In this article James Richmond shares his favourites from his plugin folder when he is producing music rather than wearing his post production hat. As well as some usual suspects there are a couple of interesting ones we don’t often discuss. Check it out.

I never used to be a heavy plugin user, relying on outboard as much as possible. Over time the quality of audio plugins has greatly increased and they are very convenient with regards to recall. My plugins folder is now overrun and I am firmly ensconced in the world of plugins. Here are some of my favourite and most used plugins.

Manley Massive Passive.

Several of the plugins to make this list are emulations of hardware I also own. Top of the tree is the Manley Massive Passive. 

The Manley Massive Passive is a professional-grade, tube-based equaliser renowned for its unique sound-shaping capabilities and unparalleled warmth. It features a passive EQ design with four bands per channel, offering both boost and cut functions that interact harmonically for smooth, musical adjustments. It allows for broad, gentle shaping or precise adjustments, making it a favourite in mastering studios and for mixing duties. Although I own the hardware version I find myself reaching for the UAD plugin most of the time when mixing, leaving the hardware unit as primarily a tracking device. Now that the plugin is fully native, and therefore lower latency than when I used it with a UAD-2 Satellite, it is put on my master bus and often the drum bus as well

McDSP ML8000

Another plugin that is often on my master bus is the McDSP ML8000 Advanced Limiter.

The McDSP ML8000 Advanced Limiter is a sophisticated audio processing plugin that combines an 8-band limiter and dynamic EQ with a high-resolution crossover network. It sounds great and is very easy to work with. It might look complicated but out of all the multi-band software limiters I find it the easiest to use and the most neutral sounding. (A tip, when working quickly I often go to the ‘Soundtrack Sweetening’ preset). 

Eventide Anthology Bundle

The Eventide Anthology Bundle is a comprehensive collection of audio plugins, offering a range of effects from reverb and delay to modulation, pitch shifting, and beyond. It encapsulates decades of Eventide's pioneering studio technology, providing tools for production, mixing, and mastering in a versatile digital package.

I realise it might be a bit cheeky to put an entire plugin bundle in but I own all the Eventide plugins and I use pretty much all of them as well. My favourites are Undulator, Shimmerverb, Ultratap, Blackhole, Crystals and H3000 Factory. The H9 effects get a particular mention for being super quick to design sounds for that can be manipulated in real time using the ribbon controller. As a long term owner of the H9000 I’ve become accustomed to the sound of Eventide effects and I like the user interface, so Eventide’s Emote plugin (for controlling the H9000) gets a mention as well.

Expert Sleepers Silent Way

Getting away from mixing for a moment I’d like to nominate the Expert Sleepers Silent Way plugin suite. Expert Sleepers Silent Way is a suite of plugins designed for controlling analogue synthesisers via audio interfaces. It offers precise CV (Control Voltage) generation, calibration, and sequencing capabilities, enabling seamless integration of hardware synths with digital audio workstations for advanced synthesis and performance possibilities.

There are currently 18 plugins in the suite, which include an LFO, stepped LFO, quantiser, CV input. It is a little difficult to go into a lot of detail here but in broad terms I can take CV information, bring it into the computer to be manipulated and then outputted back to the synth. Or I can control the synth from the DAW entirely. I would like the interface to be a bit more modern, they feel very much like plugins from a bygone era, but they do something that, frankly, nothing else does.

Cableguys Shaper Box 3

I only learned about this plugin last year and it was a major revelation. Where have you been all my life? Cableguys ShaperBox 3 is a versatile plugin offering real-time modulation effects like volume shaping, filtering, panning, time-based effects, and more. Its intuitive interface and powerful LFOs make it ideal for dynamic sound design and rhythmic enhancements across music production and mixing tasks.

This plugin is an electronic music production dream, it has a great collection of presets but is also very easy to build a sound from the ground up. It can radically alter any source material and make it sound vastly different. I sometimes put it on tracks and cycle through presets until I hear something I like, which can take a track in a different direction. I favour it on drums, bass, guitar, synths and vocals.

Waves Brauer Motion

Finally I’d like to include Waves Brauer Motion, which is a unique stereo spatial processor designed for creating complex, moving soundscapes and dynamic effects. Developed with mixing engineer Michael Brauer, it allows for the precise control of audio movement, offering innovative panning, modulation, and ambiance effects to bring depth and excitement to mixes.

It has an excellent interface and is fantastic at taking any static sound and giving it motion and depth. I use it on so many instruments, guitars, synths and background vocals in particular. It is also fantastic on percussion parts. 

Previously I’ve used Waves S1 Shuffler, which is a great plugin in its own right, but Motion is an order of magnitude more creative.

Are you a user of any of these plugins? Do you favour alternatives for the same tasks? Share your thoughts in the comments.