Plugins

I often divide music production into a fun, creative, and illuminating part and a tedious, technical, and time-consuming part. The first consists of songwriting, sound design, and composition. The second deals with audio engineering, mixing, and so on.

Music production was never as easy and affordable as it is today. In the 80s you had to buy at least one analog drum machine, hardware synth and a device to record and mix everything. This could easily cost thousands of dollars and the possibilities were quite limited.

More people than ever before are getting into music production nowadays. And if you start getting more serious about your work, your path will unavoidably lead to learning how to properly mix your tracks. But the tools needed for that are quite expensive.

We live in a time where the zeitgeist tends to go a lot in the ‘retro’-direction. Genres like 80s-style pop, synthwave, and disco are getting popular again. This is due to the fact that these genres use a very special kind of sound which was popularized by Roland in the early 80s.

In modern pop music, drums have become more and more dominant over the years. This is due to the rise of hip hop into popular culture, and its overwhelming influence on other genres. Today’s sound engineers, therefore, are looking for crisp drum sounds.

sTilt by TBProAudio is a free filter you can use to tilt the frequency balance of your source towards the low or high-end. This effect is achieved by boosting everything below and cutting everything above a given center frequency (or vice versa).

The Moodal plugin by Tritik is the only spectral resonator plugin you’ll ever need. It’s quick, easy to use, and delivers great sound. All that combined with a reasonable price makes it a go-to plugin for sound designers. Here’s our review.

Ample Sound is a plugin brand known for some of the best instrument samplers. Their product catalogue contains a variety of different guitars, bass instruments and a few other things. Fortunately they also offer some free downloads, including a free steel drum VST.

Space is a very important measure when it comes to producing modern music. Most radio hits – from groovy soul to atmospheric techno – rely on creating a feeling of width and room. The Panagement 2 Plugin by Auburn Sounds unifies these.