Metronomica.blog
the download managers dance in my dreams
I recently switched from PC to Mac and I am now in the process of migrating hundreds of plugins from the old computer to the new one.
Or, more accurately, I’m:
- Logging in to dozens of websites that I haven’t visited in years, trying to remember my password for each
- Forgetting my password, and going through the “I forgot my password” rigamarole
- Accessing the website and checking if I have any more licenses available for the plugins I purchased
- Realizing that yes, hooray, I do!
- Downloading the company’s proprietary download manager, so I can
- Download some plugins
- Checking to see if my DAW understands that they are plugins and they should be used as such, or if it is confused and mad at me for downloading so much stuff.
The process isn’t terrible, but it’s tedious. The software, for the most part, is moving me along its conveyor belt. But I hate how much junk I’m accumulating through this process. All the download managers, all extraneous folders, all the plugin versions I don’t need but don’t recognize. Some of my most-used plugins require iLok! Alas.
I have purchased a new computer and it is replacing a 10-year-old PC that I upgraded twice. I long ago lost control of the files and folders and unused applications on that thing. My Documents folder is a tangled mess of Word documents, plugins, and folders containing data for video games I deleted long ago. I have two additional plugins folders spread across a couple of hard drives, and one of those folders has a SUB-FOLDER inside it with more plugins because seven years ago I couldn’t figure out how to merge them without Cubase throwing a fit.
I hate that this new computer is going to be junked up, too, but it is a side effect of being able to do the thing I bought the computer for. I want to make music, and I want to use software to make sounds, and if I want to do that, it appears I need to make peace with the muck that software leaves in its trail.
This process is also a stark reminder of how much money I’ve spent on plugins over the years. There’s not much solace in the fact that I’m still able to download most of them without purchasing another license. Did I need that thirtieth EQ? No. But I might as well re-download it.
// tags: making music