In the last article we showed you 10 free plugins between effects and virtual instruments that can easily compete or even replace competing commercial products. We continue the series of these articles by adding 10 more, also including fully functional demo versions of software. All mostly available in AU and VST format.
Addictive drums is a great plugin for acoustic (and other) drums from XLN Audio. The software is paid but a demo is available without time limits and without audio interruptions in VST, AU and RTAS format.
The demo includes:
* 1 Kick, 1 Snare, 1 Hi-hat, 1 Crash
* 25 Presets
* 300 Beats
Addictive drums, in addition to having excellent drum samples and hundreds of grooves and fills in its library, it integrates in the interface a very comfortable mixer with insert effects, fader with levels for each drum piece and for overhead, reverbs and of course a master.
website: http://www.xlnaudio.com/?page=downloads&d_page=demoversion
Sample Tank Free is a fully functional version of the SampleTank 2 sampler but with some limitations.
It is possible to import only the library created especially for this free version (500mb of samples), but clearly the import function is not enabled and the user presets are disabled.
Apart from these limitations, the software offers many features for a sampler that has little to envy to the most prominent competitors in the sector.
It is available in VST, RTAS e AU
Sito: www.ikmultimedia.com
Distortion, low pass filter, compressor and master / mix in one plugin: Camel Crusher. This multi-effect plugin from CamelAudio is great when you want to save slots for effects, perhaps in projects already overflowing with plugins, or simply to take advantage of these effects with a few controls and easily. Personally I often use it almost exclusively for the filter that I find "warmer" than the classic low-pass often supplied in DAWs.
It is available in AU and VST format.
Site: http://www.camelaudio.com/camelcrusher.php
Automatic it was one of the first free virtual analog synthesizers in AU Universal Binary format (at the debut of Intel Macs). The first betas were a bit sparse and not all functions were really accessible, but the first non-beta version, 1.01, has been available for a while, very stable and full of features that every VA should have:
* subtractive synthesis
* anti-aliased and hard-sync oscillators
* filters and amps with ADSR
* modulator with tempo sync
* waveshaper / eq
* stereo-delay with filter and tempo sync
* modulated spatial effect
* poly-, unison and legate-mode
* generation of random presets
* midi learn
Automat lends itself very well to the creation of leads or pads with an analog (and non-analogue) flavor, while for the bass it is necessary to integrate some external effect to make the sound more decisive.
Sito: http://blog.alphakanal.de/2009/06/03/automat_1-0
There are now a myriad of commercial and free delay / echo plugins for all needs and often the same internal DAW plugins do a great job already. Bouncy, on the other hand, it takes the concept of delay to the extreme by upsetting the canons of all these plugins by offering a “complicated” but easily configurable effect. To describe this effect, the simple words with which the author comments on his plugin on his page are enough: “Now YOU can jump like Aphex Twin”.
It is available in AU and VST format.
website: http://bram.smartelectronix.com/plugins.php?id=8
If you are nostalgic for the games of the old 8bit consoles or if you simply need to recreate the sounds of those retro audio chips, Magical 8bit is the plugin for you. Obviously the controls available are few just to emulate the limited functions generally available in old consoles: waveform (square, pulse, triangular or noise), volume / gain, ADSR and Pitch Bend range.
It is available in AU and VST format.
website: http://www.ymck.net/magical8bitplug/index.html
Mr. Alias 2 is a very special synthesizer that uses oscillators without band limits that can be transposed up to and beyond the frequency of Nyquist. This inevitably leads to the classic “aliasing” effect, so hated in digital synthesizers or samplers, but in this case it is used to create ambiguous but very interesting sounds thanks also to the parameters made available in the interface.
Some of the main features are:
* 2 oscillators
* 18 waveforms
*Full stereo processing
* 6 different types of filters
* Envelope for the filter
* External audio processing
* Generation of random presets
* MIDI learn
* MIDI-controllable patch morphing
* Bank of 128 presets
* Drag & drop preset and MIDI map
It is available in AU and VST format.
website: http://www.thepiz.org/mralias2/
In the previous article we talked about Togu TAL-Elek7ro, this time we show you the virtual analog TAL-BassLine.
We could call it a clone of the Roland SH-101, this plugin is great, as the name suggests, for creating synthetic bass sounds with a vintage flavor.
It is a good free alternative to the most popular Novation BassStation plugin.
The internal architecture is roughly the classic of any virtual analog and includes:
* Oscillators (saw, pulse)
* Sub-oscillator: square -1 oct., Square -2 oct., Pulse -1 oct, pulse -2 oct
* -18 dB / octave low-pass filter (resonant / self-oscillating)
* LFO (frequency: 0,1 .. 30 Hz, waveforms: sin, tri, saw, rec, noise)
* Envelope (A: 1.5ms..4s, D: 2ms..10s, S: 0..100%, R: 2ms..10s)
* Arpeggiator (up, down, one octave mode)
* 2x Unison Mode
* Panic buttons
* MIDI automation for all controls
It is available in AU and VST format.
website: http://kunz.corrupt.ch/?Products:VST_TAL-BassLine
If you want to give a touch of "antique" to your recordings or if you simply need the vinyl effect for a production, Vinyl provides several parameters to customize every aspect. In fact, you can even choose the type of turntable model as well as obviously the volume of the noise, the presence of the electrical noise effect and other details such as the amount of scratches and the presence of dust on the record.
It is available in RTAS, VST, MAS, AU and DirectX format.
website: http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/
We conclude this collection with a plugin perhaps a little more dated than the previous ones but still valid from the sound point of view. Triple Cheese is a synthesizer with a slightly spartan interface but with very interesting sound potential for a free plugin. Great for creating classic '80s' thick pads or sound textures.
