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Recommended free softwares/plugins for new (and current) producers

SeleDreams

SeleDreams

Passionate Fan
Jul 31, 2019
222
23
Work in progress, if you have suggestions of things to add, don't hesitate

I felt like making this thread since I notice lots of new producers or cover artists seem to not really know a lot about the available options and always feel like they *have* to use some expensive software to do anything. For instance I sometimes see people staying on FL Studio's trial with its heavy limitations, thinking they don't have a choice when they actually have lots of options !

This thread will be used to list a lot of options beginners (and more experienced people alike) can use to start making music right now for free with no catch !

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I will only list software that I consider fully featured to the point of being usable for professional music, that's why I won't be including some like LMMS which are too limited in features and I won't include Reaper's free trial because it *is* a trial, you are not actually license wise allowed to produce music with it past the expiration date.

I also won't include outdated stuff (stuck in 32-bit or stuck in old versions) as well as limited versions of daws that limit tracks, vst support etc.
I only will include stuff where the user will not feel limited.

Tracktion Waveform Free :
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • No limited features in the free version, you can save, use unlimited tracks, use VSTs etc. The main difference with the paid v is the bundled instruments and bonus features that are not essential.
  • Can be downloaded here : Waveform Free audio editing software - mac, pc, linux - Tracktion Software
  • A tutorial series is available here :
Cakewalk by Bandlab :
  • Compatible with Windows.
  • No limited features.
  • The free version has been discontinued. It will only receive bug fixing updates but will not receive new features.
  • Can be downloaded here : BandLab - Make Music Online
  • A tutorial series is available here :
Luna :
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • No limited features. The paid version only adds effects and instruments.
  • Can be downloaded here : LUNA Digital Audio Workstation
  • A tutorial series is available here :
Once you installed a daw, you're likely to want to get instruments and effects for them since free daws are kind of lacking in this area.
That's why i'll include various suggestions as well as recommendations on where to find free plugins.

Vital:
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The free version bundles less presets and wavetables, but it's a synth, you make your own sounds.
  • Can be downloaded here : Vital - Spectral Warping Wavetable Synth
  • A tutorial series is available here :
Helm :
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free
  • Can be downloaded here : Helm - Free Synth by Matt Tytel (just input 0 in the textbox to set a custom donation amount)
  • A tutorial series is available here :
Surge XT
Charlatan
Zebralette:
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it's a simpler, less powerful version of their full synth Zebra 2
  • Can be downloaded here : Zebralette: Mini Zebra
  • I couldn't find a tutorial series but I found this video giving some tips using it : https://youtu.be/2ioaASOcR4A
Podolski:
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free
  • Can be downloaded here : Podolski: Nice and easy
  • Tutorial video :
TyrellN6:
Exakt Lite :
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it's a simpler, less powerful version of Exakt
  • Can be downloaded here : Exakt Lite | SONICBITS

A lot of the next instruments will rely on both the free Soundpaint and Decent sampler plugins ! So make sure to install them first !
Decent sampler : Decent Sampler Plugin [FREE] - decent|SAMPLES
Soundpaint : Try It Free
Aria Player (best vst for sfz plugins like VSCO 2) : https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037425313-ARIA-Player-Version-1-959-Installer

