Synths are one of the most entertaining things to use on your tracks. They sound fantastic, and by using them, you can create ambient chimes, warm chord sounds, weird & psychedelic sounds, & much much stuff like that.

But the issue with analog synths is that they are expensive & too big. And that’s where synth plugins come in. All you’ve to do is load them in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), and you’re ready to rock.

This article outlines the nine best VST plugins for trap music that you can download right now – for free. Our choices include stereo widening imagers, warm and colorful saturators plus samplers and synths – many with impressive high-quality sound libraries. To download the free plugins, follow the download links below each VST. Download Free Vst Plugins. In case you’re searching for free Vst Plugins which can help you to make music with, you won’t locate a superior list than this one anyplace! There are a large number of free Vst Plugins on the web. Such a large number of that you won’t know where to start.

In the past, it was impossible to imagine that so many quality tools used for mixing could be available at no cost. But now there are many free plugins available on the internet than ever before.

So, how can you know which free VSTs are worth installing? And which VST’s will suit you the most? We’ve got you covered! Here’s the list of the best 10 Free VST Synth Plugins available that sound fantastic!

So Let’s get started.

Synth1

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

Synth1 is one of the most used and most popular long time free choices for aspiring producers to create music with a plugin synthesizer. It’s a very decent synthesis powerhouse with lots of potential on one side, & also a bit of unexpected trouble missed opportunities.

The look of Synth1 is quite rough visually, but it’s a well-organized & functional plugin. Synth1 is resizeable up to 250%, and it’s perfect for modern high-resolution displays. You can also set the color of the text & the panel separately.

Synth1 updates are infrequent ( the last update was back in 2014 for Windows operating system, & it’s still called ‘beta’ today), but the Japanese author keeps adding GUI optimizations & charming new features.

Synth1 has got an astonishing abundance of presets. By searching on the internet, you can easily download tens of thousands of presets in organized preset packs. It’s worth skipping essential factory banks/presets & spent more of your time finding those little inspiring gems.

Features:

• FM modulation, 2 Oscillators, Ring Modulation, Sync, Modulation Envelope.
• 2 LFOs (synchronized with host).
• Four types of filters, distortion.
• Arpeggiator (synchronized with host).
• Tempo delay (synchronized with host), stereo chorus/flanger.
• 16 notes polyphony.
• Legato mode, portamento.
• 128 presets
• Thoroughly optimized for light CPU load using SSE instructions, etc.

Arppe2600va

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

The number 2 in our list of the best 10 VST synth is Arppe2600va. It’s based on ARP’s legendary semi-modular analog monosynth! This multi-functional softsynth sounds very close to the original ARP 2600. Like the original one, its mono synth (no polyphony).

But also like it’s the original version, it has got a multitude of Frequency Modulation options and by which you can create some awe-inspiring sound effects.

Features:

• It has PWM, Sample & Hold, Ring Modulation, virtual Spring Reverb, & a dedicated Noise Generator.
• Filter Color (to adjust LowPass & HiPass filter types).
• Oscillator Sync (Original Arp 2600 didn’t have Oscillator Sync and Filter Color).
• You can get up to 12 patch routings with a very user-friendly (and visible!) drop-down menu interface.
• Arppe2600 started with the version 2.0, but now Arppe2600va is purchasable via a cleverly designed Mod Matrix!
• Instead of messy virtual of cables cluttering up the screen, All controls in the Arppe2600va are mapped to MIDI CC#’s, & you can override the default settings by using the MIDI Learn feature.
• You can use it as a pure stand-alone synth (.exe file included), or you can also copy the DLL into your favorite DAW or sequencer’s plugin folder.

Requirements:

• VSTi Format
• Windows System

SQL8

Synth

The SQ8L (L stands for Light) is a free demo version of the forthcoming SQ8X (X Ffor eXtended/free-linux-vst-instruments.html. ) version. It’s a software model of Ensoniq’s classic 1980s synth SQ80. SQ80 contains three digital wavetable oscillators for each of its eight voices fed through analog 4-pole lowpass filters (-24dB gain) with resonance. Sound parameters in SQ80 can be modulated by four envelopes, 3 LFQs & several MIDI sources.

SQ80 has also got a predecessor, and it’s the ESQ1, which can do almost the same things as SQ80. Although the technology may seem obsolete, these synths can gene ate a wide variety of extraordinarily usable & exciting sounds.

