Are you one of those people who thinks that some plugins and software are ‘dumbing down’ music production? If so then you are likely to hate this one. However, some of you will love it!
Musicians and producers often hit the presets with complicated plugins. If you’re an engineer who always reaches for the manual are you missing out?
Plugins that promise to make everything sound great in a few moves are nothing new, and more recently we’ve seen a whole new raft of these ‘betterizer’ plugins that have expanded upon the idea. These scale back on controls and hand over real estate to search-led preset browsers, or even AI to come up with the goods.
Musicians and producers often get great results from these tools because they are freed from any notions of needing to understand something inside out. Engineers, or more technically minded creators on the other hand can get bogged down by a desire to know what they’re using.
If you fall into the latter category, could it be that you’re missing out on creativity and losing time to details that your listener will never pick up on?
UJAM Finisher Dynamo
This new tool from UJAM is a preset-led rhythmic and multi-effects plugin for creators in any sector. Many of its sounds lean towards sound design, but the majority of users will be using it for music. Despite its “Finisher” moniker, UJAM describe it as more of a ‘starter’ plugin, to help you get inspirational sounds from the ground up.
You could think of Finisher DYNAMO as a huge effect rack with almost unlimited slots for effect processors, all of which can be activated and adjusted with a simple click on the Mode selector.
Finisher DYNAMO Features
Finisher DYNAMO features over 50 different effect types.
76 effect slots distributed across 2 busses plus a Master bus.
The large central Finisher knob is wired to every parameter of every active effect, in varying degrees. It always blends between dry signal and effect, also often ramping up a phaser while introducing a little distortion or mixing in a dash of reverb.
Every Mode and its knob assignments are a complex sound design piece to create one particular “change of scene” for your track.
The four Vari Knobs allow you to adjust the effect to your needs. Vari 2 and 3 are different with each Mode, but Vari 1 and 4 are always the same in this Finisher, controlling Pattern and Tone, respectively.
Love It Or Hate It?
Some people hate presets because of the lack of control, but when a lot of thought has gone into a good sounding plugin that invites you to play, why not just jump in? There’s everything to love when you choose and tweak wisely with a good sounding plugin.
Photo by Sides Imagery from Pexels