Great free synths – VSTs for Mac, PC and Linux

• Free synths? No catch, no spam
• These are the ones I use myself regularly
• Plus a few I can’t because they’re PC-only, but still cool

Got a fierce case of GAS? I sympathise, I’ve suffered it for years – my Gearspace ‘owned’ list is either epic or depressing, depending on your perspective. These days there’s really no need to waste time and money, going all out to get every synth you find in a secondhand shop or carboot sale – because virtual copies aren’t merely available – they’re incredibly good, and you can even get free synths.

Not everything I use is free, obviously. I’m comparing my experience of these free VSTs with the likes of Arturia V-Collection and Roland Cloud. Circuit-accurate recreations of classics like the D-50 mean I no longer miss my hardware, but when you consider the breadth of ability you can download with no outlay at all for musicians, rather than nostalgia freaks, this is an incredible thing.

The power and flexibility available with these free VST, AAX, Audio Unit and CLAP plugins puts many hardware classics and paid-for synths in the shade. This will grow to be a long list – fortunately for us, there’s a lot of really cool stuff to get started making music without spending money, as long as you have a computer.

Free synth superstars – a quick list

1. Full Bucket Music – analogue Korgs and original concepts too
2. A Virus you’ll want your computer to get – Osirus (and Vavra)
3. Overflowing with potential – Surge XT
4. u-He’s baby Zebra, some cheese and the legendary Tyrell
5. Open-source Oberheim from discoDSP
6. Quirky bass synth revived by Martinic
7. Dexed – a DX-7 you can download, strange burn marks on the keys are optional
8. A polyphonic analogue classic, the JX-8P – PG-8X by Martin Lüders
9. Yamaha classics – OPN- and ADL-Plug FM synths
10. Going Native – a Komplete Start

My main DAW is a Mac, hence the bias in the title, but all of the free synths featured here are available for Windows as well; I can’t vouch for how well they work in that environment. A couple of them are also available for Linux systems such as Raspberry Pi (notably, Surge is part of the Zynthian suite).

If you don’t have a VST host, there are some recommendations at the end of the article.

Free, but worth every penny – notable entrants

A little harsh, perhaps, but adding to the noise of ‘free synths’ there are plenty of red herrings and wastes of time (in my opinion, at least – you may find something about the sounds or UI that appeals). For example, the recently-released CMP100 softsynth is a sample player that captures the sounds of the Philips PMC-100, but it’s not very flexible. It seems redundant when the effort has been made elsewhere to create the free plug-ins to control and present the emulated Yamaha FM sound chips used in MAME and MESS games – which cover many variations of that family of chips, including the version in the PMC.

What really inspired this category is Behringer’s ‘Vintage’ synth. Launched with much hype, it’s probably not a surprise that accusations of cloning a well-known and respected softsynth were almost immediate given how similar they looked, and it was pulled from the MusicTribe page for a while.

I got a chance to try it when it returned – and it’s just a little crude and clunky, with no real character. There are so many good, free options out there already for straightforward ’emulation of a classic analogue synth’ that Behringer ‘Vintage’ doesn’t seem to be worth your time and effort learning. It’s functional, but the UX isn’t particularly good, and for anyone hunting preset gold the libraries are short of originality or character.

Classic synthesizers, name your price – Full Bucket Music

The patron saint of starving electronic musicians, Björn Arlt

• No restrictions on use for Full Bucket Music’s virtual synths
• VST2, VST3, Audio Unit and CLAP formats – Mac OS Intel, Apple Silicon, and Windows
• Exceptional documentation and broad platform support

Top of the list for free VSTs has to be the epic work by Full Bucket Music. Musician and programmer Björn Arlt dealt with the lust for unaffordable classic synths by creating virtual versions and has released an astounding number of them as donationware.

These aren’t one-off summer projects that sound awesome and have been abandoned unlike many free softsynths you can find. Regularly updated, with professionally-programmed soundbanks and accessible, humorous yet useful documentation, they’re the sort of thing that makes you wonder how big firms can get it so wrong, or neglect their plugins for ages.

