Musicians: What are your favorite free .vst instruments?

[CloudFyre 848]

For those of you who synthesize music using FL Studio (and some other music DAW's), you may have heard of .vst instruments. They're small files that you simply download to your computer, load up in your DAW, and link to a midi file (or write something yourself). It's a great way to introduce new sounds to the mix, especially if you're getting tired of your usual instruments.

My question to the rest of you is this: What are your favorite free VST instruments? It could be anything - violins, pianos, additive synthesizers, effects, etc.

While the saying "you get what you pay for" certainly applies here, I've found a few gems lying hidden here and there on the internet, such as T-Force Alpha TS V 1.03, Superwave P8, and D-Blue Glitch V 1.3 beta. Granted, they aren't nearly as powerful as software like Sylenth 1 or Nexus 2.0 (the full version of which costs about ~$2800), but they have done amazingly well for a simple free download.

Any gems/particularly useful tools that you guys have come across?

Edited December 19, 2012 by CloudFyre

[K3WRO 79]

Synth 1 and Oatmeal, It's not much but It can pretty much do whatever a full price vst can do, I usually don't like free vsti's because of it's quality, design and control.

 

http://www.xlnaudio.com/products/view/35?utm_source=studio-grand-free&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=try-studio-grand-free

Check this out too

 

One more thing, nexus, is a giant overpriced soundfont library, go for konakt instead

[bcd34a 51]

Synth1, Nexus, Massive, Kontakt 1.4, 3xOsc, and Toxic Biohazard.

 

Only like 2 are free out of that list, but their worth the money. Better than investing on a $400 2-OSC Roland Synth actually. Massive has a free trial also same as Kontakt. Well Kontakt isn't the best for me but I just recommended it if you wanted a chorus-like sound.

 

Massive is good for Pads, Leads, Arps, and Wobble Basses.

 

Then 3xOsc for stuff like FX, Synth Drums, etc.,

 

Nexus, it's good for everything it has, but is CPU intense if your CPU isn't above 2 GHz, so I recommend a 4.6 GHz CPU if your gonna use multiple nexus instruments, here is my list for it:

 

1.67 GHz (3 nexus instruments, underruns start at 4)

 

2.20 Ghz (5 nexus instruments, underruns start at 6)

 

3.2 GHz ( 6 nexus instruments, underruns start around 8 and 9)

 

4.6 GHz (estimate 9, underruns start at 12 - 15)

 

Toxic Biohazard for it's powerful FM synthesis formula.

 

And Synth1, it's the best free synth I've seen, and the best vst synth I've seen that's free. Try it, it might look confusing but trust me. Once you know what everything does in it, you can make any good synth sounds out of it

 

PS: Google up "Togu Audio-Line" they have good VST synths, vocoders, bitcrushers, reverbs, delays, and equalizer plugins.

 

But still, if your gonna use EQ, Reverb, Delay, or Vocoder, stick with: FL Vocoder, FL Reeverb 2, FL Delay 2, and FL Parametric EQ 2

[Arkane 269]

I rely more on soundfonts rather than .vsts

 

But here's mine.

 

- DSK Elektrik Guitar

- Sonatina Free Orchestra

- Florestan Ahh Choir (Soundfont)
- A buttload of orchestral soundfonts I found on some deviant art link

[Smokescape 58]

Synth1, Oatmeal, 3xOsc, TAL Noisemaker, dBlue Glitch, Sytrus

I'm not entirely sure if Sytrus counts though, because it only comes free with the signature bundle of FL Studio. If it does count, it's honestly my main man in this list because dayum can it make some awesome sounds.
 

I personally love Synth1 and Oatmeal for being able to do what some of the big name pricey vsts can do. 3xOsc is a little bit of a monster once you play around with it and figure stuff out. You get that done, and you're golden. 

TAL Noisemaker is excellent for making arps and trance-y and retro sounding synths, which can be quite handy on occasions. 

 

dBlue is just amazing. I can't even understand why it's free. The fact they give out such an amazing plugin for zilch is something to truly appreciate.

[DusK 1,264]

TLs Maximizer is my mastering limiter of choice. I slap that sucker on the master track of any song I make, it's pretty much amazing.

 

I use several Tweakbench 8-bit VSTs in my projects, especially my From The Forest Itself tracks. Triforce, Toad, and especially Peach and Magical 8bit.

Edited December 27, 2012 by DusK

[CloudFyre 848]

Synth1, Oatmeal, 3xOsc, TAL Noisemaker, dBlue Glitch, Sytrus

 

I'm not entirely sure if Sytrus counts though, because it only comes free with the signature bundle of FL Studio. If it does count, it's honestly my main man in this list because dayum can it make some awesome sounds.

 

No, it's definitely not free.

 

It's $179 if one wants it separatesly, and it only comes *free* with the most expensive edition of FL Studio (the Signature Bundle). But yes, it's quite nice.

[bcd34a 51]

TLs Maximizer is my mastering limiter of choice. I slap that sucker on the master track of any song I make, it's pretty much amazing.

 

I use several Tweakbench 8-bit VSTs in my projects, especially my From The Forest Itself tracks. Triforce, Toad, and especially Peach and Magical 8bit.

For mastering a track. I use Maximus ;P

And isnt TLs Maximier a limiter? I've seen its GUI I only see a dB per octave slider, I've been hearing its beter than fruity limiter tho. Which isnt true cuz any limiter is good unless you dont know how to use one.

[DusK 1,264]

For mastering a track. I use Maximus ;P

And isnt TLs Maximier a limiter? I've seen its GUI I only see a dB per octave slider, I've been hearing its beter than fruity limiter tho. Which isnt true cuz any limiter is good unless you dont know how to use one.

TLs Maximizer can be pushed harder than FL Studio's stock limiters and compressors without spitting out clipping artifacts. Fantastic for heavy tracks, especially in metal, which is the frontline of the loudness war.