Blog

The Tools That Took Sacha Robotti to Dirtybird

Few artists in modern electronic music embody the balance between discipline and spontaneity like Sacha Robotti. Over two decades, the Berlin-bred producer has moved fluidly between scenes and sounds, from his early techno roots to Dirtybird’s free-spirited west coast energy. His debut album I, Robotti captures that full arc, a record that spans basements, festivals, and continents while still feeling intimate and personal.   Across twelve tracks, the album functions like a sonic memoi

Inside Pan-Pot’s Minimal and Physical Production Approach

Pan-Pot built HUMAN as an extension of their experience of club culture and of how they want audiences to experience music again. The concept centers on depth, presence, and physical impact in a room. That same thinking carries directly into their studio process, where arrangement, sound selection, and dynamics are shaped with long-term tension in mind rather than short-term payoff. In our conversation with the duo, Tassilo and Thomas break down how that philosophy translates into real p

Inside our first India event: Plugin Boutique at Bootcamp Goa

In March 2026, Plugin Boutique made its first appearance in India. We partnered with Bootcamp Goa to host a masterclass at their annual residential music camp in Morjim, North Goa. Now in its fifth year, Bootcamp Goa brings together DJs, producers, live performers and visual artists for 14 days of focused music education. The masterclass was led by Krishnamurthy Ramesh, an Ableton Certified Trainer, as part of the camp's Advanced Music Production Week. It was built around Excite Audio's Bl

Essential Toolkit: What So Not

For the debut of our new Essential Toolkit series, What So Not details the plugins behind “Dancing in the Leaves” from their EP The Quiet That Hurts. The focus stays on speed and restraint. Each tool serves a defined purpose, supporting the idea without heavy processing chains or excess layering. Five plugins shape the session: FabFilter Pro-Q 4 handles spectral EQ on field recordings and unstable sources so the arrangement forms quickly. RC-20 Retro Color adds motion to an 808 line

Staying Human in a Digital Studio: ATB’s Approach

For more than three decades, ATB has been a defining voice in electronic music. From the early success of “9 PM (Till I Come)” to his new collaboration with Shaun Farrugia on “Believe in Love,” he has kept one goal in focus: to connect emotion and energy in equal measure. His music still carries the same DNA that made his early work resonate, but the technology and collaborators around him continue to evolve.     Speaking from his studio, ATB reflects on what it means to stay curren

The Tools Behind LEISURE’s Timeless Album

For LEISURE, Welcome To The Mood marked a clear point in how the group wrote and recorded together, and the conversations around the album focused on process, arrangement choices, and how the six-piece keeps decisions consistent across a long timeline. The record leaned further into live recording, and it expanded the palette through added musicians like strings, brass, piano, and backing vocalists, while keeping the songwriting direct and personal. That context shaped the questions in our

Chris Avantgarde Masterclass ahead of Hyperreal Release – Plugin Boutique x IO Event

The LA event bonanza continues; this time in the form of a masterclass with none other than Chris Avantgarde. This rising star has been making waves for some time now, with more and more accolades accumulating on his belt. The next of which is set to be his debut album, Hyperreal (expected to be released in June). Chris took the stage at this masterclass, shedding light on his creative process and sharing his innermost production secrets to success. This event took place following a successfu

From Dry to Alive: Giving Drums a Studio Room Feel

Drums in particular are one of the hardest instruments to make feel convincingly “real”. Straight out of the box, loops can sound clean and punchy, but they often lack the space and depth that comes from a live recording. Achieving that realism can be the make or break between a loop that works and a tightly mixed record. We’ve teamed up with Like It Or Not for a video about placing drums into a believable environment using the UAD Sound City Studios Plugin! This video explores the relationsh

DW and Roland get “Inside The Modern Mix” for Band Month

This year at Plugin Boutique, we’ve been busier than ever, hosting real-world events to celebrate various niches within the music industry. Recent times have seen us celebrate Women’s Month, and discuss Keeping Creative with artists and plugin developers alike. Aside from celebration, these events serve as a testament of successful growth of the ever-changing and expanding range of diverse music sectors across the globe. Panels of specialists, as well as dedicated enthusiasts meet up in the

Your Essential Guide to: AI Mastering and Online Mastering

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels In this article, we'll inform you on all things AI-mastering, gloss over the best solutions on the market, explore the most popular online AI mastering services/plugins, and give you an honest overview on how to incorporate all of this into your workflow to make your life easier—and save you lots of time (and money) on mastering. So, without further ado, here we have it: a no-nonsense, full guide to AI mastering and online mastering, with no stone left u

Celebrating Women's Month: Creativity, Collaboration and Community with We Make Noise

In March, Plugin Boutique and We Make Noise proudly teamed up for Women’s Month, gathering female and non-binary voices to celebrate their presence in the music industry. The event centred around the making of We Make Noise's collaborative album—a project compiling works of women and non-binary producers, songwriters, and engineers. At the event, there was an exclusive demo breakdown and an in-depth panel discussion. Through which, attendees exemplified their unique creative processes, learne

Going Beyond Stock Plugins – with Like It Or Not

Once producers venture forth beyond their DAW’s native plugin selection, that’s where creative avenues open up, and they start to really develop a sense of their own original sound. Plugin Boutique have teamed up with Like It Or Not, with a video diving into those exact creative avenues that start to pop up once musicians make that initial step outside the ‘stock-plugin’ phase and start experimenting with third-party alternatives. With a sharp, idea-driven approach to music production, Like I

Plugin Boutique Turns 14

This year marks our 14th birthday, and we want to say a huge THANK YOU to our global community of producers, artists, engineers, and creators. Whether you've downloaded your first VST plugin, explored new music production tools, joined one of our community events, or shared feedback that helped us grow — you’ve helped shape Plugin Boutique into what it is today. As we celebrate 14 years of Plugin Boutique, we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey. Wherever y

The Plugin Boutique Awards 2025 – Winners, Highly Commended and Lifetime Achievement

Each year, music producers are given more ways to shape sound, experiment, and push boundaries. The Plugin Boutique Awards celebrate those tools that not only deliver great sound, but inspire creativity and innovation across the studio. In this article, we shine a spotlight on the plugins that captured attention in 2025, helping define the music of the past year. In this fourth edition, we again asked you to vote for the winners – the standout releases, instruments, and production tools that

Plugin Boutique & TmrO Network Present TmrO “Sessions” Limited Livestream Series

Plugin Boutique, TmrO Network and Loopcloud are teaming up on a special edition of the TmrO Sessions – a five-part livestream and video series that takes fans and producers deep into the creative process with some of the most exciting names in music today. Hosted by Grammy-winning producer Don Cannon, each episode will spotlight exclusive studio sessions with guest producers, streamed live on TmrO and Plugin Boutique’s YouTube channels. From the first spark of inspiration to the final bounce,

Estiva Explains How Plugins and Instinct Shaped His New Album Embrace

We sat down with Estiva to break down the making of his new album Embrace and the studio decisions that gave it its character. In the interview, he opened up about the synth patches that sparked entire tracks, the processing chains that helped his layers lock together, and the subtle modulation that kept ideas moving without tipping into chaos. Embrace, out now on Colorize, is his most personal release to date. Built from years of road-testing ideas and long nights in the studio, the record b