zplane Interviews SoundBridge’s CEO, Wake Anderson

“The goal was to break down barriers and allow artists to focus on creativity rather than technical roadblocks” – An Interview with Wake Anderson

Please could you introduce yourself and SoundBridge?

Hello, I’m Wake Anderson, CEO of SoundBridge, LLC. SoundBridge is a company dedicated to making music production accessible, intuitive, and powerful for musicians and producers of all levels. Our flagship DAW, SoundBridge, is designed to streamline the creative process with a sleek, modern interface and professional-grade tools—all while being remarkably easy to use.

What was your introduction to music and music production?

Like many, my journey started with a love for music that naturally evolved into an obsession with how it’s made. Growing up in Portland, Maine, I was obsessed with guitar improvisation, progressive music, and jazz.

Whether studying music theory, honing my guitar skills, early digital recording setups, or playing around with GarageBand, I quickly became fascinated by the tools behind the music. That curiosity led me to explore professional DAWs over time, sound design, and, ultimately, the development of SoundBridge.

Are we right in thinking playing and recording guitars was a fundamental part of your musical journey?

Absolutely—this played a huge role. GarageBand was an early gateway into digital production before I quickly moved onto more professional solutions, and guitars sparked an interest in recording and effects processing. Eventually, I got into more professional solutions.

However, as I dove deeper, I realized the limitations of entry-level software and the complexity of high-end DAWs. That realization became a driving force behind SoundBridge’s philosophy: Combining professional-grade features with an intuitive workflow that anyone can grasp.

What was the concept and catalyst behind developing SoundBridge?

The primary catalyst was recognizing that existing DAWs often create a steep learning curve for new users, but lack the seamless workflow modern producers need. We wanted to design a DAW that balances power with accessibility—a tool that feels inspiring rather than intimidating. The goal was to break down barriers and allow artists to focus on creativity rather than technical roadblocks.

What features or characteristics were other DAWs missing that you wanted to include in SoundBridge?

One of the most significant gaps we saw was workflow efficiency—many DAWs are too cluttered or overly rigid. SoundBridge offers an intuitive interface that adapts to different production styles. Excellent UI design requires minimal manual consultation. Of course, you need to refer to a manual for specifics, but the UI should be evident and non-intimidating.

The interface needs to be easy on the eyes. You also need an element of entertainment and a sprinkle of edgy humor to keep the experience inspiring while delivering something respected and highly professional. For example, we consciously decided not to have right-click menu options. There are no right-click menu options in SoundBridge except for changing the name and color of various elements.

This design decision forces us to be very conscious about what we put into SoundBridge, and prevents us from creating an overly complex behemoth that’s frustrating rather than fun. 90% of a great mix is composition and arrangement. If you can focus on that, the high-caliber mix is easy.

You offer a free tier—something most DAWs don’t do. How important is it to make music technology accessible to everyone?

Yes, in BETA, we allowed people to use the software for free. You need a lot of user feedback to build these products correctly. We listened to users and created something worthy of being sold.

We still have a free tier, which is an excellent onboarding platform. It’s limited to 10 tracks and contains all the features as our open BETA. It’s a way for users to test us out and see what we offer, risk-free. For some people, 10 tracks and the basic functionality is enough. However, we’re working hard to develop more and more tasty features that will earn their paid support.

How did your partnership with zplane come about?

We’ve always admired zplane’s cutting-edge audio processing algorithms, and when we set out to integrate world-class time-stretching and pitch-shifting into SoundBridge, they were the obvious choice. Our collaboration came from a shared vision: To provide top-tier audio quality without compromise.

How have zplane algorithms helped to improve the SoundBridge offering and user experience?

zplane’s technology has been a game-changer. Their algorithms ensure that audio stretching and pitch manipulation remain transparent and natural, even under extreme edits. This allows producers to precisely manipulate samples and recordings, making SoundBridge a powerful tool for remixing, beat-making, and sound design.

Our basic audio fx suite is also powered by zplane, as well as our beat detection algorithm. It was very straightforward for our developers to implement the SDKs using the documentation provided by zplane. Licensing these technologies freed us up to develop significant value-added functionality faster, and we were able to develop around that functionality with full confidence in the zplane-based code.

Community is clearly a big part of the SoundBridge approach, as is understanding your users and their needs. How has user feedback helped to shape updates to SoundBridge in terms of features and functionality?

User feedback is invaluable—it drives everything we do. Our community constantly provides insights into what works, what doesn’t, and what they wish they had in a DAW. Many of our updates, like improved MIDI editing, workflow enhancements, and deeper plugin integration, come directly from user suggestions. We see SoundBridge as a platform that evolves alongside its users.

We hear you’re currently working on a sampler. Please could you tell us more about it?

Yes! We’re developing a powerful sampler that integrates seamlessly with SoundBridge’s workflow. It’s designed for speed and flexibility and built directly into the MIDI tracks. We’re focusing on an intuitive interface with deep sound-shaping capabilities, making it an essential tool for producers of all genres.

It will contain round-robin sample cycling, audio2MIDI beat slicing, sample layering, and more! Also, coupled with our latest film-scoring features—it makes scoring with MIDI a breeze.

You’ve published a video on the SoundBridge YouTube account called ‘Top Reasons to Choose SoundBridge’, but what are your personal favorite features of SoundBridge that you might not find in other DAWs?

Our software is packed with thousands of features. To me, it’s not about any single function, it’s about the entire experience.

Many DAWs on the market position themselves as all-in-one, do-everything solutions. While incredibly powerful, they often cater to the 1% of users who have the time and patience to master every intricate detail. For the average musician or producer, these tools can be overwhelming, leading to years of struggling with complex workflows instead of making music.

We take a different approach. Our DAW is designed for immediacy, clarity, and creativity. Instead of burying users under endless menus and deep-dive settings, we focus on intuitive design and essential controls that get them producing right away. This makes SoundBridge a tool that works with musicians, not against them, so they can focus on making great music which is what truly matters.

We also introduced teleprompter-style comments, adding a dedicated comment lane to every track. These comments function as an auto-scrolling teleprompter with adjustable scroll speed and font size—perfect for lyrics, narration, or production notes. This is just one example of how SoundBridge redefines traditional DAW functionality, streamlining the creative process with innovative, user-focused tools.

SoundBridge is also designed to be completely genre-agnostic, making advanced audio and MIDI production effortless. Last year, we introduced cinema-grade film scoring capabilities with video tracks, allowing every movable element in the sequencer to scrub video in real time. Tracks and position markers can be set to linear time mode, enabling seamless synchronization of music across varying tempos and time signatures with sound effects that require precise frame accuracy.

What’s next for SoundBridge?

We’re constantly pushing the boundaries! Alongside our upcoming sampler, we’re exploring groundbreaking advancements in virtual collaboration. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, expect to see some of these innovations come to life by NAMM 2026—we’re already deep in development, and the future’s looking bright!