343 LABS Blog

Happy Holidays! Chromeo Cassette Player and Anthony Nables spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Slate VSX is a headphone monitoring system designed to provide accurate and reliable monitoring in any environment. It offers a virtual listening experience that simulates the sound of high-end studio monitors, allowing users to mix and master their tracks with precision even when working in less-than-ideal

Chop Shop Dec 18th, 5 Tips to Make Your Productions Better, Lion Babe spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Spectre is a unique audio plugin that acts as a saturator, but with a different approach compared to traditional saturators. Unlike conventional saturation plugins that typically introduce harmonic distortion by emphasizing higher frequencies, Spectre works by saturating from the bottom up. This means it adds warmth

UVI Falcon 3, Sound Design Tips, TV Girl and George Clanton release collab album

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 UVI Falcon 3 is a hybrid instrument that combines the best of sampling and synthesis. With an extensive range of oscillators, effects, modulators, and scripting capabilities, Falcon 3 allows producers to create complex, evolving sounds from scratch or manipulate existing samples in innovative ways. Its flexibility

Black Friday at 343 Labs, Kevin Parker announces hardware, Kendrick Lamar surprise drops GNX

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 UVI Drum Designer is a virtual instrument focused on drum creation and customization. It includes four primary sound modules: kick, snare, clap, and cymbal, each with its own set of controls for shaping sound characteristics like pitch, decay, tone, and effects. The instrument integrates a sequencer

Spotify welcomes AI, Collabhouse, Radical Face spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Scaler 2 by Plugin Boutique is a MIDI plugin focused on simplifying music theory and aiding composition. It detects scales and chords from MIDI or audio input and provides compatible options for building chord progressions. Users can explore a large library of scales, modes, and genre-specific

Tyler The Creator v. Copyright Strikes, Thump One, Gilligan Moss spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Thump One by Toybox Audio is a free synthesizer plugin designed to create unique kick sounds, basses, and leads. It combines two main sound engines: a glitchy wavetable oscillator and an emulation of the Roland JP-8000’s supersaw oscillator. These elements can be layered to produce

Quincy Jones passes at 91, Automation tips and tricks, 070 Shake spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 SpotOn AutoTube is a free autotune plugin that provides basic yet effective pitch correction for vocals. With a straightforward interface, it lets users control how strongly and quickly pitch adjustments are applied. The plugin also includes a key selector to match specific scales, helping keep vocals

iZoTope Neutron 5, Utilize drum fills in your songs, TV Girl spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Muse Sessions is a virtual music studio designed for musicians, producers, and audio engineers, similar to Zoom but specifically tailored for collaborative music-making. It enables users to connect in real-time, jam, and create music together from anywhere in the world. Muse Sessions offers different plans, including

Halloween Chop Shop next week, Waves announces Curves Spectral Series, Nilufer Yanya spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Hooktheory offers a comprehensive suite of tools for music composition and theory education. Its flagship product, Hookpad, features AI-powered chord suggestions that update in real time based on the chords at your cursor, helping you stay within your chosen scale. Hookpad also allows you to analyze

Chop Shop Halloween Special, Alphatheta's new DJ controller, Phantogram spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Waves CLA Epic is an all-in-one reverb and delay plugin created in collaboration with legendary mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge. This plugin combines multiple types of reverbs and delays, each modeled after Chris’s favorite hardware units. CLA Epic allows you to blend these effects in creative

Antonoff's Free Studios, Ableton's new limiter, Gold Panda spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Celemony’s Melodyne 5 is a powerful pitch and time correction tool that offers unmatched flexibility and precision. With its DNA (Direct Note Access) technology, you can manipulate individual notes within polyphonic audio recordings, making it possible to correct or creatively alter any performance. Whether you&

Tik Tok music shutting down, Output's Arcade, Lady Gaga releases Harlequin

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Output's Arcade is a loop synthesizer with a constantly updating library of high-quality loops and samples across various genres. Arcade’s powerful engine allows you to tweak and manipulate these loops in real time, making it easy to create unique and dynamic tracks. With

Diddy arrested, Valhalla DSP, Jaime xx releases 'In Waves'

