THE BEST FREEWARE PLUGINS

It seems with each passing year, the number of exceptional free plugins, DAWs, instruments, tools and services increases tenfold. With such a rich field to harvest, we know how overwhelming it can be to know just where to begin when collecting free music-making software – and avoiding that feeling that your precious hard drive space is being clogged by software that you’re never likely to actually use. Luckily Computer Music is on hand to help, with some carefully considered groupings of the very best – and genuinely useful – free swag that you can download this very day…

The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ has long held water, particularly in a music production context. But, casting our eyes upon the vast expanse of mixing tools, instruments, synths, drum machines, DAWs and the like that we’re now able to take without shedding a coin, reveals that today our industry is bursting with generous folk, less motivated by premium prices, and driven instead by passion and inventiveness. The fruits of these creators’ altruistic free-wares have evolved beyond the simple and disposable. One only has to look at such expansive free synths as the DX7-inspired, open-source Dexed, the sumptuous analogue-like warmth of u-he’s Tyrell N6, or the subtractive hybrid engines that lay in the mighty Surge, to realise that not only are you getting bang for no bucks these days, but that any of the above could easily form the bedrock of a release-ready track.