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…

Do you swear by a weighted keyboard with a piano-like feel? Then, a hammer action keyboard controller is one of the most important pieces of gear in your studio or live setup. Let’s check out the best ones. Many keyboard players swear by 88-key keyboards with a weighted, piano-like action. And that’s no surprise: as most keyboard players start on piano, this type of action just feels natural. Whether justified or not, many trained pianists look down on synth-style keyboards with a certain degree of disdain. Consequently, 88-key hammer action keyboard controllers are a vital component of many studios—often occupying a central position in the pull-out drawer under the studi…

Tracktion’s Waveform Free has been updated to v14, remaining our best free DAW for macOS, Windows, and Linux. We’ve covered Tracktion’s Waveform Free multiple times, and we like it. So much so that we named it our best free DAW in 2026, despite sme stiff competition from the likes of Cakewalk and GarageBand. The reason [...] View post: Tracktion releases Waveform 14 Free: our best FREE DAW for macOS, Windows, and Linux View the full article

The Crow Hill Company has released its latest addition to the free Vaults collection – Vintage String Synth. The Crow Hill Company’s Vaults collection is an absolute treasure trove of incredible sounds. Although I’m a big fan of cinematic and atmospheric sounds, which is where the Vaults shines most, one of my favorite things about [...] View post: The Crow Hill Company releases FREE Vaults Vintage String Synth View the full article

Writing a good bassline sounds simple until you actually have to do it. I know this problem well. You start with chords, drums, maybe a synth hook or vocal chop, and then the bass becomes the thing you add at the end because the track needs low end. That is how you end up with [...] View post: How Reason’s Bassline Generator Builds Better Basslines (GIVEAWAY) View the full article

Just plug your synth in, and Knob Monster backs everything up to the cloud.… Read More New Site, Knob Monster, Is Like iCloud For Your Vintage Synth PatchesView the full article

The idea behind Grainsmith Field was to make granular approachable, so it sounds great, and you can play it without digging through menus.… Read More New Granular Synthesizer For iPad/iPhone, Grainsmith FieldView the full article

Moloko Instruments has released Luch, a free sample-based instrument for macOS and Windows. I absolutely love the organic sound here. Especially lately, when we are being bombarded with AI and vibe-coded tools that often feel anything but organic or human-made, something like Luch feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air. Luch is based on [...] View post: Moloko Instruments releases Luch, a FREE Soviet-era metallophone plugin View the full article

Unusable Engineering has released Binaural Modulator, a free spatial modulation effect for macOS and Windows. Binaural Modulator is basically an auto-pan plugin on steroids. The thing that makes it pretty cool is that it is built around a small room model, with a fixed listening point in the middle and one or two moving sound-source [...] View post: Unusable Engineering releases Binaural Modulator, a FREE spatial auto-pan plugin View the full article

Grip is a new iOS app that turns your iPhone or iPad into a wireless remote controller for Ableton Live. … Read More New App, Grip, Turns Your iOS Device Intro A Remote For Ableton LiveView the full article

CapybaraSoftware has made CapySynth permanently free after the response to last week’s BPB coverage. We first covered CapySynth last Saturday when it was free for 24 hours. The developer later emailed to say the support from BPB readers was overwhelmingly positive, with over 5,000 downloads, and that it changed his mind about the pricing. So, [...] View post: CapySynth is now FREE forever after 5,000+ BPB reader downloads View the full article

BPB reader Wiseman has released WiseTracker, a free public beta tracker that runs as both a Windows standalone app and a VST3 instrument plugin called WiseTrax. This one has an interesting backstory. Wiseman is not a developer in the traditional sense, but he has used trackers for decades and wanted something that felt like FastTracker [...] View post: WiseTracker is a FREE tracker plugin and standalone app for Windows View the full article

YMCK has released Magical FDS Plug, a free software synthesizer that emulates the sound of the FDS sound chip. This is an absolute blast from the past for me, because YMCK’s Magical 8bit Plug was one of the first plugins I ever installed. I was deep into chiptune music back then, and I was using [...] View post: YMCK releases Magical FDS Plug, a FREE FDS sound chip synth View the full article

Smol Sequencer is a browser-based modular sequencing environment that lets you create complex, evolving patterns using simple modular components. … Read More Smol Sequencer Turns Your Browser Into A Generative Music EnvironmentView the full article

Fine Classics Plugins is offering Fine Classics Saturator as a free download again for a limited time. We featured Fine Classics Saturator on BPB last year when it was also available for free, so this is a nice second chance for anyone who missed it. To claim the plugin this time, enter your name and [...] View post: Fine Classics Saturator is FREE again for a limited time View the full article

Developer DAWJunkie has released Drumbo Jr, a free drum machine for macOS and Windows. Drumbo is something of a departure from the norm, as we typically see synth tributes (like the DT-600 Mini) and quirky FX plugins (like Knobs) from DAWJunkie. This time, we’ve got Drumbo Jr, the developer’s first drum machine, and it’s free [...] View post: DAWJunkie releases Drumbo Jr, a FREE drum machine for macOS and Windows View the full article

