Ableton Live
“Let’s start with the core of my studio. Ableton is a monster! The basic DAW is really all you need; any third-party plugins are a cherry on top. When using its native plugins, you can really go deep without taking too much CPU power.”
Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch
“This has always been a weapon for me: a timestretcher that can stretch a one-minute clip into two hours of harmonic bliss if you want it to. Great for creating weird transition noises and stuff you don’t usually hear.”
How to create an ambient pad with Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch
Vaz Modular
“This standalone soft synth is PC-based while the rest of my gear is on OS X, so I have it running off a PC which I sync via MIDI to Ableton on my Mac.
“This thing creates some of the craziest noises I’ve ever heard, and I know hardly anyone that uses it – so it’s great for making a distinctive synth sound.”
Waves L3 Multimaximizer
“I work with this compressor on my master, so this is what glues my tracks together. Although it’s not recommended to do so, I’ve completely disregarded this advice, and I just stick it on everything while I’m recording.”
D16 Group LuSH-101
“The name says it all: lush! This synth has everything, from harsh square wave distortion to some of the lushest pads I’ve heard. The only downfall is that it’s a CPU hog, so be prepared to stay limited to this plugin only while you’re working.”