It is available in AU and VST format.
website: http://www.u-he.com/TripleCheese/
http://www.carlocastellano.itIn the previous article we presented 10 free plugins, effects and virtual instruments, that can easily compete or even replace competing commercial products. We are adding 10 other plugins, including even the fully functional demonstration versions.
All mostly available in AU and VST.
Addictive drums is an excellent plug-in for mainly acoustic drums by XLN Audio. The software is not free of charge but a demo is available indefinitely and without interruptions or beeps. Available in VST, AU and RTAS.
Demo Version:
* 1 Kick, 1 Snare, 1 Hi-hat, 1 Crash
* 25 Presets
* 300 Beats
Addictive Drums, as well as having excellent samples of drums and grooves and fills in its library, integrate a mixer with a handy insert effects, fader levels for each piece and for overhead, reverb and a master.
Website: http://www.xlnaudio.com/?page=downloads&d_page=demoversion
Sample Tank Free is a fully functional version of the sampler SampleTank 2 with some limitations.
You can only import the library created for this free version (500mb of samples), clearly the import function is not enabled and user presets are disabled.
Apart from these restrictions, the software offers many features for a sampler that has little to envy the most prominent competitors in the industry.
It is available in VST, RTAS, and AU.
Site: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/sampletankfree/features/
Distortion, low-pass filter, compressor, and master/mix in a single plugin: Camel Crusher. This multi-effects plug-in by CamelAudio is excellent when you want to save slots for effects, even in projects that are already crammed with plugins, or simply to take advantage of these effects easily with few controls. Personally I use it almost exclusively for the filter I find most “warm” then classic low-pass often included in DAWs.
It is available in VST and AU format.
Site: http://www.camelaudio.com/camelcrusher.php
Automatic was one of the first free AU Universal Binary virtual analog synthesizers. The first beta was a bit thin and not all functions were really accessible, but now the first beta version, the 1.01, is available, very stable and feature rich that every VA should have:
* subtractive synthesis
* antialiased oscillators with hard-sync
* filters and amplifier with ADSR
* modulators with tempo sync
* waveshaper / eq
* stereo-delay with filter and tempo sync
* modulated spatial effect
* poly-, unison and legate-mode
* random preset generation
* midi learn
Automat is very good for leads or analog-like pads, while for basses it is necessary to incorporate some external effects to make the sound more pronounced.
Site: http://blog.alphakanal.de/2009/06/03/automat_1-0
Nowadays there are a lot of delay/echo plugins free or commercial, and often DAWs default plugins do the job well. Bouncy, takes the delay concept a step forward providing a plugin with a “complicated” effect but easily configurable. The author says in its plugin page: “Now YOU can bounce like an Aphex Twin.”
It is available in VST and AU format.
Website: http://bram.smartelectronix.com/plugins.php?id=8
If you're nostalgic of old games and 8bit consoles or if you simply have to recreate the sounds of those retro audio chips, Magical 8bit is the right plugin for you. Obviously, there are few controls available to emulate its limited functions generally available in the old consoles: waveform (square, pulse, triangle or noise), volume/gain, ADSR and Pitch Bend range.
It is available in VST and AU format.
Website: http://www.ymck.net/magical8bitplug/index.html
Mr. Alias 2 is a very special synthesizer that uses no bandlimited oscillators that can be extended up to and beyond the frequency of Nyquist. This inevitably leads to the classic “aliasing” effect, so hated in digital synthesizers or samplers, but in this case it is used to create very interesting sounds also thanks to the parameters provided in the interface.http://www.thepiz.org/mralias2/
Some feature highlights:
* 2 oscillators
* 18 waveforms
*Full stereo processing
* 6 filter types including a formant filter
* Filter envelope
* External audio processing (no need to hire Butch Vig)
* Patch randomizer button
* Highly configurable MIDI control with MIDI learn
* MIDI-controllable patch morphing
* Included bank of 128 presets, including some by waka x
* Drag & drop presets and MIDI map loading
It is available in VST and AU format.
Website: http://www.thepiz.org/mralias2/
In the previous article we talked about Togu TAL-Elek7ro, but this time we show you the virtual analog TAL-BassLine.
We could call it a clone of the Roland SH-101, this plugin is excellent, as the name suggests, to create vintage synth bass sounds.
It is a good free alternative to the most famous of Novation BassStation plugin.
Features:
* Bandlinited oscillators (saw, pulse).
* Sub-oscillator: square -1 oct., square -2 oct., pulse -1 oct., pulse -2 oct.
* -18 dB/octave low-pass filter (resonant/self-oscillating).
* LFO (frequency: 0,1 .. 30 Hz, waveforms: sin, tri, saw, rec, noise).
* Very fast nonlinear envelope (A: 1.5ms..4s, D: 2ms..10s, S: 0..100%, R: 2ms..10s).
* Simple Arpeggiator (up, down, one octave mode).
* 2x Unison Mode.
* Panic button.
* MIDI automation for all sliders and pots.
* Precise fader control while holding down the “Shift” button.
* Supports all sample rates.
It is available in VST and AU format.
Website: http://kunz.corrupt.ch/?Products:VST_TAL-BassLine
If you want to give a vintage touch to your recordings or just if you need the classic vinyl effect, Vinyl provides several parameters to customize each aspect. You can even choose the type of player and of course the noise volume, the presence of electrical noises and other details such as the amount of scratches and dust on the vinyl.
It is available in RTAS, VST, MAS, AU, and DirectX.
Website: http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/
We conclude this collection with a plugin, maybe a little more dated than the previous one, but still valid in terms of sound. Triple Cheese is a synthesizer with a “spartan” interface but sounds very interesting for a free plugin. Great for making sound textures or very “thick” pads of the 80s.
It is available in VST and AU format.
Website: http://www.u-he.com/TripleCheese/