Plugin Boutique is offering 87% off Solid State Logic’s SSL Native Channel Strip 2, bringing the price down from $149 to just $19. The important part is that the offer ends today, June 26th. If you have been waiting for a low price on a proper SSL channel strip plugin, this is the perfect opportunity [...] View post: SSL Native Channel Strip 2 is only $19, but the deal ends today View the full article

Sketch Audio has released Series 9000, a free low-pass filter and distortion plugin for macOS, Windows, and iOS. Series 9000 features a sixth-order low-pass filter based on a late-1980s rackmount sampler. The developer does not name the original unit, but I’m pretty sure that it emulates the Akai S900/S950 family. That is definitely a fun [...] View post: Sketch Audio releases Series 9000, a FREE Akai S900 filter plugin View the full article

From @synthandsoftware - It’s an ambient effect processor inspired by the ocean Arturia’s succinct release below pretty much nails this effect. One relatively rare feature that stands out for us is its ability to set the decay to infinity – meaning that it’ll keep going until you stop it. Tidal reverb Rev OCEAN brings depth, drift, and evolving […] The post Arturia Rev OCEAN – a Big, Evolving Reverb Ambience Processor appeared first on Synth and Software. View the full article

It runs updated software, derived from the original source code, and dramatically improves speed, reliability, storage and usability of the instrument. … Read More Fairlight CMI Gets Modern, Quad-Core Brain, WiFi, USB & MoreView the full article

Faded Instruments has introduced Harmonal Binaurics 2, a new "mind control drone synth". … Read More Harmonal Binaurics 2 Promises to ‘Hijack Your Brainwaves’View the full article

Noisferatu offers 45 algorithms across 5 banks, producing crackling textures, noisy scapes, evolving drones, harmonic blips and digital chaos.… Read More Noiseferatu Generative Texture Synthesizer Now AvailableView the full article

Version 2 is a major update that adds four new effects, unlimited modulation, and more ways to "destroy your audio."… Read More Tape Fiasco 2 Gives You Four New Ways To Mangle Your AudioView the full article

From developer Dusty Plugins comes Dusty Tube 2, a free guitar & bass amp sim for Windows. We covered the original Dusty Tube plugin in early 2025, and for anyone who missed it, it’s an amp simulator built on the Neural Amp Modeler (NAM). Dusty Tube 2, as you’d expect, is the same thing with [...] View post: Dusty Plugins releases Dusty Tube 2, a FREE guitar/bass amp sim for Windows View the full article

Safari Pedals is giving away 10,000 free Gorilla Drive licenses exclusively to BPB readers. Gorilla Drive normally costs $39.99, but you can get it for free at checkout with the coupon code BPB-Gorilla100. The offer is limited to 10,000 copies, so it is absolutely worth grabbing sooner rather than later if you want it. Gorilla [...] View post: Safari Pedals gives away 10,000 Gorilla Drive licenses to BPB readers View the full article

noshigeSound has released ENHANCER VINTAGE-73, a free one-knob high-shelf enhancer plugin for macOS and Windows. The plugin models the high-shelf section of a legendary British preamp EQ. noshigeSound does not name the original hardware directly, and I’m no Sherlock Holmes, but the Vintage-73 name and the description make the 1073-style reference pretty clear. ENHANCER VINTAGE-73 [...] View post: noshigeSound releases FREE 1073-style analog enhancer plugin View the full article

Darkpalace Studio has released PIRANHA, a multi-band waveshaper and clipper plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux. We’re taking a closer look below and giving away one free copy to one lucky BPB reader. You might remember Darkpalace Studio from CATERPILLAR, the free stereo enhancer we featured on BPB before. PIRANHA is a more aggressive tool than [...] View post: Darkpalace Studio releases PIRANHA multi-band waveshaper and clipper (GIVEAWAY) View the full article

Jeesonic has released EQ Pro, a free dynamic equalizer plugin for macOS and Windows. EQ Pro is a surgical EQ with up to 24 dynamic bands, per-band stereo routing, selectable phase modes, and a real-time analyzer. That’s still crazy for a free plugin, if you ask me, even though I recently wrote that ZL Equalizer [...] View post: Jeesonic releases EQ Pro, a FREE 24-band dynamic EQ plugin View the full article

The H9 Harmonizer is designed to take everything that made the original a classic and push it further. It offers the complete H90 algorithm lineup, modern ARM processing, and an enhanced workflow.… Read More Eventide H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 Hands-On DemoView the full article

This free sound bank turns your Novation Peak (or Summit) into a drum synthesizer, drum machine or even a groovebox.… Read More Free Soundbank Turns Novation Peak Into A Drum MachineView the full article