10 EPIC Free Synth Plugins You Need for Sound Design 🎹

[@igodplus9497]

thank you you fucking nerd

[@diom00]

wow he pinned your comment the first day that you commented, half a year after the video came out what a legend

[@babisial7638]

🤓

[@ileryon4019]

We live in a society

[@theexile1155]

You were predestined to be different(Romans 8:29), he who has an ear to hear, let him hear(Mark 4:9). HALLELUYAH!(PRAISE YE YAH!)

[@diom00]

@@theexile1155 stfu

[@danilyaster]

1:54 - Surge 3:54 - Dexed 5:36 - Pendulate 7:33 - Exakt Lite 10:01 - OB-Xd 12:36 - Tyrell N6 15:00 - Tunefish 17:12 - Synth1 19:25 - TAL Bassline 20:43 - TAL Noisemaker 22:28 - PG-8X 24:05 - Zebralette 26:27 - Odin 2 29:28 - Voltage Modular Nucleus 30:50 - AAS player

[@ThePixelationWorld]

Thank u so much for this!

[@maliclasxvaoun1749]

👍🔥🤝

[@soufianedouaki3438]

Thanks bro you're the best 👍👍❤️

[@redmission1984]

Every "list" or tutorial video on YT needs markers like this. You are a hero!

[@ZakOnTheBeatProductions]

❤️❤️.

[@fukcg00gle95]

Your voice should be a free synth plugin.

[@davidjamesqc]

His voice sounds wonderful. I want him to do an intro for my cd

[@joefry22]

@@davidjamesqc Seriously. I just had a bunch of KZbin tabs playing at the same time for a few seconds - a bunch of tutorial guys yammering at once in the background before I got a chance to pause their individual videos. THIS dude's voice just sat on top of everything, rose above the noise of the the other guys' video narrations (which, by themselves, probably wouldn't have sounded so noticeably low-quality, but compared to THIS guy's vocal tone...whoa, no contest. Thanks man. Definitely makes me wanna really work on getting a great vocal/mic tone.

[@daemondescent7167]

voice like that would not be a freebie

[@aurabass8880]

dude i was about to say the same thing lol

[@stefanwessel6092]

Slap a bass synthesis like brainworks subsonic onto your voice, compress with a multiband thing wisely and your voice sounds just like his.

[@cosmos1250]

This Guy has a great voice for late Night Radio Shows - Smooth House, Smooth Jazz - I can hear him doing a Midnight Show.

[@BWP-u3y]

S'funny... as soon as I heard him speak, I asked myself which mic(s) he was using. I'm still wondering where he put a shotgun mic. hehe

[@danielschweizer3087]

Probably a boss vc20 voice changer😉

[@vicroberts3080]

i was thinking the same.. dude's voice is really good probably is pursuing voice acting

[@unrealjourney8247]

exactly my first impression

[@roscoe6937]

I was immediately like chocolate rain? 😂😂😂

[@LukeSniper]

Bit of a long comment, but I just wanted to say how helpful your videos (especially these free plugin ones) have been for me the past few months. I attended Berklee from 2007-2010, where I was a double major in Guitar Performance and Electronic Production & Design (back then, the program was Music Synthesis). I had to leave for medical reasons with just ONE part-time semester left. After which I spent OVER A DECADE trying to get back to my studies to complete my degree, only to be continually ignored by the college every time I reached out. It was a clerical error or something like that which resulted in every request I sent to the degree completion office never actually landing in front of a person (despite multiple calls, emails, requests, etc). FINALLY somebody actually paid attention to me and figured out what the hell was going on (even then it still took 6 months to figure out the problem) and I was able to enroll in classes again this summer to finish up. But there was another problem: I'd spent the 12 years prior working as a private music teacher and performing musician, and much of that time was spent without me owning a computer or having access to any of my old gear (which remained in storage, in Boston, while I was in California, for that time). I had done NOTHING even remotely related to the stuff from the EPD program. If a band I was in was recording, we paid someone and did it in a professional studio (often to tape!) So now I found myself enrolled in my capstone class for the program with my skills in this area rustier than the Titanic and ZERO knowledge or ownership of modern plugins that could do what I needed to do what I wanted to do for my big final project (which is a John Carpenter/neon-slasher esque EP). Those 12 years had also not been kind on me financially and I didn't have the resources to purchase a bunch of plugins (not that I'd know which ones I would actually use). These videos not only gave me a look at some great free plugins I could get, saving me countless hours of searching, but helped me brush up on some long dormant skills and knowledge. The summer semester is just about over and I have three tracks that I'm about to start my final mixing on. Vital and the Tyrell N6 rose to the occasion and they're all over those tracks, as well as Valhalla Supermassive and a number of others you've mentioned on this channel. So I felt I owed you a massive (or SUPERmassive?) thank you, Cameron. Your content has made the incredibly steep uphill battle I've had coming back to this after such a long time, and with such high standards as the final course at Berklee in a program dedicated to this sort of thing would be expected to have, so much more manageable. I still have a lot of rust to shake off when it comes to this stuff, but without the time I saved because of your videos, I don't know that I would have been able to get any of my work to the point it was even close to where it needs to be for this. Thank you

