Top 10 Free Plugins In 2021
Tutorial By: Eric “Realistic” Michael
We all know there are tons of plugins on the market. Some are fairly affordable while other ones are expensive, but did you know that there are plenty of free plugins on the market too? Some of them are pretty great & can be a go-to plugin in your sessions. That’s why we went ahead & broke down our favorite free plugins available right now!
If you’re interested in seeing these plugins in action with a tutorial on how to use each of them, we have a full video on YouTube about them that you can watch here.
Valhalla Super Massive
Valhalla is known for its great reverbs & delays that are either free or very affordable & their latest addition - Super Massive - is one of our favorite plugins. This is not the reverb/delay you want to use when looking for something subtle or playing it safe. This is this reverb/delay you pull up when you want to wreak havoc or create something very unique & out of the ordinary. This plugin is a lot of fun & definitely worth the download.
This plugin can create sweeping reverbs, reverse reverbs & delays, amazing pre-delay effects, & mangled sounds.
Valhalla also has a few other free plugins you can download: Space Modulator & Freq Echo.
Baby Audio - Magic Switch
This is a cool plugin that is easy to use & adds some quick sauce to your audio. This plugin takes one of Baby Audio’s signature effects that you find on most of the plugins & puts it into one simple plugin for you to use all by itself. The Magic Switch is a chorus/slap delay type effect. It has an On/Off switch & a wet/dry mix slider.
Ozone Imager
If you’re into mixing & mastering or even producing, then you have most likely have heard of iZotope’s iconic mastering plugin called Ozone. One of the modulars inside of Ozone is called Imager & iZotope released a free version of that modular. Now the full version inside of Ozone does have more functionality such as multi-band options, but the free one can also get the job done. Imager allows you to expand the overall width of a track. You can also pull the width down & have a more centered sound. One of the best parts of both the full & free versions is the Vectorscope. It tells you if something is out of phase, how out of phase it is, & if something is mono-compatible or not.
Vocal Doubler
Sticking with iZotope plugins, next on our list is their plugin called Vocal Doubler. This plugin is super easy to use & allows you to easily add depth & width to your vocals. You can also use it for other audio sources as well, but its primary use is on vocals & usually for background vocals.
Brainworx BX_Subfilter
Easy to use & perfect for adding more low end to your kicks, bass, & 808 tracks. It’s big brother - BX_Subsynth - is one of our favorite ways to enhance or even add missing sub frequencies to a track. This free version of that plugin gives you all of the juicy ingredients BX_Subsynth has to offer. Allowing you to add more punch & enhance the low-end on a kick or bass track.
BPD Saturator
We love distortion & saturation, so the fact that there’s a free saturation plugin out there is awesome to us! A clean interface & easy to use, this plugin allows you to add either tube-like, tape-like saturation, or both at the same time! There are also high-pass & low-pass filters on this plugin to allow you to clean up or shape the sound
OTT
Probably one of the most famous free plugins out there - OTT is a re-creation of a popular aggressive multiband upwards/downwards compressor set-up that was made using Ableton’s multi-band compressor. What makes OTT so great is that it allows you to do upward & downward compression at the same time on each band. By doing this you can really add a massive amount of energy to any sound instantly.
iZotope Vinyl
Another free plugin by iZotope, Vinyl is actually their first ever plugin & has been out for a long time. We put it on our 2021 list though because recently they revamped the whole GUI for the first time ever & it looks awesome! They also added a few more controls as well. Vinyl allows you to add the sound of a vinyl record to any audio source like the crackle & dusty noise vinyl records are known to have. Each vinyl quality is selectable & allows you to individually control it. You can choose the amount of dust, scratch, mechanical, electrical, & warp noises. There are also options to choose the style of the vinyl sound (by decade) & some cool Lo-Fi & spin-down effects.
