Looking to use the festive period to focus on some music-making? Here are our favourite free plugins released in 2024.
Over the years, we’ve compiled lists of the free plugins that we think do an amazing job, be that for mixing and mastering, digital guitar tones or just straight up weirdness.
With so many options out there, we were looking around to see what people rated in 2024, but so many lists are of free plugins that have been out for years. So, we felt it was only right to shine a light on some of the new additions that really stuck with us.
Our favourite free plugins released in 2024
- Somerville Sounds
- Sunburnt
- Bassliner Beta
- ZYKLØP
- Poltergeist
- Sampl'd
1. Somerville Sounds Prototypes
Compatible with: Windows, macOS
We’re starting with a collection of four different plugins released this year by Somerville Sounds; a new venture by Jon Meyer who many of you may be familiar with thanks to his back catalogue of sample libraries.
Somerville Sounds’ definitely taps into the more cinematic and atmospheric side of things, and we’ll let you dig into each of their free releases for the details. Here are just some quick thoughts on why we love each so much.
- The Meyer Choir - A wholesome origin story that pairs excellently with other vocal libraries
- Antiquarian Echoes - Simply beautiful and atmospheric pad sounds
- Rubber Bridge Plucks - Very understated, but with some amazing textures
- Dusty Felts - We’re suckers for a felt piano VST, and this one is 👌
These plugins are all pay what you want, so if you have the means to chip in when downloading, it’ll be a huge help at such an early stage for the company.
Head to Somerville Sounds to find out more.
2. Sunburnt
Developer: Unplug.red
Compatible with: Windows, macOS, Linux
Known for creating both striking user interfaces and solid plugins, Unplug.red added Sunburnt to their roster in 2024. The plugin allows you to draw your reverb curve to create a range of different sounds. The convolution controls are pretty extensive, and as a result, the plugin may eat up a good chunk of your CPU. If it becomes a problem, increasing the buffer size may help.
Head to the Unplug.red website to download and find out more.
3. Bassliner (Beta)
Developer: Dreamwave, CableGuys
Compatible with: Windows, macOS
In a year dominated by AI-driven tools, Bassliner is a breath of fresh air. Created by Alex AKA Dreamwave, the plugin generates MIDI basslines for electronic music. The plugin is the result of Alex’s extensive development of algorithms based on his scientific research, plus a helping hand from the team at CableGuys.
You can choose to generate a pattern ‘Just for you’, which will be unique to you or ‘From the pool’, which will be a pattern that is available to other users. By using the ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ feature, it will enable Alex to refine the algorithm and omit any patterns that don’t resonate with users.
It’s super simple to use and great for sparking new ideas or breaking through a creative block. While it’s been developed to help with writing basslines, it can be used for riffs on any number of instruments.
An email address is required to join the Bassliner Beta and an internet connection is required when using the plugin. For full information head to CableGuys’ website.
4. ZYKLØP
Developer: Dawesome
Compatible with: Windows, macOS
ZYKLØP is a free, feature-limited version of the impressive Myth Synthesiser that Dawesome released earlier this year. Using a machine-learning-based resynthesis core, ZYKLØP creates a suite of sonic variations that you can then tailor to your liking.
Using what Dawesome calls the ‘iris’ to visually represent your audio sample, you can playback in one of four different modes: wave, soft, grain, and flat. Combined with a frankly insane number of parameters and no limits on what type of audio source you feed it, ZYKLØP is a huge amount of fun to play with.
There’s no faff involved with downloading ZYKLØP either. Just head to Dawesome’s website, choose your version and start playing.
5. Poltergeist
Developer: EffectiveFX
Compatible with: Windows, macOS
Our penultimate favourite plugin of 2024 is from EffectiveFX. Created by solo developer Ross Wallgren over a period of five years, Poltergeist is a multi-stage modulation plugin that takes your audio to some pretty crazy places. That being said, Poltergeist can also be applied in the most subtle of ways to great effect.
Head to EffectiveFX’s website for more information and to download Poltergeist.
6. Sampl'd
Developer: Black & Gold Audio
Compatible with: Windows, macOS
Our final favourite plugin of 2024 comes from our friends at Black & Gold Audio, set up by ex-dBs lecturer Si Gordon.
Sampl'd is a collection of free virtual instruments inspired by recording sessions, sounds of different cultures that Si has visited and perhaps most bizarrely, the tone from his wife's electric toothbrush.
Geared towards media composition, these free virtual instruments offer some fantastically varied sounds to experiment with. There's even a pack of bespoke internal and external acoustic reverbs.
Head to the Sampl'd page on the Black & Gold Audio website to find out more. A free account must be created in order to download any of the plugins.
Hungry for more free plugins? We've got a whole archive of recommendations to check out.