[@Cassarian-wz1fr]

well done for persevering - do you have somewhere we could listen to your tracks

[@thecluelessuploader9946]

Damn this guy's voice can really get him a serious movie deal.

[@SmartOlja]

I'm sure he has a nice base voice but I'm sure it's retouched post

[@sharkey5150]

Oscar Pettersson I agree. Its still pretty cool that the very first thing I noticed was His amazing, almost better than real life voice tone. The timbre of his speaking voice is very in-gauging(sp?) hence I didn’t click away immediately.. I’d also have to add, being the Pro that “He” obviously is, shows great control of his speaking voice as a professional singer would. When you start with a great talent and or tone, enhancement in post( done correctly) is all a PLUS. I only happened upon this video.... I SUBSCRIBED immediately!! Everything seems just right, to me. I like sound of his voice, he is very clear and to the point with his commentary and plays the “just right” amount of each sound.AWESOME WORK with everything!

[@wise1beats]

facts!

[@elProdigio]

Sound design tip => The Venus Theory guy voice as wavetable: best growl dubstep ever.

[@mackflynt6094]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ----> [virtual riot noise here]

[@miscellaneous1276]

No im serious i made a sick dubstep growl by screaming Aaaaaa and voice cracking.

[@kimyona9746]

I use helm for growls and hybrid 3 for everything else

[@kennethsmith5383]

I can't scream w/out sounding like nekrogoblin. It succ.

[@Jacquelissa]

i need to try this

[@discordmodyoshi4922]

1:54 - Surge 3:54 - Dexed 5:36 - Pendulate 7:33 - Exakt Lite 10:01 - OB-Xd 12:36 - Tyrell N6 15:00 - Tunefish 17:12 - Synth1 19:25 - TAL Bassline 20:43 - TAL Noisemaker 22:28 - PG-8X 24:05 - Zebralette 26:27 - Odin 2 29:28 - Voltage Modular Nucleus 30:50 - AAS player (copy pasted from a top comment, i made this so i dont need to scroll down)

[@discordmodyoshi4922]

@Custom Quality this was made before chapters lmao

[@安齋哲也]

So far the only tutorial I've seen that takes it slow and doesn't require prior experience to soft design.

[@russisaac813]

You do these reviews better than any other reviewers on youtube. No bullshit, No wasted time just a straight to the point overview and a few sound examples. More than enough time for a person to decide if they want to give it a go. Excellent job! many thanks.

[@tommythecat4961]

Surge changed my life. I have Serum, Massive and many other must-have synths, but something always draws me to it. It's incredibly powerful, not the most intuitive UI but man, once you learn how to tweak it you can do pretty much anything! A friend challenged me to do a whole EP just with it, and two months later I was 50€ richer.

[@jarfmusic]

I'd add Vital to this list - thing is literally the most powerful and easy to understand Synth I've ever used and it's also completely free!

[@Brendan-Black]

Yep, Vital is fantastic.

[@Slowp0w]

Thank you for recommending this, it is awesome and in my opinion beats every synth mentioned in this video :)

[@fallendzn.5914]

yeah it's also a free version of serum, i'm using a demo version of serum and the limitations are TERRIBLE. there's a 15 minute use and then you have to reimport it and it's frustrating. i found out about vital some time ago and it's AMAZING.

[@jarfmusic]

@@fallendzn.5914 It's seriously impressive!

[@pisscvre69]

i just started using vital love hoe intuitive it is, also the default presets arent showing up would ya happen to know how to get them?

