Tape echo (warm, saturated repeats — Jarre-style) - Diffusion delay (smeared, ambient) - Tempo-synced rhythmic (dotted 8th, ping-pong) **Echo** — save presets for: - Dub delay (heavy feedback, filter sweep) - Subtle stereo widener (short delay, low feedback) **Spectral Time** — save presets for: - Granular freeze (sustain a moment indefinitely) - Pitch drift (detuned, evolving texture) **Grain Delay** — save presets for: - Glitchy stutter (short grains, random pitch) - Textural wash (long grains, high feedback) **Saturator** — save presets for: - Soft warmth (Soft Sine curve, low drive — pseudo-tape) - Aggressive crunch (for bass/leads) **Neutron** — save presets for: - Default channel strip (flat starting point — Gate off, EQ + Compressor active) - Dense mix carving (dynamic EQ engaged, Masking-ready) - Rock channel (more aggressive compression, exciter on) ### The rule If you haven't reached for it in 3 sessions, it doesn't belong in favorites. Keep it tight. Revisit quarterly. --- ## Default Signal Chains (TO BUILD OUT) ### Channel Strip (every track) **Use Neutron as the default channel strip on all tracks.** Drop it on, use the Assistant for a starting point, then sculpt. ``` [Source] → Neutron (Gate → EQ → Compressor → Exciter → Limiter) ``` Why this works for dense layered music: with 15–20+ synth/pad layers competing for space, Neutron's EQ + dynamic EQ + Masking feature (shows frequency collisions between tracks) is exactly the tool for carving space without killing the texture. The alternative — manually EQ-ing each layer with stock EQ Eight — works but takes 3x longer. **Workflow tip:** Load Neutron first, get the balance/separation right, *then* add creative FX after it in the chain. ### Creative FX (after Neutron on tracks that need character) ``` [Source] → Neutron → [one or more of:] - Raum (space, atmosphere) - Replika XT (rhythmic delay, tape echo) - Ableton Echo (dub-style, feedback manipulation) - Spectral Time (granular freeze, pitch drift) - Grain Delay (textural, glitchy) - Corpus / Resonators (metallic, physical resonance) ``` For the Monolake/FSOL/TD sound, Spectral Time and Grain Delay are underused gems in your setup — they do the kind of evolving, unpredictable processing that suits ambient/experimental work. ### Bus Processing ``` Drum/Rhythm Bus → Drum Buss (Ableton) or Glue Compressor (parallel) Synth/Pad Bus → Glue Compressor → Saturator (Soft Sine, subtle) → Raum (send) Bass Bus → Neutron (focused low-end EQ + compression) Guitar Bus (rock sessions) → Glue Compressor → Saturator → light Hybrid Reverb ``` ### Send Effects (shared across tracks) ``` Send A → Raum (large space — hall/shimmer for pads) Send B → Replika XT (tempo-synced delay) Send C → Hybrid Reverb (shorter, for placing things in a room — rock sessions) ``` Using sends for reverb/delay keeps the dense layers from turning to mud — each track gets a taste of the same space rather than its own isolated reverb. ### Master Chain ``` EQ Eight (corrective) → Glue Compressor (bus glue, 2–3 dB) → Ozone (final master) ``` Ozone modules to default to: - EQ (broad tonal shaping) - Dynamics (multiband, gentle) - Imager (width) - Maximizer (loudness, last in chain) --- ## Open Questions / Things to Sort Out - [ ] V Collection Pro upgrade — revisit during a sale. For now, Analog Lab Pro presets + NI deep instruments (Massive X, FM8) cover the gap. Upgrade makes sense if Astrolab workflow keeps hitting the "can't deep-edit" wall. - [x] **Ableton Racks + template — decided (Aug 2026).** Split the job by scope: - **Template (set-level):** master chain (EQ Eight → Glue Compressor → Ozone), the three send effects (Raum / Replika XT / Hybrid Reverb), and bus groups all live in a project template, since sends and returns exist at the set level, not on a track. Already work this way. - **Racks (per-track, dial up when wanted):** a lean Neutron-only channel-strip Rack for the default, plus a separate Creative-FX Rack (Raum, Replika XT, Spectral Time, Grain Delay, etc.) with macro knobs — dropped in deliberately only on tracks that need character, not preloaded everywhere. Keeps CPU sane across 15–20+ layers. - This resolves both the mastering-template question below and the one-click-chains question. See [[Ableton Live Racks EXPLAINED!]]. - [ ] Which Arturia sound banks are worth buying vs. which overlap with V Collection presets? - [ ] Explore third-party Kontakt libraries — Spitfire, Cinesamples, 8Dio, Output, Heavyocity. Buy per-project when a specific sound is needed rather than hoarding. - [x] Ableton Racks for default chains — **yes** (see decision above): lean channel-strip Rack + separate dial-up Creative-FX Rack. [[Ableton Live Racks EXPLAINED!]] - [x] Mastering template — **yes** (see decision above): pre-loaded master chain + sends + buses saved as the project template. - [ ] Audit: what NI plugins do I actually open vs. just have installed? --- ## Notes - The Arturia ecosystem makes sense as the primary synth/keys platform now — hardware + software consistency between Astrolab, KeyLab, and the DAW. - NI Komplete still earns its keep for Kontakt libraries (nothing else matches that depth for orchestral/sampled content). - Ableton stock effects are underrated for mixing — low CPU, no plugin scanning issues, and they save with the project cleanly. - **Neutron is the underused workhorse.** Should be on every track as the default channel strip. The Masking feature is critical for dense layered sessions — shows where pads/synths are fighting each other. **Current lean (Sep 2026): using Neutron for mixing over the saved effects Racks.** Those Racks still exist to dial up, but Neutron is the default mixing move for now. - **FX gaps (monitor, don't buy yet):** - Tape/lo-fi character — Saturator (Soft Sine) gets partway there. If it's not enough, look at Goodhertz Lossy or RC-20. Not urgent. - Console coloration — check if Brainworx plugins in Komplete cover this. Otherwise, not essential for electronic music. - **For the electronic work:** Spectral Time, Grain Delay, Corpus, and Resonators are the "secret weapons" already in Ableton Suite. Explore these more before buying anything new. - **For rock sessions with Avi:** Guitar Rig for re-amping + Ableton's Amp/Cabinet + Hybrid Reverb covers it. Pod Go handles most of the heavy lifting at tracking time anyway.