New Music Gear Monday: Slate Digital Fresh Air Plugin

Did you ever get to the end of a mix and just felt like it needed to be a little brighter? That’s usually when the chasing your tail part begins, where you keep trying EQs only to find that you’re making things harsh sounding instead of just a little brighter. That won’t happen again if you use a little Fresh Air, a new high-frequency exciter plugin from Slate Digital.

Fresh Air may be one of the simplest plugins you’ll ever find, but that also means it’s one of the fastest and easiest to use as well. There’s a Mid-Air and a High-Air knob and that’s all you need to get the job done. You can also link the two to track at the same time, although you’ll probably want to adjust both individually in practice. Finally, there’s a Trim control on the bottom right in case the level increases, and a meter that lets you know if you’re overloading the plugin.

But how does it sound? Smooth, clean, transparent, natural are all words that come immediately to mind. On the mix buss it adds just that extra little sparkle when you’re tweaking things at the end, but you can use it on individual tracks as well.

On vocals the Mid-Air control easily adds a presence that we sometimes search for. Background vocals become crisp with some High-air. On cymbals and high hats, again you can brighten them up without inserting any additional harshness that might come from an EQ. Acoustic guitars will punch through a track clean and clear.

Fresh Air is a remarkable plugin but what’s makes it even better is that it’s available for free for a limited time when you create an account. Go to Slate Digital to find out more about it and download it for free. Also, you can watch the video below for a little taste of what it can do.