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  1. News

The Chainsmokers' favourite music software

By Computer Music
published 23 December 2014

After scoring 250 million YouTube views with #Selfie, the duo's Drew Taggart gives us his top five

Ableton Live

Ableton Live

“I’ll be honest: In the early days, I chose Ableton cos I didn’t have much money and I needed something for both production and DJing. It’s been great to watch the program grow in capability and manoeuvrability. Out of all the main DAWs, it definitely gives you the biggest bang for your buck.”

Read Ableton Live 9 review

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Sonic Academy Kick

Sonic Academy Kick

“I don’t always start with beats, but that doesn’t mean the drums don’t matter. Whether your track is being played on radio or to a crowd of 50,000 at a festival, tuning and shaping your kick is a fine art. This takes out all the guess work.”

Read Sonic Academy Kick review

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
ReFX Nexus 2

ReFX Nexus 2

“Some people look down on Nexus because it’s all presets. So what?! What do you want to do? Spend every day tinkering with your latest plugin or pull up some sounds and actually write songs?”

Read ReFX Nexus 2 review

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
Reveal Sound Spire

Reveal Sound Spire

“This has been my go-to synth for quite a while. Again, it’s all about ease of use and being able to find sounds that make you smile. Our new Moog Sub Phatty is currently vying for my attention, but there’s still plenty of life left in this baby.”

Read Reveal Sound Spire review

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Lennar Digital Sylenth1

Lennar Digital Sylenth1

“This is a plugin that’s been around for so long that people have got bored with it. I think that’s because they haven’t taken the time to make it their own. Experiment, get off the beaten track, and it will deliver. The bass in #Selfie came from Sylenth1, and for that, I will be eternally grateful!”

Read Lennar Digital Sylenth1 review

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Computer Music
Computer Music
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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.

More about tech
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The Vaporizer 2 wavetable synth plugin is now free and open-source: a commercial-quality instrument you can download for nothing?

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    Keith Richards calls pop music “rubbish”, dismisses “synthesized muzak” and doesn’t get rap: “I don’t really like to hear people yelling at me”
  2. 2
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  3. 3
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  4. 4
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  5. 5
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