Whether it’s magic problem solvers, or musical mix shaping tools, our plugins earn their keep one way or another. Every now and then new tools come along to inspire and take us in new directions. We look at two new shaping tools to get creative with.

It’s been said that inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. There are lots of ways to get started in any project, but Multi FX plugins are a great place to begin when it comes to getting sonic or even musical inspiration fast. That said, with so many parameters to get lost in it’s important for any potential tool to bring immediacy and ease of use to the party as well.

Cableguys ShaperBox 2 and HalfTime

Founded in 2007, Cableguys have so far brought us deeply flexible audio plugins including ShaperBox, HalfTime, VolumeShaper, and Curve from their base in Hamburg. These ‘secret sauce’ tools continue to be used productions from A-list producers and artists the world over including David Guetta, 808 Mafia and Armin van Buuren, Mick Schultz (Rihanna, Jeremih), Nard & B (Migos, Future) and Khaliq Glover (Prince, Justin Timberlake).

Riding on this success both ShaperBox 2 and HalfTime now have AAX compatibility following an earlier update this year to power your productions in Pro Tools as well as Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Cubase, Bitwig Studio, FL Studio, REAPER, Studio One, and many other DAWs that support VST, AU or AAX.

ShaperBox 2 contains eight powerful series effects blocks known as Shapers, and these can be freely dragged and dropped to create the order of processing needed. Each shaper has a variety of preset LFOs for modulation, but most fun is drawing in your own waveshapes with various tools and curves available.

Creative slowdown effects are handled with ease in HalfTime. This half-speed plugin is based on the same high-quality algorithms as the award-winning TimeShaper 2 for ShaperBox 2, but has a simplified interface giving the producer instant results. The big power button front and centre invites you to automate creatively for drops and stops.

Get Inspired

Whether you’re producing at home or in a multi-million dollar studio, inspiration is only ever just around the corner. Having the right tools and techniques to help you makes a big difference. When you check out our 7 Cool Ways To Start A New Track In Your DAW and have ShaperBox 2 and HalfTime in your toolbox you’ll be there before you know it.