Contributors / Production & Tutorials Editor

Priya Raman

Priya teaches the craft — arrangement, mixing, sound design — in plain language that doesn’t assume a music degree. She edits Dubspot’s tutorials and production features and still finishes her own tracks at 2am.

Production & Tutorials Editor

ProductionMixingSound DesignTutorials

Latest from Priya

Stemwire Mica hybrid synthesizer with two sources, dual filters, and a modulation row
Software

Stemwire Mica: Mutable Engines in a Fast Hybrid Synth

Stemwire Mica is $59 intro through 13 September: two sources, four engines, and any-to-any modulation. Full specs, real prices, and who should buy it.

Priya RamanSep 1, 202611 min read
AudioThing Orbita Euclidean drum machine plugin with eight circular sequencers
Software

AudioThing Orbita Spreads Hits Across Eight Circles

AudioThing Orbita is a $39 intro Euclidean drum machine with eight circular tracks, 36 banks, and per-sample filters. Specs, price, and who should buy it.

Priya RamanAug 31, 202611 min read
Hexant DSP Torsion plugin interface showing multiband pitch, frequency, and Morph controls
Software

Hexant DSP Torsion: Pitch and Hertz on One Insert

Hexant DSP Torsion is a $49.99 intro multiband pitch and frequency shifter for VST3 and AU, no iLok. Morph, Diatonic, Sub-Anchor, and who should buy it.

Priya RamanAug 28, 202610 min read
Butterlamp Audio Tilichu wavetable synthesizer plugin with dual oscillators and modulation matrix
Software

Butterlamp Tilichu: Mac Wavetable With Sentence-to-Patch

Butterlamp Tilichu is a Mac-only wavetable synth with granular and spectral engines and a sentence-to-patch generator. $99 one-time, 14-day trial, 400+ presets.

Priya RamanAug 27, 202610 min read
Carbonated Audio TALLBOY handheld chip resynth plugin with four-channel dot-matrix display
Software

Carbonated Audio TALLBOY Replays Your Line on a Chip

Carbonated Audio TALLBOY pitch-tracks your line and replays it on a four-channel console chip. $20, three machines, no iLok. Full specs and who it is for.

Priya RamanAug 26, 20269 min read
orph MONOCHORD chord instrument and harmony workstation plugin interface
Software

orph MONOCHORD: One Key, a Whole Chord

orph MONOCHORD maps full chord voicings to single keys, with 600+ voicings and 425 vintage-sampled instruments. Full specs, price, and how it compares.

Priya RamanAug 26, 20268 min read
Rapid Flow miniGRID MIDI sequencer showing four lanes, per-lane shift, and Omniclock shuffle
Software

Rapid Flow miniGRID Puts Hardware Shuffle in a MIDI FX

Rapid Flow miniGRID is a $29 four-lane MIDI FX sequencer with ±64 ms per-lane shift and Omniclock shuffle. 45-day trial; VST3, AU, and AAX on Mac and Windows.

Priya RamanAug 25, 202610 min read
Dawesome Abyss II colour-engine synthesizer interface with gradient bar, FX slots, and THE EXPANSE preset
Software

Dawesome Abyss II Rebuilds the Colour-Engine Synth

Dawesome Abyss II is an $89 intro colour-engine synth with sample-to-colour palettes, 400+ presets, and a 90-day trial. Specs, comparisons, and who it is for.

Priya RamanAug 21, 202611 min read
Minimal Audio Lucid granular effects plugin interface with grain engine, scale lock, and animator pad
Software

Minimal Audio Lucid: Granular FX That Stay in Key

Minimal Audio Lucid is a $79 intro granular FX plugin with scale-locked grains, timeline sync, and 350 presets. Specs, Portal comparison, and who it is for.

Priya RamanAug 20, 202611 min read
Baby Audio SubCulture pitch-tracking bass enhancer plugin interface
Software

Baby Audio SubCulture: A Bass Enhancer That Tracks Pitch

Baby Audio SubCulture is a pitch-tracking bass enhancer that generates in-tune subharmonics. Three engines, 177 presets, and $129. Full review inside.

Priya RamanJul 28, 20267 min read
Beatsurfing VRAC+ plugin interface showing the slicer, drumification X/Y pad and 16-pad grid
Software

Beatsurfing VRAC+ Turns One Sample Into a 16-Pad Kit

Beatsurfing VRAC+ auto-slices any audio and morphs it into kicks, snares, hats and claps across 16 pads. Full review of the paid upgrade to free VRAC.

