Price: FREE
Product Link: here
Rating: 5/5 bloops (amazing)

If you’ve been reading the info on this site by now you’ll get the fact that i am into things that are free. As a case and point that free is not bad, this review is about the wonderful free synth Automat, by the elusive developer group, Alphakanal.

Automat is a 3 oscillator subtractive synth that has 7 waveforms to choose from, including sample playback for each of the waveforms. Each oscillator’s portamento can be set individually as can it’s tone, volume and pan.

There are 2 filter sections per patch with 16 different types of filter to choose from, and each filter’s type can be set individually. Types include low pass, high pass, band pass, vowel and more. That is hot. For free.

The synth also includes an effects section, with chorus, delay, phase and other time based sfx available. Automat also has the ability to use alternate tunings! Pythagorean your cup of tea? No problem. Ganassi your preferred tuning? Not a problem at all.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, the real secret weapon of this beast is the modulation section. Modulations can control just about every aspect of the synth, including pitch, filter, resonance, and panning. In one of the versions the modulations can even control themselves. Amazing.

If you’ve heard any of my work (space madness in particular) you’ve heard the Automat. I really use this in just about *every* track. It has to be one of the most versatile and amazing synths available, at any price. Don’t sleep on this. Head over to Alphakanal and get on it.

Price: FREE
Product Link: here
Rating: 4.5 bloops

Just as with movies and music, music production has it’s classics as well. When you think classic console you think Neve. When you think classic compressor LA-2A comes to mind. When you think classic sampler Fairlight is right there. And, when you think “classic really cool off the wall free plugins”, Destroy FX comes to mind.

Part of the smartelectronix.com software development coalition, the super destroy fx
cover a wide range of effects, including delay & pitch shifing the likes of which you have never experienced before in transverb (used in the classic OS2 track on Hobby Industries) to the bit crushing and drop-frame-non-dithering sample rate reductions of geometer. See screen shots below.

Geometer

Geometer ripping up some sound making it happier. Similar Pluggo’s Fragulator yet different at the same time. Something like the difference between Coke and Pepsi yet not at all.

Transverb

Pitch shifting delay goodness with randomize and “tomsound”. This is one of those plugins that makes a wide variety of sounds. When running vocals through it it can make you sound like Darth Vader or Alvin and the Chipmunks, both on a 10 sleepless caffeine binge of course. Sort of like a tape delay that does massive 12 octave pitch shifting with a really long playback loop, but at the same time not at all. This seems to be a common theme here.

*Tip* - When using on an EFX send be sure to turn the “dry mix” slider all the way down. There really is no need to have the dry signal coming through on the EFX buss.

Both of these fine free plugins are available as AU and VST for Macintosh and as VST for the good ole PC.

Michael Norris’ Soundmagic Spectral AU Plugins

Price: FREE
Product Link: here
Site Link: here
Rating: 4.5 bloops

For those of you that make music, here is a collection of really amazing plugins to do some really fantastic spectral processing. Take that MAX/MSP! They take a little getting used to, and are a little processor intensive (read as: freeze tracks when done tweaking) but they make some truly amazing and unique sounds. Drones, pitch shifting, spectral smearing just to name a few. Visit his site for more screenshots, sound examples and all the info you will need about these amazing plugins.And oh, for those of you that remember, Michael is the person that developed those amazing plugins “Soundmagic EFX” back in the day. Nice to see that he has continued to develop software. He is also a composer, a photographer and other assorted cool things. If you visit his site you will see all the amazing software and projects that he is sharing with us. Thank you Michael!