In this video i'm going to list 10 plugins
that should be among your first purchases when you start producing music at home. i'll
give you recommendations for reverbs, delays, synths, all-in-one vocal processors, and even some
plugins that give you tons of playable sounds for any genre of music. and i'll also add some plugin
bundles that are worth the long term investment. if you're new around here, i'm Sanjay C. i've got tons
of tutorials and music year reviews on my channel. consider subscribing if you haven't already. i
always get straight to the point in my reviews and tutorials. let's get started. number one
on my list is a modern synth plugin like Serum, Massive, or Pigments by Arturia. Synth
plugins give you a plethora of sounds at your fingertips and best of all you
can use them to create virtually any sound possible. the reason this is number one in the list
is because you'll probably need to spend some time learning the synth plugin you choose.
but the time and effort you put into it is going to be worth your while for sure. one of my favorites is Pigments by Arturia.
it's powerful, the interface is intuitive, and it comes with excellent excellent presets
to get you started. by the way, what's your favorite synth plugin? comment below. number
two is a reverb plugin that takes you beyond your DAW's stock reverb. I'll give you
a few of my favorites first is Valhalla Vintage Verb. i use this on so many things.
it's light and powerful at the same time. another excellent and amazing sounding reverb is
Raum by Native Instruments. adding this to any track makes it just shine. at number three is the delay
plug-in. once again the delay plug-ins you buy extend the possibilities of what your DAW's
delay can do. i use Soundtoys Echoboy Jr. extensively! it's easy to use, has some of the best
sounding delay i've heard, and has some extra controls and excellent presets that will
just inspire you. by the way Soundtoys makes an amazing plug-in bundle that i highly recommend.
if you buy one effects plug-in bundle Soundtoys should be the one you choose. oh, by the way, this is
not the be-all and end-all of all plug-in choices. if you have some recommendations, leave them in
the comments below. at number four is an all-in-one vocal processing plug-in. i love these because they
take the guesswork out of your vocal effects chain and get you to great results really fast.
all-in-one vocal plugins give you compression, reverb, delay, and add air or body to your
vocals - super quickly too! i've used the Waves Greg Wells Voicecentric plug-in
for a while. also worth checking out is a brand new Al Schmitt plugin from Leapwing
Audio. i talked about
a synth plug-in. how about instrument plug-ins? one of the most desirable sounds
is a realistic acoustic piano. most DAWs don't come with the best sounding
acoustic pianos. i highly recommend pianos from Native Instruments and Arturia. "Alicia's
Keys" is a standard used by so many producers. Arturia also has piano
plugins that sound really good. if you have the cash for it Keyscape
by Spectrasonics has beautiful-sounding pianos and other keyboards as well. speaking of
Spectrasonics, next is an all-in-one instrument plug-in like Nexus or Omnisphere. both of these
have tons and tons of presets covering almost any instrument you can imagine. including guitars,
strings, synths, keyboards, brass... anything you want. both Nexus and Omnisphere have top quality sounds. But that comes at a price. if you're looking for something cheaper you can get xpand! 2 by Air. super
cheap! now with xpand! 2 you won't get the same quality of sounds or the included effects, but it's
a good start for beginners. if you want to pick and choose certain instruments, check out the bundles
from Native Instruments. i walk you through every Native Instruments bundle and the sounds included
in a video here. next, things get super interesting when you delve into compressor plug-ins. there
are some compressors out there that add a unique style of compression and some use AI to help you
compress optimally. all compressors help you get an even volume from the sounds that you
add to your tracks. if you want to get a combo compressor that the pros use in studios,
consider an LA2A and an 1176 plug-in combo. Waves makes the CLA-2A and the CLA-76
which are a great value and sound excellent. hey before we get to the next three, if
you're looking for some free plugins check out my Saturday news reports and
my 50 FREE Plugins video as well. you'll find it on my channel. at number eight
are lo-fi or tape saturation plugins. now, even if you don't make lo-fi music, these
plugins add warmth and character to your music - making it warmer, adding that classic
tone, and making it sound less electronic. at number nine are mastering plugins. my mastering
plugin of choice is Ozone by Izotope. mastering is the last step in getting your song or beat ready
for your listeners. it gets the volume levels up to what you hear on Spotify or the radio and also
helps with compression, the stereo image, and EQ. Ozone is an excellent all-in-one solution and it's
really easy to use. it has a Mastering Assistant that just does all the work for you - listening to
your music and adjusting it to the right level. this is probably my most recommended plugin in
this list. at number 10 is a drum sample manager. you're probably going to add some sort of
rhythm to your tracks, and the drum sounds included with your DAW will only get you so
far. XO by XLN Audio is an amazing plugin that gives you beats, samples, and is super
easy to use to add drum tracks to your songs. it also categorizes and uses any other drum
samples you've downloaded from the internet. speaking of samples, you can also get Sample
Manager by ADSR for free! it also categorizes, and lets you use your drum samples from your
entire library. so this is my list of must-have plugins when you start producing at home. did i
miss something that you highly recommend? leave it in the comments below. if you like this video
hit the like button and don't forget to subscribe. keep making the music you love and i'll see you
on Saturday for the latest from the music gear world. hey if you want to check out other plugins
i've reviewed check out one of these videos next.
