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1. Native Instruments – Komplete Start
Download page is here.
Komplete Start is a must download for anyone getting started with music production. Native Instruments has really done a great job in showcasing it's Komplete software by allowing you to download Komplete Start as a freemium, smaller library version. The software comes with over 2000 sounds, 16 pro-grade synths and sampled instruments, effects, loops, and more.
Native Instruments describes Komplete Start as:
"a curated selection of studio-quality instruments, effects, utilities, loops, and samples for the low price of nothing at all. Play over 2,000 customizable sounds – drums and percussion, bass, acoustic instruments, synths, pads and atmospheres, effects, and more."
Some of my favourite sample instruments that come in Komplete Start are the Play Series Collection which includes Hybrid Keys and Analog Dreams, and the Vintage, which emulates the sound of vintage analog synths and keyboards.
If you need any further convincing check out Andrew Huang's video below, which is also featured on the Native Instruments website.
2. Spitfire Audio – LABS
Download page is here.
Spitfire Audio describes themselves as a company making "inspiring sounds and scoring tools for film". However their software instruments have been welcomed by the artist and producer community with open arms due to their phenomenal sound quality, especially their free, ever expanding, LABS.
Spitfire Audio was started in 2007 by two award winning composers, Christian Henson and Paul Thomson with the goal of bringing exceptional sounding string libraries to the public market.
What makes LABS so great is every month they release a new sample library for you to download so you can continuously add to your LABS collection... for free. Some of the producer community favourites included in LABS are the 'Soft Piano', 'Wurli', 'Moon Guitar', and of course all of their string libraries. This software instrument is especially great for making lofi beats or anything that requires organic sounding instruments.
Below is their promo video for the 'Soft Piano', included in LABS.
3. Arturia – Analog Lab Lite
One of the best bang-for-your-buck sound libraries these days is the Arturia V Collection, which includes Analog Lab. Analog Lab has found its way into being a favourite for many producers in genres such as trap, house, pop, and all of the sub genres that web out from each of those. Analog Lab is a soft synth that recreates the sounds of classic keyboards and Arturia has done a great job at adding modern sounding presets while still keeping the warmth of the analog sound.
While not technically free via the Arturia website, there is a bit of a workaround for getting Analog Lab Lite, a more stripped down version of Analog Lab (but still very worth it).
Here's how to get it:
1. Go to soundbetter.com
2. Create a free account and confirm your email
3. Go to the 'My Account' drop down in the top right corner of soundbetter.com and click 'Member Benefits'
On the 'Member Benefits' page you'll find some great software that's available to you for free or an extended trial simply by signing up for an account. The other offers I highly recommend taking advantage of are the Spitfire Audio BBC SO Discover, Izotope Ozone Elements, and Output Arcade.
Analog Lab Lite is worth it for the Jup-8 V presets alone.
4. Izotope Vinyl
Download page is here.
"Lofi beats to study to" anyone?
With the emergence of Lofi music in the last few years, and how quickly it became the default for study/relax playlists, Izotope developed Izotope Vinyl. Izotope Vinyl is an audio effects plugin that changes your modern sounding instruments into the sweet radio hum and buzz that you remember hearing from your grandpa's radio when you were a kid.
Vinyl gives you the option to make your samples sound as if they're playing back through a record player from a variety of different decades, and it also allows you to change the parameters of the record playback based on settings such as scratches, warp, and dust (yes, dust).
Adding vintage character to your samples has never been easier, this is a must grab for any genre.
5. Polyverse Wider
Download page is here.
Polyverse Wider is one of my favourites on this list for the sole reason that it's super easy to add width and stereo to your tracks without having to deal with any phase issues.
Wider is advertised as "PSEUDO STEREO WITHOUT PHASE ISSUES". By creating a natural sounding stereo image from a mono channel you avoid any phase issues that can happen with similar plugins like Ozone Imager. Their algorithm also cancels itself out when summed to mono, leaving the original mono signal intact, truly giving you creative freedom when adding stereo width to your tracks.
I use Wider a ton on the high end of my 808s for those big, boomy, hugging bass sounds.
6. Xfer Records – OTT
Download page here.
Steve Duda infamously changed the soft synth world with the development of Serum, and since it's release it has become the standard for wavetable synths.
