Autor: Producer Gang

KERN Audio has released PUSH, a three-character compressor plugin for macOS and Windows. You can get the complete KERN Audio bundle for $59 (down from $69) until Sunday, May 25. PUSH is the fifth plugin in the KERN lineup, following SMOOTH, WARM, WIDE, and the free CHECK mono compatibility analyzer. We had covered the developer’s mixing bundle earlier this year, and PUSH now joins the paid lineup as the dynamics tool in the chain. The main idea is that PUSH should sit before your final compressor, not replace it. It works across 40 ERB-spaced frequency bands, applying dynamics in a…

How the Grammy-winning producer uses Apollo and UAD plug-ins to bridge nostalgia with modern sounds. Carlos de la Garza has mixed and produced some of the most influential indie rock records of the last decade. But when he started, all he had was a skateboard, Portastudio 424, and Boss delay pedal. From working as a runner at Capitol Records with studio legends like Al Schmitt to becoming a full-time engineer, de la Garza built his incredible home studio piece by piece. Here, he details his journey from aspiring engineer to Grammy-winning producer and mixer. Did you ever picture yourself owning…

Developer Indossa Sounds has launched REAKTR Map Maker, a free Reaktor sample map generator. Native Instruments Reaktor isn’t something we talk about every week around here, but we do see related releases pop up from time to time. Sound Author’s Pristine FDN-style reverb, and the MRX90 cassette tape emulation are a couple of good examples. We also had the entire Boscomac Collection, including The Chiller, a synth inspired by the ARP Omni, move to freeware a few years ago. Now, we have a different sort of Reaktor-based release in REAKTR Map Maker. REAKTR Map Maker is a browser-based utility that…

Two Completely Different Philosophies “Some tools guide you. Others let you build your own system.” When comparing DAWs, few matchups are more interesting than: Both are powerful. Both can make professional records. But they approach music production from completely different angles.   Quick Summary 👉 Pro Tools is the industry-standard DAW found in professional recording studios worldwide, while Reaper is an affordable, lightweight, and highly customizable DAW favored by independent creators and power users.    For decades, Pro Tools has dominated professional recording studios. If you walk into a major studio, post-production facility, or commercial recording environment… You’ll probably see…

Mini-Menace is available in AU, VST, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows. Mini-Menace is a throwback to the modern resurgence of analog synths, with all sounds sourced from the Arturia MicroBrute. It’s easy to forget that the MicroBrute has been around (albeit discontinued and then continued in special editions, etc.) for so long. When it was first released, well over a decade ago, Arturia’s MicroBrute became an instant classic as an affordable analog synth. Arturia synths, certainly the smaller ones, tend to have a character that’s slightly different from the norm; they can’t do some things you’d expect, but…

The 1176 is one of the most-recommended compressors in music production history. It’s been used in countless hits on vocals, drum bus, bass, parallel chains, you name it. Hardware units run $2,600+ new, and major plugin emulations have historically cost $100 or more. Free alternatives have existed for years, and we’ve covered most of them on BPB (for example, FET-162). But the ones from the bigger plugin developers have always been paid. That completely changed in 2026. Right now, two fantastic free 1176 plugins sit on my drive, and between them, they cover most of what producers actually use the…

Turnt Plugins, a developer focusing on no-fuss plugins designed to tackle a particular task, has released Holding Hands. This multiband saturation plugin for macOS and Windows is free for a limited time. In other words, this developer isn’t trying to solve every problem with a single plugin; instead, they’re creating simple tools that do one job very well. The latest addition to the Turnt Plugins lineup is Holding Hands, a multiband parametric saturation plugin. Holding Hands is free for a limited time, and we have no firm end date for this offer, so grab it while you can. Although built…

UChord is a MIDI chord progression generator, available in VST and VST3 formats for Windows. The plugin is available for free until June 15, 2026. If you’re looking for a chord generator plugin, but you’re on macOS, check out Bloomer Free, a chord engine focusing on emotion. Like all chord generators, UChord comes with a bunch of factory presets that cover various musical styles. What UChord offers that not all chord generators do is a fairly deep level of customisation. Along with the ready-to-go presets that include some of the most popular and commonly used progressions in music, you have…

Plugin Boutique has launched an exclusive Roland Manufacturer Focus Sale, with discounts of up to 80% across the Roland Cloud plugin catalog. The sale runs from today through May 31, 2026. Two deals stand out the most for me. The JUNO-106 is down to $49 (75% off the usual $199), and the TR-808 is also $49 (67% off, normally $149). JUNO-106 The JUNO-106 plugin is Roland’s official software version of the 1984 polysynth, built on the company’s Analog Circuit Behavior modeling. The original was (at the time) an affordable poly with a single DCO, a fat sub-oscillator, a characterful VCF,…

POPlab Sounds has released Modern Live-Drums, a new acoustic drum library modeled after the sound of current pop hits. The library is built around the kind of live-but-punchy drum sound that’s been front and center in modern radio pop production. In this case, instead of offering a generic acoustic kit, POPlab Sounds focused on recreating the specific tones from contemporary pop tracks, with each kit designed to be production-ready straight out of the box and to work as a starting point for a track. Basically, the idea is to give you mix-ready drums that are pre-made to match current popular…