SIDΞ KΞY

M76 Sabotage is live. Same feedback FET core as Sabotage 76, no Threshold knob, no mercy, except now there's one of that beast running independently on Low, Mid and High. Three bands, three detectors, zero subtlety.

No numeric Attack or Release readouts here, just a dedicated X/Y pad per band you drag around until it feels right, or until it hurts, whichever comes first. Push the Input, pick a ratio up to All Buttons In, and let each band develop its own grudge against the signal.

€59, free for one week only. Grab it now, on KVR Audio or Gumroad, before it goes back to full price.

▶ M76 Sabotage on KVR Audio

▶ Get it free on Gumroad

Mext, short for Multiband Extended, is live. Same three independent feed-forward compressors as Nuke Multiband, same DNA, pushed further for people who ran into its ceiling.

Two additions carry the whole release. A Linear Phase crossover mode sits alongside the original analog-style one, for when you need surgical, phase-coherent separation instead of soft musical overlap. And a full X/Y sidechain frame per band, with independent High Pass and Low Pass filters plus a switchable Bell or Flat curve, so you decide exactly what triggers each compressor instead of feeding it the whole signal and hoping.

Everything else, the feed-forward core, the shared THD saturation, the per-band solo, carries over from Nuke Multiband unchanged. This isn't a different plugin, it's the same one with the training wheels off.

€59, VST3, AAX and standalone, Windows. Not sure if you need it? Nuke Multiband is free, permanently, and shares the same core, start there and upgrade the day the sidechain frame starts sounding necessary.

▶ Mext on KVR Audio

▶ Get it on Gumroad

Sabotage 76 is live, and it's a departure from the Nuke series on purpose. Where Nuke runs on feed-forward compression, Sabotage is feedback FET, built in the tradition of a certain legendary 1176-style unit. There's no Threshold knob. You push Input until the detector reacts, and the compressor takes it from there.

Five ratios from 2:1 to 20:1, plus the setting every clone of that hardware secretly exists for: All Buttons In. A sidechain high-pass filter keeps low end from triggering the compressor unnecessarily, and a THD stage with Clip and Limit is there for anyone who considers "too much" a reasonable starting point.

Analog-style VU metering across IN, GR and OUT rounds it out, because a needle slamming into the red is most of the appeal of this kind of compressor, and Sabotage doesn't pretend otherwise.

Free. VST3 and AAX, Windows.

▶ Sabotage 76 on KVR Audio

▶ Get it on Gumroad

Nuke Multiband is live. Same feed-forward core as Nuke Mk1, the one that started this whole nuclear-themed series, except now there's a fully independent copy of it running on Low, Mid and High. Three reactors, one mix, questionable decision-making on our part.

The split is done with a soft analog-style crossover, not a surgical digital cut, so the bands blend back together instead of sounding like three separate plugins arguing with each other. Solo any band, link the outputs, drive the shared THD Valve saturation stage as hard as your master bus can forgive you for.

Early reviews on KVR range from technical praise to one person genuinely startled to stumble on something this intense while browsing metering plugins. Fair reaction, honestly.

Free, permanently. No launch window, no price increase, this is now the official demo for Mext, its extended paid sibling. VST3, AAX and standalone, Windows.

▶ Nuke Multiband on KVR Audio

▶ Get it on Gumroad

📄 User manual (PDF)

Nuke Mk1 is live. First paid release from Side Key System, and the plugin that started the whole Nuke series.

It's a feed-forward compressor, which means the detector reacts straight off the input signal instead of the output. That's how you get the glue instead of the flatline. Nine ratio positions plus the NUKE setting for when subtlety has left the building.

Integrated sidechain EQ, soft clip saturation, a peak limiter, real-time THD metering, and a gain reduction display sharp enough to read across the room.

Free demo available, full version on Gumroad for €29. Everything else in the Nuke series (Multiband, Mext) runs on this same engine, just reshaped for different jobs.

▶ Nuke Mk1 on KVR Audio

▶ Get it on Gumroad

Merlin MTR is out and free on KVR Audio. Eight modules stuffed into one window so you stop alt-tabbing between six different analyzers while mixing.