When sound designing EDM producers made a ton of use of the compression plugin within Serum, so much that Steve Duda made it a free standalone plugin dubbed 'over the top' compression, aka 'OTT'.
OTT is great for adding texture and grit to any sound, but most notably I'll add it to leads or growl basses to give them that signature angelic "bell" tone.
Big fan of Steve and everyone involved at Xfer Records for the tools they've contributed to the producer community.
7. Ample Sound Guitar M Lite/Bass P Lite/Percussion Cloudrum
Download page here.
If you want a really great sounding acoustic guitar plugin look no further than Ample Guitar M Lite.
As a guitar player what impressed me the most is the natural strum sounds you can get from this plugin using midi. That being said, it's never going to sound quite like a seasoned jazz player but if you're just trying to get a simple chord progression for trap or pop beats this plugin more than does the job.
Along with Ample Guitar M Lite, you can also download Ample Bass P Lite and Ample Percussion Cloudrum, for free. I don't use them quite as often as Ample Guitar M Lite, but they're undoubtedly worth a download to keep in your back pocket.
8. Valhalla Supermassive
Download page is here.
Valhalla makes some of the best reverb plugins on the market in a variety of styles. Valhalla VintageVerb is widely used in all genres to give that authentic digital hardware reverb, adding warmth and texture to your samples.
From their selection of free plugins I've found Valhalla Supermassive to be very useful when it comes to adding huge spacial reverb to sounds, especially in parts of songs where there's breakdowns with pads or if you need a dripping wet reverb piano. It's also awesome to use on a bus for vocals and blend into the background, giving you a nice wide, supported lead vocal.
I've also found Valhalla Supermassive to be great for sound design, as it's the primary plugin I used to create the 'Reverse Verbs' section in Tony Holiday presents: Sound Playground Vol. 1.
9. Cableguys HalfTime
Download page is here.
While not technically a free plugin, Cableguys gives a lifetime free demo version of HalfTime. The catch is you can only use one instance of the plugin per session, and you'll have to wait 10 seconds each time you want to open it and change the settings.
It's a fair tradeoff as you can purchase the full version for only $12 USD, but if you're really strapped for cash and need to use more than once instance of HalfTime you can simply add the plugin to your track, set the parameters how you like, bounce the audio and then remove the plugin from the track and add it elsewhere.
HalfTime has cemented itself in most modern trap producers plugin libraries as it's great for making those dark, glitchy style of beats.
10. Vital
Download page is here.
The new kid on the block in the in terms of wavetable synthesizers is Vital, and if you're simply looking to try a high quality wavetable synth, this one is fully functional and free.
Judging from his personal blog Matt Tytel has been working on Vital since around February 19, 2018 and only just released it on November 24, 2020. So far it's received some great praise from the music producer community as both a sound design tool and a preset heavy synth.
The basic free version comes with 75 presets and 25 wavetables, more than enough to get you started, and if you feel like upgrading to the full version it's only $80 USD.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the direction Matt takes Vital and the future it has in the producer community. This one is already great off the bat and has so much potential.
11. Izotope Ozone Elements
Mastering is a concept that takes years of developing not only skills, but also a great ear. Countless hours of listening to and tweaking music so the everyday average person can play it back and have it not sound like hot garbage.
The truth is the majority of producers don't master their own mixes or productions, and it should stay that way, because mastering also gives an unbiased opinion and fresh set of ears to bring out frequencies you may be sonically numb to after working on your mix for what seems like days (and sometimes, probably will be).
But we can't all afford a mastering engineer for the trap beats we're making in our bedroom.
Enter, Izotope Ozone. An all-in-one mastering plugin that gives you full control of your master and helps take your mixes where they need to be in terms of public playability. This is a great option for those of us that don't know where to start or what we're doing when it comes to mastering, espeically using the 'Master Assistant' which is an AI powered mastering tool that analyzes your track and gives you a starting point to go from.
Should we just slap Ozone on our stereo out and forget about engineers and call it a career?
No, of course not. But is it a good budget option for those of us producing music as a hobby or aren't quite ready to pay for a mastering engineer yet? You bet.
And for those of us that are looking for an even better budget, there's Ozone Elements which is free in the same way I mentioned Analog Lab Lite above. See below for the steps to getting Izotope Ozone Elements.
