A long long time ago...
In a galaxy far far away. Audio engineers and producers had to create FX chains and FX Busses from scratch. They slaved for hours, tweaking parameters, twisting knobs, and pushing faders to get sweet new sounding textures and sonic characters. This combination of experimentation and sonic exploration provided the path for the new technologies that exist today.
In todays world, we have the luxury of pulling up one plug-in that has all the countless FXs and texture building tools we could ever want. We have worlds of preset banks that work for every situation you could ever be in. We are beyond spoiled when it comes to abundance tools.
Because of this, at times it can make things even more confusing. We have too many things to choose from. Too many options to go with, and far to many presets to deal with.
I guess its give and take right..
The true value in a lot of these new tools is how easily they can spark creativity. Perhaps we are shifting into an age of letting the FXs and Presets guide our creations instead of our minds. I do not think this is a bad thing by any means. It allows us to have a starting point that strong. A solid foundation to build our ideas. And also, an opportunity to make those presets and FX chains even better!
So, I commend you fellow audio nerds to dive deep into the world of Multi-FX Plug-Ins, and create new ideas, new textures, and new inspirations with the new tools we now poses.