Freeware: Togu Audio Line synths & effects

When it comes to free - and I mean literally free - plug-ins, one of my favorite companies is Togu Audio Line.

Their filters, vocoder, reverb, and softsynths like Bassline (pictured above) and Elek7tro ooze presence and character. In fact, I'm using the TAL-Bassline on one of my newest tracks. Their Juno-60 emulation's pretty darn good too.

Available for both Mac and PC.

Here's the link. Check 'em out.

http://kunz.corrupt.ch/home

Tyrell Nexus 6 - Free Softsynth from Amazona.de

As you're probably aware by now, I love free stuff.  Especially free synth stuff designed by Urs Heckmann (creator of Zebra).

I haven't had a chance to play with it personally, but it looks rather badass and I'm gonna give it a whirl this weekend.

More info (in German) and download links here.

(I'd post the Google Translation, but it's a bit more nonsensical than usual...)

Have fun!

This & That #7

One of my all-time favorite periodicals - New Scientist - has posted a very cool video on building your own Sonic Crystal.

What's a Sonic Crystal? Go here.

These are about as cool as it gets. And my birthday's only a week away!!!

Earlier this month, I was asking the guys over at Switched On if anyone had made a decent Roland VP-330 softsynth. Well apparently, someone did - and if it's Windows-only, I'm gonna key their Chevy.

Free shit and more info after the jump...

Download: NI RAZOR Loop Six-pack

Just snagged the Native Instruments' RAZOR Reaktor synth that I blogged about yesterday.

Developed in conjunction with Berlin electronica artist, Errorsmith, this ensemble is targeted at the Dubstep community, but there's a helluva lot more to it than that.

With its über-pretty FFT display of harmonic motion, tons of really unique filters and a couple of beat-synced LFOs, RAZOR makes a deep cut into additive synthesis territory (sorry, couldn't resist the pun).

So, I decided to beat everyone to the punch and drop a RAZOR-edged free loop six-pack on ya, so you can get a taste for yourself.

Tech notes and linkage after the jump...

Native Instruments Announces Dubstep Softsynth

It's not April 1 yet, so this must be real. Gadzooks.

This & That #4

Musicradar.com posted a wonderful history of Roland synths, with tons of sexy pictures. Naturally, someone took all that gear porn and made a seizure-inducing animated GIF.

Create Digital Music has a brilliant tutorial on turning that old cassette deck in your closet into a nifty little analog saturation effect.

One of the artists I'm working with these days is an extraordinary guitarist, DJ, producer, teacher, and Zen badass named Shreddward. He has some top-notch tech house tracks in the pipeline and recently added some moody guitar parts to a track I'm working on. Now, he's got his own blog too.

It's been a fun week for free stuff too... More info after the jump.

My Five Desert Island Plug-ins (February 2011)

Mike Cobb asked me to post an entry about my five must-have plug-ins, which is a very difficult task for a few reasons.

For one thing, there are literally thousands of great plug-ins out there. Synths, effects, EQs... Everyone knows this drill, so filing it down to five means leaving out some really great software.

On the other hand, I'm extremely finicky about what software ends up living on my machine. More plug-ins means more maintenance, upgrades, compatibility - and if you decide to collaborate or share tracks, then you need to render what the other party doesn't have.

In the end, I just went with the facts: These truly are the plug-ins that I use regularly and know intimately.

So here goes...

Rob Papen Introduces Explorer Bundle

In my NAMM roundup earlier this week, I mentioned that Rob Papen's new drum plug-in - Punch - looked and sounded like a hit.

This week, Keyboard Magazine goes a bit deeper with a blog entry on Papen's new bundle of synth and effect plug-ins.

Here's the skinny: Rob Papen Introduces Explorer Bundle