Essential software and shiny gear for music producers
Nembrini Audio just released their free Big Stuff Harmonic Distortion-Sustain plugin, modeled on the classic Electro Harmonix Big Muff pedal, an incredibly popular fuzz pedal beloved by indie rockers to metalheads. Now, this classic fuzzy tone can just as well be applied to synths and organs as well, of course.
The plugin is available as VST3, VST3, AAX and AU and for Mac, Windows and iOS.
Get it for free over at NembriniAudio.com: Big Stuff ($0)
Ok let’s squeeze in another Friday freebie: Syntronik Instruments now offers their J-60 plugin for free for two weeks (regular value $49). This little beauty gives you the sound of the Roland Juno-60, the classic synth from the mid 80s used by Enya, Billy Idol, The Cure, Eurythmics, Men at Work and maaaaany many more.
The Juno-60 uses the same Roland IR3109 filter chip as the Jupiter-8 with its 4-pole resonating low pass filter and non-sweepable high pass filter. The Juno-60 uses DCOs – digitally controlled oscillators – for better tuning stability than the Jupiter’s VCOs, or voltage controlled oscillators.
The Juno-60 only has one oscillator per voice vs. two on the Roland Jupiter-8. Because of this, oscillator detuning is not possible on the Juno-60, but Roland added a beautiful sounding analog chorus effect to compensate for this. The result is an instrument with its own character and style that is treasured in synthesizer history.
Make sure you snag it while it’s free over at audioplugin.deals ($0 right now)
Free stuff Friday, yay! Here’s Toy Keyboard, a free VST/VST3/AU plugin by Sample Science. Now, this is a pretty simple plugin since there’s only one sample per sound stretched across the keyboard (but hey, it’s a toy keyboard after all) and it mimics the Yamaha PSR-78 home keyboard.
Features:
Get it at SampleScience.com: Toy Keyboard ($0)
Hear it in action here:
Strezov Sampling announced the latest addition to their Creative ToolboX – a free Steinway Grand Piano library for Native Instruments’ free Kontakt Player (full version works too). The Grand Piano features layered samples, tree different mic positions (close, decca, and hall), reverb and the option to mix in pedal sounds.
For something with that price tag I gotta say the video examples sound pretty amazing – check it out below and if you want to pick up a copy you can get it either via Strezov’s site or through NI’s Native Access.
Read more @ Strezov-sampling.com: Steinway Grand Piano Freebie
Watch/hear it in action here:
Here’s Fuzzboy by Direkt DSP; a VST3/AU distortion plugin promising guitar-pedal inspired distortion aiming at warmth, richness and character through three different distortion modes.
With Fuzzboy, gone are the days of bland, digital distortion. Dive into a realm of unparalleled tonal possibilities with our 3 meticulously crafted distortion modes. Whether you’re producing a hard-hitting EDM track or crafting delicate ambient soundscapes, Fuzzboy has you covered.
Fuzzboy is available as VST3 and AU and for Windows and MacOS.
Read more @ Direktdsp.com: Fuzzboy (€29,99 right now, regular price €45,99)
Here’s SuperCrunch – a free guitar amp VST plugin by Linda Audio. It doesn’t aim at replicating any specific real hardware but instead just goes for the natural sound of a classic tube amplifier, ranging from sparkling clean to gentle crunch and wild rock/metal distortion.
There’s control for input/output gain, drive and brightness and two channels (crunch and lead), cabinet simulation, gate as well as the possibility to blend in your guitar’s clean signal and a 8 band equalizer to help dial in your wanted tone.
SuperCrunch is only available as VST/VST3 for Windows, no Mac or Linux versions and is completely free, unless you decide to donate a few bucks to help support the development of plugins like these.
Read more at LindaAudio.com: SuperCrunch ($0)
Listen to SuperCrunch in action here:
“Sunbaked Electric Pianos”, that’s how Karanyi Sounds describes Vapor Keys, their new (or re-launched) VST / AU electric piano plugin. Extremely inspired by the 90s, this plugin brings you keys via sampled electric pianos, FM and wavetable synths (29 custom electric piano and wavetable synth patches, including iconic ones like Yamaha DX7 and Arturia MicroFreak) along with an effect rack to help you dial in that sweet sound.
Vapor Keys is the ultimate blend of classic and modern sounds inspired by the 90s. The instrument combines custom electric pianos and a variety of synth sounds to create bold, unique tones with 23 accurately sampled FM and wavetable synth patches.
Now, Vapor Keys did exist before as a Kontakt instrument, it’s now available as VST3 / AU plugins as well.
Get it at Karanyisounds.com: Vapor Keys ($39 right now, $69 normal price)
Here’s Voltage Amps by Waves, a set of seven guitar and bass amplifier VST/AU plugins (five for guitar, two for bass) designed to help you find that special tone as fast as possible.
The guitar/bass amp plugins comes with 400 presets by musicians and producers like Butch Vig (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) as well as the producers for stars like Taylor Swift and Doja Cat. The ‘Focus Control’ knob is there to help you match the amp performance to your own guitar and pickups.
Each of the 5 guitar amps delivers an iconic sound, based on classic American and British amps—clean to crunchy, jangly to high-gain aggressive. The bass amps run the gamut from smooth vintage to full-spectrum modern.
The guitar amps are: Silverado, Blue Flame, Aggro, Arena and Royal-X. The bass amps are named Dark Mass and Vintage Velvet. They’re available for Windows and Mac, in VST3, AAX and AU format.
Read more & buy at Waves.com: Voltage Amps ($29 right now, $99 normal price)
Watch Voltage Amps in action here:
“Like a prophecy from 1980 fulfilled”. Here’s Model 80; a 5-voice synth (VST/VST3/AU/AAX) by Softube aiming at replicating the famous Prophet 5, the first synth with a digital microprocessor to control the analog polyphonic engine made famous through hits made by the likes of Daft Punk, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Peter Gabriel and Radiohead.
Model 80 comes with the original Prophet 5 presets heard on countless hits and they’ve eased the workflow a little by adding poly-portamento glide, voice pan spread, modulation by velocity and aftertouch, quantize filter cutoff, DAW sync, “aging” knob and a Invert Voice Mod button.
High-end and highly sought-after, this is a synthesizer that many producers and artists have aspired to own. Our expert modeling of the circuit, interactions, and performance of this five-voice legend ensures that anyone can have the authentic sound, feel, and experience of the hardware.
Read more (and buy) at Softube.com (USD $100)
See it in action here:
I’m always on the look-out for new brass plugs and Arturia just released Augmented Brass plugin to go along with their Cinematic Trio (Augmented Strings, Augmented Voice and Augmented Grand Piano) allowing you to blend, morph and multi-layer chamber, orchestral and processed samples with synthesis.
Go from evocative chamber trumpets to huge cinematic ensembles, somber melodies to thunderous synth-infused fanfares, essential brass tones to experimental textures unheard – all in the same place.
Augmented Brass is available as VST, VST3, AU and AAX plugins for Windows (10+) and Mac (10.30+).
Read more and buy at Arturia.com: Augmented Brass (introductory price: €69, regular price: €99)
