Many composers rely on a variety of sound libraries to achieve realistic-sounding music, as well as far-out and otherworldly soundscapes. Many of the libraries and plugins come in the form of VSTs, or Virtual Studio Technologies, and most cost a lot of money. However, there are some fascinating free VST plugins too.
Plugins and sample libraries
There are some great plugins and sample libraries out there. For example, I am a huge fan of the EastWest orchestral samples, and I actually like the Logic Pro X studio instruments that come standard with it.
I discovered a goldmine of unique, professional quality, and extremely discounted sample libraries and plugins at VSTBuzz.com. Here are a few of their free VST plugins as of now on their Freebies page. I haven’t tried these, and these are more niche, but I think they might appeal to those with experimental composition tendencies.
After all, there are enough articles online showcasing mainstream samples! There are also some “normal” free VST plugins, such as Carpenter Trombone and pocketBlakus Cello (these are two solo-instrument libraries available).
Enjoy this list of some of the unique libraries that caught my attention!
-Dan
Please note that some of the freebies require Kontakt, the full version (not just the player). However, the Freebies page has a variety of libraries that don’t require the full version of Kontakt (or Kontakt at all).
Don’t forget to check out more articles on Composer’s Toolbox covering the technology of music composition, and specifically music notation software.
Unique VST finds for Experimental Composers
Strashed – Free VST
How do you make a Fender Stratocaster scream? Try taking a saw to it, knocking on it with a wrench, or hitting it with a hammer! From the headstock to the springs of the bridge, every part of the guitar was explored to create a very unique library.
Strashed is a collection of high quality percussive sounds recorded from various methods of destroying the guitar. Never mind the violence though, many of these samples are super warm, organic, and perfectly textured for acoustic music and tracks that compliment the natural sound of wood and metal.
Rosinspiel – Free VST
The Rosinspiel is glockenspiel played with a bow instead of being struck with a mallet. The result is an unusual, silky sounding instrument with an almost ethereal string like sound.
The staccato samples sound like a celeste with a softer attack, while the sustains sound like a glass harmonica with slight bow noise. Rosinspiel’s samples are tuned to match OrchestralTools’ The Glock.
Wooden Percussion – Free VST
Want to add a different percussive sound to your tracks? Pretty sure not many people use planks in their music!
Wooden Percussion was recorded by smacking wooden decking planks together. The result is a cool organic, wooden percussive sound (with 4 round robins). It is great for underscore, or even indie music!
Punching Percussion – Free VST
Punching Percussion is an impressive set of raw fist punch and stick hit recordings. The samples are post-processed into fat sounding slams and punches, body hits, fight sounds and modern cinematic impacts.
The included samples can work great as fighting sound effects for movies or video and audio production. They are also great as straight-up percussive hits and impact sounds for music production purposes.
Cling Film Frame Drums – Free VST
Cling Film Frame Drums was recorded by sampling multiple hits of cling film over a bowl with dinner’s leftovers in it.
However, leave the image of leftovers behind. This library has a nice, deep sound that works perfectly for cinematic, underscore and ethnic music. In fact, it sounds in many ways like a high pitched tom or bongo drum.
