Nugen Bundle Hits The Right Note For Grammy-Winning Engineer

GRAMMY® award-winning engineer/mixer Tre Nagella has called on Nugen Audio's Producer bundle to help deliver work at Luminous Sound.

Nagella first brought the bundle to the Dallas studio after securing it as part of a giveaway at last year's GRAMMYs Producers & Engineers Wing 12th Annual Celebration.

Ideally suited for mixing and mastering applications, the Producer bundle includes the following plug-ins: Monofilter, Stereoizer, SEQ-ST, Visualizer, Stereoplacer, MasterCheck, ISLst and SigMod. It offers a collection of cross-platform plug-ins that help increase the quality and efficiency of any audio production.

Despite never using Nugen products before, Nagella was instantly impressed. "I haven't used any other tool like the Monofilter," he said. "I have one other plug-in that is similar to NUGEN's Stereoizer, but it's not nearly as good. I have stopped using the other one and now solely use my NUGEN plug-ins – that's what makes NUGEN so valuable."

One of the biggest challenges Nagella faces is a result of the rise in popularity of the home studio. "We receive many files from clients that have been tracked at multiple studios, many of which are not outfitted with professional equipment, so they're not always the best quality," he added. "When they send me the files of the mix, it's my job to turn it into something that sounds like a major album. That can be challenging, but the NUGEN plug-ins have quickly played a large part in overcoming that hurdle."

For Nagella, NUGEN's Stereoizer plug-in has been a game changer. "I really enjoy using the Stereoizer because it widens the output and adds a stereo-type effect to mono or stereo sound," he continued. "It keeps everything in phase without adding any artefacts. I've really enjoyed this plug-in, especially on pop music projects, as we try to make these types of songs sound as big as possible and the Stereoizer allows us to go big."

Additionally, Nagella turns to NUGEN's Monofilter for bass management for many of his urban music projects, including gospel, hip hop and R&B. "To be able to help control and manage bass lines and 808 kick drums is great," said Nagella. "I recently mixed Def Jam recording artist Bobby Sessions using the Stereoizer and Monofilter. We wanted the low-end to come through for that project and, using NUGEN, we were able to do that."

Another tool that Nagella finds particularly helpful is NUGEN's MasterCheck plug-in, which includes a feature that has codecs for YouTube, Spotify and Pandora. "We can now listen to the mix and know how it's going to also sound on these platforms. Since everyone's music is now also going on streaming services, especially YouTube, it's important for us to be able to reference it, in the same way it will be received. I don't know of any other plug-in or manufacturer that's making a tool that does that. It's a really great product."

In addition to Nagella, the staff at Luminous Sound have also enjoyed the NUGEN plug-ins for a variety of projects. "Here at the studio, I have a few engineers that do a lot of broadcast work and I know are putting NUGEN's loudness metering plug-ins to good use," he explained. "I wasn't familiar with NUGEN until more recently but after seeing fantastic results right away, it's safe to say NUGEN completely won me over."

As a partner at Luminous Sound since 1999, Nagella has worked with some of the biggest names in all genres of music including, Ed Sheeran, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Blake Shelton, Monica, and gospel artists Tamela Mann and Kirk Franklin. It's with Franklin that Nagella won his three Grammy's.