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https://www.bertomaudio.com/eq-curve-analyzer.html

https://www.nembriniaudio.com/collections/free/products/big-stuff-harmonic-distortion-sustain

The last few freebies from Loopcloud, I've already picked up for free elsewhere. At some point I'll have to take stock of all the spare unregistered licences I have, and offer them up to forum members.

I've suggested some ideas to help with this problem on a couple forums and was shot down. For example, a Steam type marketplace app like there is for gaming, where all manufacturers sell their products, and also acts as installation, copy protection, etc. So everything you own is on one app, and the "Steam" app can focus on security and e-commerce, while the developers can focus on their products. Easier said then done, but really this 'every-developer-needs-there-own-damn-product-manager' horseshit has been a bane of the audio software industry for 20 years. I guess it's better than the days were you had to save all those pieces of paper and boxes with serial numbers, and drag 'em out every time you did a new system install. Glad that's over with. But really - something has to change. It's just going to get worse and worse with these proprietary ecosystems, and it must be affecting sales, as there are a few developers I don't buy from because I don't want another damn piece of software on my system just for one or two plugins / instruments.

This is basically porn.

I'm biased, of course, but I think I put together a pretty extensive list of high quality free sample libraries that play in free players. I organized it by instrument type -- piano, electric piano, percussion, organ, synth, etc. My inspiration was seeing so many lists of free sample libraries and plugins where there was no way to discern the good from the bad. The reality is, a very high percentage of freebies are not great quality. Sifting through the bad ones to find the good ones is incredibly time consuming. So the value of my list is that it only contains sample libraries and soft synths that I've spent time with and found to be good quality and others add their recommendations to the list too. My motivation was to help those who are short on funds but love making music.

