Freeware Instruments Thread

[JoeGBradford 457]

11 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

MAGIX are always full of surprises, a lot of that is probably because while they are supposedly huge in Europe, they don't seem to work the US market as much. Also, they have absorbed so many product lines that things seem to get tucked into the corner.

I just discovered they have their own Halion/Kontakt/Sampletank sampler, called Independence, and you can register and run it in free mode.

https://www.magix.com/us/free-download/independence-free-sampler-software/

Installation notes: At one point the process will stop and show a dialog saying that there are missing files. Just click on the button that says to agree to download them.

Registration is free, but does require that you set up a MAGIX account.

Out of the box it comes with an acoustic piano, after you install all the extra sounds it's over 100 instruments including some nice drum kits, both acoustic and electronic, and a variety of world percussion instruments. Also pianos, a pipe organ, many synths, basses. A worthy download if you want more sampled instruments.

I've been using Independence Free for many years. It's got a very nice acoustic guitar in there!

[HIBI 214]

Unreal Instruments has released new instrument "Two Whistles".
https://unreal-instruments.wixsite.com/unreal-instruments/two-whistles

Also don't forget the other instruments...
https://unreal-instruments.wixsite.com/unreal-instruments

[Max Arwood 136]

HIBI

The "Two Whistles" demo is great - Just downloaded. Good find!

[Starship Krupa 1,460]

Thanks, @HIBI, I really like the koto and sakura.

(For some reason .SFZ instruments keep falling off my radar, maybe because they don't get as much flashy promo as the likes of Kontakt and Sampletank, so I appreciate the .SFZ people in this thread reminding us!)

My contribution today is one I noticed that @scookmentioned in another thread. If you want reed instruments, (Virtual Accordion, Concertina, Bandoneon, Bayan, Melodeon, Melodica, Flutina, Harmonium), check out Syntheway's Free Reed Aerophone Instruments collection.

[scook 2,481]

7 minutes ago, Starship Krupa said:

My contribution today is one I noticed that @scookmentioned in another thread. If you want reed instruments, (Virtual Accordion, Concertina, Bandoneon, Bayan, Melodeon, Melodica, Flutina, Harmonium), check out Syntheway's Free Reed Aerophone Instruments collection.

I misread the page. It is not freeware. "Free" is part of the description of the instruments. The plug-in retails for $60.

[abacab 1,698]

10 minutes ago, Starship Krupa said:

My contribution today is one I noticed that @scookmentioned in another thread. If you want reed instruments, (Virtual Accordion, Concertina, Bandoneon, Bayan, Melodeon, Melodica, Flutina, Harmonium), check out Syntheway's Free Reed Aerophone Instruments collection.

Note that 'Free Reed' is a type of instrument design, and not free, as in beer.

These instruments are for sale. But they do have a free demo.

Quote

A Free Reed Aerophone is a musical instrument where sound is produced as air flows past a vibrating reed in a frame.

LOL, I think scook and I were typing about the same time. He beat me. You gotta be fast to beat scook! 😁

Edited October 31, 2020 by abacab

[Starship Krupa 1,460]

8 minutes ago, scook said:

I misread the page

LOL, me too! Well, hey, "free-advertising" for them, they produce some things I don't see elsewhere.

[mdiemer 98]

I posted this by mistake in the Free FX forum, meant it for here:

Don't know if folks know about this place, but they have a really nice free clarinet:    https://www.fananteampro.com/clarinetica

There are some other freebies there too, including some unusual ethnic instruments/synths. some of the stuff costs 20 or 30 dollars, but most is free. Great support, too. I messed up the registration, and they responded to my emails within 5 or 10 minutes.

Did somebody mention Free Beer?

[gnips 32]

Vital is released, including a free version (full version, but limited presets & wt's).

https://vital.audio/

Rather hyped on KVR, but I have no idea yet if any good.
edit: States Win 10, but works fine on Win7 as far as I tested.

Edited November 24, 2020 by gnips

[JoeGBradford 457]

On 11/24/2020 at 8:58 PM, gnips said:

Vital is released, including a free version (full version, but limited presets & wt's).

https://vital.audio/

Rather hyped on KVR, but I have no idea yet if any good.
edit: States Win 10, but works fine on Win7 as far as I tested.