[@emilyquinn5047]

Dexed is my go to. Making FM synth programming actually kind of understandable instead of like trying launch a rocket ship with an AutoZone car battery testing machine.

[@nostaligctraveler3736]

When your voice is so suprising that everyone in the comments talks about it instead of talking about how fucking amazing Surge is

[@iamgeorgesears]

Ah, Synth1... the one synth I have used for over a decade, and still use to this day.

[@tonverfall_studio]

Nice overview of the free softsynths out there. A couple of thoughts: Surge: I absolutely agree this is an astonishing synth. One thing I think they've done really well is the mod-matrix, where the available modulation targets are an overlay of controls over the normal sliders. Fantastic. I consider it a spiritual sibling to the Waldorf Blofeld, though with a bit more flexibility, as all 3 oscillators in Surge can be configured with any of the available waveforms. Dexed vs. ExaktLite: as I'm somewhat of a fiend for FM, it's important to point out that these two synths cannot be directly compared, in the same way a TX81Z is not a DX7. ExaktLite is a 4-op FM synth, whereas Dexed is a 6-op. From what I can see, ExaktLite is essentially an emulation of the TX81Z. Odin II: I think it's a little misleading to present Odin II as some kind of beta-quality project. It's actually the evolution of the same developer's earlier Odin synth, which has been in development for going on 5 years. I find it to be very solid and mature.

[@itsgoubie]

i like that you're actually looking towards the synths in the bubble thing. nice touch!

[@ewmlloyd]

13:32 I was waiting to hear the opening guitar riff of Wall of Voodoo's _Mexican Radio_ there.

[@mrz80]

I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbeque'd iguana!

[@redwing8725]

thank you so much for actually getting to the point and not spending half an hour ranting about nothing

[@redmission1984]

Got the OB-Xd, the Arturia Matrix-12 and OB-Xa, and a Dave Smith OB-6. I love to mix and match them all! 😍 Oberheim is my fav!

[@dallastexas8312]

I'm a country musician just dabbling in electronic music. All I can say wow! Surge just made a believer out of me. I won't put my Telecaster away or anything, but I feel that this is the tool I need to start on my new adventure. Thanks for this vid, you rock!

[@mrz80]

That's kind of how I felt with PG-8x, and to an even greater extent with VCVrack. I grew up drooling over the modules in the PAIA catalog and lusting after Keith Emerson's enormous wall-o-Moog. VCV really pushes that button, and it runs natively on linux. WIN! :D

[@dojetunes]

Whoever hasnt used surge for their first "advanced" synth VST probably cracked Serum

[@maninthecrowd5076]

Started on zynaddsub and vcv rack and helm

[@dojetunes]

@@maninthecrowd5076 helm is pretty good too

[@guitarbrad]

@@dojetunes Can you use Surge as a sub for Serum? IOW does it do the same things? There are some things that Serum can do that I'd like to use Surge to do.

[@dojetunes]

@@guitarbrad while it can be a substitute, it doesnt have the same features. For example surge is missing the noise oscilators and the serum integrated effects, while serum is missing the flexible FM and the analog emulation. I reccomend you look into the different features but surge is definetly a no brainer considering its free

[@maninthecrowd5076]

@@guitarbrad Surge has some things in common and some which are different Mr. Evan gives a bit of detail, what I'd add is there's a synth called Vital that is supposed to release this year which will be a much cheaper( might even be free ) serum alternative, and can be a bit more too( teased ).

[@Emil-iy9xk]

Another free synth I'd highly recommend if you're into analog-ish synthesizers is Sq8L. Free, open source and it has some great factory presets.

[@lovelesstv]

expect crashes and occasionally being unable to switch presets. been using this off and on for a few years. has some good sounds but is INCREDIBLY unreliable.

[@nitroanilinmusic]

32-bit only, which Ableton users won't like.

[@_P_M_]

It's not open source. That's the problem. No one can contact the author to update it or get the code so it can be updated. It's an excellent ESQ/SQ-80 emulation.

[@alainterieur794]

Not open-source and very unstable.

[@Emil-iy9xk]

My bad, thanks for the corrections. Though I haven't experienced any trouble using it so far.

[@helx9965]

holy shit i was not expecting you to sound like that

[@EasyHeat]

I've been diving into all things digital after decades of being an analog multi instrumentalist and recording guy. You're channel is more than helpful, and even if it wasn't I'd stay for the voice. Seriously, you should do voice over/acting, or radio! Thanks!