Because of the lo-fi oscillators & the analog components, it can sound very digital & dirty, but also, this synth is very analog & warm. And that’s very good because modern synths often lack to sound rather clean.

Limitations:

• Polyphony limited to only eight voices.
• Universal MIDI controllers (Pan, Master Volume,…), by default, do not affect & must be programmed as modulators.
• LFO humanization not implemented.
• No internal sequencer (and there will never be one).
• No Split/Layer to combine several sounds.

The full version SQ8X will get the following additional features.

Features:

• Combinations of up to 4 single sounds.
• Adjustable polyphony (far more than eight voices).
• New Filter algorithms with different modes such as bandpass, lowpass, highpass.
• Improved GUI
• Different routing modes for the filters: parallel, serial, split. & the second FILTER.

Noisemaker

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

The Noisemaker’s name speaks for itself; when it comes to making some noise, this VST can do lots of things for you. Its interface is accessible, clean & to the point & thick. And you will be able to get some beefy sounds from the get-go.

Noisemaker comes in both AU plugin & VST formats. It’s an improved version of TAL-Elek7ro & has an entirely new synth engine with lots of improvements in sound and usability. This synth also has a small effect section with a reverb chorus & a simple bit crusher effect.

You can see slider & Knob values on the display screen of Noisemaker. In this way, you will be able to control this synth more effectively. It also has a ring modulator & a syncable triangle. Some of its features are given below.

Features:

• 3 Oscillators
  • Osc 1, +-24 semitones, fine-tune, phase control (saw pulse, noise).
  • Osc 2, +-24 semitones, fine-tune, phase control (saw pulse, rectangle, line, triangle).
  • Sub Osc (rectangle).
  • Osc 1 PM for pulse waveform.
  • Osc 2 FM controlled by Osc 1.
  • Osc 1 & Osc 2 sync to sub-OSC (pulse, saw, rectangle, triangle (bipolar sync))
• Up to 6 voices/
• Adjustable master tune & transpose.
• Portamento in mono & poly mode (off, auto, on).
• Ring mode modulates Osc 1 with Osc 2.
• Filter ADSR (negative & positive).
• Self resonating 4 X oversampled filters (24 dB LP, 18 dB LP, 12 dB LP, 6 dB LP, 12 dB LP, 12 dB LP, Notch).
• Volume ADSR.
• Routable ADSR, Modulates Filter, Osc 1, Osc 2, PW, FM (negative & positive).
• Adjustable Velocity dependent control over volume filter contour & cutoff.
• One pole HP filter.
• Detune & detune notes randomly.
• A built-in reverb.
• Adjustable Pitch Wheel control over Cutoff & Pitch.
• A built-in delay.
• Adjustable filter drive.
• Panic Button.
• MIDI Learn for all knobs.
• 256 Great Presets.

MiniMogueVA

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

Based on the most popular and one of the most used mono synth of all time! This fantastic and free softsynth sounds very close to the original Minimoog. Yet, it has tons of new features not present on the original Mini (as well as the Minimoog Voyager!).

Features:

• It has got a 5-note polyphony.
• Dedicated Release knobs for the two Contour Generators (envelopes).
• Tuning of Osc 1.
• Arpeggiator & 16-note Step Sequencer.
• Excellent Tuning sliders for Osc2 & Osc3.
• This fantastic VST has got aftertouch control.
• Has an adjustable filter Velocity curve.
• 3 Independent Overdrive sliders (one per oscillator).
• Global Overdrive with hi & lowpass cutoff.
• This VST has Oscillator Sync, Chorus, an independent LFO that includes oscillator drift & stereo panning, & has a fully programmable Digital Delay!
• There is no dedicated Noise Generator as on the original Mini, However white & pink noise are selectable on Osc 3.
• Like the original Mini, you can also turn Osc 3 into an LFO with dedicated modulation for the Osc Pitch & the Filter.
• In this VST, all controls are mapped in MIDI CC#’s, and you can also override the default settings by using the all-important MIDI Learn Feature.
• You can use it as a pure stand-alone synth (.exe file included), or you can also copy the DLL into your favorite DAW or sequencer’s plugin folder.

Requirements:

• Windows System
• VATi Format

Chimera

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

Chimera is a popular noise-driven synth and a free VST synth by Majken. The sounds that Chimera generates are based on white noise filtered into notes by resonant bandpass filters. And as a result, we hear some organic sounds ranging from warm pads to atmospheres with wind & water elements.

