Free Plugins I Use Professionally (not time limited)

[@Bthelick]

FYI none of these are time -limited but I did make a mistake; Meat Beats' Fem Baso is not free it's $20 my mistake sorry

[@sawtooth808]

That is okay, because there are free downloads based on the Korg M1 (House and Garage piano samples), and the Emu Orbit. So no worries 😉

[@San7hos]

Boom! If you want to throw some money, don't forget to buy this guy a coffee. It's worth more than any of the paid plugins!

[@Iaintthesharpesttoolintheshed]

@@San7hos true that!

[@kurtschenning1698]

Great vid. I made a personal list, thought I could share it. Instruments: • Vital - Wavetable Synth • *M1 - Classic House Synth • LABS - Sampled Instruments • Meatbeats - Bundle • Ample Sound - Disco Bass & Guitar EQ: • BootEQ4 - Flavor EQ • TDR NOVA - Clean, precise & dynamic EQ • SLIKEQ - Flavor EQ for top-end with auto gain balance for better judgment of changes • Roth Air - Adds air to vocals Dynamics: • Transient Shaper - Drums and percussion shaping • Kilohertz Stutter - Stutter effects • OTT - Hypercompression • TDR Kotelnikov - Clean compressor (doesn’t alter sound) • TDR Molotok - Character compressor (adds color to the sound) • MJUC Tube Compressor - Classic compression in fast mode • *Shaperbox / *Kickstart / STFU - Various tools for LFO sidechain • Trackspace - Creates more space within frequency spectrums through ducking/sidechain Reverb: • MChamberVerb - Clean reverb for dance music • EpicPlate - Reverb for sound design • Tensjr - Lo-fi reverb • Adverb - 80’s style reverb • Vahalarereverbmassive - Large reverb tail Delay: • Deelay - Complete delay set • *Echoboy - Vintage tape delay Modulation: • Stock Plugins - For clean sound • Valhalla Space Modulator - Flanger with character and flavor • TAL-Chorus LX - Chorus with character • Soldier Sound's Doubler - Vocal doubler Utility: • SPAN - Frequency analyzer for problem solving • Correlometer - Fixes phasing issues • Isol8 - sub check • Stereo Effects: • Stereotouch - Mono-to-stereo effect (delay 1ms, 30ms + filter, then adjust volume to taste) • Polyverse Wider - Makes mono sounds naturally wider while maintaining mono compatibility • Alex Hilton Stereo Control - Full stereo field tool • Geniometer- stereo visual • Distortion: • BPB Saturator - Saturator effect • Freeclip 2 - Clipper with oversampling • GRIND - Waveshaper patterns for creative effects • Krush - Bitcrusher with good drive function • Kilohertz Distortion - General-purpose distortion • Bass Saturator by Bedroom Producer - Special for bass tone distortion Lo-Fi: • *RC 20 - Full bundle for lo-fi effects • Texture by Clark Plugins - Adds texture to sounds Other: • *SoundGym -ear training • Beginner course 100 Four Corners Music Games (Part 1) by Joe Luegers Music Academy (KZbin) • *Splice - Sample library • *Meatbeat - Vinyl house drums and soundbanks 3 simpel ste

[@tilsgee]

@@kurtschenning1698 no free reverb plugin? :/

[@ps4broadbanddrifter281]

I can't help but think about all the content creators that would not have bothered to do this unless the manufacturer was offering a paid sponsorship. You've got a big heart and I love it.

[@MattPerrin]

Just wanted to give you props for calling out some of the "distraction" plugins thrown into some of those bundles. I've been avoiding the slew of recent "freebies" to focus on what i actually have already.

[@semyonboyk0]

Surge XT is my most used and beloved synth, paid or free

[@edubblesspirit]

You need to be careful, big VST will come after you for this! Great collection, thank you for putting this together.

[@Bthelick]

Big VST lol 🤣

[@sawtooth808]

Hey Big Vst will lay the CLAP down on you (terrible joke is terrible I know)

[@saltron7800]

Thanks Ben!!!!!! Been waiting for this one ❤❤

[@Phazen]

im gonna watch this video so many times

[@sixthsample]

Fantastic video! Probably the best roundup of free plugins I’ve seen. Thanks so much for the shoutout, too-I really appreciate it. :)

[@Bthelick]

Heeeey You're here welcome! And thank you for your generosity

[@scott21113]

This definitely was worth the wait. Thank you for taking the time to do this and share your experience with these. I am very picky about what I use in order to keep my workflow manageable and distraction free. This was worth every minute.

