Hi friend,

I hope this post finds you…on vacation 😁

Starting from today, I’m taking a couple of weeks off, in which I’ll enjoy some outdoor time in Cornwall (UK), surfing, barbecuing, hiking, looking for new inspirations, together with some friends.

I want to share with you a list of my latest favorite effects that I use in every production of mine and that I’m sure you will love as well (if you are not loving them already).

1 – UVI FX bundle: this is an FX collection by UVI, a french company who crafted some of the best sounding effects I’ve heard so far. From the collection I particularly love their phaser, chorus, delays and reverbs, plus their modular filter which allows crazy sound modulations.

2 – Trackspacer: a frequency dependent sidechain compressor, which allows you to compress only those frequencies that are overlapping with the source sound.

3 – Shaperbox 3: very creative multi-effect plug-in that is a good alternative to spice up your sounds (or completely flip them) when you fill stuck in the loop.

4 – Tantra 2: my most used multi-effect. I usually use this to turn boring drum loops into groovy patterns or to make my static pads rhythmically interesting.

5 – Guitar Rig 6: how could this be missing. Guitar Rig isn’t an effects plug-ins for guitar only. It works with everything. Some of my tracks were born thanks to throwing this plug-in on a sound.

I made a full You Tube video in which I show the potential of these above mentioned plug-ins. Have a look.

FROM THE WEB

Today we talk about “generative music”. Ambient and textural sounds that evolve by themselves, based on the modulations that randomly are applied.

1 –  The Vocal Trick Dominating 2023

A nice tutorial on how you can rhythmically modulate vocals (but also other types of sounds). Video here.

2 – How to Create Minimal Percussion and Textures in Ableton

Nice video tutorial by Christopher Ledger on how to create percs and textures. Video here.

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Here I share what I’ve been listening to lately both from the house music world and from every other genre.

I will keep feeding this section of my newsletter, with the hope you enjoy it.

1 – HOUSE/MINIMAL HOUSE MUSIC

A very nice podcast by DJ Pipe (Soundcloud link)

2 – OTHER GENRES

Gustavo Santaolalla is one of my favorite composers. Among his works you can find the soundtrack for “The Last of Us” (Videogame), one of my favorite videogames and stories, “The motorcycle diaries”, one of my favorite movies, “Narcos: Mexico” and many others masterpieces. I must say I fell in love with everything has his music on. Have a listen to his discography on his Spotify channel.