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This post contains affiliate links which means that if you do decide to purchase products through them, I receive a small commission. This comes at no extra cost to you and I really appreciate it.
If you've been in the music production game for more than 5 minutes you know that it is by no means a budget-friendly hobby. DAWs, plugins, VSTs, hardware, software, not to mention the computer that will need to run all of those simultaneously, are not cheap.
Enter, Black Friday.
The annual Q4 shopping event that has music producers and musicians frothing at the mouth for weeks prior, pondering the deals and savings that will slide into their inbox in mid to late November. Many of us contemplate whether we need to purchase anything at all, but 60% off of that softsynth you heard has a preset that was used in the main melody of your favourite underground mumble rapper's second Souncloud single suddenly becomes worth the purchase.
But in all seriousness, Black Friday is a great way for you to save some dollar on music software that you have been wanting to grab, or that you know you will be using in the near future. In no particular order below, I have compiled my favourite deals out there for plugins and effects for Black Friday 2020. Hell I even picked up quite a few myself.
Stay safe all, enjoy.
Tony
Soundtoys 5 Bundle
Discount: 54% off
Sale until: December 3, 2020
Check out Soundtoys here
This one is an absolute no brainer, Soundtoys makes some of the best sound effects plugins on the market and I only see this price come around once a year.
You have the option to purchase singular plugins at a great discount but personally the best deal is if you go for the Soundtoys 5 Bundle. It contains all 21 Soundtoys plugins for $229 down from the regular price of $499, that's cheaper than if you were to buy it on an academic discount. Some of my favourites are Little Altar Boy, Decapitator, Echoboy, Primal Tap, and FilterFreak.
If you're going to buy 3-4 plugins individually you might as well just get the bundle as the prices will be around the same amount but with the bundle you'll get all 21 Soundtoys plugins.
Baby Audio All Plugins Bundle
Discount: Up to 40%
Sale until: December 6, 2020
Check out Baby Audio here
Caspar at Baby Audio started sending me their plugins around 6 months ago and I'll admit I was slow to start using them for no reason other than just being stuck in my usual set of effects and practice.
But wow, I wish I had started messing around with them as soon as he sent them.
The thing I love about Baby Audio's plugins are that they make it very easy to make a noticeable difference in your track. They sound great, look great, and their UI is incredibly easy to get a handle of. I usually toss on the Super VHS if I'm looking to add some more depth or character to a melody track, and the Parallel Aggressor comes with some great presets to make your drums and 808s absolutely smack through the mix. I use the Comeback Kid and I Heart NY a little less than the previous two but both of them serve a purpose in my production arsenal as well.
At a sale price of $69 for the Baby Audio All Plugins Bundle it's a buy in my books. They also have multiple different combos for bundles if you just want two of the plugins versus buying all four.
XLN Audio – RC-20 Retro Color
Discount: 50% off
Sale until: November 30, 2020
Check out RC-20 Retro Color here
Ah the infamous RC-20 Retro Color. It seems you can't watch a beatmaking livestream or tutorial these days without someone adding it to their melody to give it more vintage movement and character. And for good reason! Because it does that so well. The factory presets are pretty spot on but making your own is a ton of fun and easy to do.
I've seen RC-20 get lower in price than 50% off before but at a sale price of $50 versus the usual $100 it is more than worth picking it up. Cop it.
MeldaProduction MRhythmizerMB
Discount: 50% off
Sale until: November 29
Check out MRhythmizerMB here
Meldaproduction MRhythmizer is known as the "Grossbeat outside of FL Studio" and the MRhythmizerMB is the multi-band version. If you're looking to make those dark trap beats with glitchy effects that have been dominating the charts the last few years then this is a great pickup, I really like it to give my melodies a whole new feeling or flip if I'm feeling uninspired.
The regular MRhythmizer is a steal at $27 sale price but I say pickup the MRhythmizerMB for $54 as it adds a whole new layer of what you can do with the multi-band.