[@wojciechtemplar8255]

Great selection of plugins !

[@sonicbits71]

Thanks for mentioning Exakt Lite! Good and informative video, thanks!

[@Bthelick]

Oooohhh hey thank you for making it!

[@sonicbits71]

@@Bthelicksend me an email and I will arrange a license for the non-lite version for you.

[@mckelepic]

Best plugin video ever

[@johnnorthtribe]

I have always tried to make my own bass drums in different drum machines. Kick3 is a massive upgrade from Kick2 (which I have been using for years) €20 for an upgrade if you own Kick2. Best black friday deal in my opinion. 😊

[@ivm70]

I've been doing home production for a few years on low/no budget. Most of the VSTs I use in my projects are the same ones you recommend. That's very reassuring. :)

[@benstrong2850]

You've answered my prayers 🙏🏻 Amazing video as always thank you!

[@escapegulag4317]

31:25 good point. Most people ignore the rug pulling that companies do these days.

[@tenjisaga]

I would absolutely love a tutorial explaining your use of sound delay for the bass groove at 19:50 :)

[@Bthelick]

It's a pretty subtle feel thing. Have you seen the house drums tutorial? kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3-ZmHyteZp4b7Msi=X6e6f74algOCOJLU That explains a lot About shifting feel concepts. I do actually shift a bass part in this old video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZofRpZmXrb15ZrMsi=UHBp4B_CK3L5g9K3

[@ClaudeYoung]

Awesome video again! Cheers for sharing these brilliant plug-ins!

[@dr.gregoryf.maassen2637]

Very educational. Thanks for sharing.

[@Antweezy]

love the video and i'm glad you commented on distraction plugins.I've been saving up for a new computer and plan on only using stock vsts until there's good enough reason to expand. Limitation breeds creativity

[@Bthelick]

It absolutely does that attitude will get you far 👊

[@dzaxys4643]

I always start watching your videos thinking i know it all and end up learning a bunch of stuff thanks✌️

[@End_V]

Thank you so much Ben!!! Now I am all set up to produce. There are no excuses for me anymore, time to practise and release!

[@robbiestyles794]

The background music is soooooo good. And great recommendations 👍🏾

[@ottakileon]

hey @bthelick, I love your videos. You're doing an incredible job. the simplest tutorials in the whole Ableton yt!!! Your videos get me unstuck. I want to ask you only for one video covering a progressive house in the style of GMJ & Matter, Dowden, Guy J, Noise Generation, Kostya Outta, etc. I'm curious how you would simplify this

[@boronoro]

Great wealth of knowledge here!! Cheers! Great addition to last Sunday stream!

[@sean16hall3]

I love Gsat plus for saturation. It’s great for giving tracks different distortions. It has different stages and also you can add even or odd ordered harmonics easily. Oh yea it comes with clipping and over sampling.

[@Bthelick]

Yes I have it but I don't like it. It just doesn't sound good to me on most sources. Much like the analog obsession stuff the added harmonics seem to behave in a very linear, very digital fashion. It also overloads badly, and seems to have a very narrow sweet spot before it does.

[@voyy2631]

thanks for all the work you put in your videos!

[@Swiftopher755]

Just put stereo touch on a piano and i love it! Not sure if its in video but i know you use it

[@C-MAGs]

That was a really useful video. Thank so much. 😀

[@olStickyTapes]

one other "free" reverb/delay option people might like is spectral plugins "spacer" thee absolutely fantastic go-to reverb plugin for me, the plugin retailed at $120, but can now be gotten for free from their website, its super easy to use and packs a mountain of versatility, it has separate sections for reverb, convolution reverb, grain reverb, delay, grain delay, and chorus, *each can be moved around in the chain, and come with their own separate e.q.'s... it also comes with haas settings, saturation, width and more.... i also like their other plugins, especially their osc-45 tape emulator.

[@lateralshiftmusic]

Melda is sick! I use the domineering lake setting on the charm verb, it's git a really nice tail to it for atmosphere :)

[@Nayah9]

Thanks for the free shoutouts! At 15:26 I notice you haven't yet updated Valhalla Supermassive to version 4.0 which includes the new Pleiades algorithm. Enjoy! 🙂

[@Bthelick]

Yes I remembered that just as I started recording haha thanks 👍

[@sweetpo1]

That VItal skin though!! Where, when how?