Here's how to get it:
1. Go to soundbetter.com
2. Create a free account and confirm your email
3. Go to the 'My Account' drop down in the top right corner of soundbetter.com and click 'Member Benefits'
12. Baby Audio Baby Comeback
Download page is here.
I have a soft spot for Baby Audio as they're one of the first companies that ever reached out to me and offered me free stuff with no strings attached.
They also know how to make high quality, effective plugins, with great UI that I use daily in my productions. Baby Comeback is a delay/echo plugin and is a stripped down version of one of my favourites by them, Comeback Kid. Toss Baby Comeback on your high end drum bus to give an ever so subtle delay to your hats, snares, claps, and percussion to give your drums more texture and make them sound more realistic.
Or put it on a bus and blend that into your main vocal for some lift and character in your vocal tracks, being a delay plugin there's really no limit to what you can do. Below is a video of Comeback Kid which is the paid version, but Baby Comeback is a great pickup for a free plugin.
13. Cableguys PanCake2
Download page is here.
Another one from Cableguys that is a relatively simple concept but can really give your track some life when used properly. PanCake2 is a panning modulator allowing you to create custom panning modulations as well as a handful of stock presets.
I like throwing PanCake2 on either a hi hat or percussion send to add some more texture or life into my drums.
14. Izotope Doubler
Download page is here.
Izotope Vocal Doubler is one of those one trick pony, quick fix plugins that can make a night and day difference with just a few simple tweaks.
Izotope describes Vocal Doubler as "designed to enhance your vocal with a natural doubling effect, adding richness and depth", and it does just that really well.
Mixing vocals can be tedious on a good day, and this plugin isn't meant to replace any high end vocal chain. But if you're looking to add that extra thickness to a vocal, this plugin is a surefire go to.
15. Softube Saturation Knob
Download page is here.
Softube Saturation Knob is like the hot sauce of plugins, you can truly just put it on anything.
Lacking a little clarity in your low end? Saturation Knob.
Need your leads to really distinguish themselves amongst your other tracks? Saturation Knob.
Want to add some grit to your vocals? Saturation Knob.
You get the picture.
Softube Saturation Knob is a foolproof saturation plugin of pretty decent quality for the price of free. There's one knob which is how much saturation you're adding, and then a 3-way switch which determines the overall frequencies you want to accentuate. I've seen this plugin used in quite a few track breakdowns and livestreams and it never ceases to amaze me just how widely used it is, but for good reason, as it does the trick.
16. Ozone Imager 2
Download page is here.
Full disclosure, I like Polyverse Wider better than Ozone Imager 2 because you can use Wider without worrying about phase cancellation. But what Ozone Imager 2 has over Polyverse Wider is the visual aspect of seeing what you're doing to your track. You have the option of selecting between 3 different vectorscope meters to view how you are adding stereo width to your track and where you may encounter phase issues.
Imager 2 also has a few more customizable parameters than Wider such as the two different modes that are available. Both plugins are great, and since they're both free, why not grab both?
17. TAL-U-NO-62
Download page is here.
Modelled after a JUNO 60 for the oscillators and filters, the TAL-U-NO-62 is a polyphonic virtual analogue synth. While this may not be the plugin to download if you're just looking for presets to make beats with, it is great for messing with sound design and trying to get those tones like you would out of real analog hardware.
The original JUNO 60 was a staple in the 1980s and has more recently been finding its way back into modern music production.
18. MeldaProduction MFreeFXBundle
Download page is here.
Last but most certainly not least is the MeldaProduction MFreeFXBundle, a collection of 37 audio effects that as a consumer I am surprised you don't have to pay for.
MeldaProduction makes exceptional quality plugins and their MFreeFXBundle is no exception, these are great tools to add to your library at any point in your music production journey. Some of my personal favourites from the bundle are:
-MAutoPitch, a creative pitch correction
-MCharmVerb, a lush algorithmic reverb
-MSaturator, an excellent tube-like saturation
-MTremolo, an eight channel, adjustable tremolo effect
You have the option to download the four plugins I mentioned above as lone plugins, but I recommend getting the bundle and exploring the rest what MeldaProduction has to offer.
