The world of plug-ins is vast, with various VSTs, effects, and more. Filtering through them can be a headache, especially for those looking for free materials. Plug-ins can be expensive; however, plenty of free plug-ins perform just as well as their paid competitors. Here’s a list of reputable plug-ins compatible with Ableton Live 11.
Valhalla Supermassive
We all love a luxurious reverb and delay, especially if it’s a significant and out-of-this-world effect. Valhalla has made this great plug-in called Supermassive—a must-have in the plug-ins list. Valhalla Supermassive is a specially designed audio effect for those who want MASSIVE reverbs and delays.
With a very easy interface to navigate around and highly customizable, Supermassive will escalate the sound field within your compositions and can make anything sound vast. With 18 reverb and delay modes that can be individually adjusted, each having a distinct character, if you are looking for luscious reverbs, swelling feedback, and captivating delays, this is for you. This is also an excellent plug-in for resampling audio, making long reverb sweeps to build tension or add a sparkling touch to your sounds.
It’s free to download, just as good if not better than the paid reverbs and delays, and is highly regarded by music production experts.
Spitfire LABS
Spitfire has some of the most intricate, realistic, and beautiful VSTs. However, they are known for their hefty price tags. No need to worry, as Spitfire has made a brilliant VST called LABS,which is completely free with various instrumentations, soundscapes, and sound effects available.
From orchestral strings and choirs to vintage synths and soundscape textures, Spitfire LABS is an excellent plug-in for any music production beginner while still being used by seasoned experts.
LABS is perfect for all kinds of composing – from solo piano to large-scale pieces. In addition to atmospheric sounds, LABS has it all if you are into soundscape composition. Its interface is straightforward and minimal, which can be helpful for those who don’t want an overwhelming plug-in with a gazillion buttons. The sounds are fantastic, all made by expert musicians and composers, and you are guaranteed high-quality instruments. The library is also still expanding, with new instruments being released.
Orchestral Tools Spindle Piano
Orchestral Tools Spindle Piano is a beautiful, intimate, and soft-sounding piano, and it’s entirely free. Many realistically sounding pianos will likely have a price tag attached to them, but Spindle Piano is undoubtedly just as good.
Known for its dampened sound, Spindle Piano brings realism and emotions to your creations. The piano is a potent instrument and is widely used in the film scoring world. It can certainly pull at the heartstrings with its intimate and delicate sound. Finding a good piano sometimes requires you to pay for high quality. However, Spindle will do just the trick without burning any money.
You only need to download SINE player, which is also free and can use Spindle Piano. Furthermore, other free instruments come with SINE player, from jazz flutes and acoustic guitars to big band horns. Take a look!
Integraudio | Sixth Sample Deelay
For those who like to get creative and experimental with delays, Sixth Sample and Integraudio collaborated to create this fantastic free plug-in called Deelay to add extra character to your sounds.
While it’s primarily a delay, it also can create reverbs from diffusion parameters and 11 types of distortions to craft further your own individual sound with unique effects.
With five modes of delay operation and 100 factory presets, there are plenty of options to explore and customize. Furthermore, it has an A/B switch, allowing you to switch between two delay configurations. You can also randomize the interface, creating unexpected sounds.
This Deelay is hugely underrated and can create some amazing and extraordinary effects, and it’s free!
Vital Audio – Synthesizer
Vital is a free visual wavetable synthesizer that stretches sound design and music-making boundaries. From spectral warping of waves to using your very own samples to create a synth, Vital is hands down a “vital” piece of gear to have.
Built from three wavetable oscillators and a sample section for added noise texture. It also can create wavetables out of your samples to further grow your palette of sound.
From the visual aspect of this VST, you can see how each parameter interacts, assigning modulations across the board to your liking with a fast drag-and-drop workflow. With highly customizable tools like LFO, you can experiment and discover a whole world of sounds. Furthermore, it’s free, and you are guaranteed a high-quality and feature-rich experience.
The free version has 75 presets and 25 wavetables to use and is an easy wavetable to get to grips with. Compared to its paid competitors, it does the job pretty darn well without having to shed any money!
iZotope Ozone Imager
Delving into the mixing and mastering side of audio, a great free plug-in that is a valuable tool is iZotope’s Ozone Imager. With this plug-in, you can reduce or expand the stereo width on individual tracks or the entire master track.
Mixing and mastering are essential parts of audio and music production because tracks need to be suitable for different types of playback. Ensuring sufficient room in your mix allows instruments to stand out and breathe through the combination easily and avoids any muddiness in the overall mix.
Features included in Ozone are turning mono audio to stereo without adding reverb or doubling. Ozone also can control the width of specific frequency bands, which may be helpful in cases of widening higher frequencies and narrowing lower frequencies. Furthermore, Ozone is a visual imager, making the process more immersive. It has three vectorscope meters with resizable windows to help check the stereo width.
Youlean Loudness Meter
Producing music has a meticulous process, including mastering the track to ensure it’s at a suitable volume to be played among different sound systems such as TV or streaming platforms. Youlean Loudness Meter is a free plug-in that measures the perceived loudness of your audio, allowing the graphs to pinpoint problematic areas within your mix.
This plug-in uses LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) to measure loudness and normalize audio for broadcast systems in cinema, TV, radio, and live streaming. Each has specific standards for such integrated loudness; thus, having this plug-in will enable you to ensure your mix is at a suitable level.
Youlean Loudness Meter has presets configuring to what medium you are working in and a custom option. Furthermore, it has A/B states to compare two different measurements.
In conclusion, these free plug-ins make music production more accessible and cost-effective. You can elevate your sound to new heights with high-quality plug-ins without breaking the bank. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned expert, these plug-ins have something to offer. So, try them out and see how they can enhance your music production process.
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