[@Bthelick]

Default modify2 by Panasony. On the forums

[@NoMoreLivesMusic]

@@sweetpo1 Google vital synth neon theme. There is a vital forum link that shows up, the skin is posted in there along with other amazing themes :)

[@Surgeeon]

You should have mentioned, cherry audio - synth expander module. If you haven’t used it I would recommend trying it. It sounds huge.

[@Worrelpa]

You just being awesome as usual 🎉🎉🎉

[@EdeP79]

Absolute Goldmine of a video! Question: what do you think of Reason as a DAW?

[@Bthelick]

I've not used it since it didn't support audio. It was always fun but slow for me , and that sentiment seems to still be the case for those I hear that have used both Ableton and Reason.

[@xthiagojunx]

I love Micro Keys. even tho I have Vienna Instruments Strings, I still uses Pizzicato of that thing. its way easier and I love the sound

[@fatherjxhn]

I just gained so much more tools thanks champ

[@EugeneHoverhand]

Airwindows gang gang

[@Bthelick]

Aw damn yeah I should have give Chris a shout

[@MrDisrupta]

Mackity my most used. What is yours

[@EugeneHoverhand]

@@MrDisrupta Impressive. CrunchyGroovewear.

[@MrDisrupta]

@@EugeneHoverhand I've not tried that one. What's it do?

[@EugeneHoverhand]

​@@MrDisrupta I use it to position instruments on each channel in the mix and make them all stand out and sound less muddy against each other. Basically as low effort EQ or comb filtering but it sounds more natural.

[@cryptout]

What a treasure trove 🎉❤. Thanks 🙏

[@OLLiGoldeaux]

Hi ! from Germany. LABS has also amazing Choirs.

[@WilliWerkel]

My most used free VSTs that have not been mentioned: - Tone Projects Basslane - Wave Alchemy Magic7 - bom shanka machines occularScope - Dimethoxy Plasma - DSP56300 Emulations (Osirus / OsTirus / Vavra / Xenia)

[@nedring987]

So much info! Maybe I missed it, but UAD has some worthwhile bundles, too, now that they're native...

[@Bthelick]

Nah I can't go back there, or recommend them in good consciousness. I spent 8,000 with UAD before 2012 barely any of those plugins work now. Most of what I bought they did not port to native. And some that they have I would still need to pay to 'upgrade' so they are compatible with native. Also ilok.

[@R-LOG546]

Legend cheers man 👍🏾

[@Smythpete]

Thanks enjoyed that great choices

[@escapegulag4317]

This is a very good list

[@MattRid]

Great comprehensive video

[@gnthr7992]

Cool Video and really cool channel !!! I just want to share that somehow I got the complete Arturia FX for 50 Bucks during this "black Friday special season" .. which was the only reason why I actually went for it !

[@Bthelick]

Whaaaaaaaa?? Good find!

[@playbooksessions8325]

You are a legend! I often hear a lot of hype about 'Rvox' by Waves - I may have missed it in the video but is there an alternative for that one that you know of please?

[@Bthelick]

Yes just use the klanghelm mjucjr . The only difference is instead of 1 parameter you have to adjust 2.

[@xrabbz2010]

ive got a feeling im gonna find some gems in this video 😁 thanks bro

[@7thResonance]

wow

[@fallenleaf24]

You skipped over the Masker. Was curious how you thought of that over say Soothe2? Cheers for all the great information!

[@Bthelick]

Oh damn must have cut the take by accident. It's not an equivalent to soothe, it's an equivalent to trackspacer. It's for unmasking side chain signals. Soothe is a resonance suppressor, a kind of plugin I rarely find a use for in honesty.

[@fallenleaf24]

@@Bthelick oh right I get confused between the masker & the other one thats meant to tackle Soothe2 and I can never remember the names of either until I see one other the other.. xD I have trackspacer it's a staple in the tool kit!

[@Bthelick]

@fallenleaf24 yeah to be fair the first KZbinr I saw demo it (sage?) got that wrong too.

[@fallenleaf24]

@@Bthelick there happen to be a few plug-ins that have blurred lines between them. especially in this aria. I think I caught the Sage audio vid too, which probably hasn't helped my confusion!

[@vohra79]

Great video! very helpful. Is there any free alternative to melodyne. I use logic's flex pitch but I am not satisfied with the final output. It may be my skill or the software. I am not sure.

