here! I’m the host of Soundfly’s podcast, “Themes and Variation,” where I interview guests and break down songs we picked based on a weekly theme. I’m also a Soundfly Mentor, where I work one-on-one with students to help them achieve a music learning goal.
Recently, I hopped on Twitch to entertain Soundfly subscribers with a test of Slate Digital’s new plug-in, Fresh Air, which is actually free for the time being, although word on the street is that they’ll eventually make it a paid product. So get it while you can!
Fresh Air is like a really great peanut butter, it’s smooth, natural, and it goes on everything. I reopened an old song session I’d been working on and tossed it on my vocals, the drum chain, and even the entire mix bus, to see how its parameters would affect the sound of those elements and was simply blown away by how simple and effective it was.
Basically, Fresh Air adds clarity and brightness to the highs and high-mids of your mix. You could say it adds “air” because it completely eliminates the harshness typically associated with boosting high-end frequencies; and even though some complex algorithmic combinations of effects processing are happening under the hood, there are only two very simple knobs to adjust, which made it really simple to play with.
I decided to share the highlights of that livestream on our YouTube channel. If you’re enjoying this video and you’re looking to make more tracks like this yourself, we can help with that! Here are some ways to get started:
- First of all, students who join our subscription get access to more than just courses — wonderful exclusive things like this livestream happen within our subscriber community every week!
- Obviously, you need to check out Slate Digital’s Fresh Air plug-in if you’re looking for excitement and clarity in your high-end. Head to Slate’s website and grab it for free (for a limited time).
- Learn, basically, everything about mixing with Soundfly’s two in-depth mix courses, Faders Up: Modern Mix Techniques for beginners and amateurs, and Faders Up II: Advanced Mix Techniques for more advanced producers and folks interested to get engineering reps mixing different styles of music.
- Got a production, songwriting, beat-making, or composing goal that’s a bit more specific? Work one-on-one with a Soundfly Mentor in a four-week session customized to your needs.