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Valhalla DSP is renowned for its high-quality reverb and delay plugins. With offerings like Valhalla Room, Valhalla VintageVerb, and Valhalla Delay, these plugins are known for their lush sound and intuitive interfaces. Whether you need a realistic room reverb or a spacey, modulated delay, Valhalla DSP

Chappell Roan's response, Dua Lipa Remix Contest, KIRBY spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Soundtoys 5 is a collection of 21 audio effects plugins that combine classic studio gear emulations with creative new tools. From the iconic EchoBoy and Decapitator to the innovative Effect Rack, Soundtoys 5 offers a diverse range of effects that can transform any sound. Whether you

Instagram and Spotify teaming up? Ableton's Auto Shift, Hope Tala spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 FabFilter’s Saturn 2 is a versatile distortion and saturation plugin that offers a wealth of creative possibilities. With its multiband design, you can apply different types of distortion and saturation to different frequency ranges, creating rich and complex sounds. The intuitive interface and extensive modulation

A chop shop event is coming up. Did Flying Lotus make your ringtone? Maina Doe spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 UVI Falcon 2 is a hybrid instrument that combines the best of sampling and synthesis. With an extensive range of oscillators, effects, modulators, and scripting capabilities, Falcon 2 allows producers to create complex, evolving sounds from scratch or manipulate existing samples in innovative ways. Its flexibility

Protect your ears! Recreate Skrillex drops, Sjowgren spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Spitfire Audio's LABS offers a collection of free, high-quality virtual instruments that are continually updated with new sounds. From strings and pianos to quirky and unique instruments, LABS provides a diverse range of sounds that can add depth and character to any production. The

Loopcloud 6, Ableton Roar Tips, Cosmo's Midnight spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Loopcloud 6 by Loopmasters is essential for producers looking to expand their sonic palette. This cloud-based sample library integrates seamlessly with your DAW, allowing you to audition and manipulate samples in real time before importing them into your project. With features like harmonic and rhythmic manipulation,

New iZotope Neutron 4, Sync licensing tips, Peggy Gou Boiler Room meltdown

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 iZotope's Neutron 4 is a powerhouse mixing suite that utilizes AI to assist in creating balanced, professional mixes. Its Mix Assistant automatically sets levels for each track, while the Sculptor module dynamically shapes the sound to perfection. The suite also includes advanced modules for

SpectraLayers Pro 11, Make drums like Skrillex, New Tycho album arriving

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Steinberg's SpectraLayers Pro 11 takes audio editing to a new dimension with its visual approach to sound. This software allows users to manipulate audio as if they were working with a photo in a graphic editor. You can isolate, extract, and enhance specific elements

Remix Competition next week, Synthesia visuals, new Glass Animals album!

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Synesthesia transforms live music into visuals with its real-time graphics engine. Offering 50+ built-in scenes and powerful audio-to-visual algorithms, it’s designed for seamless integration with VJ software and allows for custom shader imports and live coding. Available for free with additional content through its in-app

Remix Competition, New production tricks, Cleo Sol spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Beat Scholar, by Modalics, is a revolutionary rhythm plugin that allows for intricate beat creation with a modular approach. It offers a unique interface where users can manipulate beats down to the finest detail. With its intuitive design, Beat Scholar simplifies complex rhythms, making it accessible

Auto-Tune in Ableton, Make synths like Aphex Twin, Kodak To Graph spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Jumble is an innovative “randomized sample explorer.” When dropped into your digital audio workstation (DAW), it slices and rearranges audio, generating fresh patterns that sync seamlessly with your project’s tempo. Notable features include adjustable gate length, customizable amp settings, a versatile state-variable filter, and the

$1,000 for Mr. Brightside? Gullfoss EQ, Raveena Aurora spotlight

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 Gullfoss by Soundtheory is an intelligent equalizer plugin that enhances clarity and detail in your mixes. It automatically balances the frequency spectrum in real time, making your music sound more natural and transparent. This user-friendly tool is ideal for both experienced producers and beginners. Learn more

FREE VSTs, Spotify CEO in hot water, Washed Out's new album drops June 28th

Studio Tool You Need 🎹 There’s a plugin company that has decided to go out of business, and as a result, it is giving away all of its previously paid plugins for free. You can visit spectral-plugins.com to download three types of plugins: Spacer, Pancz, and OCS-45. Spacer is