Headliners here are the Korg PS synths, replicated in FB-3300, 3200 and 3100. Yes, that’s a ‘free’ download of a 48-voice analogue monster that would cost tens of thousands to acquire, let alone maintain – if you could find one in the first place. Joining them are some classic Korgs – the Mono/Poly, Trident, Sigma and Delta, and a few original creations.

Itching to see what’s on offer? Go and visit the source: Here are all the Fullbucket VSTs (Windows and Mac, with AU versions too) you can download. For space reasons, I’m not featuring them all here…

FB-oxid – ARP Omni 2

• String-synth happiness in a simple, easy to use plugin
• Classic soundscapes and phased pads – 64-voice approaches original’s full-polyphony style
• Low processor load and inspiring presets

You can only imagine how exciting the Arp Omni was in 1975 – no limits on polyphony and a distinctive sound that can be found on hits well into the ’80s, the transistor-organ ‘divide-down’ technology was augmented by a proper controllable 24dB filter, LFO and ADSR envelope. While the single-oscillator architecture sounds ‘simpler’ and lets face it, cheaper than the famous polyphonic analogue synths of the era, what the Arp Omni achieves is simply outwith the reach of monosynth-multiplied polyphony.

As such FB-Oxid is a great VST to add to a collection of more conventional synthesizers (or emulations). You’ll struggle to get the hardware for a sensible price – though the Waldorf Streichfett (around £295 on Thomann) offers some of the typical string machine sound, the Omni is more than just ‘a string machine’.

FB-Oxid is currently my favourite of the Full Bucket Music synths, and I play it most days when I have time to enjoy making music.

FB-3300 – Korg PS-3300 clone

• Impressive analogue emulation, 48 voices, 3 oscillators per voice
• Can be resized easily, low CPU overhead
• MIDI learn for controllers

FB-3300 is a real gift for fans of classic 1970s and early ’80s synthesizer music. The original PS-3300 was a beast, and has recently been reissued as the limited edition Korg PS-3300 FS, It features, in essence, three PS-3100s in one box, a dedicated 48-key keyboard and a total of 144 oscillators*. Not only that, each key has its own VCA, VCF and envelope generators.

This is a truly big synthesizer with great analogue character – you can only imagine what it was like playing one on stage or studio in the 1970s. If you’re a fan of Tangerine Dream, ELP, Yes or any of the psychedelic/prog artists that made synthesizers cool (or not), you’ll love it.

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the emulation – features such as the PS-3300 resonators are probably too subtle and unique for my amateur ears to tell the difference – but it sounds deeply impressive, is stable and has a scalable GUI so you can actually see the hundreds of parameters you can control. Learning to program the FB-3300 is a daunting task, but it comes with a set of presets, thankfully, so you’re ahead of those first electronic musicians…

For all intents and purposes, the FB-3100 is one-third of the PS-3300 sound engine, with a single VCO voice structure but full keyboard polyphony. It’s somewhat easier to program.

The FB-3200 is a little different, as it uses two oscillators with a more conventional mixing approach, it was also equipped with patch-panel recall – a truly innovative feature.

*sort of. There’s one oscillator per note in an octave; the remaining octaves use the ‘divide-down’ technique common in organs of the era, so an FB-3100 has two voice cards to provide 12 root notes, an FB-3300 has six cards to provide 3 x oscillators/waveforms over 12 notes, etc.

Mono/Fury – a free Mono/Poly?

Of Full Bucket Music’s VSTs, Mono/Fury is perhaps the most remarkable as Korg themselves produce a softsynth MonoPoly as part of the Legacy Collection for Mac/PC, and iOS (iMonoPoly). As Behringer has shown, though, you can’t keep things from being duplicated forever; and Mono/Fury is different to the Korg one.

The user interface is much simpler and closer to the real hardware in some ways – because Korg’s added a lot of graphics for the preset browser and some effects built in, as well as the software keyboard. Navigating Mono/Fury is therefore a bit easier. The free version doesn’t claim to be 100% accurate, either, but it’s very very close.

Which means it sounds speaker-blowingly, old-school brutal for some patches. It might not have the analogue-recreated accuracy of imperfection, but it’s the spirit of the original through and through. A must-have for any musician.