BitterSweet
Bittersweet is a transient designer & allows you to increase or decrease the attack on the transients. These types of plugins are great for drums & even 808s. Dialing the knob to “Sweet” softness the transients & reduces the attack; whereas “Bitter” enhances the attack & allows the transients to cut through even more!
YouLean Loudness Meter
If you get into mastering at all, then you already know how important it is to have a LUFS meter. A lot of the LUFS meters on the market can be expensive or not that great to use. That’s why we’re so impressed with YouLean - not only offering a great LUFS meter - but one that’s free! There’s an upgrade version you can purchase for under $50 - but honestly - the free version offers more than enough to get the job done. For a while now, the music industry has adopted the LUFS meter as to how they measure loudness. Especially for streaming services because LUFS does a much better job at analyzing the perceived loudness than an RMS or VU meter will do. YouLean allows you to see the LUFS & the True Peak Max value in a great-looking interface!
MUSIC MAKERS
SoundOracle - Owner
SoundOracle (Sound Designer for Timbaland, whose sounds have been heard in over 20 Grammy award-winning songs by artists like Drake, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, and more)
Connect with Oracle:
Instagram: SoundOracle
Twitter: SoundOracle
Youtube: SoundOracle
Realistic Production - Engineer
Realistic is a Producer/Engineer located in Atlanta, GA specializing in Hip-Hop, R&B & Pop music. Realistic has been involved in the music industry for over 15 years. He has worked on projects for Talib Kweli, Just Blaze, Musiq Soulchild, Pharoahe Monch, NBA 2k, Skyzoo, BJ The Chicago Kid, Madlib, Ayo-N-Keyz, Billboard Hitmakers, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Rhymesayers, Hamburger Helper, & LoveOfPharaoh.
CONNECT WITH REALISTIC
IG: @RealisticProductions
Twitter: @Realistic_Pro
FB: @RealisticProductionsLLC
Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, etc. - https://fanlink.to/bwW5
Courses
Courses from soundoracle.net give music producers the resources, information, and techniques they need to take their music careers to the next level. It doesn't matter if you're genres are hip hop, R&B, pop, trap, or boom-bap our courses have you covered.
PIANO FOR PRODUCERS
Everything You Need to Know About Hip Hop and Trap Music Theory, the Formulas To Hit Records, and How to Create Them Instantly
It is NOT another boring course on piano fundamentals & long winded theory talk.
It is NOT about just about teaching you scales and chord progressions - yet you will learn about these things, but on a deeper level than you could have ever imagined and your beats and songs will sound BETTER than they've ever sounded before.
It is NOT a course set up to have you just clone chords and melodies that someone else has done to make hit records. This course will give you the fundamentals and an understanding of how to quickly and easily create hit records yourself.
What’s included:
🎹 Over 55 videos of modern piano techniques
🎹 Over 6 hours of content
🎹 PDF guides to follow along
🎹 Chord & Scale cheat sheets
🎹 Techniques about trap melodies, bass lines, & modern chord progressions.
🎹 In-depth lessons from a renowned instructor with a full master degree in piano composition
🎹 Videos discussing & teaching the styles & musicality commonly used in Modern Hip-Hop, R&B, & Trap Music
🎹Original piano loops composed by Lokii The Composer himself
THE ART OF BEAT MIXING
Our new online video course dropped last week & since then we have been flooded with orders!
The Art Of Beat Mixing is filled with industry mixing secretes like the simple drum summing technique that can get your kicks and snares to smack 10x BETTER INSTANTLY. SoundOracle used this summing technique on the Nicki Minaj & Mario song "Somebody Else". It works so well that the track didn't even need a baseline or an 808. The drums were that powerful!
The Art Of Beat Mixing is a full length video course with over 5 hours of content provided by a professional certified engineer! With 15 chapters packed into this course, each video gives you detailed visual guides on mixing your beats from start to finish.
What's included?
