Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Superbooth 2026
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Superbooth header
Tech Superbooth 2026: all the latest synth news from Berlin - LIVE!
O'Flynn in the studio
Tech 5 things we learned in the studio with O'Flynn
British New Wave & Pop musician Howard Jones plays keyboards as he performs onstage at Forest Hills Stadium, Queens, New York, August 3, 1984. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)
Artists "It will always be my favourite”: Howard Jones takes you on a tour of the synth he’s owned since 1983
A MacBook Pro running Ableton Live DAW
Digital Audio Workstation Best DAWs 2026: The best digital audio workstations for PC and Mac
auxy
Tech Auxy unveils Svensson, a minimalist keyboard built for instant music-making
jimmy jam
Artists Jimmy Jam on sampling, AI and his new EastWest drum machine plugin
Soma Labs FLUX
Plugins SOMA Labs at Synth Week 26: Meet FLUX – the instrument you play without touching it
GForce Software Oddity3
Synths How to master virtually any software synth
Jill Fraser
Artists Synth pioneer Jill Fraser on pushing boundaries in the world of electronic music
Johnny Jewel
Artists Johnny Jewel on his relationship with synths and working with David Lynch
An Apple Mac Mini M4 on a light green background
Computers Best PCs for music production 2026: Apple Macs and Windows machines for your home studio
plugins
Tech The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
Software vs Hardware
Synths The ultimate synth shoot-out 2026: Hardware classics vs. their software successors - but can you really tell which is which?
synths
Tech 5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently
graham
Artists “It was fantastic to have Paul come in every day, and we hung out with him quite a lot as well. The studio was absolutely crammed with our gear and his”: 10cc's Graham Gouldman on working with Paul McCartney at Strawberry Studios
More
  • Superbooth 2026
  • Kate Bush Army Dreamers
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Theory of Feels
  1. Tech
  2. Software & Apps

What So Not's favourite music software

News
By Computer Music published 5 November 2018

Aussie producer and DJ Chris Emerson unveils his favourite tools for adding a little chaos in the studio

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Ableton Live 10

Ableton Live 10

“I actually started out as a DJ and moved into ‘making songs’ via mash-ups, bootlegs and remixes. Ableton provided the perfect platform for that and I’ve been with it ever since

“It isn’t perfect, but what Live does offer is an insane amount of audio manipulation. It lets you do to things that make no sense, but it’s those crazy ideas that make songs stand out.”

Read Ableton Live 10 review

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Sonic Charge Synplant

Sonic Charge Synplant

“A tool that offers you the chance to experiment. All you need to do is grab a chord progression, set up an arpeggiator on Synplant and get tweaking.

“Start with the basic stuff, but then you can go right into the DNA of the sound; all sorts of random stuff. Pitch it up, down, flip it all around… even the humble mod wheel seems to add a hint of chaos!”

Read Sonic Charge Synplant review

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Lennardigital Sylenth1

Lennardigital Sylenth1

“Although I mess around with a lot of different synths, I only really use two main ones in the studio: Synplant and Sylenth1.

“If Synplant is the peculiar one, Sylenth1 is the easy-to-handle all-rounder. When struggling for a sound, I always go to Sylenth1.”

Read Lennardigital Sylenth1 review

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
Cycling ’74 Max For Live

Cycling ’74 Max For Live

“I’ve only really scratched the surface of Max For Live, but what I’ve found - especially the LFO tools - sounds very cool and interesting.

“There’s so much possibility with Max, but I don’t want to spend all my time with sound design, not making any music. I’ve met people who are brilliant technicians, but when it comes to putting down a bassline, they can’t make a decision.”

Read more about Cycling ’74 Max For Live

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Soundtoys EchoBoy

Soundtoys EchoBoy

“Yeah, it’s a delay, but so much more. It’s that whole thing of modulating sound over time.

“You’ve got your basic chord progression, but you can send it into EchoBoy and that chord progression becomes ear candy. It’s constantly growing and shifting, and it keeps people interested in your song.”

Read Soundtoys Soundtoys 5 review

What So Not’s latest album, Not All The Beautiful Things, is out now.

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Computer Music
Computer Music
Social Links Navigation

Computer Music magazine is the world’s best selling publication dedicated solely to making great music with your Mac or PC computer. Each issue it brings its lucky readers the best in cutting-edge tutorials, need-to-know, expert software reviews and even all the tools you actually need to make great music today, courtesy of our legendary CM Plugin Suite.

Read more
jasper tygner
Artists "There's something about it that you just don't get with soft synths": Jasper Tygner on why he loves his Moog Grandmother
 
 
Apparat live
Artists Apparat tells us how he regained his creative demon to make his first album in seven years
 
 
asg
Artists “I have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with my Prophet ’08”: Art School Girlfriend on new project Lean In
 
 
flying lotus
Artists “All I hear is ‘Auto-Tune sucks’ and 'drum machines have no soul'”: Flying Lotus on the backlash against AI music
 
 
James Adrian Brown
Artists Electronic producer and artist James Adrian Brown on how his synth obsession fuelled his debut record
 
 
jasper tygner
Artists "I put it on everything": Jasper Tygner on the Soundtoys plugin behind the "filmic" sound of debut album Blue
 
 
Latest in Software & Apps
Ableton Live 12.3
Tech Ableton Live 12.4 is out now, with Link Audio and updated Erosion, Delay and Chorus-Ensemble devices
 
 
Splice/YouTube
Plugins Thinking of making your next music tech purchase on a rent-to-own plan? Read this first
 
 
Neural DSP Darklgass Ultra
Bass Guitars Neural DSP unveils the Darkglass Ultimate plugin – a fully featured digital platform for studio-quality bass tone
 
 
iZotope RX 12 Advanced
Tech iZotope upgrades RX with a film-focused stem separation module and improved machine learning
 
 
jimmy jam
Artists Jimmy Jam on sampling, AI and his new EastWest drum machine plugin
 
 
A laptop on top of some music gear with Ableton Live 12 DAW displayed on it. To the left is a drum kit with some headphones and microphones on it.
Digital Audio Workstation I’m telling every producer I know to upgrade to Ableton Live Lite 12 today thanks to a 25% discount on all versions of this 4.5 star rated DAW
 
 
Latest in News
US musician and record producer Teddy Riley performs on stage during the 2025 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)
Artists Teddy Riley on how he sampled a single bar of a Bill Withers song and turned it into an R&B smash
 
 
Warm Audio Reamper: the all-in-one routing solution for reamping and adding effects to recorded tracks.
Guitars “Track a performance through your favorite tube amp while simultaneously capturing a dry signal as a safety”: Warm Audio’s Reamper is an analogue “creative routing hub” that could be the recording tool you’ve been waiting for
 
 
The Marshall 60th Anniversary Jimi Hendrix Collection features a Marshall 1959 Super Lead half-stack, and a special edition Dunlop Fuzz Face.
Guitars “We built the amps, Hendrix made them scream”: Marshall celebrates 60 years of Jimi Hendrix with “cosmic” anniversary collection including hand-wired amp, Fuzz Face and more
 
 
Superbooth 2026
Tech Stochastic sequences to a ‘render farm’ of drums: 8 great Eurorack releases from Superbooth 2026
 
 
Sphere lights up on December 08, 2024 in Las Vegas
Gigs & Festivals “We just couldn’t make it work”: Adam Jones reveals that Tool were meant to open the Sphere in 2023
 
 
Intergalactic human journey concept with an arm reaching out to the bright vibrant multicolor light
Djs Keep On Dancing: New study shows it provides “vigorous” exercise and lowers stress
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...