More free synths from Full Bucket Music? Over 25 different instruments…

Recent additions to the family include the quirky ’80s Korg Poly800, in the form of Fury800. It’s expanded and opens up the rather arcane programming in a way that people who stuck to patches on their 800s (like, er, me) will find enlightening. For really quirky programming, the Bucket ONE emulates the Crumar BIT 01/99 – check out the manual to see what you’ve been missing.

In all, including some classic and useful effects, there are over 25 different recreated and completely new virtual synths from Björn’s creative project. I don’t have space for all of Full Bucket’s Synths here – but at different times have tried all of them. They’re donationware you’ll want to pay for – but don’t have to pay to start playing.

Osirus and OsTIrus – emulating the DSP revolution

Yes – this is a Virus you’ll want to download. Access isn’t that easy…

• Extremely usable emulation of classic DSP-based virtual analogue systems
• Part of a wider preservation project, not yet commercial
• Requires some technical knowledge, patience, and ideally owning the real thing

This is one I have to include, but it’s not quite the same as the other softsynths here in that it’s almost a side-effect of a different project – and it’s not really promoted as ‘a VST’ as such. However, it’s a proof of concept that just happens to be very good, if you’ve got powerful enough hardware.

Fans of analogue synths already know that the late 1990s saw the mystery of volts, resistance and capacitance in part replaced with the mastery of code and digital signal processing At the heart of this was an engine designed by Motorola, the DSP56K series (found in the NeXT computer and Atari Falcon030). The DSP56300 proved particularly suited to creating powerful virtual analogue synthesizers at a time when the industry needed to move on from sample and synthesis.

Enter the DSP56300 Emulation project from The Usual Suspects. It emphasises the reality that much of our beloved hardware of the EDM, trance, dance and industrial era was software, at a time when ‘in-the-box’ was still hampered by relatively slow processors and there was a growing market for exceptionally expensive outboard DSP cards to improve computer-based audio.

By adding the core DSP emulation to modelled or emulated control and audio stages, classic synths can be reborn. The list of DSP56300-based hardware is like a dream catalogue of classic gear now, but one machine stands above all others: the Access Virus and Virus TI.

This legendary virtual analogue machine was in part, born out of the VST/ITB mentality – it could run on Pro Tools TDM or TC Electronic PowerCore host cards in the earliest versions, and the TI – ‘Totally Integrated’ final evolution of the Access Virus merged the computer interface and editor with the synth engine and audio. This also made the spartan ‘Snow’ desktop version more useful than the previous (and now very rare) rack editions.

You know what the Virus sounds like – every analogue synth flavour under the sun, with a few unique patches that filled early 21st century dance, pop, trance, EBM, industrial and ambient music. If you’ve heard Icon of Coil you’ve heard a Virus, but you’ve also heard one if you’ve heard Lady Gaga.

Although there were several revisions, the heart of the machine remained the same. Which means DSP emulation can recreate a 1997 Virus right up to the final editions. This seems all the more relevant now that the Virus TI2 has ceased production, and many Virus B, C and derivatives are suffering damage from use and capacitor failure.

Osirus requires that you own a legal copy of the Virus firmware, so before embarking on a virtual Virus you need to make sure you have, er, access to that file. It’s also quite power-hungry – after all, these DSPs were designed because the CPUs of the time weren’t up to the task alone, and you’re emulating code and some hardware.

My primary machine is a six-core i9 iMac from 2019 and it runs Osirus well, but the unscientific method of looking at the CPU meter suggests Osirus is at least as resource-hungry as Roland’s AIRA System-8 plugin.

Although it is still very much under development, Osirus does the most important thing very well. It sounds like a Virus. Version 1.3.6 introduced an easy to use patch manager, and after a period of development the DSP56300 team has released the Virus TI emulator to the general public at the end of April 2024.

It requires a LOT of processing power, however – if only you could buy a PCI card with some coprocessors on to lighten the load… The level of polish and stability is truly impressive for what is essentially an enthusiast-driven project. If you have a Virus A/B/C, Indigo or TI that’s flaking out or in need of repair, this is a great substitute.

