In this article Steve DeMott shares his product of 2021, the Lindell 50. An API plugin channel strip.

Some people are all about SSLs, while others kneel at the altar of Neve. Me? I’ve always preferred a nice API desk to the others. I find there’s something very immediate about the API sound that really appeals to me. It’s punchy with a great low end and a smooth, clean top.

The problem is that I moved totally in the box several years ago because it just made more sense. I could work faster, and the reality is that I could get equally good mixes in the box as I could with outboard summing and gear. While an outboard mix might be different, it was no longer intrinsically better. I think we crossed that threshold years ago. If I really want the API hardware, I have 16 channels of API summing with an 8200 and 8200A at the studio. The issue is that I’m hesitant to move back to a hybrid setup. It means mixes in my home mix room will be different from mixes at the studio. I don’t want to have to manage that. I like having everything completely contained in the Pro Tools session, and coming up the same regardless of where I am working.

In The Box Console

This year I did something interesting. I treated myself to the Plugin Alliance Lindell 50, API style, console plugin and began treating my Pro Tools sessions more like an analogue console. I would have an instance of the Lindell 50 on every track and use it as my main EQ and compression. And, while I did this as an attempt to get an overall API sonic “glue” to my mixes, it also proved to be a great way to make mixing faster and more efficient. I no longer took time making decisions on what EQ or compressor plugin I was going to use on each track. I already had the plugin on every track and would just use that as my starting point. Of course, if I needed a specific flavor of something I still had the option to augment my track with a different plugin (I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever had a mix without some sort of 1176 or Pultec on it), but the majority of my mixing was done in the console plugin.

At first my brain reeled at the prospect of ignoring all those plugins in my list. I must have bought them all for some reason if they’re there, right? But then I accepted the limitation as a fun experiment, and was surprised at the freedom I felt in using what was there. It was almost like having an analogue console in front of me. With a console, you don’t question the EQ or compression on the channels, you just use them. If they don’t do the job, only then do you look for alternates.

If you’re wondering what options I chose as my default for the plugin, I tend to gravitate to the 550b EQ module (I find that extra band is helpful) and the 525 compressor is set, but bypassed. I’m not a huge fan of VCA compressors...I typically like something with a little more character, but I have switched over to it for cases where the 525 style is a little too aggressive. I have the expander/gate disabled by default, as well as having the highpass filter set at 27Hz and enabled by default.

Will I Stay With This Setup?

As I contemplate what I’ve learned over the past year, I feel my experiment has “brought me back to basics” and I really found myself marvelling at how much extra time I wasted in the past with option paralysis, and the freedom I find in having that most basic decision already made for me. It has also made me wonder if I should change my process for 2022? Go with a different console strip or even create my own from multiple individual plugins, and go with that for the next year. I don’t know if I will. As much as I like to think about ways to optimize this process that I’ve created for myself over the past year, I can’t help but wonder if that is just my brain trying to get more involved in decisions that I have already locked it out of.

What I do know is that the Lindell 50 has gone way beyond just getting me an overall API vibe on my mixes. It reminded me of the pitfalls of too many options, and how those options can take me out of the mix by engaging my brain too much, making the whole process slower.

Photo by Jiroe on Unsplash