In an effort to slim down on hard drive space, I've been making some time to keep the plugins that I've been finding myself using more often than others. There are many I have that are very redundant and I need more space to keep projects and such open for. 

So, I thought it'd be cool to quickly talk about a few of these plugins that I like the most! Of course, some of this will change over time so it would be interesting to see if these stick around in my main toolbox or not 

Unfortunately, I do have to name products by their full names (like cars for instance) and provide screenshots of the interfaces, since a lot of people and companies name products the same thing and this is the only way to distinguish them.  Screenshots are credited based on where I grabbed the pics for them.

 

My DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) of choice has and will always be FL Studio. It has it's little quirks and annoyances (automation could generally be more intuitive, loading times could be improved, recording could be a bit better and I kinda don't like Edison, and plugin crashes = program locks up = ANNOYING) BUT... I enjoy the freedom they give.

I love that their business model is "We don't care if you pirate our program, but just know that if you buy a license you keep access to it permanently with free lifetime updates," and they've kept their word for 20 years! Though I do wish we didn't have to keep downloading their installer to perform updates... why can't we just update directly from the program? Other software is able to do that so that's a mystery to me.

Also FL Studio can be loaded into other DAW's as a plugin. I heard of lots of people using Reaper doing this just for the MIDI functionality in FL. It's super interesting, but really cool that they leave options open.

 

But anyways here we go... in no particular order!

My Must Haves

(FL) Patcher

Patcher is very modular and allows for almost infinite connections of any instrument and effect however I want it to be in the Map tab. Any and all parameters can be connected together and controlled with custom sliders and dials which are on the Surface tab. It's great for keeping organized automations and other more advanced effects which could get really messy really fast.

I found myself preferring to keep all the mess "hidden" so I don't have to stare at a million automation tracks. It comes built into FL Studio and is super handy and deserves more love, it's like making your own plugin without having to code anything. 

I know there's third party alternatives like this, but I can't remember the names of them right now unfortunately 

 

Xfer Serum

I know FL Studio comes with some great and powerful synths, such as Harmor and Sytrus, and I've used plenty of synths before, however I just find myself always reaching for Serum. It's super intuitive for me to use and quickly get sounds that I'm looking for. It's been around for a long time now and is well known, super worth the purchase.

But if you can't afford it and don't want to torrent a cracked copy of it (highly recommended to not pirate it anyways, you risk malware and if you get some record deals and they see what you have in the project, they won't work with you and may tell others to stay away from working with you because that's messy legal territory for them), then try the free version of Vital! It's the same thing as Serum, just as powerful, and is free! The paid tiers there just give you access to more built in wavetables, presets, and that text-to-wavetable feature, but that's all optional since you can import your own wavetables and presets freely.

Anyways, yeah. Everything can be made from this thing, though I tend to stick to pads and subby reese basses currently 

 

Plugin Boutique Scaler 2

This has been a really good tool to use for times when I'm stuck on melodies and chords. It's a great way to see and hear many chords, scales, and playing styles as well as get ideas for them. I can't understate how much help this has been for me. The best part is I know what notes I want to play, but sometimes I can't name the scale. It allows me to record those notes in and it will respond back with the exact scale I'm playing in, shows me what notes correspond to the scale, and has other scales that are similar that I could consider. It comes with tons of playing styles too, mostly for sketching purposes. Helps to get melody ideas down!

It also has more MIDI sequencing stuff but I don't really use those, I stick to the basic piano roll for my MIDI stuff right now. And, if I needed to, I feel using FL's MIDI sequencing tools would be far better.

(also it has guitar tabs for the guitarists out there, I can't speak on how good or bad it is though.)

I highly highly recommended for anyone, experienced and newbies alike since it's such a great music theory tool. It keeps a place forever for sure, at least for me! 

Captain Chords is another good one as well, though that's aimed more at EDM and Hip Hop producers instead where Scaler is aimed towards everyone.

 

(FL) Fruity Delay 2

Very simple delay effect, great for quick "dub-like" delays and such. Really easy to dial in a good sound that I love! Comes with FL Studio.

 

Plugin Alliance/Brainworx/Looptrotter SA2RATE 2

I've been using this more recently, but I've found that it helps add a more professional-sounding character/saturation to a full mix. I just wish the "Magic" dials were called something else. Otherwise, really awesome to use 

 

Integraudio/Sixth Sample Deelay

For more experimental delays, this one is great for that. It offers lots of functionality and sounds great for being completely free. There are multiple modes as well, like reverse and REVERSE CHAOS! Very fun, very good. If you need a single delay plugin that can do it all, this is the one! 

There's also the upgraded version that can be purchased, but that adds some functionality that I don't see myself using right now.

 

 

TDR VOS SlickEQ GE

Great analog-style EQ. Simple controls and I found it to be good for broader final touches like the aforementioned SA2RATE 2. I have the GE version, which builds on top of the already very good free version, and the EQ-matching using a source file feature (i.e. a song you're referencing) is super cool! The graph is also interesting and helpful, though it's encouraged to not look at it for these types of EQ's.

VOS (Variety Of Sound) also has some quality freeware plugins, but as far as I know they are Windows only! Tokyo Dawn also has many great freeware plugins too, with the GE versions expanding on them to add more functionality 

 

 

TDR Kotelnikov GE

I found this to be good on my drum bus, as a glue compressor. I was using one of Waves' plugins for this purpose (one of their SSL emulations), but I didn't really want to support Waves after they had a bit of a fiasco (they reverted what they were going to do... for now... but they wanted to get rid of all current licenses in exchange for a full subscription service to use their now-"meh" plugins.. no thanks), plus this one sounded a bit better to me. Simple controls, great sound. Not much else to say other than it has a slimmed down free version like SlickEQ!

 

 

Plugin Alliance/ADPTR Streamliner

Great metering tool to use while performing final mastering as it has information for dynamic range and loudness for major streaming platforms. Very handy and great tool!

 

ChowdhuryDSP CHOW Tape Model

Very good (and free) tape saturation effect! It can emulate just about any tape machine that can be imagined, or specific characteristics of them. I've been experimenting on where to place it, but I've been liking putting it on the master channel lately. Gives it a bit of a vintage, or lo-fi, feel.

ChowdhuryDSP has lots of other great free plugins as well, definitely worth giving a shot if you haven't!

 

I think that's about it right now. I'm still on the fence with some other plugins and need more time to try them out. And yes I am considering the FabFilter plugins too, I know they're the golden standard! Perhaps their EQ since FL Parametric EQ 2 feels quite limiting for what I need. But, who knows.

If anyone has any thoughts or recommendations, I'd love to hear them!