But these DSPs were used everywhere…

DSP56300 project – Waldorf relics: Vavra and Xenia

Waldorf’s microQ and microwaveXT, recreated as VSTs

• Proof of concept shows how versatile emulating the DSP56300 can be
• Now offered in ‘open beta’ status
• Rapidly updated, following Osirus improvements in UX and performance

Introduced after Osirus and still being refined, Vavra is a Waldorf microQ emulator. It provides an easy way of exploring a deep, powerful instrument without the problems of 1990s MIDI, screen-sizes or hardware interfaces. If nothing else, it’s a wonderful way to get to know the architecture of this rack-mount synth that once was a bargain in the Sound On Sound classifieds.

I’m less familiar with how the original sounded (I owned a Pulse rack, but those were analogue) but it sounds very similar to aspects of the Blofeld that provided a continuation of Waldorf’s sound, and many presets have a very distinctive late-rave and EDM feel.

As with Osirus, you should own a legal copy of the firmware. Vavra is not alone – The Usual Suspects are also developing a microwaveXT implementation called Xenia. This is particularly notable given Waldorf has just released its own plugin version of the Microwave for €149…

Other DSP synths are being explored by The Usual Suspects, but with many firms still exploring their options for releasing their own software versions, or producing descendants of the originals, it is unlikely that we’ll see a raft of free classics yet. But with any luck the work of the team behind the DSP56300 emulator will be rewarded by becoming the foundation for commercial products – or even, new concepts.

Vember Surge XT

Commercially acclaimed softsynth is free and substantially upgraded

• Powerful DSP engine – evocative of ASM Hydrasynth, but Surge came first
• Mac, Windows and Linux – you can run this on a 4GB RAM Raspberry Pi4
• Over 2,800 artist-quality sounds with an easy to use browser

Surge is an open-source, multi-platform software synthesizer of remarkable power and flexibility, with a functional rather than retro user interface (as of Surge XT, it can be reskinned) and some powerful DSP code behind the modules that is also available in ‘component’ form for the virtual modular synth VCV Rack.

Since I started this list it’s been thoroughly evolved, so I recommend downloading the latest Surge XT. It’s more than just a migration to a newer foundation, it’s gained a lot of features (XT = eXTended) and benefits from a large community of developers and users providing testing, feedback and new features.

The mostly visible change is the ability to install new skins. Most are colour palette changes, but the Royal Surge XT skin below shows the kind of classic synth feel than can be provided if that matters to you. I rather like the functional approach – if I had the skill I’d make a black-and-white ‘Macintosh Classic’ style skin for it.

Once a very well-respected commercial project that cost over £150, it’s now free, community developed and growing in support, polish and capability. Sound-wise, it’s one of those ‘it’s as good as your programming skills’ (literally – you can script some aspects of the engine in Lua) but reminds me most of my ASM Hydrasynth. That’s probably not a surprise – Surge XT does not set out to recreate old hardware, but is an unashamedly digital synth engine presented in traditional terms and language.

The block-like UI and layout of modules, and the visual representation of signal paths, means Surge XT is a really good synthesizer for kids/newcomers to play with – it’s not ‘dumbed-down’ or over simplified, but the way that it avoids trying to recreate old aesthetics means it presents the mechanism of synthesis in a really honest, straightforward way.

After all, do you want to make some good noises, or look at pretty pictures to remember the past with?

Surge also highlights the weird mental processes behind synth brand-loyalty and collector habits. The MKS-70 ‘Warm Pad’ patch is very close to a preset I liked on a Nord Lead 3; once again, a reminder that the whole point of a synthesizer isn’t to buy the one that makes a preset sound you like, but to learn how to create the sound you want on the hardware, or software, you have.

It sounds fantastic, includes a versatile effects chain, and in theory could be the only synthesizer you need. Which is quite scary given how much you could be spending…

u-He – Baby zebras and cheese

u-He (Urs Heckmann) is well known for two astonishingly powerful softsynths, Zebra and Diva. Zebra is like modular on steroids, or if you want to move away from the capes and patchcords, object-oriented synthesis. Take the best bits of modern synthesizers, pick and choose, and build to your heart – and your CPU’s – content. Diva’s more grounded, but a storming software virtual analogue dream that if it were hardware, would be everywhere.

