2024 EDIT - some of the best permanent free stuff will remain here in the OP. There's a megaton of free things out there - things on this list should be the cream of the crop. Keep an eye on this thread for new permanent and temporary goodies - some of the very best freebies have been time-limited.
DAW
Apple Garageband for Mac / iPad
Cakewalk byBandlab
Pro Tools Intro (very limited track count but otherwise an extremely high spec and most of what is in the full version - by track bouncing like we all did in the good ol days you can stretch it a long way)
UAD LUNA for Mac
Ardour (open source for Mac, Windows and Linux)
SYNTHS
u-he Zebralette - 2 and also 3 in public Beta
u-he Tyrell N6
NI Mikro Prism and Blocks Base
Digital Suburban Dexed (DX7 clone)
ML-VST PG8X (Clone of Yamaha JX8P)
discoDSP OB-Xd (Clone of Oberheim OB series)
Novation V-Station
Vember Surged
SAMPLE LIBRARIES / PLAYERS
NI Komplete Start
ProjectSAM Free Orchestra 1 and 2
Sonuscore The Orchestra Elements
Spitfire Audio LABS
Orchestral Tools SINE Factory
Audiobro Silver
Heavyocity Foundations
Impact Soundworks free collection
Soniccouture free collection
Spitfire BBC Orchestra discover
DRUMS
BFD Free Player
Steven Slate Drums
IK MODO drums CS 1.5
Rayzoon Jamstix free
EFFECTS
NI Komplete Start
Plugin Alliance Free
Bluecat Freeware II
Kilohertz Essentials
Venn Audio Free Suite
IK Amplitube 5 CS
Slate Digital Fresh Air (a great alternative to the esteemed Clariphonic)
A1 Trigger Gate (I use this in preference to all the paid ones)
Nugen A/B Assist
Valhalla Supermassive
TAL Reverb 2 and 3
u-he Protoverb
Voxengo Old School Reverb
iZotope Vocal Doubler
Audiothing Filterjam & Moon delay
TAL Vocoder
TAL Chorus LX (Juno chorus clone)
A nice little freebie for those with Arturia's Analog Lab - 32 presets called Modern Lab, shamelessly re-creating some famous patches by the likes of Grimes, Radiohead, MGMT, Tame Impala, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars. It's there in the Analog Lab store to download.
Bertom Audio's plug-ins — basic but well-made, useful tools — are of the "free / pay what you want" kind:
- Phantom Center (stereo imager)
- Vocal Compressor (simple compressor optimized for vocal recordings)
- EQ Curve Analyzer (analyzer and signal generator plugin to see the frequency response (magnitude and phase) of any plugin or hardware)
- Air Shelf (a dynamic EQ plugin designed to shape very high frequencies, mostly above 10kHz)
- Denoiser Classic (zero-latency noise reduction plugin for music, post-production and live use)
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Re: The Happy Thread Of Free
Posted: Dec 05, 2023 12:05 pm
by Guy Rowland
Tutti Free is, well, free from Sonokinetic - Aleatoric orchestral phrases and hits. This is part of their 12 Days of Christmas thing - I don't know if it's just free for a short time or forever.
Re: The Happy Thread Of Free
Posted: Dec 07, 2023 5:30 am
by Piet De Ridder
Venn Audio have a free suite of plugins available for download. No registration needed, no strings attached, simply download and it's yours to use. Available for Windows, MacOS and, soon, Linux.
Rather nice, unassuming little reverb: Nepenthe, from Amalgamated Signals.
"Nepenthe's algorithm is based on the concept of velvet noise. Rather than building echoes with a network of delay lines, it uses a predetermined set of randomly-generated echoes. This is a very simple design, which works well with modern CPU optimizations, so Nepenthe runs efficiently."
It's a free download without restrictions, but if you go on using it, you're invited to donate.
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Re: The Happy Thread Of Free
Posted: Dec 14, 2023 12:10 pm
by doctoremmet
Venus Theory and UVI offer Noctua, a free cinematic sample collection for Falcon.
Re: The Happy Thread Of Free
Posted: Dec 21, 2023 1:37 pm
by Guy Rowland
This is quite wowey - Arturia EFX Refract free until Jan 4. A brand new multi-effect.
Efx REFRACT is a stereo multi-effect with versatility at its core. Combining unison-based processing with a variety of secondary effects and modulation options. Effortlessly enrich, texturise and transform any sound, from experimental distortions to detuned harmonics.
I have just released a new little freebie, Ext.Har which is short for extended harmonics, sourced from the Iremia sessions. Here’s a little walkthrough where I also discuss the different ways of playing harmonics on a string instrument and complain about the weather in Denmark:
Free is fantastic, but I have dozens of compressors and I use 2 or 3. Amazing and confusing times.
Re: The Happy Thread Of Free
Posted: Mar 03, 2024 3:55 am
by Guy Rowland
Lawrence wrote: ↑Mar 02, 2024 7:10 pm
Free is fantastic, but I have dozens of compressors and I use 2 or 3. Amazing and confusing times.
Yup, same.
Maybe I should change the OP to be a collation of all the best free stuff that is out there. If someone was starting from scratch today, I think you'd have excellent tools in almost every area of music-making without spending a dime. Orchestral would be patchy, but there's even some very good stuff there now. It would involve a fair bit of work, but as and when I'm next at a loose end I'll put some effort in.
For those of us heavily-laden we won't use many of these freebies, but it doesn't stop them being excellent.