A Curated List of the Best Free Sample Libraries (for free sample players) and Free Soft Synths All libraries have been reviewed and a brief review is listed for each library. Finding free sample libraries is easy these days. Finding really high quality sample libraries that sound good and play well is a lot more challenging. It commonly means sorting through a lot of -- I'll be kind -- less than great sample libraries. That's why I thought it would be helpful to the community to create a curated list of RECOMMENDED free sample libraries that play in a free sample players. This list only includes libraries that I have used and find worthy of recommendation. Many of these libraries, while very good to excellent, often aren't meticulously detailed and ingeniously scripted like better paid sample libraries. But that level of detail may not even matter for your purposes. I invite others to post libraries that play in free sample players that they have used and can personally recommend. I'll update this list periodically and welcome suggestions for making it more convenient for people. I've also added free soft synths and invite others to add and discuss their favorites, likes and dislikes. Of course, my choices reflect my style, personal taste and the genres I play, so I hope we can get recommendations from others in order to represent a wide range of styles/genres. I mostly play rock, so if you play/produce other styles, we can especially use your input. ⭐ =Highly recommended favorites. ⭐ ⭐ =My highest recommendation. RECOMMENDED FREE SAMPLE LIBRARIES PIANOS SonicCouture Hammersmith Free ⭐⭐ A beautiful grand piano sample library. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/p322-hammersmith-free/ VSL Soft Imperial ⭐⭐ This is a gorgeous Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano sample library that I would have been happy with had I paid for it. It is an intimate piano meant for softer playing. FORMAT: FREE VSL Synchron Player https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Free_Instruments/Soft_Imperial SoundPaint 1928 Vintage Steinway Grand Piano and Sampler ⭐⭐ A high quality grand piano sample library with a nice variety of patches. The SoundPaint sample player enables you to easily create your own patches/programs and delve into sound design possibilities and arpeggiator patterns . FORMAT: SOUNDPAINT SAMPLE PLAYER (FREE) https://soundpaint.com/ The Creative Toolbox Piano ⭐⭐ A Steinway & Sons B-211 Grand Piano with 3 microphone positions. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/the-creative-toolbox-piano.html Estate Grand Piano from Production Voices(for the free Sforzando player) ⭐⭐ This is a high quality developer that I am a customer of and I find makes excellent piano sample libraries and this is a really nice piano. FREE/Donationware FORMAT; SFZ https://www.productionvoices.com/estate-grand-le-for-sforzando/ Heavyocity Foundations Piano ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful, soft grand piano with great effects. A must have, IMO. I recommend downloading every free library in the series. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://heavyocity.com/product/foundations-piano/ Sonic Atoms Novel Piano ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful warm sounding urpight piano with some great, very creative patches. It made me a fan of this developer and a customer. FORMAT: FREE HALION SONIC SE PLAYER https://sonicatoms.com/novel-piano/ The Experience Fazoli Piano ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful sounding, beautifully sampled Fazoli grand piano. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-experience-fazioli-f308/ The Experience Yamaha S6 Grand Piano ⭐ ⭐ One of the best piano libraries on Pianobook. A beautiful sounding, well sampled Yamaha S6 grand piano. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-experience-yamaha-s6/ Mason Hamlin Model A Piano ⭐ ⭐ A beautifully sounding, beautifully sampled Mason Hamlin grand piano. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/mason-hamlin-model-a/ Isolation Piano - Tubes and Tape ⭐ ⭐ I use the KONTAKT version and I love it and consider it one of the best pianos on Pianobook, arguably the best. It’s a sampled Model O Steinway grand piano. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/isolation-piano-tubes-tape/ Soft Piano (Spiifire Labs) ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful, gentle upright felt piano. FORMAT: LABS PLAYER (SPITFIRE) https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/?sortBy=prod_products_labs_latest Reel to Reel Tape Piano ⭐ ⭐ This comes from David Hilowitz, the very generous artist and developer behind Decent sampler. It's a very lofi, retro piano sample library that captures that kind of Mellotron vibe that I love. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.decentsamples.com/product/reel-to-reel-tape-piano/ Triple Felt Experiment ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful sounding felt piano from Christian Henson. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/triple-felt-experiment/ Death Piano Prepared Piano from Production Voices (for the free Sforzando player) ⭐ ⭐ I love this library. It is a prepared grand piano and the KONTAKT version has a reverse patch that I really enjoy. FREE/Donationware FORMAT; SFZ https://www.productionvoices.com/death-piano-le/ Spring Piano by Christian Henson ⭐ An very nice intimate upright piano. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/spring-piano/ Manthey Klaviano (PIANO) ⭐ This is a very nice sounding basic upright piano. It sounds like your average piano you’d see in a middle class home or at a school. It’s not a sophisticated sounding piano. I really like its humble character. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER, SFZ https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/manthey-klaviano/ StraIght Ahead Samples: The Real Piano ⭐ A 1903 Chickering grand piano, 6 microphone positions w/ user-controlled interface. A character piano with a vintage vibe. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.straightaheadsamples.com/the-real-piano [Added 11/08/2023] Yamaha Grand Palm Mute ⭐ If you’re looking for grand piano palm mutes, you should enjoy these. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/yamaha-palm-mutes/ Claustrophobic Piano by Christian Henson ⭐ A very nice dark, intimate character piano. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/claustrophobic-piano/ Sterzov The Felt Seiler ⭐ A very nice felted piano library. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/the-felt-seiler-free-edition.html Prepared Staccota Cartoon Piano It's a one-trick pony that does what is says on the tin. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/prepared-staccato-cartoon-piano/ VOCALS / CHOIRS Orchestratools: Manifold ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful sample library of male and female singers singing oohs and aahs and some unusual vocal sounds too. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER, Sine Factory https://www.orchestraltools.com/sinefactory Micah's Choir ⭐ ⭐ I love this library. The samplist who made it has a great deal of talent. It's a male soloist, but you can play it polyphonically. The singer's tone is beautiful. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER (also available for Spitfire Labs) https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/micahs-choir/ SonicCouture Tape Choir ⭐ ⭐ A retro choir patch that sounds a lot like the choir pad sounds on the 70s 10CC song, "I'm Not In Love." If I had a good voice, I would use this to cover the song. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/18-exclusive-free-content/p170-tape-choir/ Spitfire Labs Choir ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful choir recorded at Air Studios in London. https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/choir Heavyocity Emotive Choir ⭐ ⭐ A beautifully sampled choir. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://heavyocity.com/product/emotive-choir New House Choir A lofi choir patch reminiscent of 10CC’s “I’m Not in Love” vocal pads but more church choir-ish. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/new-house-choir/ DRUMS Steven Slate Drums 5.5 Free ⭐ ⭐ A high quality, production ready rock drum kit. I think this is the best-sounding, deep sampled free acoustic drum plugin on the market. It includes a mixer and beats. It's a no-brainer to install and download, IMO. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://stevenslatedrums.com/ssd5/#SSD5FREE BFD Player ⭐ ⭐ I think this is easily one of the best FREE acoustic drum plugins on the market, but I don't really love the presets and I'm not in love with the sound of the snare drum samples, so I'm only giving this two stars as a freebie. Personally, I deleted it from my hard drive shortly after going through the sounds and trying it in a production. The snare drum sounds thin and the heavy effects on most of the presets overwhelm the snare, it just gets lost in the mix. Still, these are 5GB of deep sampled drums with a built in mixer -- it's not extensive, but you can always route the outputs to use your own effects and mix the drums exactly as you like, and that's a pretty nice option for a free deep sampled acoustic drum kit; but it's also a bit of work. BFD Player also works with a large number of electronic drum kits and features more than 300 beats. I don't think it sounds as good or as professional as Steven Slate Drums, but it has enough going for it for a free drum plugin, that I'm still giving it my highest rating. Download it and judge for yourself. https://www.bfddrums.com/drum-software/bfd-player.html The Creative Toolbox: Drums and Percussion ⭐ ⭐ An acoustic drum kit, two drum machines (Roland TR08 and Behringer RD6) and percussion (bongos, congas, castanets, shakers, agogo, clave, chimes, cowbell and rototoms. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/the-creative-toolbox-drums-and-percussion.html IK Modo Drum Kit 1.5 ⭐ ⭐ A realy nice sounding hybrid modeled/sampled drum kit. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/mododrum/#nl_form_area Spitfire Labs Drums and VIntage Drums ⭐ ⭐ I love the sound of this drum library. The only down side is that it only has two toms. The 1975 kit also sounds really good and has three toms. FORMAT: LABS PLAYER (SPITFIRE) https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/?sortBy=prod_products_labs_latest Orange Tree Samples free Funk Drum Kit Sample Library ⭐ ⭐ A nice little jazz/funk drum kit. It sounds good. FORMAT; SFZ https://www.orangetreesamples.com/blog/free-jazz-funk-drum-sample-library Soft Drums ⭐ This is a really nice, very usable traditional drum kit sample library. The drums are hit softly using Promark Broomsticks, which gives a sound like when a rock drummer plays hard with brushes, giving the drums a thwack type sound! I think these would be very useful for indie or folk rock. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/soft-drums/ Lorenzo's Drums ⭐ I love this small drum kit. It just has a great sound to it. The caveat is that the hi hat doesn't close properly. If you can deal with that, I think the sound of this is really special. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/lorenzos-drums-v1/ ML Drums Free A complete drum kit using the developer's plugin. FORMAT: Developer's Proprietary Plugin https://ml-sound-lab.com/products/ml-drums-free Drum Gizmo This entry is the exception to the rest of the list. I haven't used this library. It was recommended to me by a very talented KONTAKT developer who uses it. Based on his recommendation, I am adding it to the list. Drum Giznmo is a drum sample player system and a series of acoustic drum sample libraries. I am told that they are good to very quality. Note that the kits are unprocessed, so you'll need to apply your own effects, which is desirable for some and less desirable for others. https://www.drumgizmo.org/wiki/doku.php?id=start ELECTRIC PIANOS Fracture Sounds: Blueprint Electric Keys ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful, and well-sampled 1969 Rhodes Mark I Electric Piano library that's, unquestionably, good enough to be a paid library. It allows you to adjust the key noise. It doesn't have a bunch of presets, but it lets you choose between direct input and amped and has controls for stereo spread, reverb, chorus, and atmosphere. It's pretty obvious to see the developer's rationale for giving this away free. Once you use it, you'll be interested in their other libraries. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT 7 Player https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-electric-keys/ The Electro-Acoustic ⭐⭐ Samples of an acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes electric piano layered. I love the sound! FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER (Also Available for the Full Version of KONTAKT) https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-electro-acoustic-piano/ Sonokinetic EMP Mark II ⭐ A Rhodes Mark II electric piano. Excellent quality sampling and it sounds very good. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT 7 Player https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/contemporary/emp/ Electric V LE from Production Voices (for the free Sforzando player ⭐ A very well-sampled Rhodes Mark V. FREE/Donationware FORMAT: SFZ https://www.productionvoices.com/product/electric-v-le/ Worlitzer ⭐ Anyone who knows me at this forum is probably aware of my love of Wurli / Wurlitzer electric pianos. For a free sample library, this is really nice done and contains several patches.The samplist that made this clearly put some heart into it and it shows. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/worlitzer/ Wurli A modest Wurli library. It really misses the dynamics that make a Wurli so special, but it otherwise, does have that trademark Wurli sound, but seems like a one velocity layer instrument. FORMAT: LABS PLAYER (SPITFIRE) https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/?sortBy=prod_products_labs_latest Anne-Marie The Hohner T ⭐ A nice sampled Honer T, just try it. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/anne-marie-the-hohner-t/ GUITARS and BASS IK MODO Bass ⭐⭐ This isn't a sample library, it's a modeled bass plugin, but it sounds very good, and is lightweight. It emulates a 1960's Fender Precision Bass. For free, I think this is highest quality choice for an electric bass guitar. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PLUGIN https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/modobass2/?pkey=modo-bass-2-cs Heavyocity Foundations Nylon Guitar ⭐ A beautiful-sounding nylon guitar. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://heavyocity.com/product/foundations-nylon-guitar/ Ample Guitar M Lite ⭐ I have A LOT of paid guitar samples libraries and I've tried all of the free guitar and bass multisample libraries out there (and am open to any suggestions anyone has on new ones; I'm set with Evolution for guitar libraries, but want to at least test out libraries in order to maintain this list) and I find that no other free sample library or vst plugin can match Ample sounds freebies. To put it mildly, this developer is pretty generous in what they give away free and they are a top quality sample developer. (One of their employees posts in this forum and has always been a class act, so really, nothing but respect for these guys). FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=7 Ample Bass P Lite ⭐ For sampled electric and acoustic bass guitars, I'm set with Orange Tree Samples' libraries, but I've tried this out and think for free, it's the best quality free electric bass library that I know of. It's really well done and I can easily recommend it. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=19 RJS Electric Guitar ⭐ A sampled Stratocaster electric guitar with the following patches: long notes with vibrato, palm muted notes, dead notes and feedback. Impressive. