Well folks! 2017 is done and I thought it would be dope to list 6 of my favorite plugins that I used this past year. Hopefully if you haven't heard of these you'll be inspired to check them out for yourself! Or, don't be afraid to hit us up and let us work on your next project while using some of these! Without further ado, let's get it going!
1) Duy Valve
This plugin right here is fairly unknown. BUT, you all NEED to get hip to this plugin immediately. It essentially emulates a valve sound and when you play around with the settings you're able to make your kicks, bass, BGV's come alive in the low end. It is voodoo magic because I typically have no idea how it works. I just tweak Input, Pusher, and select a mode and BOOM. You can put 2 different styles together to create a cool curve too. If you want instant power and girth, look no further. You can go here to check it out!
2) Mastering the Mix REFERENCE
Mastering the Mix is a company created by mastering engineer Tom Frampton. Tired of mixes and masters that were lacking in quality, he teamed up with the team from 29 PALMS to design plugins that are informative and provide technical information for users. I am featuring this plugin because it does EVERYTHING a referencing plugin should do. Level matching, Frequency range isolation and analysis, and (my favorite feature) time alignment. This is especially useful in mastering but mixing as well as you can link your mix with the rough mix and A/B them with no interruptions. Good to see if you're making it better or worse! That's all well and good but what really strikes me is how, during development, they specifically asked the user community what they would like to see in a referencing plugin and you can tell they listened. It has EXACTLY the features that anyone would want! You can go here to check it out!
3.) Soundtoys Decapitator
I love this plugin. Essentially, this plugin is for distortion/saturation/making things sound cool. You don't necessarily have to have this plugin but in my opinion all mixers should have some sort of saturation plugin at their disposal. The reason I love this plugin? It can make things stand out in a mix in an interesting way and add that extra bit of flavor to a track, OR you can completely mangle a sound and make it very aggressive. For example, bass is a primary track for this plugin. If I need some extra growl or fuzz to make the ear pick out the definition of the bass, this is what I use! Now, the best things about this plugin? Mix knob and Punish button. You can hit the punish button to drive insane amounts of level to the input of the plugin to completely destroy a sound but then, you can mix in say, 20% of it into your dry signal. That balance can give a nice punchy sound to an otherwise sterile track. You can get this plugin here.
4.) Ampex ATR-102 (UAD-2)
Finishing your mix. This is what we as engineers seek to do. When looking at strategies to present a final mix for mastering or release (if you are not opting to do mastering), look no further than this plugin. This tape machine is a staple in many mastering engineers studios. Universal Audio has done a fantastic job of capturing the character and warmth that this hardware provides. To my ears, this plugin works to glue your sound together and add a nice mid frequency bump and SLIGHT frequency roll off in the very high end. It brings instruments forward and adds loads of character that, when combined with proper mix buss compression, can be the ticket to a final mix. The downside would be that you must own UAD hardware dsp to run these plugins. Looking for an alternative? I would recommend checking out the Slate Virtual Tape Machine (VTM) for a native solution.
5.) Softube Console-1
There are many plugins that emulate the usual suspects- API, Neve, and the especially notorious SSL 4000. Softube has taken this idea and went all in! They have made a hardware unit that feels like a real SSL channel strip. If you're looking for high/low pass filtering, gating, transient shaping, EQ, Compression, AND saturation THIS is your option! When I integrated this into my setup I found that I got to the end result of my sounds much much faster and it felt more natural as I was mixing with my hands and ears rather than a mouse and keyboard. Somehow, it allowed my creativity to improve even more and it's just much more fun. I tend to pretend that it is "board EQ" which you would hear from a lot of pros who use consoles and plugins in their setup. They have a perfect way to understand what sounds they get from the console vs plugins. Now, bedroom engineers can have a simulation of this experience. Additionally, the hardware can work with UAD plugins, and Softube has created excellent emulations (FULLY endorsed by SSL) of the SSL 4000, and SSL XL9000.
6.) Fabfilter Pro-Q2
Last but not least is the absolute most vital plugin in my arsenal. When we think of workhorse plugins, we think of tools that are unassuming, low on CPU usage, and exist on almost every track in our mix as a go-to tool. THIS plugin right here fits that mold. It can literally do everything. From EQ Matching, to Mid-Side processing, to Linear Phase, to 25 (YES, 25) bands of EQ, this EQ can do it all. One thing that is great about Fabilter is that you are able to zoom in and see your curves closer. For instance, you are able to see curves based on a 3 DB boost/cut perspective, 6 DB, 12 DB, and 30 DB. This is great for looking into doing major surgical cuts, or if you want to make very subtle moves in mastering. Download the free demo, add to cart, purchase. You will NOT regret it!
Thank you all for reading this blog post. The above pictures depict the plugins described above. Really and truthfully, any tool (even stock plugins) can help you achieve a high quality result. It is ALL about how you use the tools you have and mastery of those tools. But, in saying that, there's something to be said for quality tools and I believe these will help you achieve a high quality result and it is my hope that they can help someones workflow to create amazing music.
With all of that said, we would love to work with you. Feel free to explore the site and contact us to discuss your next project!