One way to get out of the box even briefly is to periodically brush up on your miking skills. And while good digital imitators come uncannily close to the real thing, there is no substitute for moving air-at least some of the time. So seductive are some of these plugins and processors that it’s easy to forget what it takes to get those sounds yourself. For the vast majority of us who don’t reside in a soundproof living space, those increasingly spiffy effects samples that come included in most recording packages these days have been a godsend, allowing us to get professional tone out of a pint-sized box.
