Update10 / July 13th, 2022: (Direct Download-Links for all Plugins coming up soon in update11)
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Drums TOP5:
1. Sitala Drum Sampler + Wave Samples (See recommanded Samples below*)
2. NTonyx-SF Bank + SFZ Soundfontplayer (Bank 128: Room, Power, Pop, TR-909)
3. Edge Sounds Sonic Bear GM120 Pro-SF Bank / TR-Dreams Kit + SFZ Soundfontplayer
4. MT Power Drum Kit
5. Drumatic 3
*Drum Wave Samples TOP5:
1. Songwriters Pop Kit + Drum Sampler
2. DataDrive's 80's Retro Futuristic Kit
3. AVL Drumkit wave Samples + SFZ or Drum Sampler
4. Echo Soundworks 909
5. BPM Supreme 909
Honorable: Jamstix (if 100% free, it would be Number1), RF-Drums (Pop-Kit), Proteus VX /Acoustic1 Preset, Monster Drum VST, DSK DrumZ Akoustik, RitMix Drum Machine + Wave Samples*, BPB Cassette Drums, SR-202 Drum Sampler + Wave Samples*, Drum Pro, Grooove BPB
Bass TOP5:
1. NTonyx SF Bank + SFZ (Presets: Fingered Bass, Synth Bass2, Fretless Bs., Picked Bs.)
2. TAL Bassline (+Presets / Env Sub Bass) + OldSkoolVerb/Deep Reverb
3. Steinberg Model E (11: Snap Bass) + OrilRiver Reverb
4. Ample Bass P Lite 2
5. VB-1
Honorable: 4Front Bass, Sienna Bass, Dexed (+Presets)
Synthesizer TOP20:
..1. PG-8X (+JX8P Original Bank Presets/Strings1 or Choir)
..2. Dexed (+Presets)
..3. Synth1 (+Presets)
..4. Pneuma
..5. Poly 2106 (Juno 106 Emulation [!] / Recom.Preset: Carpet Pad Magic)
..6. Oxe FM Synth
..7. Podolski
..8. Cobalt (Warm Pad)
..9. Efemme (Warm Pad)
10. OB-Xd
11. SuperTron (Analog Strings1)
12. Galactix
13. Superwave P8
14. Vital
15. Essence
16. Tyrell N6
17. TAL Noisemaker (+Presets)
18. Surge XT
19. SQ8L (+Presets)
20. Helm
Honorable: Charlatan, Ragnarok, Mono/Fury, Xhip, TAL-U-No-62 (+Presets), MinimogueVA, Stigma
Piano TOP5:
1. Keyzone Classic
2. Piano One
3. 4Front Piano
4. Steinway (HQ Orchestral Soundfont Bank) + SFZ
5. Quite Piano
Honorable: Free Piano 3, DSK Akoustic KeyZ
E-Piano (Classic) TOP5:
1. EP-Station (TOP40 Ballad Preset) [DL on VSTPlanet.com]
2. Legend EP (HQ Orchestral Soundfont Bank) <- has lots of nice E-Piano Presets!
3. EP 2008
4. 4Front E-Piano
5. Lazy Snake
Honorable: Sweetcase Electric-Piano, Dexed (+Presets), Ticky Clav 2, DSK Elektrik KeyZ (Preset: Dreamy Wurly), 4Front Rhode
Synth Strings & Pads TOP20: Note: The Demoversions of "Korg Wavestation" and "Korg M1" have also very decent strings and pads (Drawback: After each 20min you have to reload the plugin, anyway, using them is worth the effort, since they are really good)
..1. Poly 2106 [Juno 106 Emulation!] (Carpet Pad Magic Preset)
..2. Merlin Symphony / WarmPad (Soundfontbank) + SFZ
..3. Dexed (Strings+Pads Presets)
..4. HQ Orchestral Soundfont Bank (Strings+Pads) + SFZ
..5. Oxe FM Synth (Strings Preset)
..6. PG-8X (+Strings Presets)
..7. Lyrical Strings (Single Soundfont) + SFZ
..8. Efemme (WarmPad)
..9. Cobalt (WarmPad)
10. Orpheus Strings (Presets: Cinema Strings + Dark Strings)
11. Proteus VX (Strings Presets)
12. SuperTron (Analog Strings1)
13. Cheeze Machine1+2
14. Crazy Diamonds
15. OB-Xd
16. Nils K1v (Strings Presets)
17. Deputy Mark II
18. Nabla
19. Esline
20. String Theory
Honorable: Spitfire, Tapeotronic, String Synthesizer
Acoustic Strings TOP3:
