Best of the rest
We’ve covered a whole lotta freeware already, but there’s so much more for hunters of zero-cost music software to discover – here’s a rapid-fire round-up of our other faves of 2016
MATTHIEU BRUCHER ATKCOLORED COMPRESSOR & ATKCOLORED EXPANDER
Compressors and expanders are indispensable tools for the modern producer. Some of the most coveted and costly plugins are those that emulate classic analogue dynamics processors, and thanks to developers like Matthieu Brucher, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get your hands on some good ones. Sequels to his previous offerings, these dynamics devices bring you classic compression and expansion with all the function and facility you’d expect, such as Attack and Release controls, adjustable Threshold and Makeup gain knobs. Additionally, you’ll find Quality and, significantly, Color parameters that enable you to dial in some analogue-esque mojo. They’re cross-platform, and available in VST and AU formats.
matt.eifelle.com
MAXSYNTHS: LIBERATED
While most of our winners’ circle is occupied by cross-platform creations, we couldn’t let these Windows-based instruments and effects slip by without a mention. MaxSynths have made their entire previously paid-for product range free, due to the difficulty in maintaining support. That means you can now get superb synthesisers like the three-oscillator Chrysalis and the analoguestyle Latte, along with bombastic beatboxes like the DR-910 and the Simmons-inspired Simon Bassdrum, not to mention DSP-2 Vocal, a dynamite dynamics processor, and the DSP-3 Bus compressor. These are just a few of the plugins on offer – if you make music on a Windows machine, you owe it to yourself to check them out and donate if you like them. www.maxsynths.com
AUDIFIED STA PHASER
Audified have made a name for themselves meticulously recreating the sound of analogue circuits and offering them for very reasonable prices. Their STA Effects bundle is a case in point. A killer quintet of effects comprising modulation and enhancement, their key feature is the developer’s STA technology. STA stands for Summing Tube Amplifier, and it’s designed to add the sort of nonlinear distortion found on classic hardware processors that’s so beloved of mixing and mastering engineers.
Though the STA Effects bundle is ridiculously inexpensive, Audified have elected to make one of the collection’s effects available for free. STA Phaser is, as the name implies, a phaser effect. In addition to the Summing Tube Amplifier part, STA Phaser provides all the features you’d expect from a decent phaser, including control over Speed, Width and Intensity. There are some modern niceties in there, too, such as the ability to choose between four different modulation waveforms, a Tap tempo button and a ‘Wet Only’ function for those times when you need to strap the effect across an auxiliary rather than on an insert, as is usual.
The phasing effect is pleasant enough, but we’re not going to hedge: we’re recommending this one on the strength of that STA algorithm. www.audified.com
MELDAPRODUCTION MCHANNELMATRIX
Despite there being over two dozen plugins included in MeldaProduction’s MFreeEffectsBundle already, new offerings are added to it every couple of months on average, so the collection is well worth checking out – even if you’re not strapped for cash.
MChannelMatrix is a perfect example of MeldaProduction’s approach to plugin design, combining utility with ingenuity. Created to give you full control over your main and sidechain inputs, MChannelMatrix is all about flexibility, allowing you to perform such tasks as swapping left and right channels or siphoning only one channel of a stereo sidechain.
MeldaProduction’s plugins aren’t without a few quirks – despite the customisable interface, they all share a fairly generic design, regardless of whether that design is appropriate to the plugin at hand. Yet such oddities only add to their charm. Go on, fire up MChannelMatrix and see what we mean!
www.meldaproduction.com
KLEVGRäND SVEP
A casual perusal of these pages makes it quite clear that retro styling is all the rage with musicians and developers alike. There are scads of instruments and effects that emulate hardware. Some aim to clone famous pieces of kit, while others seek only to recreate the user interface in digital form. This allows newcomers to desktop production to work within familiar confines, which speeds up workflow and eases the learning curve. However, we can’t help but champion those who cut a different path, eschewing the familiar paradigms for something new, exciting and potentially inspiring – something that couldn’t exist in the world of hardware. Svep is one such product.
At its heart, Svep is a modulation processor that performs the same sorts of effects that you’d achieve using a phaser or chorus effect. However, it’s Svep’s interface that sets it apart. Rather than faux brushed aluminium or pixel- perfect recreations of Rogan knobs, Svep offers a large, friendly and tactile interface all but free of labels. There’s a stereo link button and a slider each for mono/stereo and dry/wet mix, but all effects parameters are controlled by dialling in and around two large concentric circles (one for each channel), the inner circle of which breaks into multiple tendrils that represent the modulation speed.
We’ve described Svep as “tactile” for a reason: it’s available for iPad as well as desktop computers, though only the desktop incarnation is free.
www.klevgrand.se
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS STEM CREATOR
Standards. As musicians and producers, we depend on them. From S/PDIF to MIDI, standards allow us to interconnect and interact, and that makes us more productive. Few of us can predict which technologies will be accepted as standards. We here at Computer Music have been around long enough to remember the heady days before standard plugin formats like VST and AU. We’ve seen hardware standards such as PCI and Firewire 400 replaced by Thunderbolt and USB 3, both of which will doubtless one day be replaced by something better, faster and even more convenient.
We’ve used them, we’ve loved them and occasionally we’ve cursed them, but we still welcome them, so it’s always of note when a developer attempts to introduce a new standard. Take, for instance, Native Instruments’ Stem files. Not to be confused with (but related to) the plain ol’ stereo stems that have become standard among audio engineers worldwide, NI’s Stem files are intended for DJs and remixers who need a portable format for the various components of a track. An NI Stem consists of four stereo submixes (say, bass, drums, lead, and vocals), along with a Master stereo mix and various information pertinent to the track – album title, artist, genre, etc.
In order to facilitate their new Stem format, NI have made available the free Stem Creator tool, with which the files are made. A Stem development toolkit has been promised for some time, too. Will we be trading Stem files in ten years time? Your guess is as good as ours!
www.stems-music.com