these are my top plugins in 2019. these include brand new plugins released
in 2019 and also a few plugins that have used a lot. maybe they didn't come out
this year but they're still really worth checking out.
I've got drum plugins, a deep retro synth, some simple beautiful keys, and some
effects plugins that are awesome and inexpensive. and one that's free
I'll put links to find the best prices for these plugins in the video
description. also watch out for a video I'm releasing soon listing the best
deals on music gear during the Black Friday weekend this year. stay tuned. if
you have a question leave it in the comments below.
here's my list in no particular order. first up is XO by XLN Audio. this is
quickly becoming my go-to drum plugin for two reasons. first, I can just throw
it on a beat - on a chord progression - fast and have a beat to keep time to. check it
out.
of course this is the built-in beat with some built-in drum samples. but this is
just the beginning. the second reason I love XO so much is because it uses my
entire drum sample library. I can use any drum sample I've downloaded from
anywhere. so when I'm ready to modify this beat, I can create my own. and I can
easily choose a different drum sample from XO or my own library. and I can
start modifying the beat so easily. one click to add or remove a hit and
dragging it up and down to change the volume of the hits. it's also got
extensive editing, swing, and effects features too. finally when I like what I
have, I can simply drag the MIDI or the wav file of the beat I just made and put
it on a track. this is genius. XO is worth every penny
in my opinion. next up is Hybrid Keys by Native Instruments. this plug-in takes a
simplified user interface approach. rather than giving you a hundred knobs, it
just gives you eight knobs that apply key sound design control for each preset.
find something you like and then tweak the most important things about it.
you
now the presets in Hybrid Keys are just inspiring and Native
Instruments takes the same approach with Analog Dreams and Ethereal Earth which
are separate instruments. I really hope they do more of these. to hear more
sounds from these three instruments watch my video here. before we get to the
next instrument hit the like button and also let me know what's your favorite
plug-in in 2019? what should I check out? let me know in the comments.
next is CZV by Arturia. Arturia released this just this year along with a few
other brand new retro synths as part of their V collection. but the CZV is my
favorite.
the original Casio uses phase distortion synthesis, which is a unique way of
modeling sound. here's how much I loved this plugin. I went and bought the
original hardware synth - the Casio CZ 101. and then I was a little disappointed
with this real thing. I mean it sounds great,
but it's really hard to program. that's why I'm recommending CZV by Arturia. the
presets included give you a great launching point for the capabilities of
this instrument. and they sound beautiful.
all right I talked about a few instruments let's get into something a
bit different. this is a plugin I use on every single song these days. Ozone. Ozone
is an awesome tool for quickly mastering your own songs.
this year they released version 9 and I love the features they added. first is
match EQ which worked really well. just take any commercial song you love and
then tell Ozone 9 to match that EQ on to your song.
they also added master rebalance which is useful for adjusting drums, bass, and
vocals in your mix.
Ozone 9 is my favorite mastering tool. make sure you check out the different
versions they have at different price points. if you just need something for a
quick mastering, Ozone Elements ,the cheapest version, should be fine for you.
and you'll save yourself some cash. I reviewed all the features of Ozone 9 in
a video here. next up is Cypher 2. Cypher 2 is a synth that takes advantage of MPE -
midi polyphonic expression. if you've got a Seaboard or any other MPE device
you'll have so much fun with this synth. but even if you don't the sounds in
Cypher 2 are amazing.
this is perfect for those of you who enjoy sound design. now you can also
tweak your sounds and assign them to be controlled by your expressive MPE
instrument. I love it. once you have Cypher 2 you can actually access those
presets in ROLI Studio Player software. and by the way if you don't have Studio
Player yet go get it it's free for the Seaboard and Lightpad. i go over some of
the features and show you how I use the Cypher in a video here. I know I
keep sending you to other videos but it would take a lot of time to go through
everything in this one video. so go check out the stuff that interests you. alright
ready for something free? now XO as I mentioned before has become my go-to
drum plugin. and I love it. but if you don't want to spend any money
consider ADSR Sample Manager. now it doesn't come with built-in beats like
XO but it does access your entire sample library - your instruments and your
drums. and it lets you find and use your own samples more easily than any other
plugin I've ever used. so no more searching through your
folders of samples or anything it's all in the plug-in.
I even used ADSR sample manager to create the ultimate drum kit in Ableton
allowing you to cycle through all your drum hits. so try out one kick and if it
doesn't work. just use Sample Manager in that kit to find another one. I show
you how I created it in a video here. do it once and you'll be using it
forever. and it's free. alright next up is a plug-in which makes
processing my vocals super easy. this is an all-in-one vocal processor and it's
extremely effective. and you can usually find really good deals on it. it's CLA
Vocals by Waves. so I recorded some vocals for a song I released this year
and ended up using a bunch of really expensive plugins to process them. then I
went back to that song and redid the processing just using a couple of much
cheaper Waves plugins and I was amazed at the results. and so were you based on
the comments. CLA Vocals was the most impactful of all those plugins I've
tried. just drop it on your vocal track and things start to take shape right
away.
you can hear the results in my video here. I also highly recommend Renaissance
Vox by Waves as well. they sound amazing and are so much quicker than using
hardware emulation plugins by UAD and others. if you want to get to beautiful
sounding vocals fast I highly recommend these. Wait for a sale and you can get
these pretty cheap. check the links in the description. last are several plugins
from Soundtoys that I end up using on most of my tracks. first is Littler Alter
Boy. this is a pitch shifting plugin that I use to add higher pitched vocals to my
songs or just create interesting vocal chops. it's simple and it's quick.
next is Microshift which widens any sound you throw at it. it's the best
sounding windener that I use.
I use it on my backing vocals or any instrument even hi-hats.
I love plugins like this. I use both of these plugins in my song "Undone". you'll
find links to all the plugins in this video in the description below. thanks
for watching. keep making the music you love. I'll see you guys later!