[@MichaelCoombes776]

Number 11 - Vital. This synth is basically Serum and Phase Plant's baby.

[@nebroskitheraut6705]

Ye

[@VenusTheory]

What's your favorite free synth? 🤔 Edit: OB-Xd has now been made into a paid plugin - must have happened right as I was making this video. Sorry about that! :(

[@bakingbread4002]

Surge

[@jayboni541]

tyrell n6, easy just sounds so niceeeeeeee

[@agreen9903]

Surge

[@FotoxBr_nl]

The Fullbucket synths. At least you can call these interesting :-)

[@michaelduff2382]

Definitely AAS Swatches out of the ones on this list, wish Nucleus being a close second. AAS synths sound sooo good to me for whatever reason, I had to buy them all when the bundle was on sale a month or two ago. But just buying the soundbanks for the AAS Player is extremely worth it.

[@TheGARCK]

Seriously put yourself up for doing TV ad voiceovers. You'll definitely get work.

[@ArexSant]

My favourite is Surge, I adore that plugin.

[@joelluth6384]

"this synth is all the terrible things about 80s music in one box" downloaded

[@mrz80]

I know! That was the greatest remark in the video. I'm having some technical issues with it, but I've always been nuts about Roland synths, and having one in software is terrific. Now if I could just find that Juno emulation I had a few years ago!

[@kmv683]

@@mrz80 Tal-Uno-62 ?

[@325iaddict]

@@mrz80 Or just get a real Juno-60! Nothing beats hardware ;-)

[@7XHARDER]

@@325iaddict *incoming lightning storm* bbzzt

[@secondsundayjazzvespers408]

@@mrz80 Have you checked out the Cherry Audio DCO-106? $25 and it's easy on the CPU.

[@BirdYoumans]

I've been messin' with "free synths" for a few years now and you landed on some of the best ones for sure. The people at U-he have some incredible stuff and I love the full bucket plugs tho I don't see any on your list. But yours are definitely great choices! Speaking of U-he, I never thought I'd buy a software synth since there are so many great free ones, but I'm about to pay the license fee for Diva. Analogue heaven. At 77 I go back to when the hardware versions were all we had. Diva does all of them and you can mix and match components so to speak. Just thought I'd mention that. Good vid by the way. Good job picking the top 10. I'm sure all of us have another pick or two, but then that's the nature of being individuals. Uncanny tho how yours is almost the same as I would pick. A good synth is a good synth no matter how old it is.

[@trikronika]

I can vouch for Dexed. I've been using it to stack 8 instances to try and recreate the TX-816 and it's spot on. I'm a huge Casiopea nut so I'm in heaven

[@CeresKLee]

TAL Bassline is a Roland SH-101 emulation. The Roland manual includes patch to it that taught me a lot about basic analog subtractive synth. If only it two ADSR instead of one and a couple more oscillators. I ran in a Chorus and Reverb which improve the sound all lot!

[@ProKicker]

Oh man you're so right about Surge, this thing's insane!

[@stonethemason12]

I CAN HANDLE THE POWER. AH. SHIT. MY GENITALS.

[@junoxmusic]

i love TAL Noisemaker and the Tyrell N6! but what's missing on the list for me is Helm. I love it's simplicity and the "chrunchy" sound.

[@snow5772]

tyrell n6 crashes my daw

[@grinderthashiner8265]

@@snow5772 After I reopen the project that I used it in too. It doesn't crash while I'm using it but when I'm trying to reopen.

[@adamsmith7058]

Plus one for Tal Noisemaker, mainly because there's a sweet spot with it that allows you to create some awesome kidney crushing subs. Not many synths can beat it for that still. Although it must be emphasized it's a sweet spot. Stray too much out side of that and you lose that sub energy. But for a free synth it's still pretty good.

[@sonicbits1890]

Thanks for the very flattering review of Exakt Lite! -Kay (Sonicbits)

[@karmafarm]

Exakt Lite is a great synth, with the skimpiest collection of presets I've ever seen. If it wasn't free, this would be a deal breaker.

[@shykall]

From what i've read Synth1 is an emulation of the Clavia NORDLEAD . It is indeed extremely light on the CPU (tested on an average power PC in 2003, with multiple instances : it was hardly noticable on the CPU performance meter). Thanx for your those great tips . As usual this was a great video.

