About Aspen Instruments
Aspen Instruments is an independent software studio built and run by one person: John Janiczek.
John is an electrical engineer by training and a musician by obsession. These plugins are built with the same rigor used in scientific instrumentation, but designed by someone who relies on them in a real creative workflow.
The Engineering Side
Over the past decade, John has worked on six NASA missions, contributed to the UAE Mars Mission, published peer-reviewed research in computer vision, planetary science, and audio and speech processing. He holds a patent for detecting minerals on other planets.
In other words: signal processing is not a buzzword here—it's the core skillset.
The Music Side
John is also a working music producer and live performer, and has headlined some of the coolest underground clubs. In 2023, under his artist name Astrobear, his remix of Hyperlandia was discovered by deadmau5 after winning the Microsoft Original by Design competition, leading to an official release on the We Are Friends compilation on the renowned mau5trap record label.
Carving Our Own Path
Aspen Instruments exists at the intersection of those two worlds. The plugins are exploration tools—systems that reward curiosity and invite users to sculpt sound at a deep level.
The Black Diamond Series takes its name from expert ski slopes for a reason: these are professional tools that trust the user with a high degree of control. With this power you are free to carve your own path and craft your own sound.
We don't dumb down our plugins, but we also design the plugin to be useful and approachable for all experience levels. For beginners, let us be your ski instructor and guide you from the bunny hill all the way to the backcountry.
Building a Community
The work doesn't stop at shipping a plugin: John teaches advanced audio and signal processing concepts on his YouTube channel, with the goal of raising the scientific literacy of the audio community. The focus is on clear explanations and tools that make the underlying signal processing understandable in practice.
Viewers often ask where ideas like "Building the world's first dispersion kick drum" come from. The answer is simple: when you understand the fundamentals of signal processing, your perspective shifts, and sound design becomes intentional instead of accidental.
Why "Aspen"?
Aspen Instruments is named after my dog, Aspen. While I write the software, Aspen is curled up in her bed reminding me to slow down, appreciate the simple things, and not take myself too seriously.