Music Production Forum

Below is a list of some of the best software synths & virtual pianos (free & paid). Please reply to this post if you recommended any others There are a huge number of plugins available, here are some other lists I've created for products I recommend https://jamesm.blog/music-production/my-hardware-software/ https://jamesm.blog/music-production/my-hardware-software-wishlist/ https://jamesm.blog/music-production/physical-modeling-synths/ Synths (Free) Vendor Plugin Name Key Features Blamsoft VK-1 Viking Synthesizer Moog Voyager emulation, strong basses Digital Suburban Dexed Yamaha DX7 emulation, FM synthesis discoDSP OB-Xd Oberheim OB-X emulation, analog sounds M…

AudioDeluxe is running an exclusive limited-time deal on SSL’s X-Saturator, bringing the price down from $49 to just $7.99 until December 4th. If you’ve used any SSL Native plugins before, you already know why they’re still some of the best around. Clean interfaces, fantastic sound, and intuitive controls. X-Saturator hits that formula just as well [...] View post: SSL X-Saturator is only $7.99 at AudioDeluxe for a limited time View the full article

Altar is a newly released, open-source guitar amp simulator that offers a surprisingly deep feature set for a free plugin. The amp suite is currently in beta (v0.2b) and available exclusively for Windows. Altar features three amp channels. Two of them are native to Altar (a clean channel and a high-gain channel), offering everything from [...] View post: Lamprey releases Altar, a FREE modular guitar amp plugin for Windows View the full article

schulz.audio offers the JUNI 1984 Chorus, a lush analog-style chorus plugin for macOS and Windows, for free until Sunday, November 23rd. If this concept feels familiar, it’s because we literally covered Sonic Academy’s JU-60 a couple of days ago, and the similarities are hard to miss. Both plugins aim for the iconic Juno-60 chorus sound, [...] View post: schulz.audio offers JUNI 1984 Chorus for FREE for the next three days View the full article

Beat Mag is offering a free 24-page microphone guide for a limited time. We’ve had a good run of freebies and discounts over the last couple of weeks, as we head toward Black Friday. Recently, we’ve had massive discounts on u-he’s Diva and Repro, Baby Audio’s TAIP, and freebies like Dulcet Vocal by The Crow [...] View post: Get a FREE 24-page microphone guide from Beat Mag for a limited time View the full article

Loess-Labs today introduced the Quad Creek, a semi-modular analog sound generator and effects unit, featuring four voltage-controlled band-pass filters and a variety of CV circuitry.… Read More Loess-Labs Quad Creek Semi-Modular Analog Sound GeneratorView the full article

In his latest video, synthesist Andy Whitmore takes a look at recreating some of the most iconic sounds of Vangelis, using a Yamaha CS-80 and modern effects. … Read More Recreating The Iconic Sounds Of Vangelis On The Yamaha CS-80View the full article

DAWJunkie has released DSS-130SE, a free sample-based plugin inspired by the Yamaha PSS-130 keyboard for macOS and Windows. I’m always on the lookout for plugins that bring these quirky 1980s consumer keyboards into the DAW world, and DSS-130SE is exactly that kind of freebie. The original Yamaha PSS-130 came out in 1987. From the modern [...] View post: DAWJunkie releases FREE DSS-130SE plugin based on the Yamaha PSS-130 keyboard View the full article

Cymatics will release Pandora, a virtual instrument plugin, and the Shrine R&B Collection sound library on November 26th. You can sign up today to claim your free copy. So, Cymatics is gearing up for Black Friday with a pretty cool giveaway. You can claim their upcoming instrument plugin, Pandora, and a new sound library for [...] View post: Cymatics will release Pandora plugin and Shrine sound library for FREE on November 26th View the full article

Part of their free Vaults series, Dulcet Vocal is the little sister plugin of The Crow Hill Company’s Dulcet Voice, featuring Dot Alison. Dot Alison is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and composer with a wealth of experience spanning the stage, studio, and film. If you aren’t familiar with Dot’s ethereal vocals, you can hear her [...] View post: The Crow Hill Company releases Dulcet Vocal as part of the FREE Vaults series View the full article

We’ve featured Karanyi Sounds on BPB many times, and one of the things we like most about the developer is that they take a creative approach to simple effects without complicating things for users. Now, you can get their Poly Space reverb plugin for just $3! A typical Karanyi Sounds plugin features an interesting yet [...] View post: Get Karanyi Sounds Poly Space reverb plugin for $3: offer ends soon! View the full article

Black Octopus Sound launched the Black Friday $1 Pack Hunt promotion, and BPB reader Morgan provided a killer tip on how to find all 14 packs (spoiler alert). Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. The $1 Pack Hunt Game So, right now, Black Octopus Sound is running a $1 Pack Hunt for Black Friday (in [...] View post: Get $324 worth of Black Octopus Sound libraries for only $1 each View the full article

The HexDrums has 10 sound sources, mostly based on the Hexinverter Mutant series of percussion modules:… Read More Erica Synths HexDrums ReviewView the full article

Neumann has intoduced VIS (Virtual Immersive Studio), a spatial audio positioning controller application designed for Apple Vision Pro.… Read More Neumann VIS Lets You Create Immersive Audio In Apple Vision ProView the full article

Sonixinema has released Piano Evolutions, a deeply expressive upright piano library for the full version of Kontakt 8.1+. This one immediately grabbed my attention because Sonixinema consistently releases some of the finest free Kontakt libraries on the market (for example, the recent Celestial Voices and Ethereal Pads). So, I knew that this wasn’t just another [...] View post: Sonixinema releases Piano Evolutions upright piano for Kontakt (Intro Price) View the full article

