In the Hub Heroes series, we lift a lid on the creators behind the cutting-edge music software featured in Muse Hub. From apps that sing to producers crafting tomorrow's hits, discover the philosophy and stories behind the software.

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This time we go behind the scenes with the LANDR team, who have set the production space alight with their production tools.

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Walk into LANDR’s Montreal headquarters, and you're greeted by a neon sign emblazoned with the phrase: ‘We Work for Musicians.’

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It's the guiding motto of a staunchly dedicated team made up of engineers, marketers, product specialists, and — most importantly — music makers.

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Because in the world of music tools, the invention story often follows a well-tread path, where new products are born out of frustration. A producer encounters a roadblock or wishes they could do something they currently can't, and in that moment... inspiration strikes. That's exactly how LANDR began in 2014, by spinning the simple idea of making mixes into an indispensable service for musicians.

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In its earliest incarnation, Justin and Thomas, the founders of LANDR, wanted to solve a simple problem. Producers were often perplexed by the mastering process. This is the final technical step before a record label releases an album to the public, but to many it remains an almost magical, mystery process.

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Top mastering studios own rare hardware that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, while sunlight-deprived engineers with “golden ears” twiddle unmarked dials.

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As LANDR’s Education Lead Anthony Albanese remarks: “My first time mixing an album was a process, and not an enjoyable one. I was in no way a professional. During the mixing process, you'd find me scouring the web for answers every 5 minutes.”

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“So the technology behind LANDR mastering was developed by a team of forward-thinking musicians and technologists at Queen Mary University of London in the early 2000s. The first iteration was launched as MixGenius by Justin Evans, Stuart Mansbridge, and Pascal Pilon” explains Daniel Rowland.

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From there, LANDR has expanded over the years from an AI-driven mastering service to an entire offering, touching on every stage of the creative journey. “We now offer creators samples, plugins, AI mastering, collaboration tools, distribution and interactive courses.”

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The LANDR mission has always been: 'empower musicians to create and get heard.' This mission has naturally drawn musicians to the company. Through the ranks — from devs to marketing to support — the vast majority of the LANDR team are musicians.

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That takes us back to LANDR's motto 'We Work For Musicians'.  As the team puts it: “That motto guides us. It’s the phrase we tell each other when things get tough. It influences everything we create. What does it mean in practice? That every one of our products aims to make music creation easier and better. We let music makers stay in their workflow while producing stunning, mastered results.”

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The FX Suite

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Perhaps no product encapsulates this philosophy of simplification better than the LANDR FX Suite, now available to buy in the new Muse Hub store.

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When you’re in your creative zone, you often want to stay there. It’s comfortable, where you feel at home, and you don't want to be distracted by too many technical details. And so, LANDR’s FX Suite was born.

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“When we created LANDR FX Suite, the goal was simple—to give music makers simple, effective, one-knob plugins to make their creative process smoother and better" explains Daniel. “The LANDR community told us they wanted simple effects that would give them the power to enhance the quality and character of individual aspects of their mix. That’s why we created LANDR Electric, Bass, Beats, Vocals and Acoustic — five, easy-to-use tools that open up a world of sonic possibilities for every aspect of a common mix.”

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Designed with beautiful pastel color palette and a radically minimal three dials per plug-in, these FX couldn't be simpler.

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In some ways, they’re “anti-plugins” — not designed for gear-heads, but instead prioritizing a simple UI, letting behind-the-scenes processing, the magic sauce, take care of the bewildering array of technical details.

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Daniel Rowland, audio engineer, producer and one of LANDR’s guiding creative forces has already integrated LANDR FX Suite into his main arsenal of tools. His prolific body of work includes films like John Wick, Pixar, Seal and Star Wars, plus collaborations with a slew of A-list artists including Ugly God, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Yachty, Ty Dolla $ign, Panic at the Disco, Vanessa Hudgens, Natasha Bedingfiield, Weezer, and many more.

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‍“They add a whole new dimension to the production and editing process. The flow is simple — when it’s time to bring depth, space and character to the specific elements of the mix, fire up your LANDR FX plugins right in your DAW of choice (everything from Audacity to Pro Tools is supported) and breathe new life into your track.”

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From a small team of producers, an expansive musical resource has emerged in LANDR. So what’s next for the team? Well... I wish we knew. “We’re staying tight-lipped on this one for the time being. But stay tuned because we have a few BIG announcements in the works that we’re super excited about!” One thing’s for sure: we can’t wait to hear it.

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LANDR FX are available now on Muse Hub. Download them under the plug-ins tab.