What are free vst plugins?
Free VST Plugins are virtual instruments that integrate sounds and effects. The acronym VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. They can be downloaded and added to your favorite digital audio workstation.
VST Plugins make it a lot cheaper and easier to achieve a professional sound. For example, instead of going out and buying a $700 guitar, you can just download a guitar VST.
There are many premium plugins to purchase. However, there are also hundreds of free vst plugins.
Why bother downloading free plugins?
Besides the fact that they are free, free vst plugins can act as great tools for producers and especially aspiring producers.
For instance, aspiring producers can learn about the process of producing with free vst plugins without having to pull out their credit cards.
However, during your online search for free plugins, you will most likely come across a handful of articles that promote the same old free vsts.
You know what I’m talking about. Those articles that say ‘best free vst plugins of (insert current year here)’ and every year it is the same plugins.
This may lead you to believe that these vsts are the only free ones available. However, I’m here to tell you that this is not true. There is a vast amount of free vst plugins available online.
But, you need to do some deep digging to find the hidden gems.
Luckily, I did the digging for you. This is our list of free vst plugins no one talks about that are worth downloading.
Our Ultimate List Of Free VST Plugins No One Talks About:
Lofi Keys Free Piano VST
You probably saw this one coming right? Of course we put our free plugin at the top of the list lol! That’s right, Lofi Keys is a free Lo-Fi-inspired plugin created by our developers at Clark Audio.
However, we didn’t just put this at the top of our list because it’s ours. The main reason why is because this plugin is the latest free vst plugin available at the time of writing this. I’m writing this article on Feb 11th, 2022. We released the newest update of this plugin on Feb 1st, 2022. So, it’s quite literally the latest free vst on the market at the time of writing.
But what does that mean? That means you are getting a free plugin that is using the latest technology available for audio plugins. This means this plugin will work on any of the latest DAW updates and laptop updates.
Besides that what exactly is Lofi Keys? It is a small piano plugin containing 9 presets and 4 piano instruments. The piano presets are designed to emulate vintage sound perfect for lo-fi, soul, hip hop, etc.
Also, this plugin is fairly small in CPU and it’s quick to install. You can start creating lofi type piano beats within the next 10 minutes if you download it right now.
Burier Saturation Plugin
Next up on our list we have a free saturation plugin. ‘Burier’ was created by KIT Plugins which is a brand new company that entered the scene in 2020. In other words, you can feel confident downloading this plugin knowing that the tech behind it is up to date.
This plugin can give you anything from a soft saturation effect to a full on audio destruction effect. Also, it features a few filters that allows you to re-shape your sound after applying saturation.
I enjoyed applying this plugin to rhodes, synth basses, and drums. As a result, I found that it brought more ‘life’ to these instruments.
HoRNet Freqs – Free Spectrum Analyzer VST Plugin
Need to take a closer look at your sound? ‘HoRNet Freqs’ is a free analog and digital spectrum analyzer plugin. This plugin gives you the ability to visually measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown frequency signals. It provides two unique visual views. This includes, an analog view and digital view. In addition, you can also save and load presets.
Surge Synth VST
Surge Synth is a free open sourced hybrid synth. This means there are multiple developers who have worked on this plugin. This also means the plugin in constantly being updated and upgraded.
It features multiple oscillators, filters, effects and a modern modulation engine. I find that this synth can be very powerful. On the other hand, it may take you some time to get in the flow of working with this synth. The GUI seems a bit crowded but once you learn your way around you can create some very interesting sounds. In addition, their website contains a lot of information outlining the fine details this synth features.
The Surge Synth download also comes with a free separate FX vst plugin. This plugin contains a large amount of effects and can be used to create some interesting presets. So, with the Surge Synth download you’re really getting two free vst plugins!
Nils’ Kawai K1v
Ok so we just covered a free synth that allows you to do your own sound design. But, what if you’re looking for something more simple that provides a bank of retro synths?
Well, that’s exactly what this plugin is. It comes with hundreds of presets that seemed to be sampled from retro synths. You also have the ability to layer sounds to create your own presets.
Lastly, the developers of this plugin have been actively releasing updates since its initial release. This is a great feature to point out because it means that the plugin is keeping up with the times. Unlike some free plugins that haven’t been touched by developers since releasing.
Free Funk Bass VST Plugin
If you need a light weight bass plugin Funk Bass is your best choice. This plugin allows you to create simple bass lines for multiple genres. It features 8 different presets. You don’t have worry about CPU overload with this one !
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are hundreds of free VST plugins out there. You may have to do some extra digging to find even more. However, we will continue to update this article as we find more and more hidden gems.
