VST Plugins

Many music producers and sound engineers utilize vocoder effects in their mixes. For some, it represents a rather critical part of their VST library.

Vocoder effects can be heard in a variety of musical styles. These days, it is often heard in EDM, pop, or even hip-hop tracks, but it has also been utilized by the likes of Neil Young, Black Sabbath, Phil Collins, Jackson 5, Daft Punk, and The Beastie Boys, among many others.

In this guide, we’ll look at the best free vocoder VST plugins to help you create unique sounding vocals.

13 Best Free Vocoder VST Plugins 2023, Create Unique Sounding VocalsRead More »

If you’re looking to record some guitar, amp sim VST plugins are essential. And fortunately for you, there are quite a few options to choose from.

In this guide, we’ll be looking at the best free standalone guitar amp simulator plugins.

Admittedly, you will find many of the “usual suspects” on this list, but there might be a couple you haven’t come across yet.

So, let’s get into the best free standalone amp sims to boost your songs.

17 Best Free Standalone Guitar Amp Simulator VST Plugins 2023, Boost Your SongsRead More »

Hardware sampling was invented in the 1940s by Harry Chamberlain and rose to popularity with 80s and 90s hip-hop and dance music. Today, sampling is used in a variety of musical genres, be it R&B, rock, country, classical music, or otherwise.

Samplers are first and foremost used to trigger different sounds. But there are also a lot of producers that think of them as instruments unto themselves.

Not surprisingly, as “in the box” digital recording grew in popularity, software samplers also became more commonplace. Today, you can even get them as free VST plugins, and as you’re about to see, there are even some samplers with unique features out there!

In this guide, we’ll look at the best free sampler VST plugins.

13 Best Free Sampler VST Plugins 2023, Capture Great SoundsRead More »

Every sound engineer, music producer, composer, and beatmaker needs access to powerful tools to be able to enhance and bring their music to life.

These days, recording is mostly done “in the box,” with VST plugins. And in recent times, even the free ones are starting to sound better and are quite versatile besides.

There are different categories of VST plugins you’re going to need to build out your library to handle the many things you want to be able to do. So, whether you need to build from scratch, supplement, or augment your toolkit, you’ve come to the right place.

In this guide, we look at the best free VST plugins of all time – essential instruments and effects.

42 Best Free VST Plugins 2023Read More »

Looking to add some nice sounding violin to your projects? You can hardly be blamed for that. Whether it’s lo-fi beats or intimate singer-songwriter tunes, violin can be effective in a variety of musical situations.

And wouldn’t you know it, there are a ton of free VST plugins that might just do the trick.

In this guide, we look at the best free violin VST plugins you can use to enhance your beats and projects.

22 Best Free Violin VST Plugins 2023Read More »

The magic of trance is getting your listener engrossed and immersed in the music. If you can do that, you’ve hooked them.

As with any other genre or style of music, though, you’re going to need the right tools to get the job done. And while there isn’t a shortage of VST plugins available, if you’ve got budget constraints, no doubt you’re going to want to seek out the best free options out there.

The good news is the number of solid free VST plugins is mushrooming by the day. Here are some of the best free trance VST plugins available.

18 Best Free Trance VST Plugins 2023Read More »

Hooked on atmospheric music? There’s just something about it, isn’t there? It’s often relaxing and engrossing, and it can even get you into flow or a trance like state.

But what if you wanted to make your own ambient music? What tools would you require? Are there enough free tools to cover your bases?

In this guide, we look at the best free ambient VST plugins.

28 Best Free Ambient VST Plugins 2023Read More »

There are several ways to shape sounds in music production, including EQ, saturation, and sometimes even compression. Another favorite tool, for most, are filters.

Nowadays, there are plenty of VST plugins with built-in filter options, but that isn’t to say standalone filter modules don’t also have their place.

In this guide, we look at the best free filter VST plugins you can use to create sweeps, filter out frequencies, clean up mixes, and more.

15 Best Free Filter VST Plugins 2023Read More »

Modulation may not be a go-to for producers, drummers, and bassists. But let me tell you – it’s well-used by guitarists and keyboard / synth players.

With chorus, phaser, and flange being the three basic types of modulation, these effects can offer subtle doubling, robotic warble, and a variety of other types of oscillating movement to tracks.

Here we’ll be looking at the best free flanger VST plugins – a great effect to add to any track you want to create more sonic interest in.

17 Best Free Flanger VST Plugins 2023Read More »

While some electronic instruments (like certain keyboards and synths) don’t require tuning, there are many others that need regular and ongoing maintenance (like guitar or bass), or at least once per year (piano).

Now, it’s unlikely you’ll be tuning a piano yourself, but tuners can come to rescue in a variety of situations, whether it’s tuning up your guitar before laying down a track yourself or making sure your client’s violin is in tune.

In this guide, we’ll be looking at the best free tuner VST plugins.

12 Best Free Tuner VST Plugins 2023Read More »