[@Bthelick]

Not really , I have tried a melodyne style pitch tracking plugin, (well it behaved more like the waves tune), called mx tune (I think) , but the interface was terrible and the results were unreliable. What melodyne achieves is not trivial to code, the only competitor imo is cubase's internal one by Yamaha , We've only just got good real-time efforts for free , i wouldn't expect a free alternative any time soon. Melodyne is well worth the money if you need that much control

[@cosmo1231]

Wow. Thank you so much for these gems. But what in the world is this song being played on the background @ 21:00?? I need it

[@Bthelick]

It should be released sometime in the next month, keep an eye on the Spotify etc

[@gabrielmarks154]

Simply the best!

[@sweetpo1]

Oh FFS, and here's me thinking i would get something done today, now i'm just installing plugins.. !

[@phamphiletsoalo6101]

@@sweetpo1 😭guilty pleasure

[@mikesaintjulesmusic]

0:54 - New version of Vital?

[@Bthelick]

No just a skin I found on forum. "Default modify2" by Panasony

[@ChawapTV]

how do you get that Vital skin ? it's pretty damn cool !

[@Bthelick]

Search "default modify2" by Panasony on the forums

[@tomaszgorzelak8723]

about reverbs You forgot Melda convolutionEZ it's great! Kofi landed :P Thanks mate 🙃

[@tkpng]

how the fuck is this video so good?

[@bigmanmike12]

Thanks again Ben

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

You liked almost every comment, except the one I, and by now eight others, wondered where to get the neon/glow skin/theme for Vital 😉

[@Bthelick]

Sorry , it's the only way I get to keep track. If I like others and not yours it means I'm saving it as a to-do later. Or might be making a video. On the creator back end of KZbin the only way to keep track of comments for later is ironically not reply. As there is a section for KZbin creators that tracks unreplied comments, as soon as I interact it can't be tracked easily. The vital theme is "default modify2" by Panasony I find it on the forum

[@anattaevergreen]

Thank you

[@djstevekelley]

Thank yooou! Great video! :)

[@sonylynce738]

First question.(are those plugins compatible with Fl Studio?) Second question(I'm new to this, so where do we go to download those free plugins? Do I just go on Google and type the names? )

[@Bthelick]

Yes they are VST or VST3 format so well work in anything. Hopefully you're on pc? FL studio options will let you pick a folder for plugins. I just made a folder called VSTplugins on my main C drive but it doesn't matter where it goes as long as you 'point' FL to it in the options/preferences. Some plugins will cone as just a .DLL file which you put in that folder you have chosen for plugins. Some plugins will come as in installer (.exe) which you have double click to launch the installer. Then Follow the instructions. If it gives you a choice a AAX, VST, VST2, VST3 etc just untick all apart from the VST3 and it will know where to install the plugin. Next time you boot FL they should be available.

[@sonylynce738]

@Bthelick thank you!!👍✊🙏

[@alanp741]

One issue with the free spitfire instruments, especially bbc discover, you can't reinstall them on a new computer, whether you got a new machine or you needed to reinstall Windows bc it got corrupted

[@Bthelick]

Really? I changed computers last year and didn't notice anything. Is that a recent thing?

[@KOSMIKFEADRECORDS]

Demos! Please!

[@altseason_musik]

31:00 for real, the Waves plugins are so badly designed and soooo heavy on my machine (Mac Air 2017) that it completely ruins the workflow

[@Slowlyburnedelectronics]

I just rushed and bought the UAD producer pack for 86 euro which I thought it was a balanced bundle ( at least for items that I didnt have). But I got frustated with the ilok thing. If I had realised beforehand that needed Ilok I would have never purchase it.

[@Bthelick]

I have $8000 of UAD and I can't access 85% of it now without buying new hardware as most of what I bought never got covered to native still. Never again.

[@collateral-beauty]

Someone knows the name of the Vital skin at the start of the video ? ... looks amazing

[@Bthelick]

Default modify2 by Panasony from the vital forum

[@JeffyG]

How do plugin vendors offering good free VSTs and FXs stay in business? In your opinion.

[@altseason_musik]

It is called tiered selling, they acquire more customers by doing so...they know for example that there is a market for let´s say a VST "Random Name" that can sell for 1000 customers for 79 dollars. The idea is to make a "restricted" product for free for those not able (or wanting) to pay and the full product is the money maker. Giving a part of a VST for free is also a marketing stunt to attract more potential buyers and is good for branding recognition (arturia for example does this very good). ONe other point is that many of the companies are actually some developers who have no actual sctrucure and do all of the company´s chores by themselves (aka SOLO developers)

[@Bthelick]

"the only long term currency is trust" -Seth Godin

[@EverTruu]

I love Vital but Spire was half off I couldn't resist

[@Bthelick]

Spire is a great synth enjoy!

