VST Libraries and Plugins Worth Your Money This Black Friday: A Straight Shooting Composer Guide With No Sponsored Sparkle

Every year around Black Friday, my inbox turns into a wall of “What plugins should I get?” And I get it. The marketing pressure is real, the discounts are loud, and the hype can make even seasoned composers feel like they are missing something essential.

Here is the truth. The most important rule of Black Friday is simple: do not buy more versions of things you already have. Master what you own. Depth always wins over hoarding. If you buy anything at all, focus on filling the gaps in your toolbox instead of stacking duplicates.

Below is a curated list of libraries and plugins I truly love. These are the ones that have real staying power in my work and can bring something meaningful to your sound.

What’s The #1 Black Friday Purchase You Should Make First?

Get yourself a...

I don’t know about you, but if you grew up around a certain era and loved video games as a kid, there are some tunes from those titles that still rattle around in your brain. Tracks from Sonic 2, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and all sorts of other gems still play constantly in my head, so I know it happens to you too. (I’m not crazy, you’re crazy!)

Polyphia have released their theme tune for new two-vs-two fighting game 2XKO.

Entitled Let’s Go, the four-minute banger was written and performed by all four members of the band – Tim Henson, Scott LePage, Clay Gober and Clay Aeschliman – with RJ Pasin on production duties and Jesse Zuretti helping to compose the track….

Jesse, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

When I first started composing music full time, I made a promise to myself that I’d leave the industries I make music for better places (musically) than when I found them. It’s not an easy task because the quality of music right now is so exceptionally high, and only getting better as each day goes by. But, that’s what makes this mission worth it — the challenge to acknowledge how good music is so I continue to evolve, grow, learn, and strengthen my skill sets. I think a lack of this thought is often the genesis of a self-created obstacle that will eventually rise to block a music composer’s full potential. Accepting that in this very moment you may not be doing your best to evolve, and that the effort you put forth to contribute to the evolution of your artform — this is a piece of the code necessary to successfully build towards leaving your industry a better place than when you found it. At least this is my personal philosophy that I live by and focus on in my journey on my mission.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Zuretti

Hi Jesse, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always had a musicological interest in music dating back to being a first grader in 1990, but I failed to excel with playing an instrument until I played a friends guitar in 2002 at age 16. I tried playing guitar earlier on in life, but it just didn’t click yet. But when I gave it a second shot, something snapped into place and I was able to immediately communicate with guitar. In fact, the first year I started playing, I was already challenging myself with some of the most challenging metal music that was available at the time (Between the Buried and Me’s “Self Titled album, Dillinger Escape Plan’s “Calculating Infinity”, for example).