Who doesn't love a free plugin? From bedroom producers to big-time hitmakers, a proclivity for free music software is surely the great leveller that unites us all.
That's why here at MusicRadar HQ, we maintain a watchful eye on the world of music software, taking note of the latest and greatest freebies that we deem worthy of adorning your channel strips and clogging up your hard drives.
Here, we present a round-up of this month's discoveries. Without further ado, let's dive into some fantastic free plugins...
1. Discrete Laboratories Atlas
Platforms: macOS/Windows | Formats: AU | Download
There's admittedly no shortage of free virtual analogue synths out there, but as far as we're concerned, there can never be enough. Atlas is a polyphonic synth plugin inspired by classic '70s analogue synths that developer Discrete Laboratories says is capable of producing "lush pads, gritty basslines, or soaring leads".
This three-oscillator instrument is kitted out with a 12 dB/oct lowpass filter, two envelope generators (for the amp and filter) and two modulation buses that'll allow you to use the synth's LFO or oscillators to modulate its filter and pitch, or the frequency and waveform of its other oscillators. Its MPE-compatible, too, so it'll play nice with next-gen controllers for expressive performances, if that's your thing.
2. Rigid Audio Synferno
Platforms: macOS/Windows | Formats: Kontakt | Download
Synferno has been around for a few years, but this month, Rigid Audio has decided to give it away for free. It's a Kontakt instrument based on a 3GB library of cinematic loops across four categories: Bass, Synth, Ambient and Groove.
Up to four loops can be loaded into the Mix page, where they can be tweaked in pitch or EQ'd, before effects are applied on the FX Page; there you have delay, flanger, a tempo-synced bandpass filter and a convolution reverb to play with. There's also an interesting sequencer that can be used to create glitchy patterns and gated stutter effects.
3. EB-Resonator
Platforms: macOS/Windows | Formats: VST3/AU/CLAP/LV2/Standalone | Download
Ewan Bristow wasn't happy with the free melodic resonator plugins he'd tried, so he designed his own - and it sounds fantastic. EB-Resonator is a simple but effective resonator that offers controls for the amount of colour and dry signal, along with a scale selector that lets you pick any major or minor key, and an octave control.
EB-Resonator has built-in ring detection, to reduce the unwanted bell-like tones that can be produced by other resonator plugins; this can be dialled in using the Ring control. There's also a reverb onboard, along with high and low-pass filters, all of which are only applied to the wet signal.
EB-Resonator runs in Plugdata, a free visual programming environment that can be run standalone or as a plugin in your DAW.
4. Witch Pig Black Mirror Reverb
Platforms: macOS/Windows | Formats: VST3/AU | Download
Witch Pig's Black Mirror Reverb pairs up a versatile reverb with distortion and bitcrushing to create dark, gloomy tones that sound straight out of a Mogwai track.
The plugin's Divide, Reflect and Shudder controls can be used to control the size and space of the reverb, while Magnify boosts its volume; dial in Distort for hard clipping distortion and turn up Crush to reduce the bitrate.
There's a bunch of other free plugins on Witch Pig's website, too, including the Gravity granular reverb and Guillotine multi-effects slicer.
5. Universal Audio Century Tube Channel Strip
Platforms: macOS/Windows | Formats: VST3/AU/AAX | Download
Century Tube Channel Strip is a vintage-inspired recording channel that's made up of a virtual tube preamp, three-band EQ and a compressor modelled on classic optical compressors. Though it's usually priced at $199, UA is rather generously giving away Century Tube completely free for a limited time.
UA says Century Tube will help you get "warm, vintage sounds" from sterile-sounding digital tracks, and in our review, we described it as a "fast, focused plugin with a convincingly analogue sound that utterly flattens the channel strip learning curve", praising its simple and intuitive "do-no-harm" workflow. This one's a no-brainer.