[@teezdalien]

Yes and a legendary synth plug-in in its own right.

[@krillsx]

This guys voice is pure gold!

[@goodwilj]

He needs to do voice over gigs on the side and maybe he can sell his music at the same time

[@Gnurklesquimp2]

I love free Surge even does microtonal btw! It's crazy, this plugin single handedly makes that kind of music easy to get into, Surge XT even has a ton of presets.

[@LU5DX-1]

This is the best video I have seen on free VST synths in my life! Thank you so much.

[@djnandocp]

Your voice is so deep and warm. I can't stop listening to it!

[@Novalarke]

Tyrell N6 has an AMAZING chorus effect. I like it because it's very simple to mess with and it has a very Buzzy sound. When chorused, it's big and scary sounding.

[@mrz80]

It doesn't *have* to be buzzy/scary, and it can take any ok pad and turn it into something that will leave you bug-eyed with joy at the sheer sonic immensity of it all. I'm completely in love with the N6. :)

[@Novalarke]

@@mrz80 - oh, for sure. I love the Tyrell N6, too. I use it all the time! Cheers!

[@spolo5066]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4vNnmh4j6Z6jdU

[@dreamcyfer7793]

That voice..good mic gain ...very soothing!

[@2112jonr]

Gotta say, that OB-Xd emulation is pretty decent. Love that it has individual voice split out, very nice feature.

[@kobalt77]

Absolutely perfect presentation Cameron, no unnecessary BS, great information, and fun too. Well done Sir, and yes I am gonna try out a few of these.

[@Wayne_Robinson]

Several of those were new to me and are now on my list to check out. Thanks also for mentioning the Tunefish backstory and "Turtles all the way down"... I'd never heard of the 64k-intro project and enjoyed reading about it.

[@VenusTheory]

Crazy stuff for sure - there's a lot more cool stuff out there with the demoscene, highly recommend some digging around on Google. Mind melting stuff.

[@mvoproject]

What a quality of the voicing/telling! As the English isn`t my native language, I really enjoy listening this guy. Thanks for the list. My favorites are Synth1, PG-8x, Tal Noize, KX77Free and Dexed. Also I very like some of GTG Synths and Full Bucket plugins. In right hands all of them can sounding really nice, rich and deep and not bad even compare to hardware synths.

[@VenusTheory]

Glad you enjoyed it haha. Great list as well!

[@presskeytoplay]

28:10 Playstation One Opening ^_^'

[@presskeytoplay]

@@One-Hundred-K Guys, I know it's not original, I just thought it looked similar. In fact, the playstation intro is made up of three different samples, manipulated and overlaid by the console's own bios / board to give a longer and more interesting result.

[@Rich7714]

@@presskeytoplay You're right - I thought the exact same thing the second I heard it!

[@ArexSant]

Its very similar. You got a good ear friend, pay no mind to haters lol.

[@spolo5066]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4vNnmh4j6Z6jdU another one bundle of vst

[@hermanstokbrood]

I'm glad I was part of the synth revolution Yamaha started with the DX7. Living in the 80's was a very exiting time for a musician.

[@VenusTheory]

Can't even imagine how awesome the 80s would have been in the synth world. So many insane things happened in such a short span of time!

[@TheGhostRecordsChannel]

Also let me say this , If you don't like the u-he gui of Tyrell or the Zebralette or other free synths that u-he offer , you can download easily other skins made by other users (in their site) and I remember that it's pretty easy to add a skin for whatever synth you choose from u-he

[@snesmocha]

im honestly glad for this video, rarely do i see people who actually make good videos for this and just do the stuff that is always recommended

[@rarestform5699]

Synth1 is so amazing -- truly amazing. I've used it for years and years

[@SidwardTriple6]

I can't seem to be able to download it...

[@rarestform5699]

I can help with that. I tried to direct link you to the download off the developer's website, but it's YT. Is it because of it being in Japanese? Or do you need help with versions? I got ya.

[@rarestform5699]

@@SidwardTriple6 his site is in Japanese, it is helpful to use the translation to English function if you know how to enable it -- if your browser has that. Otherwise like I said, I can just email you the direct DL link, or screenshot you where to look on his website.

[@Maschinestorm]

Finally, someone gave Surge the recognition it rightfully deserves.