1928 Vintage Grand Steinway:
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free Soundpaint plugin.
  • Can be downloaded here : 1928 Vintage Grand Steinway
  • Video showcase :
Pluck & Hammer Grand Piano
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free Soundpaint plugin
  • Can be downloaded here: Pluck & Hammer Grand Piano
  • Video showcase :
Steinway Grand
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free Decent Sampler plugin
  • Can be downloaded here: Steinway Grand – Pianobook
  • Video showcase :
VSCO 2 CE
Virtual Playing Orchestra
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on an SFZ player plugin (like Aria)
  • Can be downloaded here Blog Post
  • Video showcase - YouTube
BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover
ProjectSam The free orchestra
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it is compatible with Kontakt Player (the free version of Kontakt)
  • Can be downloaded here : ProjectSAM
  • Video showcase :
Lorenzo’s Drums V1
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free Decent Sampler plugin
  • Can be downloaded here : Lorenzo’s Drums V1 – Pianobook
  • Video showcase :
Cassette Drums
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free decent sampler plugin
  • Can be downloaded here : Cassette Drums – Pianobook
  • Video showcase :
Modo Drums CS
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it is a more limited version of the full Modo Drums instrument
  • Can be downloaded here : IK MULTIMEDIA. SOUND BETTER.
  • Video showcase : - YouTube
SSD 5.5 Free
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it is a more limited version of the full SSD 5.5
  • Can be downloaded here : Steven Slate Audio Center
  • Video showcase : - YouTube
BPB Cassette Drums
RJS Guitar
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free decent sampler plugin
  • Can be downloaded here : RJS Guitar – Pianobook
  • Video showcase :
RJS LoFi Nylon
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies the free decent sampler plugin
  • Can be downloaded here : RJS LoFi Nylon – Pianobook
  • Video showcase :
RJS Classic Electric
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free, it relies on the free decent sampler plugin
  • Can be downloaded here : RJS Classic Electric – Pianobook
  • Video showcase :
Shreddage 3 Stratus Free
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it's a simpler, more limited version of the full Shreddage 3 Stratus
  • This is a Kontakt library compatible with the free Kontakt Player, install the Komplete Start bundle before installing Shreddage 3.
  • Can be downloaded here : Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE (VST, AU, AAX) Guitar VST for Kontakt (input 0 in the donation textbox)
  • Video showcase : - YouTube
Ample Bass P Lite
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it's a simpler, more limited version of Ample Bass P
  • Can be downloaded here : amplesound.net
  • Video showcase :
Modo Bass 2 CS
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugin is completely free, it's a simpler more limited version of Modo Bass 2
  • Can be downloaded here : IK MULTIMEDIA. SOUND BETTER.
  • Video showcase : - YouTube
Low Fat Bass – Dirty – Free Edition
TDR Nova
TDR VOS SlickEQ
MEqualizer
TDR Molotok
MCompressor
Dynastia
  • Compatible with Windows
  • The plugin is completely free
  • More modern OTT alternative
  • Can be downloaded here Outobugi
  • Showcase video : - YouTube
MCharmVerb
TAL Reverb-4
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugin is completely free
  • Can be downloaded here TAL Software
  • Showcase video : - YouTube
Raum
MConvolutionEZ
Valhalla Supermassive
TAL DUB 1, 2 and 3
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux
  • The plugins are completely free
  • Can be downloaded here TAL Software
  • Showcase video - YouTube
Replika
MXTune
  • Compatible with Windows and Linux
  • Is a manual pitch correction plugin (so closer to Melodyne)
  • The plugin is completely free and open source
  • Can be downloaded here https://liuanlin-mx.github.io/
  • Showcase video : - YouTube
MAutoPitch
Prestige 1950
Guitar Rig 7 Player
Amplitube 5 CS
Neural Amp modeler
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • Can be downloaded here Users | Neural Amp Modeler
  • It's an open source neural network based guitar amp emulation. As such the setup is a bit more complex, but the quality is high.
  • Tutorial video : - YouTube
Komplete Start (contains various cool instruments and effects)
AirWindow Plugins (Contains over 400 free effects !!!)
Melda Free Plugins (Contains a lot of free effects and some instruments)
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugins are completely free as long as you specifically choose to only install the free plugins in the installer (they share the same installer for both their paid and free plugins)
  • Can be downloaded here MFreeFXBundle | MeldaProduction
  • Video showcase - YouTube
  • While the free version of the plugins doesn't allow saving presets from within the plugin, you can still save presets from your daw so it actually doesn't matter.
Kilohearts Essentials (Contains a lot of free effects)
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • The plugins are completely free
  • Can be downloaded here Kilohearts
  • Video showcase - YouTube
Distrho PawPaw (Contains a lot of free and open source effects and instruments)
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac (should also work on linux but the installation process should be different).
  • The plugins are completely free and open source. They use the LV2 format so they will not work everywhere. Tracktion Waveform, Reaper and Ardour are three known ones that support them.
  • Can be downloaded here Release 1.1 · DISTRHO/PawPaw
  • If you download this, you shouldn't need Vital as this bundles Vitalium, an open source version of Vital that removes some proprietary components such as the login system. However i noticed there can be some scaling issues of vitalium with tracktion waveform while vital works fine. So installing Vital separately might still be a good thing in this case.
Magix Independence Free (Contains a lot of free sampled instruments)
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • Can be downloaded here The free software sampler – Independence free (Make sure to install both the plugin AND the free library below, else you won't have any sounds in the plugin). The installer of the free library is a bit glitchy, it will sometimes say a file isn't found, just click on online download everytime it says it. It will sometimes not display the "online download button" in these cases, litterally just wait, it will continue on its own
  • Video showcase here - YouTube
SampleTank 4 CS (Contains a lot of free sampled instruments)
Baby Audio free plugins (Small bundle of interesting effect vsts)
Reaplugs (Reaper's built in plugins that are free to download separately without a need to own Reaper)

Where to find more free plugins
Plugins4Free is a site that lists a lot of free plugins. Both instruments and effects : PLUGINS4FREE
PianoBook is a site that hosts mostly sampled musical instruments. the huge majority is free, however some might require the paid version of Kontakt, I recommend to toggle the "Decent Sampler" button to only show libraries compatible with the free Decent Sampler : Pianobook – Cultivating a community centered around sound.
Spitfire Labs has a lot of free high quality sampled libraries on their website : Packs
You can also check the Free category of Plugin Boutique : VST Plugins, Synth Presets, Effects, Virtual Instruments, Music Plugins from Pluginboutique

What to do next
That heavily depends on your goal. Depending on whether you want to make original music or whether you just want to make vocal synth covers.
In both cases, learning about mixing will be useful so I can recommend checking IO+'s tutorial How to mix a no-mastering offvocal / instrument track
You do not have to use the exact same plugins they are using, what matters is the principles, for instance what they teach on one EQ can apply to lots of others. same for compression. The choice of the plugin you use is purely a creative decision.
I plan to add more to the list over time so don't hesitate to come back to check it out, but I think all this is a good start already for new producers.
 