These flagships cost though. Not an unreasonable amount (they’re actually pretty good value, and you can trade in your old synth for a discount ;) ), but enough to make you think ‘do you need it’. So sensibly, u-He have a few freebies to show what they do…

Zebralette

Described as a baby Zebra, the Zebralette is a single-oscillator version with less flexibility, but still 16-voice polyphonic with ADSR and MSEG envelope generators, wave-morphing and spectral filters that go beyond low or high pass.

Basically that means it sounds WAY better than just a single oscillator synth. There are three effects thrown in too. It’s brilliant, frequently updated, has the vital scalable UI for big monitors and sounds epic.

I tend to dive into solos with this one, depending on the preset, but have yet to get into programming it; again, if you’re doing the thing of looking for more sounds in the hope of stumbling over something that expresses what you want, do not overlook it!

Triple Cheese

Breaking from the usual model of synthesis, Triple Cheese uses comb filters, with an initial noise generated from simple models, then manipulated or stacked. Recognisable shaping from envelopes and LFO is on offer, before some effects for chorus, delay and reverb.

It looks different, but it sounds surprisingly powerful, the trick being the minimal amount of processing power it consumes for the sounds it can create. The presets are pretty cool, too – and not all as cheesy as the name suggests.

Tyrell N6

Probably one of the most famous freeware synths, Tyrell Nexus 6 does a lot more than providing the soundtrack for watching C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate; it was designed originally as a hardware concept from German magazine Amazona.de – before the scale of producing it became apparent, and u-He created it in software for free distribution.

It’s been updated a couple of times, and though dated in appearance is still stable on current systems; a rock-solid classic virtual analogue with lush sounds from a two-oscillator variable waveshape model with sub-oscillator; it’s really easy and satisfying to program, too.

discoDSP

discoDSP developed the Discovery and Discovery Pro softsynths, which are virtual-analogue models with patch compatibility with the Nord Lead 2/X and the useful bonus of acting as patch editors for those synths too. Discovery isn’t free (though you can download a demo version that is less limited than most demos – enough to play with), but there is a free synth on their site.

OB-Xd

OB-Xd is an emulation of the original Oberheim X, with a few enhancements. It’s been ported to many platforms, but discoDSP are maintaining it for Mac/Windows and also produce an iOS version.

It’s quite minimalist – befitting the original – and ideal for brittle, raw, loud synthwave tracks. Presets are selected through a pop-up window; the origins of OB-Xd away from UI guidelines and Cubase media libraries is very obvious, but hey – at least you’re not loading a patch from a C15 tape…

The latest version, V3.4 of OB-Xd, is a significant leap forward from the V2.2 I first looked at, however due to the changes in the way patches are constructed and the overall sound of this recreation builds of OB-Xd V2 are also maintained.

Martinic – Kee Bass

Fans of combo organs, obscure effects and tolex-wrapped warm circuits will feel comfortable on Martinic‘s site; the plugins are the sort of things real musicians cut their teeth on before they could afford the kit that’s become legendary today.

Next to the wonderful (paid for – but trials are available) duo of the Elka Panther combo organ and Lem Italian tape echo is a quirky little beast, the Kee Bass. This baby string bass synth is an obscure – but apparently easily to find – electronic instrument from Rheem, a company known for making water heaters. Martinic’s free plugin has probably done more to raise global awareness of this unusual-looking creature than anything else.

What you get is a solid-sounding monophonic bass/string organ with some extra tuning and filtering flexibility under the toggle switches and tolex. And of course, that super-distinctive throttle-style bass booster. It’s warm, and heavy, and full of character. And it offers polyphonic mode too – something the original never could.

It’s free, but you do need to request a licence before installing it. No catch, no signup, no involved account creation, it’s quick and straightforward. And absolutely worth the effort.

Dexed – an open-source DX7 clone with extra OPL capabilities

Dexed, the open-source DX7 emulator, didn’t make it into this list before, because it was still in quite an early beta/alpha stage (though the bones of it were good). The latest update, in October 2024, is 0.9.8 and it’s received updates to the GUI, accessibility and keyboard shortcuts as well as Apple Silicon support and a few other tweaks since I’d last looked.

In short, it’s pretty much at primetime, release-candidate quality for most users and only some quirks around cartridge format and perhaps, the expectations of people used to commercial emulations such as Arturia’s DX7 V hold it back.