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/rjs-guitar/ MELLOTRON Plogue Sforzatron (Mellotron Sample Library) ⭐ ⭐ Some of the most popular Mellotron samples including cello, celli, strings, flute, woodwind sections, string sections, choir, pads, koto, and steel drums. The sample libraries were taken from the fantastic and freely distributed Taji Guy Mellotron samples that have been available online for two decades. This is easily as good as a commercial Mellotron library. In fact, if this wasn't free and I paid, say $35 USD for the library, I would be extremely satisfied with my purchase. This is one of my all time favorite freebies. FORMAT: Sforzando https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando-banks.html ORCHESTRAL BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover ⭐ ⭐ A complete orchestra that sounds very good. It's not up to the level of a paid high end orchestral library, but it's amazingly good for a completely free orchestral library and it is pretty small in size in terms of data and won't tax on your computer resources. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.spitfireaudio.com/bbc-symphony-orchestra-discover The Free Orchestra by PROJECTSAM ⭐ ⭐ A collection of orchestral related libraries including a choir, strings, and organ. It all sounds beautiful. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://projectsam.com/libraries/the-free-orchestra/ The Free Orchestra 2 a by PROJECTSAM ⭐ ⭐ Project Sam's Free Orchestra series continues as each month, starting in late 2023, they've been releasing a new free library for their Free Orchestra 2 collection. As I write this, they're on month two and have strings and brass. Everything this developer puts out his very high quality. Their freebies, IMO, are must-haves. Great stuff. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://projectsam.com/libraries/the-free-orchestra-2 VSL Big Bang Orchestra ⭐ ⭐ Looking for large orchestrations with huge sounding tutti layers? Staccatos, sustains, marcatos, swells and runs -- if you're looking for the bombastic sound of a big orchestra, I think you're going to be pretty happy with this. FORMAT: Developer's FREE Propietary Player https://www.vsl.co.at/en/BBO_Map/BBO ORGANS Sonuscore Pipe Organ ⭐ ⭐ It contains several pipe organ patches that sound really nice. I love this freebie. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://sonuscore.com/shop/free-pipe-organ/ Sonokinetic Carousel Organ ⭐ ⭐ If you want a carousel organ, you're in luck! It sounds great and it's a lot of fun to play around with. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/instruments/carousel/ Collab3 ⭐ This is a Hammond B3 emulation and I snuck this in because I picked this up a while back and just thought it was really good for a free B3 emulation with a Leslie rotary speaker effect. B3 perfectionists won't be satisfied, but it sounds really good and for the price (free), I don't think anything matches it. Listen to it yourself. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLUGIN https://sampleson.com/collab3-free-tonewheel-organ.html Cassette Tape Organ A lofi cassette recording of a Wurlitzer organ that has a very Mellotron type vibe to it. I absolutely love this library. A lot of samplists attempt to get that Mellotron lofi vibe and, IMO, most don't hit the mark. This one does. Very well executed. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/cassette-tape-organ/ PERCUSSION World Colors Clar-Duduk by Evolution Series ⭐ ⭐ A very well sampled clar-duduk library. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.evolutionseries.com/product/world-colors-clar-duduk SONIXENIMA Christmas Bells ⭐ ⭐ Three different-sized sleigh bells, multiple round robins, 3 preset rhythms; this is a nice little freebie. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://sonixinema.com/products/christmas-bells Orchestratools: Gearbox ⭐ ⭐ A collection of studio percussion instruments including various drums, tambourine, claps, congas, etc. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER, Sine Factory https://www.orchestraltools.com/sinefactory Hunter's Percussion - World ⭐ ⭐ A really nicely sampled set of percussion instruments. Djembe, conga, bongo, udu and various taiko drums. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER (also available for the full version of KONTAKT) https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/hunters-percussion-world/ VSL Small Percussion ⭐ ⭐ A nicely done library of various small percussion instruments including: boobams, tambourine, woodblocks, castanets, claves, caxixi, shaker, , splash, triangle, finger cymbals and crotales. FORMAT: FREE VSL Synchron Player https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Free_Instruments/Small_Percussion STRINGS Orchestratools: Helix ⭐ ⭐ A string ensemble library featuring sustains and spiccatos from combined solo violins with violas, celli, and basses. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER, Sine Factory https://www.orchestraltools.com/sinefactory Heavyocity Foundations Staccato Strings ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful, soft grand piano with great effects. A must have, IMO. I recommend downloading every free library in the series. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://heavyocity.com/product/foundations-staccato-strings/ STREZOV MINIMALIST VIOLIN LEGATO STRINGS ⭐ ⭐ A chamber string ensemble playing flautando with poco vibrato. Features auto divisi combined with Polyphonic True Legato. Sounds beautiful. https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/afflatus-freebie.html NFO CHAMBER STRING LONGS ⭐ ⭐ Chamber strings longs and drones. Excellent. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/nfo-alternative-chamber-strings/ NFO CHAMBER STRING SHORTS ⭐ ⭐ Short chamber string staccatos. Excellent. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/nfo-alternative-chamber-strings-shorts/ Spitfire Labs Strings and Strings 2 ⭐ ⭐ The first Strings libraries has soft, slow moving ensemble strings. Strings 2 features additional articulations, pizzicato, bartok pizz and swells ensembles. Spitfire really knows how to create quality string libraries and it's evident even in this free library. FORMAT: LABS PLAYER (SPITFIRE) https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/?sortBy=prod_products_labs_latest Cello Moods ⭐⭐ While this library -- and none of the Spitfire Labs libraries -- have a bunch of velocity layers I would expect in a paid library, it sounds beautiful and for a free library, is well worth having. FORMAT: LABS PLAYER (SPITFIRE) https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/?types=strings&sortBy=prod_products_labs_latest Spitfire Labs Scary Strings, Frozen Strings, Amplified Cello Quartet, Artic Swells, Tape Orchestra, Harmonic Flights ⭐⭐ These are all interesting and worth downloading, IMO, I think I bought some of these back when they were selling for $5USD each and if they were back at $5 each, I would still recommend them. FORMAT: LABS PLAYER (SPITFIRE) https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/?sortBy=prod_products_labs_latest Soft String Spurs Dan Keen ⭐ ⭐ A collection of three beautiful viola libraries. I use the KONTAKT version. IMO, one of the best string libraries on Pianobook, if not the best. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/soft-string-spurs/ VSL Big Bang Orchestra, Celestial Strings and Violin Runs ⭐ ⭐ Very nice orchestral string libraries. FORMAT: FREE VSL Synchron Player https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Product_Overview/Free_Instruments Firefly Strings A thick analog strings sound that sounds like it was mixed with a pipe organ and I’m a sucker for pipe organs. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/firefly-strings/ SYNTHS (sampled) Arturia Analog Lab Play ⭐ ⭐ 100 patches from various Arturia plugins. Organs, synths, piano...This is a great, must have plugin. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/analoglab/free (added 11/06/23) Syntronik 2 CS ⭐ ⭐ 100 patches and 2.4 GB of vintage synth goodness. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/syntronik2/?pkey=syntronik-2-cs Native Instruments: Analog Dreams ⭐ ⭐ 3.6 GBs of vintage analog synth sounds. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/play-series/analog-dreams/ Heavyocity Foundations Synth Bass ⭐ ⭐ Good sounding analog synth bass with ARPs. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://heavyocity.com/product/foundations-synth-bass/ Asimov ⭐ ⭐ I love this collection of 15 Synthwave/Retrowave presets. As the samplist states, the presets have a "cinematic touch." FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/asimov/ Beat Zampler and Free Synth Libraries ⭐ From the publisher of the German magazine Beat (there’s an English version too), Zampler is a free sampler and contains several very nice free synth libraries that mostly have a 90s vibe to them. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.zampler.de/ Isometra Venus Theory ⭐ It comes from a talented patch maker and YouTuber and it’s a distorted analogy electric piano-ish library and I like it a lot and the GUI lets you easily modify the library and I have gotten good results very quickly. Well done. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.decentsamples.com/product/isometra-by-venus-theory/ Organic Orchestra Venus Theory ⭐ A slow attack pad with a sound that seems like rain. It basically sounds like you’re in a rain forest. It’s very new-age-ish. Dead serious, if you’re into ASMR or looking for the kinds of sounds that you here in the music while playing Minecraft, this would be a really good choice. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.decentsamples.com/product/organic-orchestra-free-edition-by-venus-theory/ Malevolence Venus Theory ⭐ Just my opinion, but I would recommend downloading everything Venus Theory uploads. He’s talented. This contains synth pads and basses and it’s good. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://venustheory.com/product/876165 TUNED PERCUSSION Cinematique Instruments Alto Glockenspiel ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful sounding, beautifully sampled instrument. FORMAT: FREE HALION SONIC SE PLAYER https://www.steinberg.net/vst-instruments/alto-glockenspiel/ Cinesamples Tongue Drum ⭐ ⭐ A beautiful sounding, beautifully sampled tongue drum that is a joy to play. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://cinesamples.com/product/tongue-drum Smiley Drum (Tongue Drum) ⭐ ⭐ An unusual-sounding tongue drum with a bright, crisp clank to it. It's quite different from the character of the Cinesamples Tongue Drum and the SoundPaint sampler gives you an arpeggiator and excellent effects to delve into sound design possibilities. FORMAT: FREE SOUNDPAINT PLAYER https://soundpaint.com/products/smiley-drum?variant=42680673173675 Cinesamples Create Series: Toy Xylo ⭐ A children's xylophone. Sounds great. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://cinesamples.com/product/create-series-toy-xylo Cinesamples Create Series: Kalimba ⭐ Sounds great. If you love the sound of the Kalimba, download it! FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://cinesamples.com/product/create-series-kalimba Cinesamples Mister Rogers Celeste ⭐⭐ A sweet celeste that was used on the American children television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood (1968-2001) FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://store.cinesamples.com/products/mister-rogers-celeste SoundPaint Polyphon ⭐⭐ I had no idea what the heck a Polyphon is. It turns out it's an ancient music box -- and I love music boxes. It sounds lovely and the sound design patches and possibilities for you to adjust this to whatever is in your imagination are virtually endless. https://soundpaint.com/products/polyphon?variant=42942318969003#specifications SonicCoture Music Boxes ⭐ ⭐ Two music boxes from a superb sample developer for free. If you like the sound of music boxes, just get it. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/p43-music-boxes/ Spring Chimes ⭐ ⭐ This glorious library takes 14 existing Pianobook bell and mallet libraries and layers them together and the result is absolutely wonderful. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/spring-chimes/ Gentle Vibes ⭐ ⭐ A well sampled vibraphone played softly with soft, medium and hard mallets. I am a sucker for a nice vibraphone or glockenspiel library and this is very nice. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/gentle-vibes/ SoundPaint Copperphone ⭐ ⭐ Somewhere in between bells and a marimba, this is a lovely-sounding tuned percussion instrument played hard mallets, soft mallets, wooden mallets, fingernails, and a distinct muted option. It's another instrument from SoundPaint where it's surprising it's free. SoundPaint always provides a great deal of patches with their instruments and the sound design patches and the ability to easily program your own creations. FORMAT: SOUNDPAINT SAMPLE PLAYER (FREE) https://soundpaint.com/products/copperphone?variant=42692692869291 Vintage Glockenspiel ⭐ A beautiful sounding, beautifully sampled instrument. I love the tone of this glockenspiel library. There are some imperfections with the library, but it's a keeper for me. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/vintage-glockenspiel/ Yamaha Glockenspiel ⭐ A nice sounding glockenspiel with every note sampled and two dynamic layers. It's well sampled, but, unfortunately, lacks round robins. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/yamaha-glockenspiel/ Schulmerich Handbells ⭐ A nicely sampled handbell lbrary made by Jon Meyer, a member of Pianobook who has produced some very good sample libraries. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/schulmerich-handbells/ Wineglass Tool Kit ⭐ This is much more than straight wine glass samples. The samplist created 5 patches from samples of wine glasses: melodic ‘ping’; a soft pad; a set of percussive sounds; a synth; and a textural pad. FORMAT: DECENT SAMPLER https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/wine-glass-tool-kit/ Mini African Xylophone True to its name. A nice little library. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/mini-african-xylophone-max/ Ample Sound Cloud Drum A beautiful sounding steel tongue drum sample library contained in Ample Sounds own plugin. https://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=27 Harpsimachord A 1970s two-manual, three-rank (8/8/4) Douglas Van Dyck Brown harpsichord sample library. The samples have noise that a pro samplist would have cleaned up and I hope someday the samplist denoises the samples, but I still love this library. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/harpsimachord/ BRASS / WOODWINDS Distant Brass This isn’t a realistic-sounding brass library, it’s very lofi and I think it’s pretty cool. I don’t do hip hop music, I sound bad enough singing rock, but if I did do hip hop, I think this could be especially useful. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/distant-brass/ MULTIPLE INSTRUMENT PACKAGES These are multiple sample libraries from a developer that include different sampled instruments. Native Instruments KOMPLETE START ⭐⭐ If you’re on a tight budget or no budget, download this. If you don’t have anything from Native Instruments, you need to! These guys make argubly the best multisampler on the market. I own the full version of KOMPLETE, and outside of my DAW, it's the most important music-related software I own. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-start/ SoundPaint Sampler and Various Free Instruments ⭐⭐ The beauty of SoundPaint is that things load fast, its effects sound great, it's a lot of fun to use and you can easily create your own programs/patches. If KONTAKT, UVI or SampleTank have this level of capabilities to create your own presets, I'm not aware of it. I've heard developers compare it to Omnisphere. There's a grand piano, tuned percussion and a number of ambient libraries for free. You can easily layer the various libraries. It's a great sound design playground FORMAT: SOUNDPAINT SAMPLE PLAYER (FREE) https://soundpaint.com/ Spitfire Labs and Freebies ⭐ ⭐ If you haven’t already downloaded them, go do it… Guitars, bass, pianos, electric pianos, drum kits, strings, brass, woodwinds, synths, vocals/choris, orchestra instruments, percussion, tuned percussion… Get them all! FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.spitfireaudio.com/pages/free-instruments SampleTank 4 CS ⭐ ⭐ 50 sample libraries that all sound good and professional. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/st4cs/?pkey=sampletank-4-cs VSL HELLO Free Instruments ⭐ ⭐ Excellent strings and orchestral libraries and a gorgeous free piano that I love that quickly became one of my favorite sampled pianos, Soft Imperial. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Product_Overview/Free_Instruments Orchestral Tools Sine Player and Instruments ⭐ ⭐ Piano, bass, drums, strings… Some very nice, beautifully sampled libraries in the developer’s proprietary sampler plugin. FORMAT: DEVELOPER'S FREE PROPRIETARY PLAYER https://www.orchestraltools.com/store/get-sine Stezov Diamond Jazz ⭐ A free set of instruments including a free upright piano that sounds really nice, a nice upright bass and saxophone libraries. The sax libraries are meh. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/Diamond-jazz-trio.html Sonixinema Assorted freebies - vocals, cello, acoustic bass, violin, medicine drum... I like these taster libraries, they're high quality but you're only getting one articulation of a library and it really isn't enough to pull off a performance with the sampled instrument. FORMAT: FREE KONTAKT PLAYER https://sonixinema.com/collections/freebies AMBIENT SoundPaint Adastra Ambiences ⭐ ⭐ A gorgeous set of patches of string-based ambient sounds. Violins, violas, cellos and basses. With nearly 2GB, this is a library I easily would have paid for if it weren't free. FORMAT: SOUNDPAINT SAMPLE PLAYER (FREE) https://soundpaint.com/products/adastra-ambiences?variant=42905988366507 SoundPaint Free Angels ⭐ ⭐ Over 7GBs of ambient sounds including drones, vocals, marimba, guitar, piano, bells, synths, ukuleles, risers, etc. FORMAT: SOUNDPAINT SAMPLE PLAYER (FREE) https://soundpaint.com/products/free-angels?variant=39295526502571 Free ASMR ⭐ ⭐ Nearly 9GB of ASMR type sounds. This is really different and it's easy to find yourself playing around with this library. There are a good deal of synth sounds, human whispers, papery crunches, woody rattles, metallic scrapes and more. If you're looking for ASMR sounds, this is a no-brainer. FORMAT: SOUNDPAINT SAMPLE PLAYER (FREE) https://soundpaint.com/products/free-asmr?variant=39295531352235#parts FREE SAMPLE LIBRARIES FROM PIANOBOOK Pianobook has many KONTAKT (paid version) free mutisample libraries and Decent Sampler (free) mutisample sample libraries. I wanted to create a list of their free Decent Sampler libraries I find worth recommending. These are often smaller, simpler sample libraries than the ones made for KONTAKT. https://www.decentsamples.com/product-category/publishers/decent-samples/ Free Decent Sampler Formated Sample Libraries on Pianobook I made this list when going through each library opened in my DAW, so you’ll need to search Pianobook to find them. Simply use the site’s search function with the library name. I’ll try to update this later and add links in the future. Busy Bee Analog Oscilator A nice simple analog synth patch, actually two, one is lofi and I like it. Classic Dance Synth This is your classic 80s House Piano sound. If that’s what you’re looking for, download and install this. Cream Soda Atmos Pad Antoher very pad that I like that has a very slow attac. Guffland Ukulele This isn’t an Orange Tree Samples kind of detailed sample library. It’s very simple. But the ukulele has a lovely tone. Ideal Bouzouki Nice, simple. Worth installing. Multiple articulations. I love the plucked and fingered patch. If you’re not concerned about emulating the sampled instrument, the plucked and fingered patch has a harpsichord like quality about it. Melodic Ping - Wine Glass Tool Kit Nicely sampled wine glass hits. Mixing Bowl ⭐ It sounds cool. It’s bold. It’s fun. I like it. Musical Stones It’s basically a xylophone featuring stones. It’s nice but the samples are a bit noisy. Still I like the character of the tone of the instrument and the noise doesn’t put me off as I see it as a bit lofi. Rob’s Andean Quena Flute Think lofi Mellotron flute. I really like this. Saraswati Vena Simple, nice. I like it. Shivering Keys A really interesting lofi analog piano that almost sounds like it could work in a horror soundtrack, but I think it’s slightly too sweet for that. Shivering Waves A lofi pad that sounds a bit like Shivering Keys in a pad. Signals Sound effects that are perfect for sci-fi. St Kathrin’s Bell It sounds great, like a church bell. But there’s a lot of noise in the samples. Synimer ⭐ A very 80s/synthwave-type pad that sounds very good. I don’t know the song, but it sounds a lot like the synth pad from one of the songs in the 80s movie, “Breakfast Club.” Timpani Hits Nicely sampled, good sounding timpani hits. RECOMMENDED FREE SOFT SYNTH PLUGINS Vital ⭐⭐ VItal is a free spectral warping wavetable synth and it is superb. I like it better than most of my paid synths. If you use soft synths, this is a must have, a total no-brainer. There is a paid version for $25 USD with 250 presets and another version for $80 USD with more than 400 presets. All of them are well recommended by the community. But the free version works with third-party presets that you can find at the site's forum and all over the interwebs. Just stop right now and get this! Also, see below for my link to site with tons of free patches / presets for VITAL and other soft synths. https://vital.audio/ Surge XT ⭐⭐ While Vital is my absolute favorite free soft synth, and maybe my favorite soft synth period, Surge is my second favorite free soft synth. It is a hybrid synthesizer. Roger Linn uses it -- and you can get it for free. Why are you still reading this??? Just get it!!! https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ Helm ⭐⭐ A great sounding virtual analog synth. https://tytel.org/helm/ SynthMaster Player ⭐⭐ I love it! I started with Synthmaster Player and ended up buying their Synthmaster One and Synthmaster Two synths. https://www.kv331audio.com/synthmasterplayer.aspx Pendulate ⭐⭐ All things music related are subjective, but monosynth just sounds great to my ears and if you don't agree, you're clearly wrong. https://www.eventideaudio.com/plug-ins/pendulate/ Togu TAL-Noisemaker ⭐⭐ This free analog modeled soft synth has been around a long time, but it still sounds good to my ears. I'd call it a classic. There are a lot of really nice free presets for it. https://tal-software.com/ Synth 1 ⭐⭐ This is another classic virtual analog soft synth that's been around a long time, but is still worth having. There's a ton presets spread over the internet. https://daichilab.sakura.ne.jp/softsynth/index.html u-he Zebrelette ⭐⭐ u-he has a lot of hardcore fans of their soft synths showering praise on their soft synths, and they're worthy of that praise. https://u-he.com/products/zebralette/ Crystal ⭐⭐ Another older soft synth. It may not sound as modern as some of the others, but I still love it. https://www.greenoak.com/crystal/dnld2.html Dexed FM Plugin Synth ⭐ A soft synth closely modeled on the Yamaha DX7. If you like the sound of the DX7, you'll like this. https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/ discoDSP - OB-Xd - An Oberheim Inspired Virtual Analog Synthesizer https://www.discodsp.com/obxd/ Cherry Audio Surrealistic MG-1 Plus | An emulation of a vintage Moog synth sold at Radio Shack. https://cherryaudio.com/products/surrealistic-mg-1-plus Voltage Modular Nucleus | Cherry Audio A free modular synth. It's not very intuitive, but what I've figured out sounds pretty good! https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles/voltage-modular-nucleus kiloHearts One I bought this synth before they made it free. It's basic, but nice. https://kilohearts.com/docs/download_and_installation#khs_one BONUS: Free Presets / Patches for Vital and Other Soft Synths ⭐⭐ This site has a collection of presets / patches for Vital and many other soft synths and you'll find some very nice ones there that rival and even surpass the quality of patches in banks I've purchased. Warning though, this site has fresh patches for Vital up several times a week and it's easy to become addicted! https://presetshare.com/ This list will be regularly updated. I've also created a list of my favorite free sample libraries for KONTAKT:

