Recently I came across this great plugin named Slam 2 from Beatskillz. They majority made virtual synths and Slam 2 is the only sound processing plugin that they offer. Don’t let that fool you, they absolutely nailed this. It’s purely designed to make your life easier and it’s musical. The simple & intuitive interface allows me to focus solely on the music.
They approach Slam 2 from a more producers’ perspective but it still retains all the must have features. It is musical yet subtle, it’s hard to screw it up even if you turn the knobs to the extreme, rather fool-proof. One can argue, Slam 2 can be replaced by a 1176, stereo widener & a couple EQs. That’s true, if you know what you’re doing and it’ll take you a longer time to do so. But for the price of a coffee or a meal, go get yourself this swiss army knife and play with it!
I rarely use this on my stereo mix, because I prefer a more precise tool on my delicate master bus that allows me to do more surgical treatments. That doesn’t mean you cannot do it, it’s just a matter of personal preference. However I found it very effective in treating drum loops or sample loops. The Stereo Widener was my favorite on Slam 2, it creates no phasing issues when creating a very natural wide stereo signal while keeping the low end intact. It’s a very thoughtful feature that executes perfectly.
The Heat & AIRz works really in conjunction, adding that extra saturation & sizzle “air” frequency without being too harsh or adding too much distortion to the track. The Mud Cut is pretty self explanatory, a quick knob to cut the low end muddiness, I only use it sparingly or the track will get too thin quickly. The Pop & Smash are great compressors.
The Pop, which resembles a 1176 compressor, enhanced the transient that created more punch while The Smash, squashed everything, I love it on drum loops/drum room mics/parallel processing for any instruments. The Boom is great at creating that virtual sub bass with the sub harmonic generator, like Waves R-Bass that we all love.
To conclude, with Slam 2, it allows me to speed up my mixing process. It might not be the most precise tool that you’ll encounter, but it’s so musical that it reminds me of the good old Pultech program EQ loves. There’s only a few knobs but you always guarantee a pleasing result.