There are some connections between Surge and Dexed, so the depth of emulation is well developed. It sounds great – and while the interface is very busy, it’s also very easy to understand with all the ‘guts’ of the DX7’s process laid out with graphical representation of envelopes and algorithm. Where modern commercial recreations diverge is in adding more than just pure sine waves for the FM synthesis to work with – in this respect, Dexed is ‘pure’ DX7, though the sine wave can be changed from Mk1 DX7 to either ‘OPL low-resolution’ which gives more bell-like tones and brittle harmonics, or ’24-bit modern’ which opens up a lot of potential for smooth, subtle FM programmes.

The active, easy display of envelope stage and 6-operator layout is a delight if you want to get ito programming your own classic DX7 or modern FM synth but have yet to grasp the subtleties (or rather, have plenty of grasp of the things you can tweak, but find the interface uninformative, if you have an OP-1).

It’s free to download and supports Mac OS (without any daft security issues), Windows and can be compiled for Linux and Raspberry Pi (the LV2 package is part of Zynthian). While it’s free, the developers do ask for donations and part of that is covering the cost of Apple’s software notarisation and testing so it’s easy to install. As such, with a ten-year project of development, it seems only fair to drop them something for the effort and pay for Dexed if you find it useful.

It’s also worth checking out MiniDexed, which is a minimal, optimised version that runs on a Raspberry Pi 2 to 4/400 (Pi 1, Zero and Zero 2 are supported but require additional hardware, and pre-Pi 4 the sound output is best via HDMI). This can run ‘headless’ with just a 2-line LCD display, and supports MIDI editors and controllers. Running eight instances of Dexed, MiniDexed is essentially like having a tiny TX816 at your disposal without the cable spaghetti of mixer and MIDI to use it…

Martin Lüders – PG-8X

This is a stealthy one, but you really want it if retrowave is your thing – you can download a virtual Roland JX-8P here. The Roland JX-8P was a six-voice polyphonic, dual-DCO analogue synthesizer with sophisticated programming (but, more 1980s chips-and-software involved instead of analogue circuits) hidden behind a true 80s-tastic membrane button front panel. Most people needed the PG-800 programmer to get the most from it. It also provided the voices of the Roland GR77b bass guitar synth, and formed half of Roland’s impressive SuperJX, the JX-10 and MKS-70 module.

Martin’s free PG-8X VST – available for Mac OS and Windows, and as a standalone app as well – recreates the vital PG-800 programmer and includes a 12-voice JX-8P; not quite a SuperJX or MKS-70, but certainly everything that really mattered sound-wise apart from the two-layer ‘chase play’ function, which you could emulate with some MIDI effects and two instances of PG-8X.

Although it looks like it hasn’t been updated for a while, PG-8X 2.0.13 released in 2020 works on my 2019 iMac running Mac OS Sonoma. You do need to right-click the app to tell the Mac you want to run an unverified developer app, and only open it after moving it to the location you want it, such as the Applications folder.

It sounds clean, and appropriately digital yet still with the analogue filtered warmth and lush brass and pads I remember from my SuperJX – without the noise, flaky connections that made using 80s synths so much ‘fun’ in my old studio.

Or the sticky buttons. Or aftertouch repair.

Unlike many VSTs, it relies on you loading some presets into it from JX-8P sysex files. There are loads available, factory sounds and other libraries, and it’s straightforward. MIDI learn allows rapid mapping of controls from your hardware, and when you’ve loaded some sysex files and patches you can store the full 128-sound bank in a PG8X preset file for quicker recall.

It’s fast, lightweight, with easy to read controls and exactly the right aesthetic for the JX-8P; it’s also a synth Roland has yet to emulate in Roland Cloud. A must-have for ’80s pop, synthwave and early alternative electronic music.

Yamaha FM emulation – ADLPlug (+ OPN Plug)

Arcade and console emulation brings synths to life as well

• Free VST and app versions of OPL and OPN YM-series Yamaha FM chips
• Pre-built for many platforms including Zynthian LV2, Linux, Mac and Windows
• Open-source cores can be selected for accuracy, stability or performance

If you want to just jump to using the plugins, you can download compiled builds of ADLPlug here, but if you like tinkering and understanding the process, or are a programmer with some ideas on how to update or modify your build for a specific platform, the source code/git repository for ADLPlug has all the resources and documentation.