[@mrz80]

As many views and likes as this video has received, I think it's safe to say there'll be a Surge of interest! :D

[@donn1473]

Every producer video starts with them making coffee, how is this not a meme yet

[@kaitsu9608]

Its already a meme within music people. Alot of coffee goes

[@matiasgoinheix366]

Seems to be a meme for every niche really. I think it's just something that looks good on camera, creates a cozy, relaxed feel that's a good intro.

[@VenusTheory]

Perhaps an ironic nod even.

[@goodwilj]

His first name is "Cameron" get it?

[@jeremyfox7599]

Wow, I'm blown away with just the first 4 synths in this video and I am only halfway through - nearly. Thank you!!! I'm a professional soundtrack composer and I am always looking for new sounds - I am now subscribed to your channel and am very much looking forward to more content!

[@babisial7638]

1:54 surge 3:54 dexed 5:36 pendulate 7:33 exakt lite 10:01 ob-xd 12:36 tyrell n6

[@basspartout]

Zebralette to this day is still one of my all time favourite synths. It's ridiculously powerful and absolutely unique and the fact that U-HE offer this for free with tons of awesome presets is nothing but awesome. It's a treasure for incredible pads and plucks!

[@Jan-S-Simonsen]

What is the signal chain on your voice? It's like a warm bath for the ears.

[@ricoF71]

Yeah...I'd like to know that too, maybe I can sound like Cam...heheh.

[@VenusTheory]

Yo! Not much to talk about really. C214 direct into the MOTU. Highpass to remove any rumble, dip around 400hz for any boxyness, slight high shelf for clarity. Compressor to catch any random peaks in case I get loud, and a gate for any random noise between talking bits.

[@Jan-S-Simonsen]

@@VenusTheory Thank you Cameron.

[@ts4gv]

Venus Theory I was hoping for a more informative description. Can you share with us the complete chain of nucleotides in your chromosomes?

[@garyturner5204]

Cam has an awesome Classic FM radio voice! You sound great man!

[@Vertlain]

Tyrell is a winner for me. If you get all the pro made preset packs (The Unfinished has a few, free as well) and add some arp control, maybe a reverb, chorus etc (like the ones from TAL software), you got yourself a monster of a synth. Recently I use it more often then any of my "pro" synths.

[@mrz80]

I'm just getting started in this whole "home music creation on something other than a guitar" thing, and so far my two main loves are PG-8x and TyrellN6. I've found this one pad sound on the N6 that's like the answer to all my atmospheric sound prayers. This thing is GOLDEN.

[@glenesis425]

Agreed! Great list. I was unaware that Surge is free now. That's insane! I find your take on these plugs very inspiring. Thanks always for making and sharing these videos. Happy music-making :)

[@evertarz3603]

Man, you are the Bomb. You and Jelie with Kickback Couture have the best two channels on YT. I have learned more from you and her than from anywhere else. 3:)

[@someluck9354]

Omg synth1 is the Best synth ever for me!!!!!!!!! I reaalllyy love it😍😍😍

[@liltrini05]

When i saw synth1 and the Tal plugins i instantly got nostalgia from when i first started making music back in high school. i relied HEAVILY on those 3 synths omg. thank you for this video cuz now i'm gonna go redownload them lol

[@ricoF71]

First of all, man I envy your deep voice! Perfect timbre! 👌 Second, how can the Synth1 be not exciting? It has been with us for 18 years and its still kicking @ss by being worthy on this list! As you properly memtioned its got gazillions of sound patches...well, a bit too overwhelming actually... I myself collected about 15,000 + 28,000 of them zipped in my Hard drive (phew)...and never got to review all of them even until now.

[@unfa00]

26:47 - Odin2 has a button to enable 150% UI scaling (in the top right corner) to make it more readable, you must have missed that :)

[@mrz80]

Maybe it was too small to see the button :D

[@agreen9903]

Good to see you back, and awesome content as always

[@magnexgx5334]

Yep I’m definitely going to use surge and serum to make Spacestep

[@LostLegendTrance]

Odin II looks like it took some HEAVY inspiration from Reason's Thor synth! 😆 Looks very cool though, I might check it out!

[@JasonGillmanJr]

It's funny, I made a comment asking if anyone else got that vibe, and then I reloaded the video and saw this comment lol

[@RazorTrap]

It obviously is, hence the related name.