Despite being well over a decade old, u-he’s Diva is still considered by many to be one of the best and most convincing virtual analog synths available. And for a limited time, you can get it for over 50% off at Plugin Boutique. Plugin Boutique is currently offering a 52% discount on Diva, which means [...] View post: Get over 50% off the u-he Diva virtual analog synth at Plugin Boutique until December 3rd View the full article

Black Octopus Sound is offering Best of Leviathan as a free download for a limited time this Black Friday season. If you’ve been anywhere near producing EDM, trap, or other styles of aggressive electronic music over the past decade, you’ve almost certainly used or at least heard of Leviathan sounds. The series has become something [...] View post: Black Octopus Sound releases Best of Leviathan, a FREE limited-time bundle View the full article

We already covered one of the best Black Friday deals on Plugin Boutique right now: you can get the full version of MixBox for free with any eligible purchase. I did the research, and the cheapest entry point is just $5 (so I listed all of those plugins below). If you’ve been waiting for the [...] View post: Grab any of these $5 deals to claim IK Multimedia MixBox for FREE View the full article

ROLI & Yamaha have announced a new collaboration, Airwave x Montage M, that brings the gestural control of ROLI's Airwave system to Yamaha’s Montage M synthesizer.… Read More ROLI & Yamaha Launch Airwave x Montage M Gestural Control PartnershipView the full article

The new module is a copy of the Simmons SDS-3 Drum Synthesizer, from 1978, in Eurorack format.… Read More Behringer BDS-3 Is The New Name For Their Simmons SDS-3 CopyView the full article

Lotus Sound Audio releases White Chamber Mk3, a FREE analog-style delay plugin for macOS and Windows White Chamber Mk3 picks up where the previous release left off, with a few noteworthy upgrades. If you’re new to Lotus Sound Audio, you can check out some of the Swiss-based developer’s previous releases, like Silver Fox Mk2, LA2-Fox, [...] View post: Lotus Sound Audio releases FREE White Chamber Mk3 analog-style delay plugin View the full article

Freshly-released Minifusion is a new live timbre transferring system for macOS and Windows. It is now in Beta and is looking for users to help test the plugin. The advent of AI in music has ushered in a wave of plugins and services that utilize neural networks and machine learning, such as Eldoraudio’s Piano Audio-to-MIDI [...] View post: Minifusion (Beta) is a new live timbre transferring system for macOS and Windows View the full article

In their latest limited-time offer, you can now get IK Multimedia’s MixBox or Bloom Vocal Edit Lite for free with any purchase at Plugin Boutique. I love Plugin Boutique’s monthly gifts, and I appreciate what they’ve done this November by changing the options weekly (unless I miss something I really want, which is ironically inevitable for [...] View post: Get IK Multimedia MixBox or Bloom Vocal Edit Lite FREE with any purchase View the full article

Ashun Sound Machines has introduced the Diosynth, an expressive wind synthesizer that they say combines a deep synthesis engine with a sample playback engine to blend the best of acoustic and electronic sounds.… Read More Ashun Sound Machines Intros Diosynth Wind SynthesizerView the full article

Sonic Academy SA76 is a 1176-style compressor plugin for macOS and Windows. Thanks to a clever points workaround discovered by the BPB community, you can grab it for (practically) free right now. Yesterday, we covered the free JU-60 chorus, but it turns out that the far more exciting freebie might be hiding just behind it. [...] View post: Get the Sonic Academy SA76 Compressor for FREE when you share a freebie with a friend View the full article

Soniccouture has introduced Polarity | Modular, a dual-layer granular synth engine, created in collaboration with synthesist, composer and DiN label head Ian Boddy. … Read More Soniccouture + Ian Boddy Intro Polarity | Modular Analogue Granular MachinesView the full article

Gospel Musicians is running its annual Black Friday Sale, offering 50% off a wide range of plugins, expansion packs, and production tools for macOS and Windows. Gospel Musicians are known for their keyboardist- and musician-focused virtual instruments, so their Black Friday sale is always worth a look. This year includes discounts on some of their [...] View post: Gospel Musicians launch Black Friday Sale (up to 70% OFF) View the full article

From @synthandsoftware - UJAM expands its Usynth series with three new titles, VORTEX, WEBCORE, and DUST, for today’s evolving electronic music landscape. PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT Built upon UJAM’s easy-to-use yet powerful synth engine, Usynth VORTEX, WEBCORE, and DUST let producers explore genre-defining sounds without diving into complex synthesis. Each title delivers 100 ready-to-play global presets, 100 synthesizer patches, and intuitive […] The post Three New Usynths: VORTEX, WEBCORE, and DUST appeared first on Synth and Software. View the full article

Plugin Boutique just launched a crazy Black Friday offer. You can grab Rhythm Box by Pitch Innovations for just $1 using the BLACKFRIDAYINDIA coupon, and choose IK Multimedia MixBox (full version) as your gift-with-purchase. In other words, you’re effectively getting two plugins for $1, one of which is the full version of MixBox. It’s one [...] View post: Buy Pitch Innovations Rhythm Box for $1 and get IK Multimedia MixBox for FREE View the full article

Voidstar Audio has released KLYP, a free soft clipper plugin for Windows, macOS, and Linux. I actually found out about this one a little late. It came out around four months ago, but a BPB reader (thanks, bunbonnie!) recently pointed me toward it, and I’m surprised it hasn’t made the rounds yet. After spending some [...] View post: Voidstar Audio releases KLYP, a free soft clipper plugin View the full article