Arturia V Collection 7
Discount: 50% off
Sale until: December 3, 2020
Check out Arturia V Collection 7 here
I can't really give a fair analysis of Arturia's V Collection 7 because I currently don't have it (yet). I know it's a great collection of synths, especially at this price it's almost a buy solely for Analog Lab which is included in this bundle. My hesitation is if you already have Spectrasonics Keyscape/Omnisphere then you may not use this one as much or so most of the Reddit forums say.
That being said Spectrasonics products never go on sale and Keyscape alone is $399 not to mention Omnisphere at $499, the V Collection 7 includes similar sounds that are of almost the same quality for a current sale price of $249.
Theoretically you could pickup V Collection 7 and Soundtoys 5 Bundle for a little more than you would pay for just Omnisphere, if that's the boat you're in, I say that's the move.
Kilohearts Toolbox Ultimate (Includes Phase Plant)
Discount: 40% off
Sale until: December 10, 2020
Check out Kilohearts Toolbox ULTIMATE here
Since Phase Plant came on the market a couple of years ago it has been put on a pedestal by sound designers. A new "snap" style of plugin allows you to create sounds with exactly what you need to produce the sound you want and no other BS.
I haven't personally tried Phase Plant but I've had my eye on it ever since I starting diving into sound design and am seriously considering getting it with the current Black Friday sale. The Kilohearts Toolbox ULTIMATE literally includes everything they offer which would give you endless tools and possibilities when it comes to sound design no matter the genre.
If you're into sound design definitely get it for the sale price of $299.
Synapse Audio Dune3
Discount: 45% off (must buy from Thomann)
Sale until: November 29, 2020
Check out Synapse Audio Dune3 here
In my own humble opinion Synapse Audio's Dune3 is the most underrated soft synth out there. This thing is an absolute powerhouse, can be used for any genre, and flat out sounds great. I first discovered Dune2 when I stumbled on the fact the Mike WiLL Made-It used one of the presets (believe it was "Angels Talking") to make the main melody in "Aries (YuGo) Part 2", since then they've come out with the updated Dune3.
The best part? The sale price is only $119, but I found (thanks Reddit) that the German website Thomann has it for only $99.
If you make any modern genre of music, get it. For that price, no brainer.
Wavesfactory Trackspacer
Discount: 50% off
Sale until: December 3, 2020
Check out Wavesfactory Trackspacer here
Currently I don't record or mix a lot of vocals, but in the future I hope to do much more when I'm a little more of a polished producer. I haven't used Wavesfactory Trackspacer but a lot of producers that I admire use it a ton when they're mixing vocals in with a track. For the sale price of $29, I will probably end up buying it just to have in my back pocket when I do starting mixing more vocals.
If you're an artist looking to put your vox on top of type beats or your own productions, I would grab it.
Sugar Bytes Effectrix
Discount: 35% off
Sale until: December 6, 2020
Check out Sugar Bytes Effectrix here
Out of all of these deals I've listed this is probably my least favourite, but still worth a look. The reason being that personally I don't have a use for Effectrix at the moment, however it is used by a ton of people in the trap production community.
Effectrix is another one of those plugins that's essential if you're making those glitchy, dark melodies. I will say they made the UI perfectly by making it a step sequencer like format and table of effects, easy to navigate and see where you're applying each effect. With the sale price being $79 from $119 I don't think I will grab it this time around due to the fact that I can't see myself using very much at the moment.
Still, great plugin and I know that some of you will really like this one.
Output Exhale
Discount: 35% off
Sale until: December 6, 2020
Check out Output Exhale here
All of the Output plugins that are not subscription model based are 35% off and currently the only one I can vouch for is Exhale (picture above). At a sale price of $129 Exhale is a great plugin to add to your collection because it is so versatile.
Whether you make trap, pop, EDM, hip-hop, indie, or anything really, Exhale is a modern vocal engine that allows you to sound design vocal chops to fit your track. With a plethora of parameters to change a simple, one syllable vocal stab into an airy, ambient melody, the possibilities are endless with Exhale.
I've had this plugin for quite some time now and if you want to see an example of it in action check out this video I made awhile back.
