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Angus Hewlett set up FXpansion a decade ago

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Angus Hewlett is the CEO of FXpansion, the London-based music software development company that he set up just over ten years ago.

In that time, the company's products – including BFD, Guru and a raft of VST adapters – have become legendary in computer music circles.

How and why did you first get into music software development?

"For a serious hobbyist musician/producer with a computer science degree, it was something of a natural progression for me. I started off writing free plug-ins for fun in my spare time, then started to make a bit of beer money selling shareware, and eventually after a couple of years found myself making almost enough to live on.

"It seemed the best way to combine my chief passion – music – with my skill set – technology, and in particular, software. So I quit my job and networked intensively, filled any gaps with contract work, and after three years took on a business partner and set up a limited company.

"There were virtually no companies developing audio software in the UK at the time, so I pretty much had to either move abroad or start my own business."

What have been your greatest software products, and why do you think they proved so successful?

"In general, the software that does the best commercially is the software that solves a problem people know they have. Occasionally you'll get an era-defining piece of software like Reason or Live that creates a whole new category and way of working, but those are very much the exception and not the rule.

"Our biggest hits have been the BFD line – because it sounds better than pretty much anything else available, and because for most people, recording drums that sound as good is beyond their reach – and the various VST adapters we've released over the years (DirectX, AU, ReWire and RTAS), because people always find themselves wanting plug-ins that are only available in VST to work on other platforms."

So how do you decide what would make a good plug-in or app?

"There's no one test. We listen to customers, listen to outside ideas, basically try to pay attention to what's going on in the music tech scene of the day, see what kinds of things people want to do and are having difficulty with, and what new technology – mostly ever-faster CPUs, and new academic research – might enable something that wasn't possible before."

What does programming a good piece of software take in terms of time, resources, troubleshooting and so on?

"More than you'd imagine, although the programming itself is really only part of the picture. There's a whole lot of other stuff that's required to make an app successful – manuals, quality assurance, sound design, tutorial videos and after-sales support, to name but a few.

"That said, there are a few very small companies out there – maybe one third the size of FXpansion or one 15th the size of Waves or NI – that are able to do most of that to a very high standard by striking a careful balance of core staff, skilled freelancers and volunteers."

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