This VST is a perfect pick, especially for ambient & chill-out. It’s a very smooth and beautiful sounding synth. It’s an experimental synth that uses subtractive Synthesis in a new way. White noise is sent through a series of few narrow bandpass filters, which are controlled by pitch.

The filtered noise of Chimera is used as resonant sinewaves to create atmosphere organs, pads, and percussive sounds. In simple words, everything we hear from Chimera is white noise filtered into music (in realtime). Some of the features of Chimera VST are as follows.

Features:

• It has more than 50 included presets.
• Has a unique synthesis method.
• It’s built-in soft clipper distortion & has a 2-tap stereo delay.
• It has got a wide range of modulation options with three envelopes & three LFOs.
• This VST has freely assignable MIDI CC controls.
• Chimera has cross-modulation with free routing.

Crystal

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

Crystal VST is a semi-modular software synthesizer featuring both frequency modulation (FM) synthesis & subtractive Synthesis. Some people think that crystal VST is no longer enjoyable, but actually, it’s still trendy. It’s like an old fart trying to survive in the harsh world of modern and popular soft synths.

Crystal VST is still alive with fantastic sound quality & flexibility, and it can beat any of its free rival or any commercial soft synths. The versatility of this VST synth made it popular among music producers & sound designers. And also, preset libraries are readily available on the internet.

Features:

• This VST offers abundant modulation control over with over 90 parameters which may be multi-stage envelopes with graphical editors, modulated, great tempo sync of envelopes/Iforates/delay times, a band splitter for effects processing by frequency band, and built-in effects for flanging/chorus/comb/filtering/echoes.
• Crystal VST also offers wave sequencing, granular synthesis, program morphing, imports sound fonts, MIDI learn. The musical applications for this ultimate crystal VST are boundless.

Chip32

Synth Synth Wavetable

Chip32 is a kind of wavetable softsynth, created by Sam. This virtual synth VST produces old school electronical sounds & features a graphical wavetable editor. This synth responds to realtime midi control, & provides 8-bit wavetables for “Chiptune” sort of music.

In Chip32, there are an ADSR envelope, a bit crusher, and a primary filter. Some of the common waveshapes in Chip32 are sine, saw, triangle and square. To use this synth and its effects, you need to have a plugin host like Renoise, Studio, or others.

There are various synth parameters in Chip32. The first four parameters are the standard amplitude ADSR settings. In Chip32, the ‘B’ slider controls the bit depth (roughness). The ‘F’ slider in it is the filter setting that controls how often the wave is filtered. On the left side of the GUI, there’s a place where waveshape can be drawn.

Features:

• Chip32 has an amazing Filter.
• It’s an 8-bit/32-byte wavetable synth.
• It has a Bitcrusher.
• It supports MIDI CCs.

ZynAddSubFX

Best Free Vst Plugins Sounds Downloads

Synth Synth Hybrid

The ZynAddSubFX synthesizer project was the first time released nearly 15 years ago by Paul Nasca Octavia with lots of latest features. This synth has analog sound, robust modulation, and a complete set of built-in functions.

ZynAddSubFX is a beautifully designed, fully-featured open-source software synthesizer & its capable of making a countless number of instruments. It can generate all sorts of sounds you want to hear. It can produce some commonly heard sounds from expensive hardware to many other unusual sounds.

Features:

• Polyphonic with support for mono playing modes & legato
• Three synthesizer engines:
  1. Additive Synthesis for classic synth sounds composed of a variety of different voices with robust modulation. This exposes modulators ranging from LFOs & envelopes to oscillator modulators for PM, FM, & AM.
  2. PAD synthesis for creating beautiful pads & other instruments.
  3. Subtractive Synthesis for creating variable bandwidth harmonics from filtered white noise.
• A variety of filters, including farming filters, analog modeled filters, & state-variable filters.
• It has a powerful waveform generator with up to 128 sines/non-sine harmonics.
• Envelopes in this synth can have ASDR (or ASR, etc.) modes or free modes (with any shape)
• This VST synth has got effects for Reverb, Chorus/Flanger, Echo, Phasing, Wave-shaping, Equalizing, Dynamic Filtering with flexible signal routing.
• In it, instruments can be organized in kits, which allows you to make drum kits or layered instruments; this will enable you to use more than one tool for a single part. It’s also possible to choose what the part’s effects should process items from the kit.
• This synth has Random settings to create subtle differences in each sound to help create that familiar analog warmth.
• It has Microtonal capabilities with any scale, up to 128 notes per octave, & critical mapping.
• Has a built-in Virtual Keyboard which can be used even if you don’t have a physical midi keyboard.
• Has extensive MIDI/Audio driver support, including ALSA, JACK, and
• The graphical user interface in ZynAddSubFX can be completely disabled if the user needs to.
• Plugin Support via DSSI/LV2/VST.
• Session Management Support via LASH/NSM.
• Over 1100 high-quality instruments included.

