New plug in recommendations

[Armistice]

OK, so now I've completed the album (I'll do a release post once the streaming stuff gets sorted...) it's time to have a look at the system and get some new interesting stuff onboard.

I was going to do a full system upgrade and get a new PC, but perhaps not yet, it's still ticking along OK, perhaps there's another album in it yet.

Anyone got any recommendations for FREE (of course) plugs that might be useful? In particular I've decided that reverbs and compressors that actually do something other than compress (I really only seem to have ReaComp and one other one I never use) could be interesting to play around with.

But open to suggestions on anything useful. Has to handle Win7/64 bit though, which, if it's just a .dll file, shouldn't be a problem. No dongles/registration/crippleware...

Hit me...

[CrowsofFritz]

Analog Obsession. Great plugs made by a single guy modeling analog gear. They’re free on his patreon, though I do give him a donation by subscribing really quick and then unsubscribe after downloading a plug-in.

The ONLY bad thing about it is that if you download an update of his, any project in which you used that plugin, the plugins and the settings that were on it will be missing. So if you have a plug-in from his working, I wouldn’t download an update.

[rayc]

Modern Deathcore is REALLY good...clamps hard if needed, colours the sound as needed and a freebie -a "distressor" clone without being a 100% copy.
VOLA2 as a nice little last piece of the chain to level vocals and bass.
PSP Vintage Warmer 2 if you can find the freebie is very nice for a little faux tape saturation.
The JS Spectrum Matcher is a def. winner for me as I was able to find something/someone to fill in the missing tones for a more rounded vocal.
That one comes as part of a bundle & I suspect there're other excellent things in it - all free via Reaper Stash.

[JD01]

I found the analogue obsession ones really unstable.

Modern Deathcore is good.

[Armistice]

I tell you, trying to work out which button / link to click on to get your freebie and which sends you off on an endless journey of other crap can be challenging. Modern Deathcore has been downloaded, thanks @rayc.

Tracking down the others....

[rayc]

...trying to work out which button / link to click on to get your freebie and which sends you off on an endless journey of other crap can be challenging.

Ah, the traps n tricks associated with the internet's version of "free".

[Armistice]

Hey @rayc - I've found the Spectrum Matcher JS thingy and am learning about how to install JS plug ins, but haven't actually done it yet.

My question, without having looked at the thing yet but based on what you've said previously, is about where you got your base vocal you're trying to match to - I know you started with Joe Mizzi but you seem to have found something your prefer over Joe - but where do you find the raw materials?

[Tadpui]

I don't remember the last truly free VST that I installed that wasn't from a company that required an account. There aren't a whole lot of developers out there today that are making VSTs just out of the kindness of their pure little golden hearts. It's worth finding a couple of brands that you know and trust and wait for limited time deals and giveaways around various holidays. MusicRadar is pretty good about alerting on freebies throughout the year.

Back in the early days there were a few "HR famous" freebies that we all had, but that was so long ago I can't imagine that they'd still be friendly with more modern operating systems. Kjaerhaus, Voxengo, Melda, Blue Cat, Camel Audio, Variety of Sound...those were all ones that we all had. I haven't kept up to see if any of those brands kept making or updating their stuff over the years.

It'd be worth getting an account for at least Plugin Alliance, Sound Toys and Waves, since they tend to give stuff away throughout the year and you can snatch up a few good quality freebies if your timing/luck is good.

Trying to think of the freebies that I grabbed during limited-time deals this year, but my memory is such that some of these may have been the previous year:
- Ozone Elements
- SoundToys Little Plate
- Plugin Alliance Ampeg SVTVR Classic
- Waves TrueVerb
- Waves Lil Tube

Those are all very good quality plugins, although the only ones I use regularly are the Ampeg and the Plate reverb.

[rayc]

Hey @rayc - I've found the Spectrum Matcher JS thingy and am learning about how to install JS plug ins, but haven't actually done it yet.

My question, without having looked at the thing yet but based on what you've said previously, is about where you got your base vocal you're trying to match to - I know you started with Joe Mizzi but you seem to have found something your prefer over Joe - but where do you find the raw materials?

Apart from the vocals I had in old projects in the computer I went to utub, typed in "isolated vocal" and then auditioned a BIG bundle of them. If there were minimal or no artefacts in the audio, (& I mean minimal as it no reverb if possible and not evidence that it was an amateur isolation with an "app" stuff), I downloaded them, converted them to .wav and created a new track in the project to created the profile. After a couple I ended up making a Reaper template that had a single track and the software installed so I could do it in batches.
There are various sites on the net that have other vocals. I found Utub's were reasonable quality and quite a range of singers.
I did the same for drums ...mind you that's slightly harder as there are many "cover" drum tracks out there so read carefully before downloading.
I needed a YouTube downloader and a ripper that could create a .wav from the MP4.
If you are inclined I can send you a bundle of said vocals via WeTransfer. I'd send the profile files but I haven't been able to discover where they've been stored...there's no location option in the SM dialogue.

[musicturtle]

I have used this reverb before and liked it...OrilRiver

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/orilri ... is-tihanov

[rayc]

Here's a link to both drum and vocal isolated files in .wav. Beware Beatles files they're always compromised. A couple of the files in the folders have intros or something happening between verses etc. It's a simple matter to cut those out or select regions of just vocal to profile. There aren't many vocal tracks as I searched for those voice that were rich in the things I lack. Drums - heaps of them as I can never tell what sort of song I'll write and how bad the BIAB drum track is.
Anyone else who wants them go for it...they'll de automatically zapped in a week though.
https://we.tl/t-upvSy7G5fZ

vox.JPG

drumbz.JPG