PLUGIN WEEK 2026: If there’s one artist that truly captures the current state of DIY music production, then it’s Fred Gibson aka Fred Again. His inherent musicality, combined with deep computer-based production wizardry have seen him enrapture millions.
As the years have passed, Fred has also developed his own more introspective style, an evolution that can be traced across his recorded output.
“I try and make a few ideas a day, and most of them are rubbish…” Fred told Instagram’s Ask It Anyway. “The thing is for me, the joy and the journey of finding out what you like, just like closing your eyes and throwing paint and seeing what sticks,” he said.
“I would definitely preach all day about, the more you can fall in love with the obsession of it and the craft and just chasing chasing, to me that’s the win. The best feeling to me is when you play back the thing you’ve made that day and you actually feel good about it. That’s the drug I’m chasing every day.”
Here we’re going to look at three key aspects common in his productions - reverbs, vocals and found sounds - and show you how to go about achieving similar results with the help of typical plugins.
Technique 1: Creative reverbs
Step 1. Fred’s use of reverbs and delays is key to many of his productions. Check out the track Delilah (Pull Me Out of This) above to hear a multitude of examples across its runtime.
We often use reverbs to create a homogenised effect, but Fred tends to be a bit more focused, often using big long reverbs to add interest on specific sections or parts, or alternatively to create a washy pad-like effect. Let’s take a look at how to set that up.
Step 2. When using reverbs in this precise, additive way, it’s often easier to set up the reverb on an auxiliary send. This allows us to use the reverb on multiple sources, and also provides a bit more flexibility if you want to add specific processing to just the effect return. Here we’ve selected a rich algorithmic reverb, and set a long decay time of 10 secs.
Step 3. We want our reverb to have plenty of density and minimal early reflections - here we’ve set the balance to 100% late reflections. You might also want to add some modulation, which creates some pitch interest. Meanwhile to tame the lower frequencies, which can often get too overbearing, use the reverb EQ or simply add a regular EQ after the reverb plugin and adjust this to taste. Here we’ve used a low shelf which is cutting from about 500Hz downwards.
Step 4. Next, rather than just set a static send level to the reverb, use your DAW automation to pick out specific sections. On a vocal this might be specific phrases. Try words at the ends of phrases, as the reverb can then fill the space. Alternatively, try automating dynamic levels to create a reverb swell - we’ve used both techniques here.
Overall, use the send levels to create specific reverb spot effects
Step 5. Finally, side chain compression is a key aspect of Fred’s sound. Rather than rely on side chaining the source sound, we can actually apply this independently to the reverb return and then automate the depth as needed. As an alternative to a compressor you could use a volume modulation plugin. Here we’re using a tremolo plugin, removing any stereo panning, then offsetting the timing to create a pumping effect.
Technique 2: Hooky vocal phrases
Step 1. One of the most recognisable aspects of Fred’s production style is his creative approach to vocals. Whether these are sung, spoken, or sampled from speech, which they often are, phrases are often deconstructed, processed and rearranged in a piecemeal way to create hooky, repetitive phrases. Check out the track Marnie (Wish I Had U) above to hear a key example of what we’re referring to here.
Step 2. Firstly, find sections that will work in this way. Look for rhythm or timing in the source audio that will work with the feel of the track. If the words can impart some kind of universal meaning then even better. Stick to shorter sections, no more than one or two bars. Once you have a usable section move it to a new track.
Step 3. Next, look for words or phrases within the part that can be repeated. Focus on the rhythmic or melodic hook and how you can enhance this through repetition. This could be the first or last word in a phrase - it’s the latter we’ve used here.
Step 4. If you need some help with this, there are plenty of plugin options you can try. Here we’re using the Logic Pro effect Beat Breaker, which is re-arranging one bar of audio in a creative way. Other options include Cableguys TimeShaper 3 and Stutterizer from Repiet & Revealed. These types of plugins are great at creating multiple outcomes, and you can then pick out something that works in your track.
Step 5. Finally, try messing with the pitch and formant of the sound. You should be able to adjust this in most DAWs, and changing formants in particular can be a great way to make a vocal part sound younger or older without changing the actual pitch. Here we’ve used Flex Pitch in Logic Pro to shift the formants up on one specific section.
Technique 3: Found sound manipulation
Step 1. Finally, we couldn’t talk about Fred Again’s productions without a quick mention of found sounds. His approach is to sample real life sounds and then manipulate them using processing to create something new.
This may be a field recording or something as simple as desktop finger drumming (check out Fred’s Tiny Desk Concert). This approach can add an interesting layer sonically and helps create something that’s truly unique amongst the many quite similar stock sounds. Here we’ve tried to add to our beats using some recorded table taps, and to make things a bit more lo-fi we’ve recorded this using the mic on our smartphone.
Step 2. The plan was to simply record a few hits and then use the one we liked and copy it round to create a repeated kick style sound. However, while recording we accidentally added an additional quieter tap and this added some feel which sounded really good.
Step 3. To finish up the process we’ve used two adjacent beats, leaving them in the bar position where they were performed. Then we tightened up the timing a bit, and then copied round one of them to complete the bar. This section is now ready for further processing with your plugins of choice.
Sounds suitably Fred-esque, but with a little bit of our own quirks thrown in for good measure. Hopefully exploring Fred's emotion-first attitude will unlock some new ideas for your own productions.
