Best Holiday Deals 2023 For Music Producers

The holidays are almost here, and it’s the best time of the year to purchase a gift for your music producer friends or yourself (why not?). I handpicked some of my favorite holiday deals for music producers in the article below.

Instead of an endless list with hundreds of links, I compiled a shorter selection of the absolute best deals out there right now.

You’ll also find some limited-time Christmas freebies that you shouldn’t miss!

Soundtoys Holiday Sale

Soundtoys discounted all products and product bundles until January 1, 2024. For example, you can get Crystallizer for as low as $29 or pay $39 for plugins like Devil-Loc Deluxe, Microshift, and PrimalTap.

If you prefer bundling up and getting the best for your buck, you can grab the entire Soundtoys 5.4 collection for $279 (that is 44% OFF its regular price).

I purchased the Soundtoys bundle during lockdown, and it remains one of my most-used sound design collections to date. Little AlterBoy, Crystallizer, and EchoBoy are among my favorite effects for mixing and sound design.

Another recommendation is the Soundtoys Effect Rack, an all-in-one modular FX playground that lets you combine different Soundtoys plugins to build custom multi-effect chains. I used it to create dozens of multi-effect presets I regularly use in almost every project.

GET THE DEAL!

Solid State Logic SSL ‘Love Your X-Mas’ Sale

Solid State Logic offers a range of discounts this holiday season.

You can get the SSL Native X-Saturator for only $15.99 until January 4th, 2024. It is one of the best saturation plugins I’ve tried so far, and I regularly use it to add clarity and warmth to cinematic sound effects.

Another solid pick is the SSL X-Limit limiter plugin, which is priced at $24.99 during the sale. I don’t use it as my main limiter, but it’s a solid tool for mastering and sound design.

The biggest bargain, though, is the SSL Native X-Phase plugin, available for only $9.99, 93% OFF its regular price. It’s an excellent tool for correcting phase issues.

It’s also worth noting that you can select a free gift with your purchase, including Antares Choir, Dawesome LOVE, or Loopcloud 1-Month Artist Plan.

GET THE DEAL!

Universal Audio UAD Guitar FX Bundle

Until recently, it wasn’t possible to use Universal Audio plugins unless you owned their hardware. Luckily, we now have access to Universal Audio software regardless of our hardware setup, and it’s no secret that their plugins are among the very best on the market.

If you want to try their software, the UAD Guitar FX Bundle is an excellent starting point. You’ll get six best-selling Universal Audio plugins for only $49 during the sale.

Here’s the list of included effects:

• Brigade Chorus Pedal
• Galaxy Tape Echo
• Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb
• Studio D Chorus
• Teletronix LA-3A Compressor
• Waterfall Rotary Speaker

Even though it’s marketed as a guitar effects bundle, the Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb and Galaxy Tape Echo plugins are my favorites for mixing any type of audio.

The Tape Echo also gets plenty of use in my sound design setup, as I love its analog-style sound. It’s one of the best delay plugins you can get right now.

GET THE DEAL!

Softube 12 Days Of Christmas Sale

Softube offers huge discounts on two different plugin bundles this holiday season. You can get an 87% discount on the Mix Foundations Bundle or save 82% on the Mix Solutions Bundle.

The Mix Foundations Bundle costs $39 on sale and includes the following plugins:

• Softube Tape saturation effect;
• Passive-Active Pack equalizer collection;
• Wasted Space lo-fi reverb.

Softube Tape is my favorite, as it’s a very nuanced saturation plugin. It’s not in-your-face like many saturation effects. Instead, I use it on multiple channels across the mix to get a subtle but pleasant-sounding cumulative effect that adds clarity to the mix.

The Mix Solutions Bundle contains five plugins and costs $99:

• Bus Processor compressor/saturator;
• Harmonics saturation effect;
• Transient Shaper;
• Vocoder;
• Tube Delay.

Vocoder is an unusual effect to include in a mixing bundle, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I love using Softube Vocoder, and I highly recommend it if you want to add a Daft Punk vibe to your projects.

GET THE DEAL!

FREE: Arturia Efx Refract

Arturia offers their new Efx Refract stereo multi-effects plugin for free until January 4, 2024. The plugin will cost $99 after the promotion.

Efx Refract stands out with its great-sounding unison mode, extensive modulation options, and additional effects. It is designed to enrich, texturize, and transform sounds, making it a superb muti-effect capable of distortion, detuning, and modulation.

The unison module can duplicate a signal into up to eight stereo voices. It is ideal for adding stereo width, building tension, or highlighting moments in a track.

The interface is animated, allowing users to visually select and combine voices, filters, LFO, and Mode FX. It has various presets covering a range of sonic dispersions and Mode FX, like Delay and Distortion.

Efx Refract is available in VST, AAX, and Audio Unit formats, ensuring compatibility with various digital audio workstations on Windows and macOS.

GET THE FREEBIE!

FREE: Native Instruments Glaze

Native Instruments offers the Glaze High Gloss Vocal Instrument for free until January 14, 2024. We featured this deal on BPB earlier in December, but here’s a reminder for those who missed it.

Glaze works in the free Kontakt Player plugin available for Windows and Mac. Users must create a free account on the Native Instruments website to download the instrument.

Glaze specializes in various vocals, primarily for pop, hip-hop, and R&B genres. It promises modern vocal vibes, including wide-stacked chords, pads, leads, and bass timbres.

The instrument features vocals recorded with a diverse group of live vocalists, suitable for everything from pop and R&B to hip-hop and trap.

Developed in collaboration with engineers Curtis “Sauce” Wilson and Rochad Holiday, who have worked with artists like Dr. Dre, Ariana Grande, Ne-Yo, and Will Smith, Glaze began as a custom instrument by Wilson to streamline recording vocal harmonies.

It offers 200 sounds and 148 presets, including vocal parts, chords, bass, and pad sounds, with the option to create custom presets. Users can also craft chopped vocal lines mapped to scales for a natural vocal line feel.

GET THE FREEBIE!