This weekend with coupon: 20buckstospend

https://www.jrrshop.com/gforce-imposcar-2 with code: GForce10

Wait for the $29 sw version from PA?🤣 I have just enough rack space for juan uv deese.

Self created CAL script and Studioware panels..... (because they still work in CbB)

@Bapu Thank you for your monthly voucher! I managed to get both BX Masterdesk Pro and Tape Face for 34,95$

Installed! And the installer too (me lurves download managers/installers*, especially when they tell you what has a an update). *except IKM, it's bonkers.

"We enter June and Summer is officially here 🌞 So, we decided to spoil you with 10$ giftcard! It will give you a fixed 10$ off any purchase (can be applied multiple times). At checkout, apply coupon code: GIFT10" https://www.functionloops.com/

59 euros !! https://www.soundsonline.com/synth-and-effects/string-machine https://www.kvraudio.com/marketplace/string-machine-by-eastwest https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/virtual-instruments/eastwest-string-machine

Just a quick rant about the ridiculous copy protection that companies continue to use that does nothing but cause aggravation for paying customers and does nothing for their sales, but apparently they are too inept to realize (not just Izotope) this. This also may help someone else, so I'll post it not just as a rant, but in hopes of helping someone else. I recently upgraded to the Production Suite 5.2. I already had Ozone 10 standard, so I was looking forward to playing with the Ozone 10 advanced. When I installed all the new products that came with production suite and loaded up my DAW (Reaper) I searched for Ozone 10 advanced but all that came up was standard. I was able to, however, load up the advanced individual modules that Ozone 10 advanced gives you (pretty cool) but the VST3 that is supposed to contain all the modules in one app was still showing standard. So I mistakenly thought that maybe there was a conflict between having both Standard and advanced installed on my system, so I uninstalled standard but yet again, only standard showed up. After further investigation, I noticed that most of my Izotope products were licensed through my iLock dongle but when I installed the Production suite I chose only to authorize to my pc instead of my dongle. Apparently, the pace dongle trumps my pc, and it was causing my DAW to only see the standard version of Ozone, and I can only assume that those standard VST3 files still exist somehow within the advanced installation- given I had uninstalled the standard version. Once I moved my Ozone Advanced authorization over to my iLock dongle, it showed up. Honestly, how much more annoying can we get with all this copy protection nonsense! I promise you Izotope, You are not losing customers to piracy (those people won't pay anyway) but you will and do lose customers to this copy protection nonsense for people less patient than I am.

Here's a walkthough of some of the presets:

Was just about to post this. Scored the new String Theory library for 9 dollars.

Microtonal? An entire finished mix? I'd just let it ride.

As developers seen to use more disk space I'm starting to use more scrutiny and what do keep on drives. I've gotten away from free stuff. When you have all of the popular synth VSTs I don't think there's a point in synth romplers for me anymore. BTW Kontakt is also a synth. I still keep a lot of stuff on spinning drives.

Hahaha! Seriously though. For an example of a sample developer who really "gets it" when it comes to free taster libraries, I'd point to Impact Soundworks. Their free version of their electric guitar library gives the user a good taste of the sample quality and scripting they're going to get in the full library. Yes, I think Orange Tree Samples makes superior guitar libraries, but when it comes to giving users a free taste of a sample library, Impact Soundworks nails it whereas Sonixinema gets this completely wrong and blows the opportunity to impress sample buyers. IMO. And yes, I'm writing this as both a sample user and a marketing strategist.

Just a reminder that although this can be had for free, you can set a price to show your appreciation. I think this is a one man operation.

The Cure - A Forest

I. Want. This.

Bonus tips: Folders and sub-folders - project organisation is the key to getting around a monster project with heaps of tracks and sections. The more I can fold away, the better. Browser > Notes - I have my main control room monitor where I do most of my work and I mirror a screen out to my live room where I do live instruments and vocal takes. I'll usually have lyrics in the Notes view so I can see the track view as its recording, and still have lyrics up in font of me, rather than needing any other app or reading from a page.

Shaping up nicely.

Although I already had a couple of limiters, I grabbed this one! 😉 The combination of the different modules is very interesting and may not only help to shape the whole mix, but maybe also useful to curb tracks with a jumping loudness. And not at least: I like the carefree installation and authorization of TDL!

Great deal! You can get a lot of songs done in 3 months.

Yep. That was my point in my post earlier in the thread. Both the PA and NI vouchers are not of much value to me. I already own everything that interests me that is included on the PA list -- and, as you wrote -- you can get a better deal on that stuff during sales anyhow and the NI voucher is only good for items when they're not on sale, so if you you can find something that is $50 USD or less and not on sale, it's equivalent to a 50% or better sale. But right now, when NI is having big sales, everything that interests me is already on sale and the e-voucher isn't usable on sale items. So, like many have said in the past, there's really not much value to either voucher for me and many others.

That's my point. Great plan (I had it too), but the Oven isn't on the list. The list is all stuff you would get for the same price anyway during one of their other sales using the standard sale pricing and a monthly voucher or the occasional no minimum voucher. In some cases you may more at the NI $29 "discount" starting point, minus a no minimum voucher, than you would using a no-minimum voucher during another sale.

I have a couple "boutique" versions that have options like removing the tone stack that makes them sound much better. Not sure about the marketing here with a reference to Hendrix. Most think he was given a prototype right before he passed and it likely never made it to a show or real album release. This associating his sound with the pedal is a major reach. Would have a lot more traction mentioning either Gilmour or Corgan who have undeniable connections to using variations of the circuit. As for not having trouble with the hardware ones, at this point I can struggle finding a 9v or extra isolated transformer power supply these things need .

By the way, good that I still have one as a hardware unit! No download, installation trouble with that one! If the music software is going on this way (online, online *****), maybe I will go back to hardware only! Even if you cannot do everything with hardware, it was somehow more relaxing and you had more time to be inspired and creating music (instead of installing installing updating updating all the time)!

Another fxxxing download manager! They can keep their products even if they're free!

OMD - Tesla Girls

Wow! Great deal for somebody who doesn't have any of these.

$167.16 with code GROUP at JRR https://www.jrrshop.com/izotope-everything-bundle-crossgrade-mps

For me, aside from keyboard shortcuts for a lot of stuff, there's 2 main things: Track Templates - who wants to go through the boring grunt work in setting up basic track and bus structures every time? I have ones for quickly demo'ing material, for adding multi-out synth drums, setting up for a live kit, for vocal takes and choirs... you name it. All of my effects and routing get dropped in, in one go. That's not to say that I'll use the same settings on each project, but this is a great starting point that saves me a lot of time later. I tend to prefer Track Templates over Project Templates just because I might be half way though a quick demo and go "you know, this is coming along great, let's make this into something" and it's a breeze to just import all of my structures and move tracks into them. FX Chain Presets - these are great. Much like Track Templates, a lot of time they're for saving me time. I'll have a chain of my favourite guitar or vocal processing effects on there, a mastering chain, sometimes some nutty routing using Blue Cat's Patchwork plugin... heaps of uses. And you can assign controls to them as well, so rather than digging through each effect for a parameter, you can just automate the main FX Chain controls instead. The more things I can do to save me doing boring set up work, the better.