Podolski

Synth Synth Analogue/Subtractive

Podolski is a very simple and CPU-efficient virtual analog synthesizer. It’s a cut down version of FilterscapeVA with only one oscillator, one envelope, one filter, and two LFOs. It also has a Zebra-style arpeggiator/sequencer, chorus & delay effects.

Some of the Podolski specialties are Click parameter & it’s the ability to morph between three waveforms seamlessly.

Podolski is one of the hidden gems of the freeware world. This synth was first-time released as a gift for the visitors of Musikmesse 2005, And since then, it’s distributed as one of the freebies on the cover of a CD of keyboard magazine until 2009.

This VST synth is extremely CPU friendly on modern-day computers. It was completely offline for a few years; it was re-released as a free download for everyone in 2012. The 2012 version of this VST came with a fully refurbished GUI & a collection of factory presets crafted beautifully by none other than Howard Scarr (a sound designer). Some of its features are given below.

Features:

• Polyphonic (up to 16 voices), arpeggiator, mono sq2 and legato modes.
• Four envelope modes: ASDR or HDSR, linear or exponential.
• Oscillator with variable symmetry (sawtooth to the triangle, PWM) and glide.
• It has a multimode filter: bandpass, lowpass or highpass with FM and drive.
• Combination arpeggiator/ 16-step sequencer with other modulation sources.
• It has over 520 factory presets.
• Skinnable UI.

Conclusion

So those are the ten best free VST synths that you really should get. While these synths may not be the best things in life but my experience, I learned something from every piece of software.

Exploration & experimentation yield many rewards for the adventurous, & freeware can be a great start to your journey. If you are a big fan of video game music, sound design, or even electronic music, then you should try these synths.

As all these VST synths are entirely free, I recommend you try as many as possible, because each one might be a bit better at doing something in particular. You don’t need tons of expensive gear to make great game music.

The free synth has proved that there’s plenty of things you can do by using these tools by making music that sounds good at a low budget.

Whether you are looking for in-depth sound design tools, classic vintage tones, or you are just looking to choose an excellent synth to get started, then you can choose a free VST from the list above. Even if you have paid synths that get your work done, then it’ll still be wise to pick up at least a few of these free ones to experiment with.

I hope this list was useful for you & if you feel that we’ve missed a good one, please let us know in the comment section below.

Top 10 Weirdest VST Plugins 2019

Each family as well as each group of friends has that one weird guy doing some rather ubiquitous things which are straight up weird and that’s the case with plugin developers. We all have that one plugin that we load up when we’re in need of something extraordinary or simply crazy. What does it take to be on our list of weird plugins? We either judge the straight-up weirdness of the GUI or the sound shaping capabilities. Let’s just simply jump into the craziness, here is our top 10 list of weird VST plugins in no particular order.

1 Glitch 2 by Illformed

Free vst tape echo. This is technically a step sequencer but what’s unique about it is the fact that it doesn’t trigger sampled sounds. Instead it triggers FX. This is a Swiss army knife for slicing, dicing, screwing, twisting, turning and mangling your sounds. There’s a whole bunch of FXs here such as randomizer, modulator, tape stop, retrigger, reverser, stretcher, LoFi, distortion, gater and delay.

Since Glitch features a multi-lane editor, you can trigger and tweak these effects in real-time. The Mutate function is our favourite because it really randomizes each effect into something completely unexpected. Weirdly enough you can get some really inspiring and awesome results. For 50 EUR you’re getting a lot of fun here.

2 Frohmage by Ohmforce

The name itself sounds cheesy! But aside from the name the UI itself is all cheesy and weird looking. If you disregard all of this you’re getting a really decent resonant filter. It’s designed to be dirty, warm and can add some serious colour to your signal. Frohmage features a low-pass filter, multiple band-pass filter and a distortion stage and it can really transform your tracks.

