Five free creative compressors

Audio Damage Rough Rider

This scrumptious plugin has been around for a few years, but it’s still one of the best freeware compressors for aggressive drum bus pumping and “atom-bomb squish”. There’s no dry/wet mix parameter per se, but you can automate the Active (bypass) switch to blend it in. www.audiodamage.com

Vladg/Sound Molot

This vibe-laden dynamics device combines M/S compression, saturation, mid-scooping EQ, sidechaining and peak limiting, providing coloured compression and warmth. It’s not the most intuitive or easy-to-use compressor out there, so be prepared to read the manual. vladgsound.wordpress.com

Klanghelm DC1A

This free, cut-down version of the developer’s commercial DC8C compressor is a must-have tool for assertive levelling and creative squashing. There are only two knobs (Input and Output), but you can dial in program-dependent compression and saturation in a flash, and choose from four compression styles. www.klanghelm.com

MeldaProduction MCompressor

Designed to cover all of your compression needs, MCompressor is one of the many stars of their MFreeEffectsBundle. This all-rounder also gives you customisable gain reduction curves, razor-sharp visualisation, sidechain high- and low-pass filtering, intelligent gain compensation, output limiting and more. www.meldaproduction.com

Klanghelm MJUC jr

Based on classic ‘variable-mu’ compressors, this cost-free squasher eschews complexity in favour of analogue vibe and charm. There’s only basic Compress and Make-Up controls to tweak, and three preset attack/release settings (Slow, Fast and Auto), so you’ll be slamming vocals and pumping drum busses in no time. www.klanghelm.com