On May 2, 2026 at 5:18 pm joegyork said
Thanks Peter – the blog is really interesting and confirms what we all either knew or were becoming increasingly aware of in terms of the toxicity of certain platforms and the civility and kindness of this one. I imagine if you put Facebook through this process it would come out as 80% toxic!

I completely a…Read More

I was — and remain — a huge fan of Steely Dan as a kid and was crazy about the Aja album. Of course, Jay did the brilliant, iconic guitar solo on “Peg.” But, of course, with all of his studio work as a musician and songwriting, Jay’s a total legend.

On April 14, 2026 at 12:24 pm MagicRuss said
Thanks Pete, it’s great to see something like this.

 

I’m glad you find it useful. I use it regularly. Also, if you find it useful, you’ll love what I recently put together. LinkedMusicians FREE Presets PowerSEARCH. It’s a custom version of the Google search engine that only contains a curated list o…Read More

This isn’t ridiculous, it’s true. Although maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never been in love to the point where I could not hear something that terrible sounding and think it was pleasant.

On April 5, 2026 at 8:33 am Paul L said
Dark Mode is a free plug-in from Max Richter.

Based on the original open piano recordings of Max Richter’s Steinway Concert Grand, and processed via a curated chain of filters and EQs, the result is an already soft piano taken to the extreme – full of warmth and character, yet with very little bri…

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Sale runs until April 16, 2026.

https://schallenberg-engineering.com/collections/all

The Comeback Club Kid
The raw sound of the original hardware is the stuff of dance dreams. But the unique and inspiring sequencer and arpeggiator took it from a muted debut to full techno colour. Softube recreated every speck of the original circuitry, interactions, and straightforward workflow to give…

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NOTE: You get 315 DeluxeBucks with this purchase, basically $3.15, so you can look at the net price as $91.35.  Plus you can use your existing DeluxeBucks to further reduce the price.

Two classic analogue synths meticulously recreated

Repro dives into the past for analogue inspiration, meticulously…

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Introducing our improved free gift offering at Plugin Boutique – a new way for you to get more value when you spend more.
When you spend over £99 / €99 / $99, you qualify for a choice of one of multiple free gifts with your purchase. For April, there are five gifts available.

Make any paid purchase and choose the foll…

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Very cool. I like it. It has a very cool vibe to it. As we discussed in OPEN MIC, we share a lot of similar influences. I love The Cure, Depeche Mode, Joy Division and other influences you mentioned. While I can hear those influences in your music, I think you and your band bring all of those influences together to create your own sound, which is…Read More

On February 25, 2026 at 4:33 pm Brian said
Very cool.  Just learning about the “PresetShare” site was worth the visit.  I don’t have the patience or brain capacity to build patches from scratch, and sifting through hundreds of presets is a buzz-kill.  Best to find something “close” and tweakable using a search like this.

Thanks for the feedback…Read More

5 to 7 will make it in.

My picks:

• Jeff Buckley. 1 million percent. He was an incredible talent. And yes, I was a fan when he was alive and turned my wife on to his music shortly after we made, and he passed away less than a year later.
• Joy Division / New Order. They were incredibly influential. Even Billy Corgan claims them as his greatest…

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On February 25, 2026 at 9:54 am jude77 said
I know I say this a lot, but it’s amazing what we are able to get for free.  For someone who is on a tight budget these are great days to be making music!

Exactly. I’ve spent a ton of time compiling the curated lists of the best free Kontakt and non-Kontakt sample libraries and sampled instruments, be…Read More

Some of you are naming multiple bands. So I’m not complaining — I just want to join in!

While my top rock band would be The Beatles, here are my other rock bands I would love to reunite for one show (this is pure fantasy, so that includes members who have passed on):

Jeff Buckley – he and his band were perfection, but I’ll take any combination…Read More

@mrfigg Have you done the trial of Analog Drift? If not, you have to! And then share your thoughts. Again, I realize this stop is very subjective, but I love it and I rarely use delays.