1. French Violin [!]
2. HQ Orchestral SF Bank / "Acoustic Strings Presets" [!]
3. VSCO2 Orchestra
Honorable: DSK Strings
[Coming up here in next update11 ->] Orgasm Strings:
What the..
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif)
![HiHi :hihi:](./images/smilies/icon_hihi.gif)
![Love :love:](./images/smilies/icon_love.gif)
![Love :love:](./images/smilies/icon_love.gif)
![Smile :-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Acoustic Steel Guitar TOP5:
1. Ample Guitar M-Lite
2. DSK Dynamic Guitars
3. Guitar Acoustic 963kb (Single Soundfont) <- can fit well for rhythm chords (3part harmony)
4. Revitar 2
5. DSK Akoustik GuitarZ
Honorable: Fluid R3 SF Bank (Steel Gt. Preset), HQ Orchestral SF Bank (Steel Gt. Preset), Nils K1v, Proteus VX, Independence Free
Classical / Nylon Guitar TOP5:
1. Spanish Classical Guitar (Single Soundfont) + SFZ (+ Reverb + Guitar Amp)
2. Protrax Classical Guitar (Single Soundfont) + SFZ (+ Reverb + Guitar Amp)
3. Spicy Guitar*
4. Classic GTr Lite (Igal+Std. Preset + OldSchoolVerb)
5. Fluid R3 Soundfont Bank (Nylon Gt. Preset) + SFZ + Reverb
Honorable: Ichiyanagi's Hedsound Classical Guitar (Single Soundfont) + SFZ + Reverb
* (+OldSkoolVerb or Orilriver Reverb + SoftAmp PSA or HyBrit Amp for more realistic & natural classical guitar-sound!!!)
E-Guitar TOP3:
1. VL-1 Eguitar Clean 8MB (Single Sountfont) +TAL Dub3 Delay + SFZ <- as Lead Clean Gt. only
2. Clean Electric Guitar
3. Musyng Distortion Guitar (Single Soundfont) +TAL Dub3 Delay +SFZ <- as Lead Gt. only
Honorable: Free Kontaktplayer, Independence Free (with Free 2 GB Library), DSK Elektrik GuitarZ (+Ambience Reverb / for melody only)
Rompler/Soundware TOP3:
1. Proteus VX
2. Kontakt Player 6 (+Free Kontakt Instr.)
3. Independence Free (+2 GB Free Library)
Honorable: Complete Free, Halion Sonic SE, UVI Workstation, Nils K1v
Sampler TOP3 (Multi Instruments-Sampler): for 'Drums only Sampler' see above
1. Grace
2. TX16Wx
3. Beat Burner
Vocals Simulation TOP5:
1. Clavinova Pan Flute (HQ Orchestral SF Bank)
2. EP-Station (TOP40 Ballad Preset)
3. 4Front Piano
4. Keyzone Classic
5. DSK Electric GuitarZ (+OrilRiver Reverb or Ambience Reverb)
Honorable: VL1 Eguitar Clean 8MB (Single Soundfont), Alter Ego + Marie Ork Voice Bank, Delay Lama
Percussion: SFZ + NTonyx 32MB GM Stereo Bank (Presets: Power Drums, Pop Drums), MT Power Drum Kit 2 (HQ Toms)
Organs: Church Organ 2nd (!!), Combo Model F, Combo Model V, Organized Trio, Dirt Bag
Special Instruments (Other Ins.): DVS Saxophone, Etherealwinds Harp II, Syntar (Sita), Accordion (by Safwan Matni), DSK Brass, VSCO2 Flute
SF2 Soundfontplayer: SFZ (plays both formats in HQ, sf2+sfz), SF-Soundfont
sfz Soundfontplayer: Sforzando (not recommanded as sf2 player though)
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GM Soundfont-Banks TOP5:
1. NTonyx 32 MB GM Stereo
2. HQ Orchestral SF Bank
3. Fluid R3
4. Merlin Symphony
5. SONiVOX
Honorable: Edge Sounds Sonic Bear GM120 Pro, Chorium
DL Links -> http://www.synthzone.com/soundfont.htm
Best free VST 'Demo Synths' TOP3: (with accept.limitations to keep it as free in your DAW)
1. Korg M1 (known for its great E-Piano Presets) <- must be reloaded after every 20min
2. Korg Wavestation (known for its great Strings/Pads) <- must be reloaded after every 20min
3. FM8
