Al Schmitt

Capture the signature sound of one of the most iconic music producer-engineers

Leapwing is proud to announce their first signature plugin, developed with none other than legendary producer-engineer Al Schmitt. "When Al said he wanted to create a plugin with us, we couldn’t have been more excited!", says Emiliano Caballero, co-founder of Leapwing. "We set out to evaluate and understand all the intricacies that make Al and his sound so unique. The Leapwing team analyzed Al’s workflow, gear and processes of the last decades, from subtle harmonic characteristics to echos, compression and EQ. This then led us to create distinctive features that define his sound.”

The Al Schmitt signature plugin has 6 distinct profiles: vocal, piano, bass, brass, strings, and mix (bus). Each one has different sonic characteristics and parameters based on Al’s workflow and perception of each instrument. Distilled to minimal controls, and conceived to allow you to get your sound instantly.

• Signature Sound: Having analysed countless records, as well as Al’s workflow and gear, Leapwing worked meticulously to recreate his signature sound.
• 6 Unique Profiles: Vocal, piano, bass, brass, strings, and mix (bus) profile, each individually tuned with their own parameters.
• Harmonic Generation: Carefully tuned harmonic distortion, different per profile, to give it that little extra ‘magic’.
• Optimal Design & Workflow: Beautiful Retina design with all controls on one screen. Leapwing want their users to get results within seconds without cluttering the UI.

A Music Legend

An industry veteran, Al Schmitt has been recording artists for over 7 decades, all the way from Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Miles Davis; to Johnny Cash, Steely Dan, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Celine Dion and Paul McCartney. As a winner of 20 Grammy awards, 2 Latin Grammys and a Trustees Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, Schmitt has helped artists garner an astounding 160 gold and platinum albums.

Beautiful Sounding Reverbs

The reverbs, or echos as Al calls them, are carefully tuned reflections that represent the beautiful depth that Al is known for in his mixes. Each echo comes with 3 echo types, so you can select one of 3 tuned reflection patterns, depending on the application.

Quick and Intuitive Interface

It looks good and it sounds good because Leapwing were thinking of you when they designed it. Leapwing's algorithm makes it easy to get a good sound and the simple interface lets you visualise the adjustments you make as you hear them.

Features

• 6 unique profiles to process vocal, piano, bass, brass, strings and mix bus. Honed by Al over the years, they represent how he approaches music.
• Each profile has a set of parameters controlling harmonics, EQs, compression and echos
• Instrument profiles are low latency, making it perfectly suitable to use for recording
• All algorithms are meticulously tuned with the highest quality achievable and a pristine sound
• Simple yet Beautiful Design: Modern resizable Retina interface with a unique design for an optimal workflow

System Requirements

Mac

• macOS 10.13 High Sierra and later (Intel / M1 Apple Silicon supported) (64-bit only)
• VST2, VST3, AU, AAX (Native)

Windows

• Windows 8 - Windows 10 (64-bit only)
• VST2, VST3, AAX (Native)