It might be that time of the year when we’re all spending our hard-earned cash on a Black Friday guitar deal, but when it comes to software, it’s also a great time to bag something for literally nothing. This year, you can pick one of ten plugins from Universal Audio completely free of charge, making it a great way to up your recording game without spending a dime.
This is my fourth year covering the Black Friday deals, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a company offer a selection of plugins totally free. It means it’s worth it for pretty much everyone, as there’s bound to be one from the list of ten that you don’t already have.
As I own way too many Universal Audio plugins, I’ve used all ten of them previously, and for me, the Verve Analog Machines Essentials flies under the radar but can be really useful for your production. Quite often I’ll chuck it on a guitar track that needs a little extra push, but I don’t want to adjust the EQ or spend time rebalancing the entire mix.
If you don’t have one already, the 1176 Classic FET Compressor is another easy choice. 76-style compression has been on music for so long that it’s one of those things that just sounds right. It’s a fast-acting compressor, so great for tracks with transients, letting them sit better in the mix.
You can also bag the LA-2A, which is another popular compressor, but one that behaves in a different way from the 1176. I like to use a 76 followed by a 2A on vocal tracks, using the 76 to tame the fast transients while the LA-2A does a job smoothing any peaks or bringing up the overall level.
There’s also a guitar plugin included if you need some quality amp simulation, with the Universal Audio Showtime 64 included in the deal. It’s a great clean amp sim with bags of headroom, perfect as a pedal platform, whether you’re using an all-in-the-box setup or you’re feeding your audio interface with hardware stompboxes.
If you want something more creative, the Universal Audio Galaxy Tape Echo is also included, perfect for adding vintage tape delay tones to your guitar tracks. It’s super flexible, and I particularly love the BPM sync feature which locks in your repeats with the tempo of the song, adding instant professionalism to your tracks.
Shop more Black Friday deals
- B&H Photo: Early Bird Holiday deals
- Fender store: Player II Strat lowest price ever
- Gear4Music: Early Black Friday deals are live
- Guitar Center: Up to 40% Black Friday sale
- Guitar Tricks:
$899$99 annual sub - IK Multimedia: Up to $300 off Tonex hardware
- Musician's Friend: Early Black Friday 50% sale
- Native Instruments: Over 50% off UA bundle
- Plugin Boutique: 100s of software savings
- Positive Grid: Up to $50 Spark savings
- Reverb: Black Friday early access
- Sweetwater: Up to 80% off Black Friday sale
- Thomann: Up to 70% off Cyber Week sale
- Universal Audio: 12 Days of UAD software sale
- Waves: Huge plugin bundle deals up to 95% off
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