Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Riva Starr
Artists “I have an original 909 – every time I use it I feel like I’m ruining it”: Riva Starr's studio essentials
Behringer Model D
Soft Synths 10 producers share the studio gear they can’t live without
eats everything in his studio
Tech “Entrance Song is a massive 808 sub and a 909 kick. Those two shouldn’t work together - I’m not sure they were even in key”: Eats Everything on his ever-changing approach to production and DJing
Djrum
Artists "I have a very emotional relationship with my machines”: How Djrum made one of 2025’s best electronic albums
Plugins Future owns
Plugins Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
lone
Computers Lone on how he creates his technicolour, rave-adjacent electronica
Sugar Bytes Dialekt
Software & Apps Sugar Bytes' Dialekt is an 8-track groovebox that can create instant songs in a variety of genres
  1. Tech
  2. Software & Apps

Riva Starr's favourite music software

News
By Computer Music ( Computer Music ) published 8 March 2012

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Ableton Live & Apple Logic

Ableton Live & Apple Logic

"When I got Ableton for the first time a few years ago, my life really changed. The easy ways to manipulate audio are gold for me, and working while I'm touring also helps me to keep my ideas and productions going.

"I don't mind at all about the 'not perfect' audio quality as I ReWire it with Logic. In fact, Logic's Enveloper and Bitcrusher are my secret weapons. Shhhhhh…"

Read the Ableton Live 8 review

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Native Instruments Maschine & Komplete

Native Instruments Maschine & Komplete

"Despite the fact that I'm terribly lazy, I've still been able to get into Maschine and all the NI software. The instruments sound great and I really like messing things up with Maschine and Kontakt, creating weird loops. My fave instrument has gotta be FM8."

Read NI Maschine 1.6 review

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Universal Audio UAD-2

Universal Audio UAD-2

"I'm not a big fan of plug-ins when it comes to improving samples, but I gotta say that a couple really make my life easier! I use the UAD-2 platform, and my best purchase is the Little Labs VOG (Voice of God).

"If you want to make a bassline or a kick drum fatter than Ronaldo, then that's the one. SPL Transient Designer rocks it for me, too!"

Read Universal Audio UAD-2 review

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
D16 Group plug-ins

D16 Group plug-ins

"Nice, simple and effective – three words that describe these plug-ins. I use Decimort and Devastator to get crunchy effects on the beats, or to add an extra flavour and make the groove more interesting. Good show on the TR-303, 808 and 909 clones, too!"

Read D16 group Decimort review

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Goldbaby Samples

Goldbaby Samples

"I strongly believe that you'll never be able to cook up a yummy cake if you use bad ingredients, and that works for music too! Getting the sound selection right is the first step to a great-sounding track.

"One of the best at the moment for me is Goldbaby – they're creative, using a variety of sound sources (from standard drum machines to very unusual and rare ones) and processing everything with tape machines, analogue compressors, etc. I'm also loving the variety of quality samples offered by Loopmasters."

Riva's collaboration with Fat Boy Slim, Get Naked, is out now.

www.rivastarr.com

Liked this? Now read: Claude VonStroke's favourite music software

Connect with MusicRadar: via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Computer Music
Computer Music
Social Links Navigation

Computer Music magazine is the world’s best selling publication dedicated solely to making great music with your Mac or PC computer. Each issue it brings its lucky readers the best in cutting-edge tutorials, need-to-know, expert software reviews and even all the tools you actually need to make great music today, courtesy of our legendary CM Plugin Suite.

Get over 70 FREE plugin instruments and effects… image
Get over 70 FREE plugin instruments and effects…
…with the latest issue of Computer Music magazine
More Info
Read more
Riva Starr
“I have an original 909 – every time I use it I feel like I’m ruining it”: Riva Starr's studio essentials
Behringer Model D
10 producers share the studio gear they can’t live without
eats everything in his studio
“Entrance Song is a massive 808 sub and a 909 kick. Those two shouldn’t work together - I’m not sure they were even in key”: Eats Everything on his ever-changing approach to production and DJing
Djrum
"I have a very emotional relationship with my machines”: How Djrum made one of 2025’s best electronic albums
Plugins Future owns
Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
lone
Lone on how he creates his technicolour, rave-adjacent electronica
Latest in Software & Apps
tapeoplex
"A tape delay plugin that finally sounds like the real thing": Heritage Audio takes on the legendary Echoplex with its TAPEoPLEX plugin
Arturia Pigments
“Pigments is becoming so powerful it risks making the V Collection look obsolete”: Arturia Pigments review
codec
Codec, one of our favourite free lo-fi plugins, just got an update
ableton
Ableton Live 12.2 gives this "incredibly versatile" device a much-needed refresh
acon digital
This AI-powered plugin could be a game-changingly useful tool for drum production
rhodes
"Raw, warm, and beautifully expressive": Rhodes releases Wurli, a virtual instrument based on the Wurlitzer 200A
Latest in News
Gretsch Broadkaster Jr LX Center Block with Bigsby
Gretsch’s unveils new MIJ high-end semi-hollows with redesigned bodies and Pro Twin Six humbuckers
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter on her musical heroes, and why she decided to release a new album so soon... and Rush
Liam Gallagher, Sharna Liguz, Nicole Appleton and Zak Starkey attend the launch party of Liam Gallagher's new store Pretty Green on July 29, 2010
“I’ll cry... I’d have done that gig for nothing” Zak Starkey on why he'll miss the Oasis gigs
Fred Armisen as George Ross, Amy Poehler as Carolyn Kepcher, Donald Trump during "The Apprentice Band" skit on April 3, 2004
“I could’ve been a flutist”: Donald Trump is claiming he has an aptitude for music
Jackson X and JS Series Surfcasters: the long-awaited offset electric guitar is now being offered in white, satin black and metallic black, and and at the entry-level JS price point and the mid-priced X Series.
“A bold new take on a classic metal machine”: Having ridden the wave of popular demand, Jackson’s Surfcaster offset has landed – and it’s built for speed
Line 6 Helix Stadium XL: The new flagship amp modeller and multi-effects unit is a dramatic expansion of the Helix framework with a suite of state-of-the-art features
Line 6 debuts all-new AI tech as it supercharges its amp modelling platform with the Helix Stadium

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...