The EVOLVE knob uses multiple pitch-shifting delays for each band of the multi band-pass filters and it creates some out-of-this-world effects. You can even map your MIDI controls to this plugin to control all of the effects in real-time like on a synth. If you’re feeling cheesy, this one’s for you and it’s a freebie by the way.

3 The Orb by Audiothing

This is a formant filter which simulates the characteristics of the human voice. Featuring a set of three band pass filters, The Orb can transform any sound into a vowel-like formant-filtered sound. With the three LFOs you can modulate the Vowel, the Emphasis/Resonance of the formants and the Drift which can shift up or down the frequencies of each formant.

You can also create your own set of vowels by changing the name and frequency for each vowel/formant. Oh and it also looks like a control panel of a submarine or something from the cold war era, so it’s cool to look at as well. It’s 50 EUR so give it a go if you please.

4 Ned Flangers by Killapluggies

Even though this is a straight-up simple flanger, they got us with the name here. Just for the name itself you need to take a look at this one. It’s 32-bit Windows only but has some dirty raw sound which many modern digital flangers don’t have.

The GUI has four simple knobs for control and features Ned Flanders dressed as the Devil. Have we mentioned it is free? Go get it!

5 Delay Lama by AudioNerdz

This is the first VST instrument which features vocal synthesis with a real-time animated 3D interface. What it does is that it enables you to make a Tibetan monk overtone sounds simply by playing one note due to its monophonic structure.

New Free Vst Plugins

Use the built-in XY pad to adjust the pitch of the sound and go through the vowels. It features a simple stereo delay to add some depth to the sound. This a ridiculously funny instrument in the best way. It’s free, so you don’t have an excuse for not at least trying it.

6 Meow Synth by Meowizer

Here’s something for all of you cat-lovers out there. The sounds of this synth are actually based on a real cat owned by the developer. It’s a freebie and it’s actually nice for creating some weird sounds. It features a single oscillator which is basically a cat meowing and it has an auto filter.

Strangely enough it’s velocity sensitive and it has monophonic and polyphonic modes. Meowizer also features a built-in chorus and tempo-synced vibrato with controlled attack.

7 Physion by Eventide

It was formerly known as Fission, but the guys from Eventide decided to change it for some reason. This is a structural effect that breaks-up a signal source (or a sound) into its basic components and then processes them individually, only to combine them back together again. It separates the transients and tonal elements in order to individually process them.

It features six transient effects and seven tonal effects and it can really alter the sound in unimaginable ways. You can totally change a drum sound by processing the resonant pitch without affecting the transient pitch and it can adjust the impact of a pick on a guitar string. Physion also features reverb, delay, chorus, phaser and tremolo for adding depth so it’s more than just a transient and tonal shaper. Bearing in mind the price tag of $179, it’s a good thing they offer a time-limited test version.

8 Cannabis Vocoder by Bitsonic

We simply had to feature this one! This one covers everything a weird plugin should have. A weirdly looking interface is absolutely matched by the sound shaping capabilities.

Cannabis vocoder is a funny plugin which can completely change the sound of your vocal track. The mono version is an effect plugin and by using the effect on the vocal track the software automatically tracks the tune of the vocal track and calculates the pitch of the changed sound as well. The poly version is a VST instrument application so you can load the vocal track into the software and by playing your midi keyboard you can create a polyphonic vocoder effect. Real cannabis is often not free and it will get you into a lot of trouble with the authorities, but this plugin version won’t. 🙂

9 Backsmack by Freakshow Industries

Okay, so this one REALLY wins on all fronts! It looks like it’s out of this world and sounds like it too. This is how Freakshow Industries describe it:

“A chaotic reverser plugin built to make mom proud. Backsmack uses government approved paradox processing technologies to expose the hidden terrors of music. Uncover the plots of ghosts, aliens and other rogue entities with Freakshow Industries Backsmack”.

This is how we describe it: ABSOLUTELY MENTAL. In the best possible way. This one is our favourite of the bunch. For 20 bucks it’s a no-brainer too.

10 Triple Cheese by U-He

This one is similar to a lot of synth plugins out there but it goes through a lot of short chromatic delays in order to create some rather strange sounds. With a massive set of features in its interface and a giant host of presets, this comb synthesizer should keep you busy for a few hours… or weeks. Depending on your synth addictiveness, it’s a cheesy synth to say the least.

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