“I have decided to take a break and will not be touring Europe this time. Thanks to everyone who bought tickets. I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time. I do love playing LIVE and being with you and the Chrome Hearts. LOVE Neil be well.”

No reasons have been given, beyond the above message, for why Neil Young has cancelled his entir…Read More

With all that’s going on with NI’s insolvency, I’m certain that many music producers will be researching alternatives like Soundbox, UVI/Falcon, HALion, SoundPaint, Musio, etc. It’s a very good time for these companies to step up their presence.

On January 29, 2026 at 10:28 am jude77 said
I guess it depends.  If someone like OTS had a big sale I would be all over that.  Likewise if it was an obscure instrument I had always been looking for I’d be in (“Oh wow! Look here’s a model of a 1966 Farfisa organ with a dead middle C note just like John Lennon once kicked over”).  Otherwise…

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Considering the importance of Native Instruments to this industry, I thought it would be valuable to keep a thread dedicated to following developments related to the company’s preliminary insolvency.
SUMMARY AKA TL; DR
Native Instruments GmbH has officially entered preliminary insolvency proceedings in Germany as of  January 27, 2026. This is a…Read More

@fretman I’ve known from developers and pro musicians have told me about various issues with libraries. I can’t say which ones told me about various libraries, but the problems are not that rare. Although I will share one because of the developer’s ethically problematic practices of using his contractors to attack his competitors and make shill…Read More

On January 24, 2026 at 11:11 am fretman said
These guys are really scratching the old skool jazz itch. Their demos really sound great, IMHO. If I understood jazz, I’d be all over these.

I absolutely love jazz. I haven’t released some jazz-y stuff I’ve recorded. Attempting to pull of triplet-based stuff like shuffles and jazz drumming is the m…Read More

On January 23, 2026 at 2:11 pm Jaap Visser said
I should not have read your follow up post first haha, now I can’t unhear it! But enjoyed your cover Peter, it’s one of my favorite tracks from the Beatles. For a raw take you have already a solid foundation. The voice and the instrumental parts sounded a bit “disconnected” mix wise. They don’t s…

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This video covers the amp modeler included with Fender Studio Pro.

Home

Continuing down the strategy analysis path, Fender is clearly trying to take market share from BandLab. But BandLab has one of the most difficult strengths to displace, the social ecosystem they’ve built. While they’ve done a terrible job on the DAW end, my guess is that they’ll soon bail on Cakewalk Sonar and buy an established DAW to grab the…Read More

I can use some advice on this one. I use Analog Lab Intro and have bought a bunch of expansions. I’ve been waiting for _Ambient Explorations to go on sale — and I absolutley love what I’ve heard in the demos. I could upgrade up to AnalogLab V / Pro for just $39, but I’m questioning if the factory sounds are all just basic bread and butter sounds…Read More

I just received an email from a plugin developer, and it was hyping what — let’s face it — is an unrealistic dream of being signed.

The industry has a lot of promotions that are premised on perpetuating this myth that those it’s aiming its marketing at have a realistic shot at being signed or making it big in the industry. Very candidly, I find…Read More

I’m not a fan of how this developer treated one of our members, but I did say that I may post their super cheap sales, and that’s all I’ll ever post from them, unless they want to make things right with Jorge.

Matra

Retro Cazio is a rompler based on an old toy keyboard from the 80s. All the sounds of the MT-100 have been sampled using high-end recording equipment. Released in 1983, the MT-100 uses the NEC D931 chip to generate its digital sound.

Features:

20 retro toy keyboard sounds
1 drum kit
Multi-LFO
Highpass/lowpass filter
Reverb
Glide
Amplitude range…

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I’ve been a customer for several years and own most of this very talented indie developer’s Kontakt (full version) libraries. He reecently released a plugin that received Sound on Sound’s highest rating in a review, and was referred to as “genius.”  I have been recommending him for a few years — I found about him before Sound on Sound!!!…Read More

On December 24, 2025 at 4:13 am Magic Pill Music said
Brian Auger

Bill Payne

Chuck Leavell

Bob Mayo

This may surprise you from my doing so many Beatles covers (that’s because I love their music and it’s super easy to play) and my picks being very prog-y, but I was mulling over whether or not to put Billy Powell on the list. My tastes in music…Read More

@patrickwichrowski I’ve seen every keyboardist on your list except for Vangelis.