[@kimyona9746]

Odin 2 is pretty good too

[@presentalinkwalterbak2426]

OK, you were not kidding with the Surge synth. This thing is AWESOME!

[@ichiro-ota]

I've just brewed my morning coffee and thinking "Only if I can wach a new episode of Cameron's morning coffee..." ... and found one!

[@josevitorcalfa2]

Holy Jesus man, you have THE voice.

[@tA_aT287]

Excellent job compiling some great instruments and thank you to the authors that have provided these synths for free!!

[@Zodliness]

@Venus Theory - I use Surge XT (2023 revision) a lot now, which kinda pushed Dexed aside for a while. I also like the functionality that Exakt Lite and Ob-Xd offers, enhancing ones collection of 'must-have' virtual synths. Buying the real thing however, can get awfully expensive, to both own and maintain them. Virtual synths are the way to go now, without costing an arm or a kidney just to make some entertaining noises. Keep up the good work. 😉

[@TheBrokenCradle]

I've been using pendulate a lot and there is a lot under the hood to manipulate sounds. Plan on buying the big brother version. Surge is great. There's also Synthmaster. Great synth and I ended up upgrading to the full version. I think the free version is Synthmaster Player.

[@jamesjr2550]

Eclipsis vst is another good free one

[@TheBrokenCradle]

@@jamesjr2550 will check it out. Thank you!

[@jamesjr2550]

@@TheBrokenCradle its a hybrid wavetable synth

[@KozmykJ]

Synthmaster Player is the Free version. Both Synthmaster 2.9 and Synthmaster One are full blown full featured paid Synths. HTH

[@KozmykJ]

I like the sound of Pendulate but the MPE function is crapping out on me whenever I use my Sensel Morph in MPE mode. Works fine for me in standard MIDI. The Morph isn't the problem. Other MPE compatible plugins work with it no problems at all. I contacted NewFangled, they replied but they weren't much help at the time ... Still a good synth though.

[@kacklerot]

Man, I remember Synth1 when it first came out around 2002. I think it originally was from Japan? I might have downloaded from Musicrader back then it's hard to remember. I experimented so much trying to figure out synthesis a little so I can get the basics to make some of my own sounds. It was pretty fun and helped make the experience of learning not so intimidating. Great plugin!

[@Etobio]

27:53 had me going “I walk a lonely road...”

[@amywyt]

The only one that I've ever known

[@VenusTheory]

Boulevard of Broken Synths

[@ruthlessadmin]

Synth1 is always my go-to. It's one of the most productive synths I've used. Can dial in almost any sound I can think of in seconds, rather than fumbling through pages of complex interfaces & modulation matrix hell. Anyway, great list. The ones I haven't heard of will make for a fun night! p.s. also, made a killer complex bass line w/ Noize Mak3r last night, using just 5 different built-in presets. First time using it. Felt like cheating.

[@thenameisalex_]

Tunefish is my to go synth in any genre.

[@fakshen1973]

Between Tyrell and Surge, I think you can cover all the bases. One synth that is really fast to work with for bread and butter sounds and another synth that has the depth for complicated design.

[@amansrivastava2447]

He has the voice of someone narrating the end of the universe

[@msp420]

I too have been excited about ODIN 2 I couldn't believe it was free when I got it

[@DavidPurton]

Surge is now handled by the "Surge Synth Team" a new team of Dev's NOT Vember. Just FYI :)

[@OfficialEpzilon]

You got my subscription man, clear explanation, nice and simple editing and no wild zoomer style flashing bs , and your voice is nice and calm

[@re_negado]

28:09 I thought for a split second that was gonna be the PlayStation's startup sound.

[@laughinginthe90s]

Yo, literally all of the full bucket music plugins are incredible. Cpu efficient, faithful analog emulation.

[@VenusTheory]

I need to check the newer ones out, haven't used them in a bit!

[@mageprometheus]

Thanks, this was great. Dexed and the pdf 'FM Synthesis of Real Instruments' by Thor Zollinger go well together. This is good experience before moving on to Sytrus by Image-line. Generate is going to be epic I'm sure. OB-Xd sounds remind me of 'Voiage - A Journey Into Discoid Funk' by Brian Bennet from 1978. Stay safe.

[@KnzoVortex]

thanks for the reading recommendation, seems like a godsend of a book for me. I've really been wondering how to really understand FM and how to create the exact sound I want with it.

