StarterKit.zip(4.5M)

This is the Airwindows Plugin Starter Kit. It contains 11 plugins (if you count Console as its own kind of plugin) and you should be able to make ’em do just about anything musical you could want. This includes many forms of ‘analog emulation’ and a great deal of creative mix exploration. There’s a video explaining many things you can do, and I’ve got two tracks up on SoundCloud (featured at the top of the page) that demonstrate a heavy rock song mixed entirely on my fully analog system (MOTU>Heritage Audio>Heritage Audio hardware buss comp>Lavry ADC) and then the same thing done entirely ITB using the Starter Kit (not even all the plugins). It’s not meant to be an utter and exact clone, but the Starter Kit is basically just as good as the expensive analog rig tonally, even on a mix designed to get the most out of the analog approach (no sound is so much as touched digitally in the analog mix: it’s basically using Logic as an iZ RADAR)

The downloads of the full songs are FLACs of the 24/96, on the one hand the raw capture from the Lavry and on the other hand a simple bounce from Logic using the Starter Kit. So if you want to subject these claims to extreme scrutiny, that’s possible. (maybe I should have a mix-off and put the Logic project file up somewhere: a mix-off where you can ONLY use the Starter Kit. We can see how extreme the variations can become!)

These are the plugins included in the Starter Kit: the video goes into detail on why these perhaps audacious choices were made. It’s not arbitrary: this is meant to serve professionals and also to guide newbies towards mix enlightenment.

EQ: Baxandall, Capacitor, Focus

Dynamics: Pressure4, ClipOnly, DeBess

Utility: PurestGain, Monitoring

Analogifying: Interstage

Ambience: MV

Console Version: PurestConsole

(edit: I have added Channel8! Consider it as part of the Analogifying category :) )

If you’ve never gotten into Airwindows Console, or Airwindows Plugins, this is the time. I’m demoing this kit on Logic Pro X, which is now available from Apple on a 90-day free trial, but the plugins are provided in AU and VST2.4 form for Mac, Windows and Linux. It shouldn’t be that hard to translate everything I’m doing to any DAW that supports generic-interface plugins. Most importantly, if you looked over the hundreds of plugins Airwindows produces, and wondered where on earth to start, here is your answer! Start here.

Note there are no tape plugins or any name-brand ’emulations’ of anything. You should not be starting with that stuff. Fight me :D

If you have other questions you can post to this thread about the Starter Kit, or show up to a Monday Q&A session, or get in touch with me some other way and I’ll try to help. The Starter Kit is meant to be very approachable, so it should help you start to get pleasing results provided you know what kinds of sounds you want to make! :)

All this is made possible by my Patreon. If it turns out that these free and open source plugins help you out a lot, and especially if you start wanting other more special-purpose ‘kits’ or still more plugins, you might want to support my Patreon! That’s how I’m able to do this full-time.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the Airwindows Plugins Starter Kit! If you want more plugins, there are hundreds, but this is a good start.