Sugarfields WorldAMATERAS PLUGINS

AMATERAS JAPAN · A GUIDE TO MIXING TOOLS

Hear what you can do
with your own recordings.

Give a vocal you recorded at home the finish of a studio recording.
Let it sit naturally in the backing track, with even the softest words coming through.
Hear a guitar buried in the chorus without turning the song up.

A singer listens back on headphones at home with her vocal, backing track and EQ on screen.

Ever heard a record and wanted to get that sound yourself?

We built 11 plugins around the techniques engineers use to finish vocals and instruments in the studio. They run inside the recording software you already use, so you can shape your own tracks by ear.

Start with a recording. Take it all the way to a finished mix.

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Start with your recordings

A guitarist reaches for the computer keyboard with her guitar on her lap.

Start with vocals and guitars at a consistent level.

AMATERAS VU Auto

VU Auto controls

Let VU Auto listen to each track for ten seconds. Once the levels line up, play the song and move the faders by ear. Want the vocal a little further forward? Start there.

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Let the amp buzz fall away between guitar phrases.

AMATERAS Gate Auto

Gate Auto controls

Play five seconds of the guitar you want to keep. Then listen to the gaps between phrases and hear the noise drop away.

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Bring voices and instruments into focus

Following a word on the lyric sheet while listening back.

Clear up a muffled vocal so the words come through.

AMATERAS EQ Fix

EQ Fix controls

Play a few seconds of singing. EQ Fix listens and adjusts the balance of lows, mids and highs. Bring the backing track back in and set the strength by ear. You can also use it on the whole mix when mastering.

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Soften sharp S sounds and keep the vocal bright.

AMATERAS Vocal Gentler

Vocal Gentler controls

Let Vocal Gentler listen to twenty seconds of singing. It tames piercing consonants and boomy notes just when they jump out.

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Hear even the quietest words over the backing track.

AMATERAS Comp Opto-1

Comp Opto-1 controls

Play the vocal with the backing and turn the knob slowly. Listen for the point where the quiet words come through and the chorus still has the energy of the original performance.

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Shape the tone of any voice or instrument.

AMATERAS EQ Pure

EQ Pure controls

Play the track and watch the display. If a frequency sticks out and sounds too strong, bring it down a little. Once the track sounds balanced, use your ears to fine-tune it. Try a little more brightness or body and see what suits the part.

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Add warmth, width and space

Holding a chord while turning a knob to change the sound.

Give any track more body and warmth.

AMATERAS Transformer Saturator

Transformer Saturator controls

Loop a drum groove, bass line, or guitar riff and switch between the five transformer sounds. On vocals, try just a touch for a fuller tone with a little sheen. It’s a classic studio trick for getting a richer sound.

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Give your sound a natural sense of width.

AMATERAS Chorus Legend

Chorus Legend controls

Put Chorus Legend on a track you want to widen and gradually turn up the effect. A little adds thickness. Push it further and you’ll hear a gentle sway that stays smooth even at deeper settings.

When mastering, try a light touch across the whole mix for a little extra stereo width.

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Give the vocal a long reverb tail and keep it up front.

AMATERAS Reverb Legend

Reverb Legend controls

Listen to the last held note of a vocal phrase as you adjust the amount of reverb. The words stay close while the end of the note trails off into the room.

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Finish the mix

Listening to the finished song through speakers, with the headphones on the desk.

Hear the guitar and other parts tucked away in the chorus, at the same listening level.

AMATERAS EQ Adaptive

EQ Adaptive controls

Put EQ Adaptive on the master and play the chorus. It briefly cuts frequencies that stick out. Switch it on and off and listen to the instruments further back in the mix.

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Bring your mix up to the level of the records you love.

AMATERAS Limiter Max

Limiter Max controls

Play the biggest chorus and gradually raise the input. Listen for the point where the song has the impact you want and the vocal still comes through clearly.

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WHO MAKES AMATERAS

I build these tools to finish my own records.

Tomonobu Hara

I’m Tomonobu Hara, the musician behind Sugarfields and the developer of AMATERAS plugins. I made my major-label debut with Pony Canyon in 1997 and have worked on records by artists including Quruli and Suneohair.

I run the studios I built in Ayase, Tokyo, and Nagaoka, Niigata. Over 30 years I’ve mixed and mastered thousands of songs for professional and amateur musicians alike.

Sometimes I want a quiet lyric to come through. Sometimes I want a louder master that keeps the punch of the drums. These are the tools I build in my Nagaoka studio to get those sounds.

Tomonobu Hara · AMATERAS JAPAN / Sugarfields

Now try it on your own song.

Which sound would you like to try first?

For mastering, you can pair two plugins: use EQ Fix to balance the tone of the whole mix, then use Limiter Max to set the final loudness.

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