Spectrum with Mid/Side and clickable bands, a VU meter that actually looks like one, oscilloscope, vectorscope, a panorama heatmap, loudness metering and multiband correlation. If your mix has a problem, one of these eight will point at it.

Version 1.07, Windows, completely free. Yes, still free.

▶ Merlin MTR on KVR Audio

Refined is out, straight from the Urban Electro side of the catalogue. Punchy drums, modern low end, built for the club and for sync.

Available now on YouTube, listen below.

Two new VST3 plugins are out under the name Side Key System. First releases, both available for free on KVR Audio.

Keystone is a spectrum analyzer. Built for precision monitoring, it gives a real-time read of your frequency content — clean, readable, and designed to stay out of the way while you work.

▶ Keystone on KVR Audio

Pikos is a transient meter and soft clipper. Two functions in one plugin: visualize transient energy and apply soft clipping directly in the signal chain. Useful for drums, bass, anything where you want control over attack and ceiling without a heavy compressor in the way.

▶ Pikos on KVR Audio

These are the first two tools from Side Key System. More coming.

New tool out. OscillArt is a browser-based digital oscillator built to generate geometric shapes from waveforms in real time.

The concept came from a simple observation: an oscillator is not just a sound source, it's a mathematical object. Feed two oscillators into X and Y axes and you get Lissajous figures. Adjust frequency ratios, phase and amplitude and the shapes shift, rotate, collapse, rebuild. It draws with sine waves.

First version is focused on learning the basics. How oscillators interact, how small parameter changes produce radically different forms, how geometry and synthesis share the same logic. Still in development, more control coming.

No install, no account. Open it and start.

▶ Launch OscillArt

New single out on YouTube. A blend of Neurofunk and Liquid Drum & Bass.

Additional pads by Phil.

Free download available in HQ WAV — click here to download.

In March 2026, Native Instruments reached out to invite me into their Artist in Residence program on their Discord server. Didn't see that one coming, but it was a great opportunity to share what I do with a real community of producers.

The idea was simple: live sessions, conversations, and direct feedback on the tracks members were posting. No fluff, just production talk.

On the agenda: a full tutorial on Battery 4, and a deep-dive into Massive X. Two tools I've been using for years and know inside out.

Thanks to NI for the invite. Good times.

Native Instruments dropped Absynth 6 in January 2026 with an open contest for producers. I entered.

This track was created using Kontakt (Ignition, Action Strike), NI Watchkeeper Kick & Snare, the Absynth 6 demo, and Serum for music and sound design. Dynamics were shaped with Arousor and Tube-Tech, and mastering was handled with Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, Glitch, and iZotope, with stereo management via iZotope Insight 2 (free for the holidays).

After testing Absynth 6, the only missing feature is the ability to automate preset changes — it would greatly expand creative possibilities.

How I build my kits in Battery 4, how I route cells, shape envelopes and use the macros. Everything I wish I'd found when I first opened it.

Topics covered so far: separate outputs, compression and transients, choke groups and humanisation. Each episode is hands-on sound design, no theory for the sake of it, just what actually works in a real production context.

More episodes coming.

Massive X isn't something you figure out in ten minutes. These episodes cover the oscillator through the oscilloscope, envelopes, stereo management, LFO and filter, all built from scratch, no presets.

Pure wavetable synthesis and sound design, the way I actually use it in production. More episodes on the way.

Fizzik is live in the Games section. Free HTML arcade game, inspired by Bust-A-Move 2, a classic that basically disappeared from the web, so I made my own version.

Online global leaderboard, fast gameplay, one boss in V1 for now. More coming.

Go beat the high score.

Camino is an HTML synthesizer I built and put out for free in the Audio Lab.

2 oscillators, multimode filter, 2 envelopes, 2 LFOs, FX section, pattern grid with scale control and random mode, built-in oscilloscope and vectorscope. Export and reload your presets anytime.

Version 1.7 out now — still evolving.

Engram keeps evolving. AI assistant combined with a node-based platform built around sound creation.

Version 3 is running, new features dropping regularly. More to come.

New EP out. Urban Electro, raw energy, no compromises.