Introduction:

Now that you have some ideas for a DAW, we can start adding some instruments and effects to your plugin library. VST's can be anything - echo effects, a punk rock guitar replicator, ambient sound generators - if you can think of it, it has probably been created. The nice part is that VST instruments allow you write your own music without having to worry about copyright issues, since you composed the notes yourself! (You don't have to attribute the plugin creators either.)

As with DAWs, there are free plugins and paid plugins, and the commercial plugins can create some absolutely jaw dropping sounds. Don't be mistaken: there are some fantastic free VST's as well, but buying a few commercial plugins is highly recommended for those who have already purchased a professional DAW. For right now, I'll focus on the free plugins; commercial plugins may be added at a later date.

Remember that VST's work for most DAW's, but not all of them. If you happen to be using GarageBand or Logic Pro X, the process will be similar, but you'll have to search a little harder to find your AU's (for Logic) or extra download packs (for GarageBand).

Free VST Directories:

KVR Audio

http://www.kvraudio.com/q.php

KVR is the ultimate plugin database on the web. Their search function allows you to sort by operating system, developer, DAW, format, and more. Start by scrolling down to the "Pricing" tab, and select "free". All that's left after that is to start browsing! As of 3/24/2015, KVR had 3128 results for free VST plugins.

Bedroom Producer's Blog

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/free-vst-plugins/

The Bedroom Producers publish an annual list of the best free VST's of that year, and have developed/maintained this handy guide to help you find all of the plugins that you could possibly want. Unlike KVR (which tosses you a massive list of both good and bad results), the guys over at BPB have weeded out the bad ones and leave you with a list of solid, stable plugins.

Plugin Boutique

http://www.pluginboutique.com/free

Designed to sell plugins rather than actually give them away, the Boutique adds a few freebies every once and a while. Most of what they offer is effects, but there are a few generators in there as well.



In summary: Google is your friend. Seriously. Just do a Google search for "free VST" or "best free VST" and look through the results. The sheer quantity of freeware will amaze you. Here are a few links that summarize some of the best freebies currently on the web:

http://www.musicradar.com/us/tuition/tech/the-27-b...

Author's Recommendations:

Let's face it, lists can be long - and it's difficult to determine which pieces of software are good, and which are lemons. Effects are rather easy to come by, and you'll have to be the one to decide which flavor of echo/delay/etc. is right for you. For now, I'll briefly list a few of my favorite instruments/generators for you to look at:

MastrCode Music's T-Force Alpha TS V1.03 and T-Force Alpha Plus

NOTE: the original MastrCode Music website is down indefinitely, but T-Force Alpha Plus can be downloaded here: http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1426

T-Force Alpha Plus is the king when it comes to making dance leads/chords. With an impressive array of options, built in effects, and gorgeous preset sounds for you to use right out of the box, T-Force is one of my favorite VST's of all time. The following video goes through some of the preset sounds included with the instrument, so sit back, listen, and relax.

MastrCode Music's DB-Force The Amen

NOTE: the original MastrCode Music website is down indefinitely, but DB-Force The Amen can be downloaded here: http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=DB-Force_The_Amen&id=1789

Another crown jewel from the now non-existent MastrCode Music, The Amen is a drum kit plugin that allows you to slice, tweak, and rearrange the original Amen Break. It's worth noting that the Amen Break plugin is only semi-finished, and will sometimes crash and need to be reloaded. For those unfamiliar with the original Amen Break, see the following:

SuperWave's P8

http://www.superwavesynths.co.uk/product_p8.htm

A trance synth with a similar goal as T-Force Alpha Plus, P8 is designed to create classic dance sounds similar to the Roland JP-8000 synthesizer. It's less focused on leads, and more focused on the ability to create pads, chords, arps, FX, and more.

Yedey TranceDrive

http://www.yedey.com/2010/02/official-release-of-t...

Think of TranceDrive like T-Force Aplha, but with a vastly different layout/color scheme, and a slightly different way of routing outputs through effects units. It's included pad presets are what made it shine for me.

Acrobatics Alieno

http://www.blank-media.it/acrobatics/

Alieno is an ambitious project designed to create, well, alien sounds. Weird space vibrations, groovy space dance leads, icy chords, all of it is contained in a window that looks like a cockpit of a UFO. Alieno is definitely one of the most powerful plugins that I've found, but that sheer power has a drawback - it has some problems interfacing with DAWs every once and a while. I've had curious cases where I would click on the plugin, but select the window that was underneath it. If you can work around it's quirks, Alieno will serve you well.

Sound Magic's Piano One

NOTE: Sound Magic's website has ceased to host downloads for Piano One indefinitely, but it can be downloaded here: http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1100

Do any amount of searching for a piano plugin, and you'll find that it's hard to find a natural sounding baby grand that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Piano One is actually an advertisement for Sound Magic's other products, but their "appetizer" plugin does a solid job of providing a natural sounding piano. Sounds were recorded from a Yamaha C7 concert grand piano.

HG Fortune's ProtoPlasmTSM Pro

https://archive.org/details/HGFortuneNFG

HG Fortune was well known for creating a vast number of free plugins, and ProtoPlasm was just one example of them. ProtoPlasm TSM is an atmosphere generator; it doesn't create musical notes like you'd expect, but it layers up to three different background noises to change the mood. (Bonus: The HG Fortune download link includes almost 1 gigabyte of other HG Fortune plugins for you to toy with!)

Ourafilme's SB-1 and SB-2 (Speaker Blower 1 and 2)

https://www.facebook.com/ourafilmes (Like the page, then click the "FREE VST plugins" tab)

SB-1 and SB-2 are just two of the four bass synthesizers in the Speaker Blower line. Ourafilmes is actually a film company that happens to do some post-production audio work on the side, but their collection of free VST's can add some great bass and groove to your mix. If you mix and mash some of the other free instruments, you can create some catchy sounds. Just give this a listen:

Ichiro Toda's Synth1

http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/#down (Website is largely in Japanese; scroll down until you find your appropriate Windows VST or Mac AU download.)

Everyone needs a classic oscillator, and Synth1 gives you a 2 stage oscillator modeled after the Clavia Nord Lead 2 Red Synth. Straightforward and a bit bland looking, but it has all of the options you could ask for.

Dillot2k's Dillie Base

http://dilliot2k.com/wordpresswp-contentuploads200908rsdb1-dll/ (Note that you're supposed to create a free account to download the plugin, but you could probably do a little bit of Googling and find it elsewhere.)

Dillie Base is an odd one. Aside from the fact that it has a picture of Will Smith in sunglasses in the background, this instrument has only 4 controls and 1 purpose: big bass. If you need a large, deep, sound, Dillie Base does this one job and it does it well.





Honorable mention:

Illformed dBlue Glitch v1.3 effects unit



I hopped over to the Illformed webpage to grab the download link, but it seems that Illformed has suddenly come out of their five-year hibernation and created an entirely new version of Glitch which has to be purchased. If you can find it, the original Glitch is a wonderful effects unit which can take any sound and chop, distort, reverse, and stutter in time with the music. I'll post a download link if I can find a legacy version.





Now, onto the samples!