Is the free version worth the install? Windows tries to block it but I assume that is because it is a new programme

[gnips 32]

4 hours ago, JoeGBradford said:

Is the free version worth the install? Windows tries to block it but I assume that is because it is a new programme

Free version is same as full version, only less presets & wt's. And it loads serum & other wt's. If still not to taste, just uninstall it.
But it's currently updated daily, so you may want to wait a few days to get the quirks out.

[JoeGBradford 457]

Thanks - good idea I'll wait until it settles down 🙂

[msmcleod 1,970]

Apologies if this is already here... I did a quick scan through and couldn't find it.

This is a surprisingly good sounding free ( donationware - but optional ) drum VSTi:

https://www.powerdrumkit.com/

There's only one kit of drum sounds, but the sounds that are there are VERY useable, and there's some other sounds not shown in the UI (e.g. cymbals / levels of hi-hat openness) - just work your way up the keyboard to find them.

It's got a built in mixer with control over volume/pan/compression, and can route to up to 8 separate outs.  It also comes with a bunch of MIDI grooves too.

[Starship Krupa 1,460]

I've posted earlier in this thread about the wonders of Swatches, the freebie from A|A|S that is basically a player that demos their other instruments. It comes with almost 500 sounds.

If you have Swatches/AAS Player, the AAS Player and sound packs that use Chromophone 3, Ultra-Analog 3, and String Studio 3 have all been updated to the new engines and sounds and they sound fantastic. I did a 1:1 comparison using some favorite Cinémathèque ambient pads and the already-magnificent sounds were huge.

So go update your version of Swatches, and certainly, if you, like me, own a bunch of sound packs and only use them in Player, update your sound packs as well.

[scook 2,481]

Fullbucket recently released Bucket Pops a VST2/AU, Mac/PC, 32/64bit plug-in modeled on the Korg  Mini Pops-7 rhythm machine from the 60's.

[Bruno de Souza Lino 91]

DrumGizmo is somewhat of an unknown drum VSTi with only a few user contributed kits and barely maintained. Why mentioning it is relevant? It has a feature I haven't seen on any other plugin or it only has part of that functionality. DrumGizmo's Humanizer feature is extremely powerful and you can get a lot of range, despite how simple it is. It would be even more useful if the parameters from it could be automated. It allows you to set things like how accurate your virtual drummer's timing is, how laid back it plays and how long it takes from the drummer to return back to playing in time after noticing it's not in time. There a few drawback with the plugin, however. For starters, it doesn't have any of the mixing and flexibility you find on modern stuff and you have to mix the drums yourself, as there are no presets and such features.

Edited December 11, 2020 by Bruno de Souza Lino

[gnips 32]

New version of the free Sitala drum VST released:

https://decomposer.de/sitala/

 

[Starship Krupa 1,460]

23 hours ago, gnips said:

New version of the free Sitala drum VST released

And I recently discovered that I can drag clips directly from a Cakewalk audio track onto Sitala (and Speedrum Lite) pads.

[abacab 1,698]

Not sure how to classify this, because it includes instruments and FX. And it's free! It was listed over in the deals forum.

 

[John Vere 370]

  I just found this thread. Didn't have time to read every page so I might be repeating. 

I have grabbed a free good ones from here https://www.pluginboutique.com/categories/1-Instruments?free=true  

You just sign up and everything you purchase and all your chosen freebies are stored in your stash. It's handy if you have more than one computer and all of a sudden want the VST. 

Ones I'm using are the Ample Bass and Guitar which everyone here must be aware of by now, 

The Yojo banjo is excellent for none bluegrass applications. Its a convincing 4 string sound. 

The DSK guitar is OK but I generally don't use those ( I'm a guitar player why would I?) 

The only other freebie I use is the Verberate reverb. ( I know its an effect) I'm finding I use it more and more.. simple but it sounds smooth. 

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/fretless-zither-by-versilian-studios    I was looking for a sitar sound for the lik in Mothers little helper and this was perfect.  

https://vst4free.com/plugin/275/    Mr Tramp only bummer is only 32 bit, but I have it on dozens of songs and have never had an issue. It's still the best true to form Wurly I know of.  And I've tried them all. I even just paid a whole $4 for Model T and it's a lame duck compared to Mr Tramp. But I got izotope Nectar for free out of that purchase ( Plug in Boutique) 

I have a 32 bit Poly 800  VST I also used a lot but just yesterday stumbled across this 64 bit version  https://vst4free.com/plugin/3134/  

Its called the Fury 800 and being someone who owned a real version this is very well done. It's better than the original. 

Also already mentioned that I use are the Combo V and F organs. 

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by John Vere