10 Free Plugins Changing The Way Artists Make Music
For those looking to switch things up at their audio workstation, this list of plugins offers a variety of exciting effects to add to your digital music arsenal at no cost.
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Guest Post by Scott Parsons on Landr
There’s millions of plugins out there. We found the best ones so you don’t have to.
What makes a good DAW great? Simple: your plug-ins.
But there’s so many. What are they? And where do I start?
WHAT’S A PLUG-IN?
Plug-ins are tools that you add to your DAW. Plugins emulate real world gear right inside your DAW.
They’re fun little toys that offer endless experiments and mutations of your recorded sounds.
They have the ability to make you drool, ruin your ears with saturation and start fights between friends. But most of all, they’re new ways to create.
Each one gives you a new set of values to play around with. Nothing feels better than having all of these delicious controllers at your fingertips. All completely free.
THE 10 BEST PLUGINS
Plugins expand your production toolbox. They’re invaluable for making you better at creating.
So here’s our definitive list of the Plug-ins that give you a big blast of artistic energy.
TDR KOTELNIKOV
This powerful little compression tool allows you to manipulate the dynamic range of your track with an expert touch. The Kotelnikov offers fast, yet natural sounding compression, A preview mode that allows you to easily hear the original and compressed versions, and an adaptable sidechain function. Essential for all your compression needs.
PLUGIN ALLIANCE PA FREE PLUGIN BUNDLE
This bundle from Plugin Alliance comes with a bit of everything: A high/low pass filter,a versatile 4 band EQ, a soloing button from mixing and an EQ gain/frequency filter for adding punch. Perfect for making the final adjustments before mastering a song.
BOZ DIGITAL LABS PANIPULATOR
Ever wondered what your mix will sound like in a car? Or on an elevator?
Wonder no more with the Boz Panipulator. It allows you to hear your mix under a ton of different playback situations. All with the flick of a switch. And all completely free.
SLATE DIGITAL REVIVAL
The Revival plugin is the result of a ton of research into what makes analog gear sound so good.
The findings were all simplified into just two buttons! Making this plugin simple and effective. Oh yeah, and it’s free.
KLANGHELM IVGI – SATURATION & DISTORTION
Give your tracks some soft saturation, or dirty them up a bunch with this handy plugin tool from Klanghelm.
Great for spicing up your vocals, and pretty much everything else you use it on.
THE U-HE PODLOSKI
The Podloski is a powerful and easy to use virtual analogue synthesizer. The funnest part is the “zebra-style” sequencer plus a nice set of chorus and delay effects.
THE MUCODER HYPERCYCLIC
This plugin is endless fun. Its an arpeggiator that allows you to inject a little bit of chaos into your sound. Their sites says that it’s great for “mangling” MIDI chords. We couldn’t agree more.
THE OBXH VIRTUAL ANALOG SYNTHESIZER
Noodle until your heart’s content with this re-make of the famous ob-x, ob-xa and ob8 synths. No need to buy one any more. Just load it up for free.
FROHMAGE FROM OHMFORCE
Don’t let the name fool you. This plugin is a seriously powerful tool that can give your sound the warmth and dirt it needs.
Plus it looks like a big piece of cheese to make producing a bit more fun.
SINEVIBES ATOM
Atom by Sinevibes is Insanely simple to use. It’s also easy to look at and less intimidating than other plugins.
The coolest feature is the multiple waveforms allow you to experiment in tons of different ways.
HAPPY EXPERIMENTING
Take all these plugins for a joy ride. They’re the best way to freshen up your setup and come up with some new ideas.
New ideas always lead to learning. And learning means getting better at producing.
Now that you know our favourites, let us know what yours are. Which plugins do you use the most?
