Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Everyone loves free stuff. When it comes to music production, it can be a very expensive hobby and/or profession, so it's always great when you can find something for free. Good news - I have a list of free VSTs (Virtual Studio Technology) that you can use right now in your DAW.
I know what you're thinking - is this just a list of demos? Nope. These are all 100% free and they're all VST format. Let's begin
TheDrumSource
Not content with just being a VST instrument, TheDrumSource also has a sequencer. The whole purpose was to make it look and feel like a classic hardware drum machine. It also has a browser to quickly navigate through your samples.
Check out the demo:
More Information:TheDrumSource
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
Retro Beat Mk2
Native Instrument Reaktor users will love this one. There are 27 vintage beatboxes and drum synth sounds in this drum module. Some of the drum machines that were sampled were the LinnDrum, and also Roland's TR series.The only downside is that you need the full version of NI Reaktor to use this VST.
Check out the demo (not Hip Hop, but you get the idea):
More Information:Boscomac
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
MiniSpillage
This compact drum synthesizer is dead simple to use. It has high resolution 64-bit DSP processing and includes 3 exclusive drum synthesis algorithms, as well as distortion and resonant effects.The downside is that it's only available for Mac.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Audio Spillage
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
Drumatic 3
The Drumatic 3 is a drum synthesizer that contains bass, snare, hand clap, toms, hi hats, and a rimshot/bell. There are also 6 stereo outputs that are assignable for each sound, plus all parameters can be automated.
Check out the demo:
More Information:E-Phonic
Quick Download: [Link 1]
VR-08 Drum Machine
Everyone loves the TR-808, right? Well here's another VST that emulates the 808. This one is based on 24bit/96kHz samples from the original drum machine, and there's a whopping 2134 samples included. That's unheard of for something that is free.The VR-08 just looks good and looks like the TR-808, so that's a huge plus.
Check out the demo:
More Information:ALIPAPA
Quick Download: [Link 1]
Proteus VX Sound Module
You can't go wrong with E-MU, and the Proteus VX sound module is a great VST to have. This contains the sound module software along with version 2.0.1 of Proteus X Composer Bank. It can be used as a VST or in standalone mode.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Creative E-MU
Quick Download: [Link 1]
ThrillseekerLA Amplifier
This digital stereo leveling amplifier is great if you're looking for that analog sound. It has a classic input level driven two knob design and a feedback compression design without any sample rate based delay in the loop.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Variety of Sound
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
Upstereo Stereo Enhancer
If you want your mixes to sound big and bright, then the Upstereo stereo enhancer is a great choice. Many producers and beatmakers have trouble mixing, so this VST will lift the highest audio frequencies and boost the bass and make them sound much better.You can also control the loudness boost, plus there's an overdrive option, and it uses up only a small amount of CPU on your computer.
Check out the demo:
More Information:QuikQuak
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] [Link 2] Mac [Link 1] [Link 2]
FMMF Synthesizer
This frequency modulation synthesizer from De La Mancha is big on atmospheric pads and leads. It also has bass, arps, and tons of effects.What's great is the interface which shows everything graphically, so it's easy to use. Envelopes are a big part of FMMF, so tweaking is essential.
Check out the demo:
More Information:De La Mancha
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
UVI Workstation
It's hard to believe that the UVI Workstation is free because of how big it is. It's a multi-timbral instrument that has unlimited parts, effects, live performance features, and much more.It also contains an arpeggiator, 64 MIDI channels, MIDI learn, sample and slice start for loops and phrases, and even time-stretch capabilities.
Check out the demo:
More Information:UVI
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] Windows 64-bit [Link 1] Mac [Link 1]
TX16Wx Sampler
This software sampler is modeled and inspired after some of the best hardware samplers ever. There are filters, envelopes, switchable sample interpolation, polyphonic glide, automatic keyboard layout of samples, and plenty more.There is a paid "pro" version, but it's still amazing that this version is actually free!
Check out the demo:
More Information:TX16Wx
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] Windows 64-bit [Link 1] Mac [Link 1] Mac 64-bit [Link 1]
ShortCircuit Sampler
While a lot of software samplers focus on the library playback, ShortCircuit's intention is to be an actual sampler. It uses high-quality interpolation because you want your samples to sound just as good as the sampled source. Even though this product is discontinued, it's still a great alternative to something expensive.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Vember Audio
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
4Front R-Piano
Everyone loves that vintage sound, so that's why the R-Piano was born. With a gentle overdrive, it reproduces the classic sound similar to the RSP73 pianos, but the difference is that it has 127 continuous layers and a rhodes smooth overdrive.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Yohng
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] [Link 2] Mac [Link 1] [Link 2]
I know what you're thinking - is this just a list of demos? Nope. These are all 100% free and they're all VST format. Let's begin
TheDrumSource
Not content with just being a VST instrument, TheDrumSource also has a sequencer. The whole purpose was to make it look and feel like a classic hardware drum machine. It also has a browser to quickly navigate through your samples.
