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 actually relies on them in a 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 across computer vision, audio, and speech signal processing, and 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. 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.
He has since performed his own original music live as a headlining DJ.
The Intersection
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 tools can go very far. But they're designed so beginners don't need to be afraid of them—they'll take you from the bunny hill all the way to the double black diamond.
Become an Audio Expert
These tools are built to be explored, understood, and relied on—because the best creative tools don't just sound great, they make sense.
That's also why 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. No gatekeeping, no "trust me" DSP—just clear explanations, practical intuition, and tools that help musicians and engineers understand what they're doing as they do it.
Why "Aspen"?
Aspen Instruments is named after John's dog, Aspen, who in turn is named after the ski town in the Rocky Mountains.
These plugins are built slowly, carefully, and with love. Therefor they are named after the dearest things in John's life.