Blog

10 Inspiring Methods and Plugins That'll Help you Start More Tracks

Get your head nodding and spark off inspiration with these techniques and producer games for starting off new tracks Sometimes, the hardest part of making a track is simply getting started. We’ve all been there… You have some time spare to produce and are excited to come up with some fresh sounds. But as soon as you get set up at your workstation, creative block sets in, and no matter what you chuck at the wall, nothing seems to stick. You’re not alone, and we understand how frustrating

How to Write a Great Bassline for your Chord Progression

Struggling to get the feel? Find your track’s footing with our guide to composing or programming the right bassline in your DAW There are lots of skills needed to produce music. Can every producer be expected to be a synth programmer, a finger drummer, a songwriter, a mixing engineer and a mastering engineer, all at the same time? While it’s possible to get a handle on a few of the techniques and abilities required for producing music, being a genius at all of them is a lot to ask of anyone.

How to Make Synth Presets Your Own

Here are seven ways you can move beyond the factory bank and build on your favourite synth’s patches Sound synthesis is a huge skill to have, and there are some super-talented preset designers out there, whose job it is to cook up every synth’s Factory Bank, making it sound as good as it can possibly be. Load up any modern synth and surf through its presets, and you’ll be treated to a seriously tasty buffet! But unless you’re also a top-of-the-line sound designer, how can you possibly take

Sounds You Can't Google – The Synth Patches You Need to Know

What’s that sound? Discover 11 synth sounds that not everyone can put their finger on in this blagger’s guide to sound design staples Any artist should know the standards of their art. Just as jazz musicians need to know Autumn Leaves, or painters should be familiar with the iconic uses of each medium and paint type, sound designers would be very well advised to learn the key sonic fingerprints of the past in order to produce the iconic sounds of the future. In this article, we’ll list the

The Music Producer's Guide to Content Creation: What you Need to Know

If you’re seeking to level-up your content creation for promoting your music, look no further than this comprehensive, all-in-one guide Social media has become a vital cornerstone in marketing and promotion online, and as musicians, we’re no exception to the rule. Content is king in the modern world, and if we want our music to reach the desired audience, it’s essential for us to implement some kind of content-creation strategy. Luckily, it’s becoming more accessible for everyone, no matte

15 Ideas for Coming up with Basslines

There’s nothing that gets your listeners’ bodies moving more than a well-written bassline, so here’s 15 ideas to make your own Some people start with the bass. Some add it last. Others are somewhere in between. Well, we’re here to tell you there’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to composing funky basslines. Although, if you’re struggling to find your groove with the grooviest element of your tracks, perhaps this list of 15 inspirational ideas for creating basslines will be of assis

10 Inspiring Ways to Program Beats

Get beyond your piano roll and step sequencer lanes with these innovative and exciting beat programming plugins Sometimes, using the same creative methods over and over becomes monotonous and draining. As musicians, we need to continually put measures in place to keep ourselves inspired and to avoid falling into creative block. That’s exactly why we’ve put together this carefully curated list of plugins to keep your beat programming process as new and exciting as possible. Once you’ve fami

Manufacturer Focus: Wavesfactory Q&A

In this exclusive Q&A, Wavesfactory founder Jesús Ginard reveals the inspiration behind plugins like Trackspacer, Quantum and Cassette. Discover his design secrets, hidden features, and what’s coming next. 1. How do you stay inspired when designing tools for people in music? I’m a very bad mixer—so I welcome all the help I can get! That’s usually the starting point. If I struggle with something, like making space for vocals, I start thinking, “What if I could just build a tool to make

Mastering for Width: Stereo Techniques and Tools

Learn the ins and outs of mastering for width, and the best plugins for the job Mastering is the final stage in the journey of making a track in any genre. It provides extra polish and adds the finishing touches to ensure your music is ready for playback across a range of platforms – whether that’s a streaming service, the radio, vinyl, or a DJ set. When you think of mastering, you may think of loudness. That’s certainly an important part of the process. Mastering engineers ensure that the

Music Producers: Why Compress? And When Not To

To compress or not to compress? Well, it depends… Alongside equalisation, compression is one of the most essential tools available to anyone working in audio. Whether you’re an audiobook or podcast producer, a video game or movie sound designer, music producer or mixing engineer – almost everyone who works with audio will reach for a compressor at some point during their week. But what exactly does a compressor do? The most traditional use for an audio compressor is to reduce dynamic ra

Should I Buy a 25-Key, 49-Key, 61-Key or 88-Key MIDI Controller?

MIDI controller keyboards come in four distinct sizes. Which one is right for you? We’ll give you the considerations you need to take before buying your next keyboard If you’re looking for a MIDI controller keyboard, there are a lot of options out there, and many considerations to make before you come up with the one that’s right for you. One ‘key consideration’ is the number of notes the device has on it. In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different size keyboards i

The Best Pitchshifter Plugins on Plugin Boutique

On the hunt for a new pitch-shifting companion, or just looking to see what’s out there? Whatever the case, we’ve got your pitching needs covered Pitchshifters are some of the more creative audio FX we can use during a mixing session. That’s to say, they’re not something you’ll be whacking on every single track, like an EQ or compressor but they still deserve a dedicated compartment in your virtual toolbox. There are plenty of scenarios where pitchshifters are the only tools for the job. K

What's New in Scaler 3?

The world’s favourite music theory plugin is back and better than ever Scaler has long been a go-to tool for musicians, producers, and composers looking to bring interesting scales and chord progressions in their productions. With Scaler 3, the software takes a massive leap forward, transforming from a highly capable harmonic assistant into a fully fledged music composition and production powerhouse with some new features that any Scaler 2 users will love. From third-party plugin hosting t

The Best Songs That Used a 303

  From Acid House to R&B – here are our picks of tunes that use the Roland TB-303 groovebox for its greatest strengths “I love Acid for the way it makes me move. I love Acid it's the sound you can't improve” – so go the lyrics to Luke Vibert’s 2003 track I Love Acid, and it's a message that has reverberated with many a raver over the past 40 years. The Roland TB-303 – or simply the “303” – is the synth that defines the sound of Acid. Designed by Tadao Kikumoto, the 303 was intended to se

Best Free VST Plugins To Start Making Music in 2025

Find awesome synth power, realistic instrument emulations and creative effects options among our hand-picked selection of free plugins In case you haven’t noticed, there is rather a lot of music software around these days. Here at Plugin Boutique, we host over 6000 plugins from nearly 200 developers, so we like to think we’re pretty clued in on how many options there are out there for aspiring music makers.  Choice is definitely a good thing, but it can also be overwhelming, especially if

The Best Sound Design Plugins You Need in 2025

Find the sonic key that will open the door to a whole new realm of creative potential in this list! Music production is a many-headed beast, with a variety of disciplines combining to make up one creative endeavour, namely: writing, recording, arranging, mixing and mastering. There’s another step on the production journey though, one which borrows from and overlaps with some of the skills mentioned above - sound design.  Originating from the world of film and television, where audio