Check out the demo:
More Information:TheDrumSource
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
Retro Beat Mk2
Native Instrument Reaktor users will love this one. There are 27 vintage beatboxes and drum synth sounds in this drum module. Some of the drum machines that were sampled were the LinnDrum, and also Roland's TR series.The only downside is that you need the full version of NI Reaktor to use this VST.
Check out the demo (not Hip Hop, but you get the idea):
More Information:Boscomac
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
MiniSpillage
This compact drum synthesizer is dead simple to use. It has high resolution 64-bit DSP processing and includes 3 exclusive drum synthesis algorithms, as well as distortion and resonant effects.The downside is that it's only available for Mac.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Audio Spillage
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
Drumatic 3
The Drumatic 3 is a drum synthesizer that contains bass, snare, hand clap, toms, hi hats, and a rimshot/bell. There are also 6 stereo outputs that are assignable for each sound, plus all parameters can be automated.
Check out the demo:
More Information:E-Phonic
Quick Download: [Link 1]
VR-08 Drum Machine
Everyone loves the TR-808, right? Well here's another VST that emulates the 808. This one is based on 24bit/96kHz samples from the original drum machine, and there's a whopping 2134 samples included. That's unheard of for something that is free.The VR-08 just looks good and looks like the TR-808, so that's a huge plus.
Check out the demo:
More Information:ALIPAPA
Quick Download: [Link 1]
Proteus VX Sound Module
You can't go wrong with E-MU, and the Proteus VX sound module is a great VST to have. This contains the sound module software along with version 2.0.1 of Proteus X Composer Bank. It can be used as a VST or in standalone mode.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Creative E-MU
Quick Download: [Link 1]
ThrillseekerLA Amplifier
This digital stereo leveling amplifier is great if you're looking for that analog sound. It has a classic input level driven two knob design and a feedback compression design without any sample rate based delay in the loop.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Variety of Sound
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
Upstereo Stereo Enhancer
If you want your mixes to sound big and bright, then the Upstereo stereo enhancer is a great choice. Many producers and beatmakers have trouble mixing, so this VST will lift the highest audio frequencies and boost the bass and make them sound much better.You can also control the loudness boost, plus there's an overdrive option, and it uses up only a small amount of CPU on your computer.
Check out the demo:
More Information:QuikQuak
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] [Link 2] Mac [Link 1] [Link 2]
FMMF Synthesizer
This frequency modulation synthesizer from De La Mancha is big on atmospheric pads and leads. It also has bass, arps, and tons of effects.What's great is the interface which shows everything graphically, so it's easy to use. Envelopes are a big part of FMMF, so tweaking is essential.
Check out the demo:
More Information:De La Mancha
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
UVI Workstation
It's hard to believe that the UVI Workstation is free because of how big it is. It's a multi-timbral instrument that has unlimited parts, effects, live performance features, and much more.It also contains an arpeggiator, 64 MIDI channels, MIDI learn, sample and slice start for loops and phrases, and even time-stretch capabilities.
Check out the demo:
More Information:UVI
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] Windows 64-bit [Link 1] Mac [Link 1]
TX16Wx Sampler
This software sampler is modeled and inspired after some of the best hardware samplers ever. There are filters, envelopes, switchable sample interpolation, polyphonic glide, automatic keyboard layout of samples, and plenty more.There is a paid "pro" version, but it's still amazing that this version is actually free!
Check out the demo:
More Information:TX16Wx
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] Windows 64-bit [Link 1] Mac [Link 1] Mac 64-bit [Link 1]
ShortCircuit Sampler
While a lot of software samplers focus on the library playback, ShortCircuit's intention is to be an actual sampler. It uses high-quality interpolation because you want your samples to sound just as good as the sampled source. Even though this product is discontinued, it's still a great alternative to something expensive.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Vember Audio
Quick Download: [Link 1] [Link 2]
4Front R-Piano
Everyone loves that vintage sound, so that's why the R-Piano was born. With a gentle overdrive, it reproduces the classic sound similar to the RSP73 pianos, but the difference is that it has 127 continuous layers and a rhodes smooth overdrive.
Check out the demo:
More Information:Yohng
Quick Download: Windows [Link 1] [Link 2] Mac [Link 1] [Link 2]
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