New Producer Drops: Plugins, Gear & DAW Updates

quietformat dropped SURVIVE, a free clipping processor for macOS and Windows. You have to hand over an email for the newsletter to unlock it, which is a minor toll, but a real clipper at zero cost is still worth the thirty seconds. Clipping gets a bad reputation from people using it to just get loud, but used carefully on drum bus transients it can tighten a mix without crushing the life out of it.

AM I AUDIO's I AM CHOIR is the more interesting release this week - it's a timbre-transfer instrument that takes your actual vocal performance, lyrics, melody, phrasing and all, and turns it into a full choir part rather than a generic choir pad. That's a different problem than most vocal doublers solve. If it holds up to real use, it's a fast way to get an emotional, human-sounding backing vocal on a hook without booking a session.

On the hardware side, the Korg MicroKorg 2 is out and getting reviewed as a worthy successor rather than a replica of the original's iconic status. I'm not chasing a new synth every cycle, but a MicroKorg has been a cheap, reliable way to get real analog-flavored texture into trap and boom bap beats for two decades now. A real update to that lineage is worth paying attention to.

What I'm actually running right now

Still on my usual sample-chopping chain for most sessions, but I'll be pulling SURVIVE into the drum bus this week just to see what it does that my current clipper doesn't. Cheap experiments like that are how you actually find your next go-to tool. If you need a second set of ears on a mix, book a mixing or mastering session at owlspec.com/services.

Worth downloading this week

SURVIVE, if you need a free clipper. I AM CHOIR if you're tired of stacking your own vocal for backing parts and want to hear what a real alternative sounds like.