I liked the first version of Rosewood Grand, but it wasn’t one of my top favorite grand piano sample libraries.

The second version, which is literally two new sample libraries, the regular piano samples plus a new felt piano library, tied with my longtime favorite grand piano sample library, NI Noire. And it does what Noire doesn’t. It cuts…Read More

I installed this and tried it out last night and really like it. There are straight tongue drum samples, there are sound design patches, there are synth pads they made, and there are arps. It’s a great freebie and it would easily have been worthwhile if they charged for it too.

Just a reminder, it works with the free Kontakt Player, so you don’t…Read More

I picked up solo harp. I fell in love with the tremolo swells and immediately thought of how they would work well in a song I wrote long ago that I have half-recorded.

https://www.orchestraltools.com/salu?t=instruments

Darn.I was hoping that they’d have something I really wanted in this sale. They really focus hard on metal, and seem to do a great job with it. But as a rock guy, I didn’t find the EZXs in the sale very appealing. @pseudopop knows why I didn’t find today’s EZX of interest (I sold him my license for Funkmaster’s last night month).

Hopefully,…Read More

@bluescat and @fleer When you guys get it, please post your thoughts. As hard as it is for me to do for a Wurly, I’m not going to get it until I see a killer deal.

1. Keith Emerson – While Emerson’s chops were clearly rooted in classical piano, he was clearly a genius rock keybardist. d.

2. Rick Wakeman – Yes, Elton John, David Bowie, solo, The Srawbs, Cat Stevens… I saw Rick with his solo band twice. He is a rock keyboardist master.

3. David Sancious – He is as tasteful as it gets. He has the ability to…Read More

I own VoiceID and recently picked up the Rock expansions. It is a decent product that delivers on what they advertise. Be aware that the singers have pronounced Eastern European accents. No doubt, due to their competitor, IK Multimedia, releasing a freemium version of their similar voice AI plugin, ReSing, Sonarworks is now offering a freemium…Read More

On December 18, 2025 at 3:55 am lastcall said
I can’t even create an account.

What’s the problem?

It appears that this is a restructuring of the company’s debt, basically like the US equivalent of a Chapt 11. Do you know anything more, @Bapu? I’d hate to see them go under.

I LOVE the Hofner 500/1 bass (of course, that’s due to growing up a huge fan of Paul McCartney and The Beatles). It has an absolutely beautiful tone. I’m guessing that you…Read More

On December 17, 2025 at 12:01 pm Brian said
Great deal.  I got the Charango a while back and it is certainly worth the $9 by itself.

Thanks for weighing in (AKA enabling my sample library hoarding!), @bluescat. That’s good enough for me for $9! I have contemplated buying this developer’s libraries before, as the demos sound really good to my…Read More

I pinned this thread and added the free Synthmaster One freebie to the Best 2025 Holiday Deals and Freebies Roundup thread. I own all of the Synthmaster synths and highly recommend them. I especially love Synthmaster 3.

I don’t think I’m alone in loving “This is Spinal Tap.” I used to have the quote, “There is a fine line between clever…and stupid,” in my email signature at work back in the 00s. I own a VHS and Deluxe DVD version of the movie, and my wife has the DVD too (from before we were married). This past Saturday, my wife, daughter, and I watched “Spinal…Read More

Rob Reiner mourned by Barack Obama, Jerry O'Connell, James Woods and many others

Many prominent people are paying tribute to Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, after they were killed in their Los Angeles home on Sunday.

apnews.com

Years of speech therapy as a kid and still, it sounds like I sang, “lead me to your DAW.”