Native Instruments Maschine
“I bought this a couple of weeks ago, and it’s brought such a change to the way I work - it’s the percussive hub of every track I do now. For a while I found the process of making percussion parts frustrating, but Maschine makes beat programming fun, fast and intuitive.”
Audio Damage Automaton
“Automaton does great random glitch stuff. It’s baffling to use but ace! There are so many sequence-based glitch FX out there, but I particularly like the way Automaton sews the granularised samples back together - it sounds grainy and unique.
“For me, it works best on sounds with a thin, rhythmic tone, like guitar arpeggios or upper-octave pianos.”
Apple Logic Pro
“I have a love-hate relationship with Logic. It’s buggy as hell, but it’s like a girlfriend - I just can’t leave, cos I love it!
“It’s such an amazing package. The instruments and FX are pretty good, but the main thing is the sequencer and the limitless nature of the Environment - it can seem daunting, but it’s worth getting your head round.”
Universal Audio Lexicon 224
“Reverb is the spice that brings sounds to life, and this is the best reverb plug-in I’ve found.
“It’s based on a classic Lexicon from the early ‘80s. The UAD version is stunning. It has that magical quality of creating a clear space around sounds without adding a mushy, muddled sheen to a mix.”
Future Audio Workshop Circle
“The genius interface makes this synth a joy to use. I find many soft synths so uncreative. Nothing kills the feeling of being creative for me more than scrolling though presets on a synth, and so many of the interfaces are too complicated.
“Circle is the opposite. It works beautifully and invites you to be creative. It tends to need a bit of processing to bring the sound to life, but it’s my go-to synth at the moment as I can think of a sound and design it in five minutes. That’s how your workflow should be, I think.”
Read Future Audio Workshop Circle review
Benji is playing at Glade festival, Norfolk, from 14-17 June