I built my music career with stock plugins

Music producers,

Let's talk about getting serious with stock plugins and actually getting to work.

A consistent mistake I see producers make is believing that their tools are what's holding them back from finishing music and getting paid for their work.

You do need good tools. However, the threshold to having good tools is much lower than you think. In fact, that threshold is often met by the stock plugins included in your DAW.

This is particularly true when it comes to the tools available to those of us using Ableton Live Suite.

Stock plugins pay the bills

I’ve been working in Live for a decade, using it professionally for half that time. My game developer clients have paid me thousands of dollars per contract to compose and produce music for their projects. Nearly every track I’ve delivered was created almost entirely with Live’s suite of excellent stock plugins.

The plugins I use don’t matter to my clients—they care about the result. If the music sounds good and achieves what they need, the tools I used to create it are irrelevant. This is the real advantage of mastering your DAW: when you know your tools inside and out, you can create professional results with what you already have.

How many hammers do you need for one nail?

Ableton Live is already one of the best DAWs in the industry. Its stock devices—EQs, compressors, reverbs, delays, creative effects, and instruments—are all you need to produce high-quality music.

Still, I see producers spend countless hours and dollars chasing new plugins, thinking they’ll unlock some hidden potential. Put another way, how many hammers do you really need for one nail?

If you’re struggling to achieve the sound you want, the issue usually isn’t your plugins—it’s your understanding of the tools. Mastering what’s already available to you will take you further than any new plugin ever could.

The only times I use third-party plugins

Just to note, I of course do use third-party plugins. I'm not a purist. Instead, I'm an essentialist.

When I reach for something outside of my DAW, it's because it's essential. I reach for something not represented in Live Suite.

If you're really curious, for me, it's usually two instances:

• Instrument libraries. As a game composer, I need to have a wide swath of instruments available to me.

• Vocalign. That shit saves me so much time. A phenomenal tool.

The point is that they are supplements to the core toolset. Ableton Live’s stock plugins remain the foundation of my work.

Invest in yourself instead of unnecessary tools

If you’re ready to stop chasing new tools and start mastering the ones you already have, I’d love to help. My Ableton Live coaching sessions are designed to help you unlock the full potential of your DAW and create music that stands out.

If you're ready to make the most of the tools you have, book a coaching session now.

Til next time,
ZW