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Vector

Vector

Passionate Fan
Mar 6, 2022
157
I've got one to add that I use a lot: Bedroom Producers Blog's Cassette Drums. They're lightweight plugins based on samples of the classic Roland TR-909, TR-808 and TR-606 drum machines. They have multiple outputs, but they're small enough you can easily just throw duplicates onto new tracks if you want to isolate the drum types for mixing. You get clean kits for the classic house and Eurodance sound, and "warm" and "hot" variations with some compression and tube saturation baked in.

bedroomproducersblog.com

BPB Cassette Drums - Free Drum Machine VST/AU Plugin

BPB proudly presents Cassette Drums, a freeware drum machine VST/AU plugin bundle based on our popular Cassette 606, Cassette 808, and Cassette 909 drum sample packs. Cassette Drums is a freeware VST and AU plugin bundle consisting of three individual plugins: Cassette 606 VST, Cassette 808 VST...
bedroomproducersblog.com bedroomproducersblog.com

EDM music tends to use Xfer's free OTT a lot for multiband compression that's, as the name means, Over The Top. This is a free recreation of a compressor offering from Ableton, for use in other DAWs.

bedroomproducersblog.com

Xfer Records OTT Plugin Review

OTT plugin by Xfer Records is one of the most popular free VST plugins and has been for some time. It’s particularly popular with electronic music producers, some of whom wouldn’t even consider making music without it now. With that in mind, this won’t be a blast from the past like our recent...
bedroomproducersblog.com bedroomproducersblog.com

I haven't used it a whole lot, but Valhalla Supermassive is a popular free plugin for big, creative reverbs. (I tend to use more subtle ones and just use my DAW's reverb.)

Valhalla Super Massive - Valhalla DSP
 
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SeleDreams

SeleDreams

Passionate Fan
Jul 31, 2019
222
23
Vector said:
I've got one to add that I use a lot: Bedroom Producers Blog's Cassette Drums. They're lightweight plugins based on samples of the classic Roland TR-909, TR-808 and TR-606 drum machines. They have multiple outputs, but they're small enough you can easily just throw duplicates onto new tracks if you want to isolate the drum types for mixing. You get clean kits for the classic house and Eurodance sound, and "warm" and "hot" variations with some compression and tube saturation baked in.

bedroomproducersblog.com

BPB Cassette Drums - Free Drum Machine VST/AU Plugin

BPB proudly presents Cassette Drums, a freeware drum machine VST/AU plugin bundle based on our popular Cassette 606, Cassette 808, and Cassette 909 drum sample packs. Cassette Drums is a freeware VST and AU plugin bundle consisting of three individual plugins: Cassette 606 VST, Cassette 808 VST...
bedroomproducersblog.com bedroomproducersblog.com

EDM music tends to use Xfer's free OTT a lot for multiband compression that's, as the name means, Over The Top. This is a free recreation of a compressor offering from Ableton, for use in other DAWs.

bedroomproducersblog.com

Xfer Records OTT Plugin Review

OTT plugin by Xfer Records is one of the most popular free VST plugins and has been for some time. It’s particularly popular with electronic music producers, some of whom wouldn’t even consider making music without it now. With that in mind, this won’t be a blast from the past like our recent...
bedroomproducersblog.com bedroomproducersblog.com

I haven't used it a whole lot, but Valhalla Supermassive is a popular free plugin for big, creative reverbs. (I tend to use more subtle ones and just use my DAW's reverb.)

Valhalla Super Massive - Valhalla DSP
Click to expand...
I think you maybe haven't seen for OTT but in the "compressors" section, I specified that Dynastia was a more modern OTT replacement. I put this one and not OTT because OTT has some sizing issues on high dpi displays from what i remember. Dynastia does the same thing, just the UI is different.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll add them
 
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Vector

Vector

Passionate Fan
Mar 6, 2022
157
Yep, I missed that in the compressors section. I'll have to take a closer look at Dynastia sometime, sounds promising.
 
SeleDreams

SeleDreams

Passionate Fan
Jul 31, 2019
222
23
I added Neural Amp Modeler as well as @Vector 's suggestions to the list.
Neural Amp Modeler is an open source neural network based guitar amp emulation plugin which can allow very high quality guitar amp emulation.
 
bibbs

bibbs

large and in charge
May 12, 2022
19
usa
i posted this earlier, but i'll put it here too since it's relevant.

database - linux music.rocks

Linuxmusic.rocks aims to be musician friendly database of linux available software and plugins.
linuxmusic.rocks

it's a database of many (many) daws, synths, plugins, etc. you can filter out all of the paid plugins. if you click on an entry there will be a link to the plugin developer's site which will have versions for different platforms.
 
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SeleDreams

SeleDreams

Passionate Fan
Jul 31, 2019
222
23
I added the AirWindow plugins to the "plugins bundles" category.
This is pretty huge, it's a HUGE bundle of more than 400 free and open source effects that are available for windows, linux and mac !
 
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