Christian Smith's favourite music software

Ableton Live

“I’ve been using Ableton for a long, long time. At first, I missed the excitement of a hardware studio, but moving onboard gives you so many more options and so many more sounds. Ableton is an amazing DAW.”

AudioRealism Bass Line

“Another one that reminds me of the analogue era. When I first heard the software 303s, I didn’t think they were quite as deep as the real thing, but these days… I cannot tell the difference. I was talking to Richie Hawtin about this, and even he says that the plugins are getting it right.”

UAD MXR Flanger/Doubler

“I think it’s hard to find a really good software flanger; not many developers have managed to get that warm analogue sound. For me, the MXR is the best one out there.

“To be honest, I would have been happy to talk about any of the UAD plugins. I’ve got the whole set and every one sounds incredible.”

Arturia Mini V

“Because I come from a hardware background, I was drawn to the Arturia V collection. The Minimoog gets used for most of my basslines and stabs. The only problem is that it eats up a lot of processor because you have to EQ it, compress it and really shape the sound. If you feed it straight into a track, it feels way too heavy.”

Soundtoys PanMan

“I love panning… adding some serious width to a track. I’m really getting into panning my hats at the moment; a fast pan that doesn’t affect the sound too much, but gives you so much space. Any producer who doesn’t investigate the Soundtoys plugins is a fool. They will make your music sound better!”