[@zmmmzmmmz]

Anything on the list time limited?

[@Bthelick]

No I don't like recommending time limited these are all long term free. Only exception is I made a mistake on meat beats Fem-baso I thought I remembered getting that free but it's not.

[@phamphiletsoalo6101]

How does shaperbox split transient from the body ?😮😮 Which preset

[@Bthelick]

Sorry it might not, I'm speaking from memory I thought I saw that in a demo. It's definitely got envelope shaping capabilities hasn't it?

[@phamphiletsoalo6101]

@@Bthelick it definitely has envelope on the filter option, I just learn something new

[@San7hos]

Also, given all the free plugins. Is there any reason to go for Ableton Live Suite (2.25x more expensive than Standard)?

[@DoctorColours]

Max for live is pretty huge, the synths are also great but as you said, not necessary. I have suite and love it for the features it has, but you definitely don't NEED it, can easily work around standard's limitations with external plugins. I say if you are new to Ableton and producing, start with what you can afford, and upgrade when/if you hit limitations

[@Bthelick]

Hmmmm Great question I've had suite for so long I can't remember what the differences are any more. It's Probably worth a look in a video at some point.

[@San7hos]

@@Bthelick It also seems that if you have Live Lite, e.g. it comes with different hardware, the upgrade to any other edition is cheaper than buying a brand new license.

[@San7hos]

Did a bit of research. With all the freebie plugins, it seems like standard should be completely sufficient. And you can upgrade later always

[@pushtoenter4174]

Nice

[@Andysmusicaljourney]

I tried using Cardinal with Studio One, but it just crashes immediately when trying to actually do anything with it. :(

[@Bthelick]

Aw damn that's a shame

[@scorpionmcscorp5693]

Where's the ear training course?

[@Bthelick]

It's here kzbin.info/aero/PL40pFkWbVtdlfiS6YGQ3zr9mQRj7naT19&si=kVZlYDigscs_ykY_

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

I only get something if i need it and don't buy anything because it comes in a deal. Half if those deal look like a waste of time IMO.

[@mandalbayarbat4024]

Do you use voice changer?

[@Bthelick]

No 🤣, I probably just sound weird because I'm trying to annunciate clearly otherwise my natural accent wouldn't be clear enough

[@RuckerDreams]

New video from Bthelick? Better click real quick!

[@jamietru9923]

Another great video! Any chance you’d be able to go over chords and theory of John summit style chord progressions and melody’s? Thanks legend!

[@Bthelick]

Hmmmm 🤔 I never really considered him to have his own style. He typically uses the very standard 1 7 6 4 combinations in minor like 90% of people in commercial dance. Are there any tracks you think sound particularly different?

[@lincolngullette8539]

No soothe2?

[@TraxtasyMedia]

Soothe2 is a PAID plugin and Masker is an alternative

[@Bthelick]

Masker isn't an alternative to soothe. It's an alternative to track spacer. (Sorry I think the take got cut off from the video) Soothe is a resonance suppressor , track spacer / masker is a spectral sidechain.

[@emphermusic]

Boba is a free alternative to Soothe!

[@lincolngullette8539]

@@TraxtasyMedia I was referring to the second half of the video where he covered his recommended paid plug in sales (as soothe was not mentioned). I personally use Wavegrove Vastaus for free resonance smoothing.

[@lincolngullette8539]

@@emphermusic looks interesting I will check it out

[@eithafol7742]

Labs is no longer free

[@Bthelick]

It is. They just changed the page annoyingly making it harder to find.

[@eithafol7742]

@@Bthelick Ahhh ... just found the little "Continue without subscription" link. Thanks!

[@TOM-cd1zb]

[@AngeloSposato]

FEM-BASO sounds great but it is not free, it cost 20 dollars...

[@Bthelick]

Oh is that one paid now? Very sorry

[@AngeloSposato]

@Bthelick unfortunately... 😅 No worries mate, thanks for the nice video! 🤝

[@llasch28]

I see Bthelick I BETHECLICK

[@cultivatemagic6240]

@@llasch28 OMG YASSS MY QUEEN! 😂