Next we’re going to look at a really useful metering tool. The Pancake works with panning and the stereo field (as you would expect), but you can get some pretty interesting sounds that are just going to create more interest and movement to your music. These are the guys that make Shaper Box and they’ve absolutely nailed the game when it comes to being able to modulate sounds after you’ve created them. Let’s go on to the next free effects plugin and it’s the Pancake by Cableguys. Just scroll through the presets and choose the one you like the sound of. This plugin can create some really interesting creative reverb and delay type effects. They’ve got a couple of free ones that you can download as well, and Valhalla’s Super Massive is one of them. It’s from Valhalla who make fantastic premium reverbs. The next free plugin I recommend is amazing. It’s going to fatten it up, and make it pop through the mix a bit more. Next we are going to go on to the first of the effects plug-ins, and this is an absolute classic – the Softube Saturation Knob. This is a really powerful synth and it’s definitely worth getting if you’re interested in sound design. It has many controls are you’ve actually got two scenes as well that you can kind of meld into each other as well as all the effects. It’s got waaaaay more routing options than the Tyrell, but it’s going to give you more of a digital sound and give you lots of scope for experimental sound design. This certainly isn’t as pretty as the others, but it’s an incredibly powerful digital synth. The next free synth I’m going to recommend (and this is the last of our synthesizers, I promise!), is the Surge. It’s got classic hardware oscillator routing and a nice analogue feel to it – kind of like Sylenth1 in some ways. This is more of a classic-sounding synth than, for example, Vital. The Tyrell N6 is a completely free synth that you can download from their website, and – whilst not as powerful as Diva – is capable of creating some lovely, warm analogue sounds. U-He are the guys that make Diva (used by Ben Böhmer and many other producers), which is an incredible synth but costs money. (If you have the EDM Tips Creative Toolkit, we’ve also got some Vital presets included in that). It has loads of presets included, and its modulation and effects options are very powerful. If you’re wanting to create some interesting wavetable synth sounds with lots of movement, then this is a must. Vital is sort of like a competitor to Serum, but it’s completely free. It’s a great plug-in for realistic sounding instruments (such as piano and strings) but also has some more interesting experimental sounds. Spitfire Audio have got some great-sounding premium sampled instruments, but LABS is their free version, with a big selection of high-quality packs for you to download. It includes 7 free synthesizers, 9 sampled instruments and you also get some effects thrown in as well. The scrolling display tracks integrated measurements and if you regularly upload to streaming platforms the paid-for Pro version offers presets for streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and Tidal.Native Instruments Komplete Start is a fantastic tool if you’ve got no synths or other instruments. The Youlean Loudness meter provides all the metrics you need to get meaningful measurements in LUFS. You can only accurately judge how your track will translate onto streaming platforms if you have a loudness meter, something DAWs have been slow to include as a stock plugin. This so-called ‘loudness penalty’ means that if your track has sacrificed dynamic range for maximum level all that will happen is that your track will be the same level as everyone else’s, just with less dynamic range. The major streaming platforms are all on board with loudness normalisation and if your track is too loud it will be attenuated to meet the loudness specs of that particular streaming platform. Loudness measurement is no longer something that only people working in post-production need to worry about.
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