Which piece of gear or software has most improved your music?

Thomas Davis

“Serum – the presets alone have much more quality than any synth I’ve tried.”

Patryk Scelina

“For me it was Omnisphere 2. I waited a long very time before I finally decided to buy Omnisphere, simply because it’s quite expensive… but now I regret not buying it sooner! I love it because it’s a self-sufficent instrument. You can literally score an entire game or film using just Omnisphere.”

Keith Clarke

“MPC Studio. I’d never worked with a hands-on piece of hardware, but it’s made it a lot more fun!”

Neil Gardiner

“Hardware-wise it’s gotta be the Korg Nanokey 2 – so easy to take around and chuck ideas out with.”

Marco Ferreira

“FL Studio 6. Until I got it, I was just struggling to make tunes. The sheer amount of fun while making proper music made me into the production freak I am now. Even though I just use it in VSTi or ReWire mode, still I find it useful every now and then.”

Martin Glover

“[u-he] RePro-1. The warm analogue sounds that VST can produce is nothing like I’ve dealt with before. So realistic.”

Matt Mac Evans

“My Virus – its integral to my whole workflow.”

Wojtek Stawarz

“[Image-Line] Sytrus, because of its FM routing and flexibility. It gave me a real challenge, because everything needs to be fine-tuned for good results. I still battle with it and improve.”

Chris Tedds

“Not a conventional answer, but my gaming mouse. Being able to reduce the sensitivity of scrolling and movement makes more precise knob and slider adjustments a breeze.”

Liam Attridge

“Komplete Kontrol 49 – the closest I can get to owning a hardware synth, being on a budget. Plus, the flexibility is amazing.”

Andy Buchanan

“My digital piano – a Yamaha P45. Acquiring that has prompted me to take piano lessons and take them seriously. I’ve learnt more practical music theory in the last three months than in the previous three years.”

Steve Pratt

“MIDI Guitar by JamOrigin. It allows me to play any MIDI instrument using any unmodified guitar.”

Matt Day

“It has to be the Slate Digital Everything Bundle. These plugins have made a drastic (but positive) difference to my production.”

Jonas Nymose

“Ableton Live – because of how fast and simple it is.”