Priya RamanJul 28, 202610 min read
Erica Synths Bullfrog Drums sampling drum machine top panel with seven voices and step buttons
Hardware

Erica Synths Bullfrog Drums: A Sampler Built to Teach

Erica Synths' Bullfrog Drums is a sampling drum machine with a built-in mic, 64-step sequencer, and CV/gate. Full specs, price, and Model:Samples comparison.

Priya RamanJul 13, 20267 min read
FL Studio 2026 interface showing the rebuilt FLEX synth and piano roll chord tools
Production

FL Studio 2026: Rebuilt FLEX, Cloud Backup, New Chords

FL Studio 2026 is in public beta with a rebuilt FLEX synth, automatic FL Cloud project backup, and smarter chord tools — a free update for all owners.

Priya RamanJul 9, 20269 min read
Arturia Rev OCEAN tidal reverb plugin interface
Mixing & Mastering

Arturia Rev OCEAN: A Motion-First FDN Reverb for $49

Arturia Rev OCEAN is a $49 motion-first FDN reverb with Abyss, Tide, and Foam modes plus tail freeze. Here's how it sounds, who it's for, and the cost.

Priya RamanJun 28, 20263 min read
Suno Advanced Stem Separation interface showing multiple extracted stems
Software

Suno Advanced Split: Regenerated Stems, ~100 Instruments

Suno's new Advanced Split regenerates each stem instead of slicing the mix, letting you extract from nearly 100 instruments with far cleaner results.

Priya RamanJun 23, 20263 min read
ElevenLabs Music v2 AI music generation interface
Software

ElevenLabs Music v2: Inpainting & Licensed AI Tracks

ElevenLabs Music v2 adds section-level inpainting, embedded SFX, and licensed-only training cleared for commercial use, plus a price cut. What changed and cost.

Priya RamanJun 22, 20262 min read
Suno AI music generation interface, representing the company's Series D funding round
Software

Suno Raises $400M at a $5.4B Valuation: What It Means

Suno raised over $400M in Series D funding at a $5.4 billion valuation. Here's what the round signals for AI music tools, artists, and the wider industry.

Priya RamanJun 17, 20263 min read
Best Sample Pack Sites in 2026 — Loopmasters, Loopcloud, Splice, ADSR + Free Sources
Production

Best Sample Pack Sites in 2026: Loopmasters, Loopcloud, Splice, ADSR + Free Sources

An honest 2026 guide to the best sample pack sites. We compare Loopmasters, Loopcloud, Splice, and ADSR on price, library size, licensing, and value.

Priya RamanJun 12, 20267 min read
Export AI Stems — Into Your DAW
Tutorials

How to Export AI Stems Into Your DAW (2026 Guide)

Export AI stems from Suno into Ableton, Logic, or FL Studio in 2026. Generate, extract stems, import, lock tempo and key, then arrange like any track.

Priya RamanJun 12, 20268 min read
How to Mix AI-Generated Stems — A Practical Cleanup Guide
Mixing & Mastering

How to Mix AI-Generated Stems: A Practical Cleanup and Mixing Guide

Mix AI-generated stems step by step. Clean artifacts, EQ and compress AI vocals and drums, fix phase and mono issues, then glue the mix together.

Priya RamanJun 12, 20268 min read
From AI Sketch — To an Arrangement You Own
Production

How to Turn an AI Track Into a Real Arrangement You Own (2026)

A 2026 workflow for taking an AI-generated track, exporting stems, and rebuilding it in your DAW into an arrangement that's genuinely yours.

Priya RamanJun 12, 20268 min read
Insert Tape plugin interface from Insert Session showing saturation and tone-shaping controls
Mixing & Mastering

Insert Session's Insert Tape Plugin: A Focused New Saturation Tool With a $39 Intro Price

Insert Session's new Insert Tape plugin pairs tape-style saturation with a Vintage DSP mode, 32x oversampling, and full mid/side processing for $39 intro.

Priya RamanMay 26, 20266 min read
Suno AI music generator interface representing the AI music lawsuits with Warner, Universal, and Sony
Production

The Suno & Udio Lawsuits, Label Settlements, and What 'AI Music Tags' Mean for Producers in 2026

Warner settled with Suno, Universal settled with Udio, and Sony is still fighting. Here is what the AI music lawsuits, Deezer's tagging system, and Spotify's verified badge mean for producers in May 2026.

Priya RamanMay 19, 20267 min read
Roland TR-808 drum machine, the source of the 808 sound
Hardware

What Is an 808? The Drum Machine and the Bass Sound, Explained

An 808 is two things: the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the tuned sub-bass kick named after it. The full story, the signature sounds, and how to make 808s.

Priya RamanMay 10, 202615 min read