With coronavirus forcing many of us to bunker down, there is perhaps no better time than now to live out the dream as a genius-recluse and hone your music production skills.
As a result, we’ve scoured the internet for generous software developers answering the call during this period of isolation. We found a bunch of smoking hot deals, most of them being completely free, if not dirt cheap. Here are 10 of our favourites for you to explore, and hopefully fall into a sonically-charged trance until normalcy returns.
Part 9 of our CTII series points out 10 free (or dirt cheap) music production programs for the bunkered down musos out there.
Native Instruments – Analog Dreams (Freebie)
The folks over at Native Instruments have offered up their synth plug-in, Analog Dreams. Emulate the sweeping pads and pulsating bass that typified the analog synthesisers of the 80s. It requires the latest version of KONTAKT PLAYER, which is also available for free here.
HoRNet – SW34EQ MK2 (Freebie)
Keeping with the 80s theme, HoRNet is giving away its analog equaliser until April 3. Simply checkout with the code SW34EQMK2FREE and sculpt your sounds into the adonis they deserve to be.
Bobeats Samples & Loops – Sonic Solitude (Freebie)
Bobeats are giving away a sample pack, Socic Solitude, featuring over 200 drum sounds comprised of analog and processed hits. There is also a healthy dose of sound effects and bleep bloops included. It’s a pay-what-you-want situation, you can pay $0 if your guilty conscience never gets the best of you.
Six Bit Deep – 909 Sample Pack (Freebie)
Six Bit Deep are offering a 909 drum machine sample pack. It features over 112 one-shot sounds captured from an original 909. It’s typically priced at about $40, however, it’s only available for free until March 27, so you’ll have to act fast.
KONTAKT – Retrowave (Cheapie)
The Retrowave marks the first ‘cheapie’ on the list, but for good reason. It is perhaps the largest synthwave sample library from KONTAKT, featuring over 8000 samples and 105 instruments. Additionally, it has been slashed from around $130 to a measly $50.
Standalone Music – Stay At Home (Freebie)
These guys get it. “What do you do when you’re stuck at home cause there’s a pandemic going on outside? Easy: Make music!”
Standalone Music are giving away $160 worth of samples and presets for nothing, purely in the interest of keeping people at home. The pack includes over 1.2 GB of royalty free content ripe for the picking.
Sample Magic – Principle Pleasure Studios (Freebie)
UK producer Sharooz has released over 1GB worth of analog synth samples via his music production company, Sample Magic. The samples are available for use on all DAWs, but an account with WeTransfer is required to download them. The offer will also expire on March 31st, get in quick!
Two Notes – Torpedo Wall of Sound (Freebie)
The guys over at Two Notes are gifting their speaker-cab simulator for free. The Tornado Wall of Sound mimics the sonic behaviour of classic amplifiers. Meanwhile, it captures the infinite variations in microphone placement and room size.
Polyverse – Manipulator (Cheapie)
Polyverse have heavily discounted their vocal processor, the Manipulator, until the 30th of March. You can warp your vocals (or other monophonic audio signals) in unprecedented ways, creating some truly unique sounds. Normally valued at $250, you can grab it for about $165.
Neunaber – Wet Reverberator (Cheapie)
Guitar pedal visionaries, Neunaber, have halved the price of their Wet Reverberator plugin. Achieve spacious but clear echoes through an algorithm with more than a decade’s worth of refinement. Marked down from $170 to $85.