Changes in Bitwig Studio 5, Beta 9 [released 02 June 2023] NEW FEATURES Button & Buttons (Interface) modulators, and Button (Logic) Grid module: All have a Bipolar option now, for toggling between +100 % (+1) and -100 % (-1) IMPROVEMENTS Manual mappings that launch clips now also trigger their release action when the button is released [32470] Pop-up Browser: Information area for the selected result now becomes scrollable when more space is required (instead of changing the height of the Pop-up Browser) Copy and paste have been reworked to work much better for incoming modulations, manual mappings, Grid signal connections, I/O buss routings, Sends etc. Segments (Envelope) and Curves (LFO) modulators and modules: Smoothing algorithm is smarter now, jumping to the current value on voice start/wake and then smoothing afterwards MIDI (Note-driven) modulator: Now has an Inspector parameter for whether to apply Smoothing or not [32452] Organ device: Drawbar names now start with the drawbar number FIXES CPU performance of Bitwig Studio should be improved (a regression from v4.4) Arpeggiator (Note FX) device: Was often hanging notes when not shown on screen [32642] Time Shift (Utility) device: Was stuttering, creating a hanging buffer sound when going to sleep [32614] [32615] Select Out (Mix) Grid module: Was not reloading correctly [32508] All devices using BWCURVE files [Curves (LFO), Segments (Envelope), Scrawl (Oscillator module), Transfer (Shaper module), Slopes (Data module), and Keytrack+ (Note-driven modulator)]: With points selected in the Pop-out Editor, values can now be typed or edited with the Histogram interface (by clicking the right-facing triangle button) [32509] Deleting a collection now remove it from the Quick Sources areas [21586] Remote Controls weren't following the device preview for browsing sessions [32453] Plug-ins: Synth plug-ins were landing in the Audio FX category Track/Project modulator fixes: Project level modulator timing was wrong [32617] Fixed a crash when dragging a time range in project modulator automation lane [32138] Track modulators were not shown in the automation chooser [32595] Now respecting the Exclusive Solo preference when using keyboard shortcuts to toggle solo (a regression) [32677] Deleting an automation time selection now applies to the left-most value to the selection instead of the right-most value (a regression) [32678] Removing the audio output interface and reactivating the audio engine was leading to a place where playback never stops (a regression) [32574] Track Remotes modulator mappings were not saved correctly when saving a clip to the library [32571] Remote Controls were uninitialized for certain controllers, leading to wrong mappings [32675] Fixed a crash when closing the remote controls editor [29967] Devices were sometimes showing the "Default" preset name instead of the device name ALS (Ableton) Import - Wasn't displaying the names of the cells from Drum Racks [27834] ALS (Ableton) Import - Some volume levels were importing incorrectly [32661] Plug-ins: Waves Studio Rack was crashing on load (a regression) [32390]

That's if it's easy to cancel. I wouldn't even try, cause I've been burned a few times with deals like this.. where you can't find a cancel button on the website, or it doesn't work and you get charged. They might be having a holiday when you try to cancel. Crazy stuff happens when you try to cancel. The other issue is, now that you used the software, it's been on your computer. How well do they handle uninstalling it? Does the software leave residue on your computer after uninstalling? I only install / demo software I plan to keep.

i.e.

ML Drums was just updated to 2.0.2 which adds a bunch of new features for everyone. ML Drums Free includes a new snare, ML Drums Essentials has 7 new snare tunings, a new smaller hihat, a new bigger ride and a new "hole" china. The mixer has been completely redone and now includes features like saturation and parallel compression. On top of that the entire platform has a HUMAN function that makes everything sound even more humanized than before. If you didn't receive the ML Drums Free update email, please install the new ML Drums Free 2.0.2 on top of your existing ML Drums: https://ml-sound-lab.com/pages/ml-drums LUXE Luxe is our second expansion pack for our modular drum sampler which includes industry standard drums based on iconic Ludwig™ sounds. The included four snare drums come with up to 9 different tunings ranging from "low & muted" to "high & open". The shells were recorded with both modern and vintage mics giving you amazing variety. Get the 25% off intro deal now: 29.99 Euros https://ml-sound-lab.com/pages/ml-drums-luxe ESSENTIALS 2.0 SALE We're celebrating the ML Drums 2.0 update with a 25% off discount for ML Drums Essentials as well which expands your free drum kit with an astonishing 27 new kit pieces. Get the 25% off deal now: 29.99 Euros https://ml-sound-lab.com/pages/ml-drums-essentials

Some people (like me) write through improvisation not as much through pre-planning. Check out Paul McCartney's "The Lyrics". This is I think, part of what McCartney is saying.

Amazing offer I think. You could mix your songs for 3 months, then forget about UAD.

Loom is one of the best low cost synths available

I was thinking something similar for a horizontal line to allow alignment of an automation node with others in the vertical plane. It's nice that it give the value but a guide line would make it nicer.

Check your account! $29 if you upgrade to the 5.4 bundle! https://www.soundtoys.com/product/superplate/ It looks like complaining about the bundle upgrade price worked...

Had to recharge my cell phone battery twice to fully scroll through first posts hahah

Oldie but Goody Interesting free soft synth, been around for ages https://daichilab.sakura.ne.jp/softsynth/index.html#about Use the 64bit beta version Functionally, it is modeled after the red synth Clavia NORD LEAD2 and has the following features. 2 oscillators + 1 sub-oscillator, FM modulation, ring modulation, synchronization, modulation envelope 4 types of filters, distortion 2LFO (host syncable) Equipped with arpeggiator (host synchronization) Tempo delay (host synchronization), stereo chorus/flanger Legato Mode, Portamento 32-tone polyphonic With 128 preset tones. Thorough reduction of motion weight. Use of SSE, etc. Automation ready There's a crapload of free libraries available.

I've asked stupid questions many times in the past and I'm sure I'll have more stupid questions in the future and people here have been really helpful. I think coming here, because it's a very small group that posts very regularly, some lurkers might get the impression that it's click-ish -- and maybe it is and I'm unaware. But I've found the overwhelming majority of people here -- at a very high level for an online community -- are super friendly and welcoming. If anyone reading that is getting the impression that because it's such a small group, folks may be click-ish, I want to encourage you to post or even send me a PM. If you're friendly, whether you are seeking knowledge or have knowledge to share, and you post, You'll find me and others will be friendly and welcoming. So to those who lurk, please post! Someone at VI Control that has been coming here for years sent me a PM following a particular ugly experience I had with a developer on their site, and he told me that he'd been coming here for years and he really enjoyed my posts and how he's been following Larry's deals for years. He even mentioned about the time Larry left. He made some funny observations. And then, it blew my mind, he wrote how much he appreciated what he saw as a real friendship between Larry and me that he found reflected in our posts! I found it really touching and, of course, I had to PM Larry to tell him, because he's half of that feel good story. So, I my VI Control friend, if you're reading this -- or for anyone else reading this who hasn't commented in a post -- we'd love to have you as part of the mix.