Spice up your beats!

This month, we take a closer look at how some of the hottest artists and musicians in Sweden use Fosfat - Transient Fertilizer.

Equalizers are great. They let you cut or boost the frequencies of your signal to shape the audio like you want it. A little more bass maybe? A tad more definition in the highs? Brilliant! But sometimes there might not be enough there to begin with, or sometimes cutting the stuff you don’t want might leave what’s left a bit bland. Maybe the kick is just weak in the first place?

This is where Fosfat comes in to the picture. In Fosfat we can add “fatness” via the onboard sine wave oscillator and fizz or sharpness via the noise processor. It’s perfect for when you have a nutrient deficient recording (lacking bass or attack in a kick drum for example), or if you just want to add some extra sub or pleasant stereo fizz to any percussive sound.

Tutorial with Noa Svensson

What better way to demonstrate Fosfat than with the great musician Noa behind the sticks. Noa Svensson is a touring drummer based in Stockholm, Sweden. His music has taken him around the world playing with artists such as Oskar Soul Experience, Victor Leksell and Broder John. Noas unique style and energy with the drums is something we hope you all get to experience live because it’s really something out of the ordinary. Noa uses Fosfat on a regular basis so to meet up and record a tutorial together made all the sense in the world.

Since Fosfat is a lot about adding sub bass we advise you to listen to this on a good set of speakers or headphones. In the video we go over how to mix kick and snares with Fosfat and on how you can use the plug-in to great use on live drums. It can of course add its magic to any sound you can think of, but where Fosfat shines the most, and what it was primarily designed for, is to cultivate those percussive elements.

"Fosfat is a fantastic tool that i use to add flavor and depth to drum and percussion sounds that need a bit of extra sparkle. Its also great as a everyday mixing tool for drums. I use it to add bass/sub to a kick, give tone and character to toms or add buzz to a snare. Fosfat is really dynamic and more musical than triggering a one shot and the easy threshold and mix allows the added sound to blend perfectly with my recorded drums", says Noa.

A pretty creative approach with Kerstin

Noa also works a lot with the Swedish pop star that seems to be on everybody’s lips atm - Kerstin Ljungström. When they went in to the studio to work on Kerstins debutalbum “Till dig” they together found a more quirky way to use Fosfat that really blew our socks off. To get the signature snare sound on the track “Ingenting har gjort så ont” Noa played with his sticks on a plastic dog treat bag. With a little producer magic from Kerstin this sound got shaped into a snare sound with Fosfat.

"You can kind of record or take anything pre recorded, put Fosfat on it and get a great snare sound. Also great if you just want a little more oumph - it’s awesome!" Kerstin says.