The magic of software virtual instruments ! Recreating known piece of hardware, emulating famous synth, trying to capture the spirit of a machine, attempting to copy the sound and feeling of an instrument!
Here’s a compilation of all the articles about free VST plugins that try to emulate the most famous synths, plus links to the freeware plugins that are the only one to recreate a kind of machine (they didn’t get an article). Below is a list of best free VST emulations.
TB 303 + cat in space
Here you can find free virtual alternatives to the classic analog synths :
MiniMoog, Arp 2600, Arp Odyssey, Synthi VCS3, Obeirheim OB-X
There are also your favorite FM / Vector Synthesis / “digital” synths :
Yamaha DX7, Prophet VS, PPG Wave, Ensoniq SQ80
The usual techno/trance suspects are here too :
Roland TB303, Alpha Juno, Juno 60, JP-8000, Korg Mono / Poly, Clavia Nord Lead 2
We did not forgot the Jazzy/Funky/Rock famous instruments :
Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond B3 organ, Farfisa combo organ, Hohner Clavinet, Wurlitzer E-piano, Mellotron & Arp Solina.
And even the antic Theremin + some funky toys : Speak and Spell & Stylophone.
This is work in progress, i’ll add free VSTi plugin if we find some new free recreation of well known synthesizers.
All the VSTi in this list are freeware.
Here we go :
1. Minimoog
https://blog.wavosaur.com/best-free-vst-minimoog-emulation/
2. ARP 2600
https://blog.wavosaur.com/2-free-arp-2600-vst-emu-preset-banks/
3. ARP Odyssey
https://blog.wavosaur.com/4-free-arp-odyssey-vst-emulation-128-presets/
4. VCS3 Synthi AKS
https://blog.wavosaur.com/free-ems-vcs3-synthi-aks-vst-emulations/
5. Oberheim OB-X / OB-Xa / OB-8
6. Roland TB 303
https://blog.wavosaur.com/best-free-tb-303-emulation-sotware-vst-plugins-standalone/
7. Roland Alpha Juno
https://blog.wavosaur.com/3-free-roland-alpha-juno-vst-emulations/
8. Roland JP-8000
https://blog.wavosaur.com/5-free-vst-emulations-of-roland-jp-8000-supersaw/
9. Roland Juno 60 / Juno 106 / Juno 6
https://blog.wavosaur.com/6-free-vst-emulation-of-roland-juno-60-juno-160-juno-6/
10. Korg Mono / Poly
http://www.fullbucket.de/music/monofury.html
11. Yamaha DX7
https://blog.wavosaur.com/4-free-dx7-vst-emulation-fm-synth-4-all/
12. Prophet VS
13. Ensoniq SQ80
http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/index.html#sq8l
14. Waldorf PPG Wave
http://www.hermannseib.com/english/synths/ppg/wavesim.htm
15. Rhodes MK2 electric piano
https://blog.wavosaur.com/best-fender-rhodes-e-piano-vst-freeware/
16. Wurlitzer electric piano
http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=37#dl
17. Hammond B3 tonewheel organ
https://blog.wavosaur.com/7-free-vsts-for-hammond-b3-emulation/
18. Farfisa electric combo organ
https://blog.wavosaur.com/4-free-vsti-emulations-of-farfisa-organ/
19. Clavinet D6
https://blog.wavosaur.com/best-vst-emulation-of-clavinet-d6-freeware/
20. Mellotron
https://blog.wavosaur.com/5-free-mellotron-vst/
21. ARP Solina string ensemble
https://blog.wavosaur.com/7-free-arp-solina-vst-emulation/
22. Theremin
https://blog.wavosaur.com/the-8-best-free-theremin-vst/
23. Speak and Spell toy
https://blog.wavosaur.com/3-free-speak-and-spell-vst-emulations/
24. Dubreq Stylophone
https://blog.wavosaur.com/3-stylophone-vsts/
25. Linndrum LM-1
https://blog.wavosaur.com/3-free-linndrum-lm-1-vsti-plugins/
26. Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) Wasp
http://nusofting.liqihsynth.com/freeplugins.html
27. Clavia Nord Lead 2
http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/ + check my preset banks for Synth1 !
28. Roland JX-8P
Seeing in the list some emulations of electric pianos… I would suggest you to add:
Emulations of acoustic guitars, electric guitars and electric bass guitars:
4Front Bass
Raspier
Revitar 2
Spicy Guitar
Varisha Fender Bass
Emulations of acoustic pianos:
Varisha Piano Collection
4Front Piano (upright model)
City Piano
VS Upright No. 1
And why not… emulations of several ethnic/medieval/renaissance instruments:
DSK Asian DreamZ
DSK Indian DreamZ
DSK World StringZ
HTT-Sika Oriental Scale
HTP Darbukator Lite
darbuka-nut
Etherealwinds Harp
Fretless Zither
Varazuvi Bongos (at the middle of the page)
Varazuvi Indian Flute(at the middle of the page)
All… free!
I can add an emulation of:
The italian Davolisint
Davosynth
The Moog Sonic Six
Moon Sono Sx
The Micromoog
Micromoon
The Korg Minipops 7 (remember Jean-Michel Jarre)
Rhythmus Machine
The EKO Computerythm (remember Jean-Michel Jarre)
Ocet Rhythm Machine
The Hammond L-122
VL-122
The ARP Pro Soloist (used by Tony Banks in Genesis from 1971 to 1977 in all his most famous solos)
Pro-SoloVst
The Logan String Melody II
String Concerto II (the link is in black just under the title of the post)
The Roland VP-330 String Synthesizer
VSP-330 the link is in black just under the title of the post)
The Hohner Clavinet (remember Stevie Wonder)
Ticky-Clav
The Hohner Pianet (remember the Beatles, Tony Banks in Genesis first albums, Roxy Music first album, Fleetwood Mac…)
Planet N (at the mid-height of the page, just under Redtron MKV)
The Korg Delta String Machine
Nabla
The JEN SX1000
JEM-SX1000
The Yamaha CS-70m
Kx-PolyM-CSE
Etc.
Love those old synths, doing some research on building a vst player. Something like the Muse Research Receptor, but with a keyboard, more knobs and sliders than the current midi keyboard controllers and a touch screen.
Here’s my collection of freebies – mostly emulations of vintage hardware :
http://kbrownsynthplugins.weebly.com/
You can find over 100 gigs of VSTs for free here http://vcalcavecchia9.wixsite.com/rockin-depth
This guy is selling free vsts for money ?
that’s so lame
Minimoog in the days of Donna Summer and I feel love, classic. Uff