Archive for the ‘Free Plugin Of The Week’ Category
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Yesterday my friend Nick [@AbletonTutor] of Nick’s Tutorials posted an article about these AU (Mac only) plugins: SoundMagic Spectral by Michael Norris. They’re not the typical sound shaping tools you’ll find in a DAW, but for something completely different check these out. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of use out of these especially Spectral DroneMaker.

Included in SOUNDMAGIC SPECTRAL are the following plug-ins:
Spectral Averaging • Spectral Bin Shift • Spectral Blurring • Spectral DroneMaker
Spectral Emergence • Spectral Filterbank • Spectral Freezing • Spectral Gate and Hold
Spectral Gliding Filters • Spectral Granulation • Spectral Harmonizer • Spectral Partial Glide
Spectral Pitch Shift • Spectral Pulsing • Spectral Shimmer • Spectral Shuffle
Spectral Stretch • Spectral Tracing
Chorus • Comb Filter Bank • Grain Streamer • Idee Fixer • Mr Filterbank
Get SoundMagic Spectral {Audio Unit for Mac OSX}
Posted in Free Plugin Of The Week, sound design | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
If you’re looking for a basic library of Orchestral sounds, and free, well now you can get one from Sounds Online. The “Starter” Version of Symphonic Orchestra PLAY Edition is a FREE (after short survey) Virtual instrument with a ton of superbly recorded Orchestral instruments.

Answer a short survey, CLICK HERE, and get a FREE starter version of the most popular professional symphonic orchestra virtual instrument ever made. It works with most sequencer/notation hosts including Ableton Live, Cubase/Nuendo, Digital Performer, Finale, FL Studio, Garageband, Logic, Pro Tools, Sibelius, Sonar, etc. Or you can use it as a standalone application with your music keyboard.
If you like the starter version, you can upgrade to the Gold, Platinum, or Platinum Plus versions. Using the promotional code in your email, CLICK HERE, enter the promotional code and you will see the discounted price. European customers CLICK HERE. This offer expires January 31, 2010.
Of course, if you choose not to upgrade, you get to keep this version which is not time limited, and not copy protected!!
Sounds like a pretty decent deal. EastWest is considered one of the best in this field but the PLAY Engine can be buggy particularly in Pro Tools. I’m currently downloading mine (a couple hours to go) and as long as it’s stable I’m sure I’ll find a use for it.
Let me know what you think of it.
Posted in Free Plugin Of The Week, Plugins, Virtual Instrument, samples | 3 Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2009
Those nasty bastardos at Ohm Force have decided to release Symptohm PE (Performer Edition) for free. This is very good news for home studio dudes, because Ohm Force makes some of the best virtual synths and effects out there today. Ohm Force doesn’t just think outside the box, they fill it with stinky cheese, piss on it and set it on fire! It’s software with attitude, bent on audio domination!

Here’s what they have to say about Symptohm PE
This ‘Performer Edition’ is a simplified version of our Symptohm:Melohman powersynth, especially made for live use – but being also handy at the studio. The core of the synth, its oscillators and all the filters are there: it’s the same audio engine of the ‘normal’ version. The only difference is that they’re all already programmed/fixed for each one of the (up to 1200!) patches from Symptohm’s sound library, the result being a simple and straight forward interface.
So you won’t worry about tweaking knobs in the plug-in interface, being able instead to focus in live preset morphing using your midi keyboard controller and the Melohman feature. The midi mapping for each plug-in parameter is still there too, so map them all and please your crowd with bewildering sounds. Last, but not least, try setting your own samples instead of the default ones, and get an intuitive and fun experience! What are you waiting for? Download it right now and you’ll be playing what maybe is one of the best freeware synths out there…
Symptohm PE is for Mac & PC; VST, AU, RTAS
Read more about the Symptohm PE features here
So TRY OUT Symptohm PE this week and let me know what you think. Is it nasty enough?
Posted in Free Plugin Of The Week, Plugins, Virtual Instrument | No Comments »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Every Monday I highlight free plugins new and old that are worth checking out. See all posts in the Free Plugin Of The Week Series.
Blue Cat Audio has been around for a few years, I’ve used some of their free plugins in the past and I would recommend them over some of the included DAW plugins. Blue Cat came back on my radar when they announced RTAS (Mac + PC) Beta versions for their Freeware Plugins Pack.

Blue Cat’s Freeware Plugins Pack
All Blue Cat Audio freeware audio plug-ins gathered together in a bundle. It’s here! Save download time and get them all in a single package.
The bundle contains a wide range of modulation effects, an EQ and analysis tools to get you started with your favorite Digital Audio Workstation, for free! This bundle is available for Mac and PC, in VST, RTAS (beta), Audio Unit and DirectX plugin formats. Enjoy!
Includes
- Blue Cat’s Chorus
- Blue Cat’s Digital Peak Meter
- Blue Cat’s Flanger
- Blue Cat’s FreqAnalyst
- Blue Cat’s Gain Suite
- Blue Cat’s Phaser
- Blue Cat’s Stereo Chorus
- Blue Cat’s Stereo Flanger
- Blue Cat’s Triple EQ
As with all beta software, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work quite right (or at all) on your system. There’s not that many Free RTAS plugins out there, especially for Mac, so if you’re looking for a big bundle of alternatives to the stock Digi and AIR plugins, give these a try.
Ignoring the Pro Tools compatibility for a second, Blue Cat Audio’s plugins work on ALL DAWs!
Supported Platforms: Mac-AU / Mac-RTAS / Mac-VST / Windows-DX / Windows-RTAS / Windows-VST – Yep that’s pretty much all of them.
Get the Freeware Pack here: http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Bundle_FreewarePack/
Posted in Free Plugin Of The Week, Plugins, Virtual Effect | 6 Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
Every Monday I highlight free plugins new and old that are worth checking out. See all posts in the Free Plugin Of The Week Series.
Just announced this morning, TC Electronics has released the Free M30 Reverb plugin (PC VST, Mac VST + AU) This is a limited time offer, 3 days only.

About the M30 Studio Reverb.
The M30 Studio Reverb is a simple to use, great sounding reverb that is powered by AlgoFlex™ – a new high definition TC technology that enables hardware quality and predictability to be ported to native software.
TC Electronic has been at the forefront of effects development for decades, and our reverb algorithms can be found in the best recording and mixing environments in the world. With its great sound M30 is a unique addition to VST- or AU compatible applications running with Mac or PC.
I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, I’m not sure if this is old or new, but be sure to grab it right away before it’s too late.
Get the TC M30 for free here: http://www.tcelectronic.com/freetcreverb.asp
Posted in Free Plugin Of The Week, Plugins, Virtual Effect | 1 Comment »