iZotope Ozone 9 – The Future of Mastering
iZotope Ozone 9 – The Future of Mastering iZotope has done it again with the release of Ozone 9. This update includes some welcome changes to the already behemoth Mastering plugin. The interface is similar to Ozone 8, but the modules have been redesigned to reflect the rest of iZotope’s recent upgrades their mixing plugins. In this article, we’ll dive into the plugin with a tutorial and review. We’ll touch on its new features, and tell you what we like and dislike about it. How Does It Look? How Does It Feel? It looks good, like, really good. iZotope has been updating its line up of mixing software over the past year and its paid off. The interface has become easier to navigate, and more enticing to use. Everything is where you need it to be, with just a few clicks to get there. The images above and …
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Accusonus Rythmiq – Turn Your Tracks Into a Performance
Accusonus Rythmiq – Turn Your Tracks Into a Performance Accusonus surprised us with a plugin release recently that has turned our world upsidedown. The plugin is called Rythmiq, and it is a groovebox, sampler, remixer, and AI powerhouse all in one. We just didn’t know what to expect when Accusonus reached out, but they blew us away. By combining their experience with live resampling (Regroover) and beat making tools they have produced an incredible addition to their lineup. Your new “virtual electronic drummer” analyzes your beats and introduces nuanced micro-variations or musical, evolving changes. This will allow you to focus on other parts of your music while your beat is organically evolving. Rhythmiq is an A.I. driven sampler, and it can be used as an intelligent jam partner that you control. Think of it as a complex drum machine with a beat-repeat included. Not only can you loop samples but …
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Goodhertz Vulf Compressor – This Compressor Is AMAZING
Goodhertz Vulf Compressor – This Compressor is AMAZING For those of you unfamiliar with Jack Stratton, Vulfpeck, and their signature style of modern jazz-funk then get to searching. Their band has been part of a movement over the last decade to make jazz cool again. Part of their unique sound comes from how they use broken-down and lo-fi to their advantage. While they clearly have a skilled engineer handling their productions, they delicately entangle grit and ‘oldness’ into the sound. Part of that is their use of classic analog compression. In this article we’ll go over the Goodhertz Vulf Compressor, a compressor inspired by the machine behind Vulfpeck’s unique sound – the Boss SP-303 Dr. Sample Sampler. The Plugin “Vulf Compressor is a really boutique, top-shelf Himalayan pink sea salt.” – Jack Stratton When it comes to mixing music, you have an unlimited number of tools at your …
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Captain Melody 3.0 – This Plugin Will Help You Write Better Melodies
Captain Melody 3.0 – This Plugin Will Help You Write Better Melodies Mixed In Key just released Captain Melody 3.0 for Mac and Windows, the latest update to their award-winning Captain Plugins series. Captain Melody 3.0 includes six powerful new tools for writing melodies. The newest innovation is the “Idea Box,” that helps craft melodies appropriate for plucks, pianos, analog and VST synths, guitars, voice and other instruments. The resulting melodies can be played by the built-in Captain Plugins sounds, or routed to a virtual instrument of choice. It’s a surprise update that we didn’t know we wanted so badly! If you haven’t read our overview of the Captain Chords and Captain Suite 2.0 update then check our other article! Built for Making Hits David Guetta wrote the melody and chords for his “Stay (Don’t Go Away)” remix with R3hab using Captain Melody 3.0 beta. This legendary artist …
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UJAM Virtual Drummer 2 – Update to the Slammin’ Plugin
UJAM Virtual Drummer 2 – Update to the Slammin’ Plugin AVID and UJAM have teamed up together to release UJAM Virtual Drummer 2! It’s available as a VST, an AU, or an AAX plugin. We wrote an article a year ago when they offered the first version for free, and we loved it. We were very excited to see what the update had brought and were not disappointed. So what is the plugin? Well, it is a playable instrument filled with 720 drum patterns ranging across 30 various styles of music. The samples were all recorded from 5 drum kits each with 6 different ‘character’ styles. The acoustic kit sounds pretty darn good and can be modulated to mix in some electronic drums. We had the pleasure of looking at one sample pack – PHAT – which has a beautiful interface and is a breeze to use. The top left …
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How Pros Make Hits: Sicko Mode – Travis Scott
How Pros Make Hits: Sicko Mode – Travis Scott This blog post is a chapter from How Pros Make Hits by Tom Frampton, posted with permission. Most critics and fans consider SICKO MODE to be the highlight of Scott’s 2018 album ‘Astroworld.’ Astroworld was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019, with ‘Sicko Mode’ receiving nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. The song was Travis Scott’s first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. 32 songwriters and 6 producers are credited as being part of the production process of this track. With guest vocals from superstars Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk posthumously. The phrase ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ clearly doesn’t apply in this circumstance. Let’s unravel the components of the track and see what can be used as inspiration in our next production. Unfriendly Structure …
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EboSuite – Next Level Video in Ableton Live
EboSuite – Next Level Video in Ableton Live This week we’ll take an in-depth look at an amazing video manipulation plugin called EboSuite. EboSuite is a suite of MaxforLive devices that you can use to edit, cut, and manipulate video within Ableton Live. Technically it is operated through MaxforLive devices but the actual application runs outside of Ableton Live. This genius tactic is what makes is so darn useful in avoiding the common fallbacks of MaxforLive and video. Most MaxforLive video devices give you the fun ole’ start-stop-start-stop clunkiness we’ve grown to love but EboSuite bucks that trend. In this article, we’ll run through the initial steps of setting up video with the plugin, then cover the large swath of devices and FX you can use with it. Read below! Setting Up Video with the eConvert Device Setting up video for EboSuite is pretty easy, but for the faint of …
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Arturia MicroFreak Review – A Fun & Freaky Compact Synthesizer
Arturia MicroFreak Review – A Fun & Freaky Compact Synthesizer This week we have the pleasure of sharing with you our review of the Arturia MicroFreak. The MicroFreak is true to its name as being a freaky freaky synthesizer. It’s packed full of different amazing waveforms that allow experimentation to the fullest. It has a riveting form factor with its PCB Keyboard and single digital oscillator layout. We love it and wish we could have kept it. Watch the full review below!
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