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Effect Plugins:
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Reverb: OldSkoolVerb, Ambience, Oril River, Epic Verb, FreeVerb3
Guitar Amp: SoftAmp FM25, SoftAmp PSA, HyBrit, Emissary, Amplitube, Flextron
Bass Amp: SHB-1, TSE Bod
Equalizer: TDR Nova, Luftikus, Marvel GEQ, SonEq, 7Q, Overtone GEQ
Chorus: TAL-Chorus LX, Multiply
Compressor: TDR Kotelnikov (Mastering), Density MKII, DC1A
Limiter: LoudMax, Limiter No6 (Mastering), W1 Limiter
Pitch Correction: GSnap
Delay/Echo: TAL-DUB-2 (or 3), ValhallaFreqEcho
Panorama/Imaging: PanCake
Distortion: Boogex, NRR-1
Saturation: IVGI
Filter: Frohmage
Guitar Tuner: GTune
Virtua Midi Keyboard: Quickeys, Midi Keyboard
Analyser: SPAN
Loudness Analyser: Youlean Loudness Meter
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DAW: Zynewave Podium Free, Waveform Free, Tracktion T7, Cakewalk Sonar, LMMS
Notation Software: MuseScore (!!)
Additional Audio Editors: Audacity (To save your composed Wave Files as mp3 File*)
Audio Codec: Lame* (To convert your saved .wav Files into .mp3 Files / now integrated in all Audacity versions of V3.1.3 and above!)
Audio Tools: ASIO4ALL (A S I O = Audio Stream Input/Output) <- highly recommanded
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HARDWARE (The only stuff here you probably won't get for free):
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Soundcard: ? <- For a good soundcard you should invest at least 100 Euros, if not more!
Great manufactors are: RME, Emu, ESI, Creative, Asus
Speakers: ? <- Make sure your speakers have at least 2 x 16 Watt (50-100 Euros or more)
Recommanded for low budget people: Creative Gigaworks T20 (2 x 14 Watt) for about 70 Euros
Condenser-Microphone (for Vocals): ? <- (100 Euros or more)
Hardware Synthesizer (or Midi Keyboard): ?
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Never underestimate the importance of a good hardware acoustic! Note, that with great acoustic,
you will have better intonation when singing to music, better ideas when composing, much better feeling for creating grooves and beats etc.
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All these VSTs you get for free on KVR Audio or Plugins4Free.com !!
(Best commercial VSTi's suitable for LoveSongs/PopRock: Omnisphere 2, Diva, Korg M1, Korg Wavestation, Roland JV-1080 (Get it on Roland's Cloud), Roland Juno 106, Roland D 50, Roland Jupiter 8 [and 6], Rol. SH-101, Complete, Kontakt Pl., Arturia Jupiter 8 (Altern. to Rolands Jupiter
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
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Note: To make it possible to run 32-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts you need a 32-bit to 64-bit Adapter Tool. The best alternative currently known therefore is: JBridge (Not free at all, but only for 15 Euro's it should be worth the investement)
My style of composing: Sentimental & melodic Lovesongs (composed with a real Classical Guitar), PopRock, Softrock, PopBallads, 90's Eurodance & 90's/80's Pop! You can check out my soundcloud channel here -> https://soundcloud.com/user-926227779
Now let's share our experiences & knowledge we made about free VSTi's that especially are suiting well for PopRock compositions!
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
So, what are your favorites? ..