- Over 5 hours of expert techniques
- Mixing cheat sheets in PDF form
- An easy to understand, concise layout
- Small, digestible chapters with quick access to the info you need
- Everything you need to know to mix your beats professionally
THE ART OF VOCAL MIXING
Producers, beat makers, engineers, & artists - the perfect video course for guaranteeing your vocals have amazing professional quality is finally here!
Gone will be the days of your vocal mixes being cursed by muddiness, clipping, & lack of clarity.
The Art Of Vocal Mixing is a full length video course with over 14 hours of content provided by a professional certified engineer! With 20 chapters packed into this course, each video gives you detailed visual guides on mixing your vocals from start to finish.
You’ll learn how to achieve incredible vocal mixes with brilliantly designed short, easy to understand videos breaking down the entire process of mixing vocals professionally. Each stage of the mixing process has its own video making it easy to find the information you want to know, when you want it.
What's included?
- Over 150 high quality tutorial videos
- Over 14 hours of expert techniques
- Useful mixing guides in PDF form
- An easy to understand, concise layout
- A beautifully designed interface
- Small, digestible chapters with quick access to the info you need
- Everything you need to know to mix your vocals professionally
- A bonus sound kit made by SoundOracle himself!
THE ART OF MASTERING
Everything You Need To Know In Order To Perfectly Master Records With Any DAW And The Plugins You Already Have
It is NOT just another mastering course that uses vague information that wastes your time and money.
It is NOT about just balancing the volume levels - yet this will happen as a result of using these secrets
and your beats and songs will sound BETTER than they've ever sounded before.
It is NOT just about showing you what settings to dial in - every project and every song is different. This course will easily explain the knowledge you need to know what to "dial in" in any situation.
What's Included...
Over 9 Hours Of Expert Techniques
Get years of experience & hundreds of thousands of dollars of education all packed into this professional, affordable course.
Mastering Cheat Sheets In PDF Form
These guides will come in clutch when you need to reference information quickly or are in a pinch when you’re not able to watch a video.
Easy To Understand, Concise Layout
Not only is the information easy to understand, the chapters are laid out in concise bite size format for quick reference to a specific technique whenever you need it.
THE ART OF BEAT MIXING
Our new online video course dropped last week & since then we have been flooded with orders!
The Art Of Beat Mixing is filled with industry mixing secretes like the simple drum summing technique that can get your kicks and snares to smack 10x BETTER INSTANTLY. SoundOracle used this summing technique on the Nicki Minaj & Mario song "Somebody Else". It works so well that the track didn't even need a baseline or an 808. The drums were that powerful!
The Art Of Beat Mixing is a full length video course with over 5 hours of content provided by a professional certified engineer! With 15 chapters packed into this course, each video gives you detailed visual guides on mixing your beats from start to finish.
What's included?
- Over 5 hours of expert techniques
- Mixing cheat sheets in PDF form
- An easy to understand, concise layout
- Small, digestible chapters with quick access to the info you need
- Everything you need to know to mix your beats professionally
THE ART OF VOCAL MIXING
Producers, beat makers, engineers, & artists - the perfect video course for guaranteeing your vocals have amazing professional quality is finally here!
Gone will be the days of your vocal mixes being cursed by muddiness, clipping, & lack of clarity.
The Art Of Vocal Mixing is a full length video course with over 14 hours of content provided by a professional certified engineer! With 20 chapters packed into this course, each video gives you detailed visual guides on mixing your vocals from start to finish.
You’ll learn how to achieve incredible vocal mixes with brilliantly designed short, easy to understand videos breaking down the entire process of mixing vocals professionally. Each stage of the mixing process has its own video making it easy to find the information you want to know, when you want it.
What's included?
- Over 150 high quality tutorial videos
- Over 14 hours of expert techniques
- Useful mixing guides in PDF form
- An easy to understand, concise layout
- A beautifully designed interface
- Small, digestible chapters with quick access to the info you need
- Everything you need to know to mix your vocals professionally
- A bonus sound kit made by SoundOracle himself!