Native Instruments – Komplete Start

This one’s really aimed at supporting hardware – but it’s available to all, and contains some very worthwhile, versatile instruments in an impressive 6GB library. Literally offering a complete start to Komplete, there are over 2,000 editable presets from such diverse sources as the Reaktor Player’s flexible synths – Mikro Prism, Reaktor Blocks, Newscool and Carbon 2, plus samples from several Komplete libraries.

They are limited versions of what Komplete offers, but they’re not restricted – just less complex – and have plenty of potential for playing with building your own modular synths, adding eerie drones and funky, up-to-date sounds to your productions.

If you want a more full-featured version of Komplete, Thomann’s 70th Anniversary offers include an inexpensive seven-decade retrospective collection for just £59. This includes Native Instruments’ Massive and Reaktor, and some retro recreations on a sensible, subscription-free software licence.

Click here to buy Native Instruments Komplete Collection 70th LTD for £59 – instant download.

Windows and 32-bit?

K Brown synth plugins (updated with 64-bit)

Who is Kevin Brown? The about page credits Martin Vicanek for some code, but otherwise this appears to be a generous gift and a lot of effort from someone without any need to self-promote. It’s like the internet used to be… Unfortunately that means you need a computer like computers used to be – a Windows 32-bit machine.

Revisiting in 2024, there’s a massive selection of synths now. They’re still Windows-only due to the use of the FlowStone development environment, but there are 64-bit VSTs and a dazzling array of hybrid creations blending the qualities of classic synths.

Edit: it seems that K Brown and KBPlugs retired from creating plug-in synths and removed the links and information around July 2024. A reminder of how thankless the internet can be with creative efforts, sometimes…

Admire the collection of ‘inspired by, but not necessarily accurate recreations’ in the last form archived in April 2024 via Wayback Machine: K Brown VSTs

If you want to download the collection, the Free VSTs Facebook page has a post and a dropbox link for one collection; the other collection (the modular synths) is still live at the KBPlugs Modular Synths original sync.com link for now.

TAL U-NO 62, Bassline & others

TAL are well-regarded for their Roland-esque plugins, with many users claiming they’re better than even Roland’s own software recreations. The latest versions are very reasonably priced, but if you’re using an older computer the deprecated, unsupported plugins are freely downloadable, and give a taste of what you can expect from their replacements.

Windows is well supported here, but for Mac owners, this is 32-bit only territory. Perfect for a repurposed old computer.

There are many more free synths and VSTs than I can feature here, so come back for updates – these are the highlights of years of searching and messing with computer music with no professional intent.

Hardware: old computers are great instruments

My main Cubase machine was a seven year old 2013 iMac i5 when I started this article – at the time of writing, seven years old. That’s like the difference between a Commodore 64 and an Atari Falcon in old-school terms.

I’ve since upgraded to a 2019 model with i9 processor, which limits the number of older softsynths I can access on it – though it’s remarkable how many good ones have continued to be developed and supported to be compatible with the latest versions of Mac OS.

If I need to run something older, £100 or less can pick up a good secondhand Mac Mini from around 2010-2014 which will run 32-bit plugins, dual-boot Windows (again, with 32-bit support if needed) and is also supported by several Linux distributions. These have an optical digital audio output or can make use of unwanted old Firewire audio interfaces for a low cost, making a self-contained synth engine straightforward.

You can make use of all kinds of old machines, though.

No DAW? No problem?

There are several free DAWs now, so you don’t need Cubase or similar to host your free synths. For audio unit plugins (many of the ones mentioned above have AU versions) you can get going with Garageband on Mac OS, which is a really easy-to-use way of making music with your computer and completely free since introduction – so whatever age of Mac you have, you can get Garageband, albeit some older ones may be harder to find now.

For quick-and-dirty solutions, UglyVSTi by reFuse software is my go-to VST host for Mac – it tolerates 32-bit and even outdated VSTs; it can load NeuronVS on Mac OS 10.14, for example. Just connect your MIDI controller and select the audio outputs, and go. All it does is turn the VSTi into a stand-alone instrument, no effects or anything.

For Windows, vstHost achieves the same results.

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