[@Ben_R4mZ]

If you're into modular synthesizers the Cardinal plugin is a port of vcvrack that runs in your DAW allowing you to assemble your own modular synthesizers and directly record them to tracks, or use them as filters for existing instruments. Since it's a recent development I figured I'd put it in here even though this is an old video, it could still help someone out if they see this in the future. ❤

[@synaesthesia2010]

Odin2 is just a remake of Reason's Thor synth, and for veteran Reason users like myself, it's nothing new

[@trgtdron]

They are not free but the best 2 plug-ins I have ever used is, 1) Addictive drummer 2) Strum GS-2 While not free they are inexpensive for what they do. I use Sonar Platinum and Samplitude as my main DAWs and have tried many others, at one time had over 400 plugins mostly free, I have now around 60 I use all the time. Trgtdron.com has some of my latest but sound cloud has 4 hours of what I have composed in the last 2 or so years. Always under trgtdron.

[@antitarantel4319]

There`s a free preset pack for dexed, which stocks up the synth`s patches to nearly 1000.

[@emdotambient]

Yeah, and it'll load DX-7 banks that you can find on the web.

[@joshmontederamos4813]

What's it called?

[@vlusky_husky]

what is the preset bank called?

[@storyoflife3262]

What it called ???

[@antitarantel4319]

@@storyoflife3262 Can`t remember, but there are quite some banks besides it. Just search for it on the web, I read something about several thousands of patches just yesterday.

[@bricelory9534]

My favorite way to use Pendulate is to randomize it until it comes up with something that fits what I am looking for - it's a great way to lean into the "chaos" of it that leads to sounds I never would have come up with.

[@Brendan-Black]

Same.

[@KozmykJ]

Trailer Trash Music ?? Zebralette sounds better now than when I first tried it a long time ago. Very good in fact. Maybe I was doing something wrong before ... Thanks for the heads up on Exakt and Odin2. They were both completely new to me.

[@kimyona9746]

Odin 2 is pretty good if you know what your doing

[@scottmclain2738]

amazing plugins, thank you for collecting them. crazy amazing radio /announcer voice as well. need an agent? also very happy that there are 'nerds' like you in the world, makes life so much more worthwhile. didn't this guy get the memo? nerdy, weird artistic people are where it's at!

[@randydean23]

Someone needs to create a synthesizer based on Hegelian Logic and Triangulation. You know that whole "Thesis plus Antithesis equals Synthesis" bit. They could call it "Whirrled Historic Oscillators." 😂🤔

[@randydean23]

Btw. I created the track for this video using only free vst synths: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6fZZoahj6mmeLM

[@WillsJazzLoft]

Wow! Your expose really has me stoked! Once I get a keytar, I'll be seriously looking at tasks to do on my laptop. Thank you!😊☺️

[@mycosys]

Are you sure DEXED isnt pronounced DEE EX ED, as in DX edit? Originally it want even a synth, just a patch manager/editor.

[@VenusTheory]

Suppose you could say it either way.

[@floatinganarchychannel3204]

Odin 2 & Vital are crazy good and fun free synths, the filter on both of them are super good

[@msp420]

Voltage Modular was still free at Plugin Boutique last I checked I've had it since forever still horrible at using it tho lol

[@VenusTheory]

Modular is a whole other ballgame. But, if you put in the time to learn it, it's capable of some really cool stuff! You're essentially building a custom synthesizer every time.

[@msp420]

Venus Theory I dabbled with reason in college then moved on to reaktor recently so I’m hoping after a few more tutorials I’ll get more creative with my patches

[@msp420]

I do love the cherry audio interface

[@JKVisFX]

I absolutely love Voltage Modular. The modules that come with the free version are plenty to build decent patches with, nothing fancy but, a great starting place. They also sell recreations of all of the Arp 2500's modules (including 2 planned but never released), the Arp 2600 as both a synth and broken out into modules, and the complete set of the Moog modular modules. And the prices for each are quite reasonable. All three are sold as a bundle too.

[@darrellthomas3255]

How do you get the Dark Skin for Surge? I downloaded Surgeand there wasn't a Skin option.

[@LightsPersonalAcc]

It's in the menu at the bottom right.

[@darrellthomas3255]

I click the menu button and didn't see that option. Maybe I need to install it again. I'll keep searching. What version do you have?

[@darrellthomas3255]

I open it today, and the skin option was available. Thanks,