Imagine the following situation: you are starting out in music production, with the default effect plugins of your sequencer.
As time goes by, you find more and more plugins (like these free reverbs). And then, you stumble upon some sites with great promotions. And voila, a few more VSTs added.
The result, after a while: your plugins are poorly organized. You waste time trying to find your instruments and effects. You might even feel less productive despite all these sound options!
Does this situation sound familiar? 🙂
It does to me.
For a long time, my plugin folder was terribly disorganized. But one day, I decided to get it in order, and it really benefited my home studio work.
So, I decided to share my organization strategy with you through this detailed article, to help you manage your studio better.
A Word on Strategy
Taking the example of VSTs on Windows, plugins are generally stored in a default folder. Very often, it looks something like this:
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\Vstplugins\
If you are not encountering any issues, you can keep this folder as a base to organize your effect and instrument plugins.
However, generally speaking, it might be more practical to install them elsewhere on your hard drive to avoid read/write issues. For that, I leave the choice to you: you are the only judge.
On the other hand, it is important to note that your plugins often consist of several parts:
- A *.dll file, which is the program itself that you need to point your DAW to;
- Configuration files, stored in the same folder or not;
- Sometimes, information stored in your computer’s registry.
So, to organize them, you will have two options:
- Move only the *.dll files to the folders and subfolders of your choice (this usually works)
- Uninstall them and then reinstall them cleanly in the new folder where you want to organize them
The second solution is ideal: it ensures that you won’t get an error message indicating that the plugin can no longer find its configuration files.
However, this is not always possible and it takes a lot of time. So, I recommend moving the DLLs to organize them, and only reinstall those that cause a problem.
Are you ready?
Okay – Let’s move on to the organization itself…
Organize Your Effect Plugins
If you have purchased a suite of effect plugins, such as those from IK Multimedia or Waves, it might be useful to group them in the same folder. Especially if you use them regularly.
However, in most cases, home studio users have a large number of effects that they need to organize.
For that, the solution I use and propose to you is quite simple:
Organize by type of effect.
Depending on your experience and the plugins you own, you might not categorize them like I do. But as an example, here is a screenshot of my “VST Effects” folder right now:
I won’t detail all the categories because most are, I think, quite obvious. However, I would still like to clarify a few points.
First of all, I emphasize that you do not need to do exactly as I do. Thus, I grouped the Chorus and Phasers because I only have a few of them, and I use them quite rarely. But depending on the style of music you work on, it might be useful to separate them.
What is important is that your organization is logical and that you feel comfortable with it. No need to have two folders “Distortion” and “Saturation” if you don’t differentiate between the two.
On the contrary, it can be useful to create subfolders to further subdivide the organization of your plugins.
This is actually what I did for a while for my “Compressors” folder (but since then I’ve returned to a single folder):
As you can see, I separated my compressors based on their type of operation: FET, Opto, VCA…
I also have three additional subcategories:
- Buss = for the compressors that I mainly use on track groups
- Classic = for the “standard” compressors, with little character or with several compression curves available
- Multiband = for multiband compressors (yes, not very surprising I know ;))
I also have, in some folders, a specific subfolder for plugins that I keep “just in case” but never use.
Organize your instruments
For instruments (especially VSTi), the approach I recommend is slightly different.
Initially, I tried to classify them by type. For example, I had a folder for “Additive Synthesizers”, “Granular Synthesizers”, and so on. Basically, one folder per type of sound synthesis.
However, while trying to place my plugins in there, I quickly realized that it was a bad idea. Indeed, a large number of them could be associated with multiple categories, which removed all the interest in the classification!
For example, I used (and still use) the Alchemy synth from Camel Audio, a brand acquired by Apple in 2015. It could perform additive synthesis, spectral synthesis, granular synthesis, not to mention a multitude of effects and options of all kinds.
It was impossible, therefore, to put it in a specific folder like you could put a reverb in the “Reverbs” folder.
Thus, the solution I propose is somewhat of a compromise, but it is still effective:
Classify your instruments by Publisher
In other words, create a folder for each brand.
It’s true, it’s a bit less convenient than categories. However, it is quite likely that you will often return to the same synthesizers. You will therefore be able to easily find them by classifying them by publisher.
So, here is a very simple example:
Depending on your plugins and how you use them, you may still be able to identify some additional categories:
- Drum Machines
- Samplers
- SoundFont Players
- etc…
In conclusion
It’s true, organizing your plugins takes a lot of time. Especially if you have to reinstall some for them to work properly.
However, I can only advise you to do it once and for all, and to stick to this classification.
Very quickly, you will see that you will feel much more comfortable working on your mixes or compositions. It’s a bit like tidying up a desk, in fact: you will be more productive and able to focus on the music.
Good luck! 🙂