Charlie Puth is a hugely successful and talented musicians. It’s very rare that a solo artist can sing, write their own songs, and produce their own songs. His huge rise to stardom is no surprise, but the software he uses to produce many of his hit songs might surprise you.
Luckily, in a number of behind the scenes production videos Charlie Puth has shown off a lot of the software and tools he uses to make his songs sound so great. Thanks for that by the way, it’s made researching for this article a whole lot easier.
From Charlie Puth’s preferred DAW to his favourite VST synths, we have got the answers. Without further ado, let’s answer the question: what music software does he use?
- 1. Pro Tools Ultimate – Charlie Puth’s DAW of Choice
- 2. Antares Autotune 8 – Charlie Puth’s Autotune Software
- 3. Omnisphere, Kontakt 6 and Keyscape – Some of Charlie Puth’s Preferred Synths
- 4. Waves Renaissance Reverb – Charlie Puth’s Reverb Plugin
- 5. Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 – EQ
- Conclusion – Charlie Puth Uses a Wide Range of Music Software.
- FAQs
1. Pro Tools Ultimate – Charlie Puth’s DAW of Choice
Charlie Puth’s main preferred DAW (digital audio workstation) he primatily works in is Pro Tools. It’s a professional workstation which is very commonly used in the music industry, and has been out in some form for decades at this point.
It’s used by a ton of GRAMMY award winning producers and many songs which aren’t produced in Pro Tools eventually get mastered in it, as it’s the tool of choice for many mastering companies.
It currently costs $99 per month or $599 per year for Pro Tools Ulimate.
2. Antares Autotune 8 – Charlie Puth’s Autotune Software
Although Charlie Puth may use a range of autotune software across his discography, it’s been confirmed from avid viewers that in a number of production videos Charlie Puth has been known to use Autotune 8 by Antares. Just like Pro Tools, it isn’t cheap but Antares have been the industry standard for Auto Tune software for years at this point, so it makes sense that Charlie Puth opts to use this plugin in some of his songs, notably for the background vocals in tracks such as “Attention”.
3. Omnisphere, Kontakt 6 and Keyscape – Some of Charlie Puth’s Preferred Synths
Charlie Puth uses a whole load of VST Synth plugins for creating a diverse range of sounds for his music. He has an extensive collection of professional VST synths as well as a ton of hardware synths too. There are far too many to list them all here, but if you’re looking to get a similar vibe to a lot of Charlie Puth’s music then Kontakt, Omnisphere and Keyscape are all great (but expensive) options.
Side note: I absolutely love Kontakt 7. I got is as part of the Native Instruments Komplete bundle around a year ago, and it’s been one of the best investments in music software I have made in a very long time. This isn’t sponsored by NI or anything, I’m just a huge fan of their software.
4. Waves Renaissance Reverb – Charlie Puth’s Reverb Plugin
I’m sure like most producers he uses a range of reverb plugins depending on the track, but he has been known to use Renaissance Reverb by Waves, also for his song “Attention”.
He also uses a few other plugins developed by Waves, including “One Knob Pumper” which is a sort of saturation plugin, and their popular CLA-76 Compressor / Limiter plugin too.
5. Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 – EQ
Charlie Puth uses Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 as his EQ of choice, to no one’s surprise.
It’s one of the best EQ plugins available and just about everyone uses it in the music industry and this point, to the extent that if you want to hazard a guess at what your favourite producer uses as their EQ, there’s a very high chance they are using an EQ developed by Fabfilter.
Conclusion – Charlie Puth Uses a Wide Range of Music Software.
It comes as no surprise that Charlie Puth has a ton of different music software (and hardware) at his disposal for making his countless hit songs. Here are the key takeaways:
- Pro Tools – DAW
- Antares AutoTune – Vocal Tuning
- Native Instruments VSTs (including Kontakt 6)
- Omnisphere
- Keyscape – Piano VST
- Waves Renaissance Reverb – One of a number of reverb plugins
- Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 – EQ
On top of this, he has countless other plugins but if you’re looking to take some notes on what software he uses, this is a very good starting point.
He also has an extensive collection of hardware synths he has been known to use, including the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, one of my all time favourite synthesizers.
With all this expensive gear taken into consideration, one thing remains clear – Charlie Puth’s music is good because he is talented, not because he has a load of expensive equipment to play with. He has created hit songs with incredibly simple, barebones ideas that are only possible thanks to his creativity.
If you want to make great music, don’t let lacking a $5000 synthesizer stop you. It’s 100% possible to produce amazing music with just a few essential bits of equipment, and everything else on top is just optional.
FAQs
Has Charlie Puth Used Cubase?
Yes, from recordings of him in studio sessions and production breakdowns, we know that he uses both Pro Tools and Cubase for producing music, although it seems like his DAW of choice is mainly Pro Tools.
Does Charlie Puth Have a Windows PC or Mac?
Charlie Puth prefers Apple’s lineup of computers over windows for making music – he has used a Macbook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro, as well as probably a few other Apple computers we haven’t yet seen on video.
Does Charlie Puth Produce His Own Songs?
Yes! It’s very clear that he produces a huge amount of his own songs from scratch in Pro Tools. He is a keen producer and has shown time and time again he is an expert in music production, rather than relying solely on other people to help him finish his tracks.
Has Charlie Puth Got Splice?
Yes! In his masterclass he made a while ago, he made use of Splice so there’s a pretty high chance at least a few of his songs feature elements he has incorporated from Splice.
