Mike Hawkins' favourite music software

XFER Records Serum

“A lot of people are very happy with the native Logic synths, but I just find them a bit hard to work with. All of my main synths are third-party, and Serum is probably the most important at the moment. It’s like a combination of subtractive and FM synthesis, uniting the best of both worlds to create sounds that really stand out.”

Read XFER Records Serum review

Native Instruments Razor

“Razor is a strange one. Even though it’s one of my favourite synths, I don’t actually use it that often, purely because it’s kinda tricky to find what you’re after - but when you do find something, you can be sure it will be a sound that can carry the whole weight of a track. It’s one of those synths that can turn a good track into a great track.”

Read Native Instruments Razor review

Waves Manny Marroquin Signature Series

“I used to use Waves a lot, then I switched over to the FabFilter suite and now I find myself working with some of the smartly designed Waves signatures series. The Delay and the EQ are just fantastic. There are people who complain about the cost of production plugins, but compared with getting a quality hardware compressor or delay, two or three hundred euros doesn’t seem too bad!”

Slate Digital Virtual Mix Rack

“A couple of years back, I discovered the FG-X Mastering Processor and that got me completely hooked on Slate Digital; the Virtual Mix Rack is now my main mastering plugin. The emulations - FETs, SSL and what have you - are incredible, but what I really love about the VMR is that it makes you use your ears and you always end up with a better mix.”

Read Slate Digital Virtual Mix Rack review