Free Fridays! Fave New Freeware Picks – Chips, Samples and Amps, Oh My!

Here in the land of the free, we like to celebrate. Whether it be over growing older, good news, or just the simple fact that the weekend is here, celebrating feels good.

So how do we maximize this feeling? Why,  random free stuff, of course!

And this random edition of Freeware Fridays(14th to be exact) comes to us with the introduction of free audio/music apps. Only the best of the best could possibly make the cut and, believe us, it absolutely does. So clear your schedules and let freedom ring:

Also, please feel free to share your favorite freeware plugins/apps in the comments section below!

Bark of Dog – Bass Resonance Filter by Boz Digital Labs
(Mac/PC – AAX, AU, VST, RTAS, VST3)

Plug and play with Bark of Dog from Boz.

The guys at Boz created a dry martini of a plugin, complemented with the essence of dry humor and sensibility. Bark of Dog is basically just a resonant high pass filter. So why bother making it? How about just take the free plug-in and ask more important questions! But they actually do have their own reasons – See them now:

Why create a dedicated plugin for a tool we all already have?

Great question. Truthfully, what you get here can be accomplished with pretty much any digital EQ plugin. The reason why I made a dedicated plugin for this is because even though I had the capability to put a resonant high pass filter on my tracks for the past 15 years using my stock EQ, the thought never occurred to me to try it. I read reviews on a certain plugin that claimed to enhance the low end with a resonant high pass filter, and everybody who tried it seemed to love it. Rather than spending loads of money on a big dongle and then more money on a plugin, I decided just to make my own.

Even though it is super simple, I think it lived up to it’s hype. I love this tool. It solved all my low end problems. Because this is a feature we all already have, I didn’t feel right about charging money for it. There are enough good new ideas to do that I don’t want to fall into the trap of repackaging old tricks. Think of this as more of a really helpful tip with a plugin to go along with it. If you don’t want to download this plugin, then at least open up your stock EQ and play with the resonance on your high pass filter. It made my life a lot easier, and I think it can make yours easier too.

Leeds Town Hall Organ – Mammoth Pipe Samples from Samplephonics
(Mac/PC 3.2GB uncompressed – Ableton, Logic, Fruity Loops, Kontakt, Reason and more)

Samplephonics retains a pretty strong presence in the audio capturing and sharing domain with their sample libraries, loops, effects and virtual instruments. Their new division, Sonos, headed this project to capture these amazing samples found in the one and only Leeds, England. The free virtual instrument comes in several wrappers that are compatible with Ableton, Logic, Fruity Loops, Kontakt, Reason and just plain-jane .wav files. Details from Samplephonics:

This project was part of a new chapter for Samplephonics known as Sonas, who will be unveiling some spectacular virtual instruments over the coming year. More on that soon!

We spent some time with organist Dr Simon Lindley who told us all about how the instrument works, it’s history and even a guided tour up in to the inside of the organ itself!

Simon crafted 6 versatile presets for us and we began the painstaking process of sampling this incredible feat of engineering. Over the next few months we spent many evenings in the town hall recording every single note with multiple round robins and over 10 second note recordings to capture the true sonic character of the organ. The repetetive nature of the task actually became quite hypnotic and a strange bond began to form between us, the organ, the building and the very spirit of the city of Leeds.

Everyone involved in the project worked long hours and for free, so we felt that it was only right to give away the fruits of our labour and hope that the spirit of this incredible instrument could spread throughout the world and help people to craft wonderful music that moves people to do good things.

Freeamp – Multi-Guitar Amp-Sim by FrettedSynth
(Windows ONLY – VST)

*Created with free-range pedals only.

With Freeamp, users can create signal chains with amps, pedal effects, EQ and more. Created by Joseph DeHelian of FrettedSynth, his ‘FreeAmp’ series of freeware plugins differ with each version. This particular version includes seven amps, seven EQs, compressors and even more! I had to double-check to make sure this thing is free…so have at it!

Features:

• Includes Guitsyn, a built-in guitar synth (screenshot).
• Seven different amp types.
• Seven different EQs, all have there own controls for comparison.
• Six speakers, plus bypass, adjustable by the mic placement.
• Separate MIDI volume control, can be placed pre or post amp.
• Host Sync and Tap Tempo for Tremolo and Delay.
• Noise gate.
• Tremolo, Triangle and square modulators.
• Two compressors, pre and post amp.
• Wah can operate by MIDI CC, plus has auto features.
• Drive pedal, with a choice of seven overdrive types.
• Chorus with added filter.
• Flanger.
• Phase Shifter.
• Delay and Reverb.
• 128 factory presets.

G-Stomper Rhythm – Drum/Groove Machine by Planet-H
(Android)

Get it on Google Play, Amazon AppStore, and SlideME Market.

A smaller version of G-Stomper Studio for Android, this little beast is loaded with more than enough to help guide your next platinum-record-quality beatz. Really though, with 24 tracks, multiple sample packs, and 31 effects, G-Stomper Rhythm is a great freeware offer. Here are a few details from Planet-H:

Overview:

• Sampler based Drum Machine/Step Sequencer, max 24 Tracks.
• Grid based Multi Track Step Sequencer, max 24 Tracks.
• 24 Drum Pads for live playing.
• Line Mixer with up to 24 Channels.
• Effect Rack and Master Section.
• Full Motion Sequencing/Automation Support.

Drum Machine:

• Step Sequencer with up to 24 Tracks.
• Pattern Length: 1..128 steps / 8 bars.
• Beat Types: 16th, 32th, 64th, 8th triple,16th triple, 32th triple.
• Last Step: 1..16 (for asynchronous beats).
• Shuffle/Swing (per Pattern): 50..75 (+ swing step selection).
• Shuffle/Swing ON/OFF for each Track.
• Tempo: 60.0..300.0 BPM.
• Roll Function to simulate Beat signatures up to 1/256.
• Dedicated Filter Section per Track (8 Filter types).
• Step Shifting.
• Step Edit Mode (Edit your Sequence step by step).
• Note Edit Mode (8-Octave Piano-Roll).
• Tap Recording.
• Sample Normalize.
• Fill-In function.
• Rhythm Arpeggio.

Live Sample Modulation:

• Accent Amount, Panorama, Volume, Start Point, Length, Pitch, Track Filter Type/Cutoff/Resonance, Envelope Type/Assign/Reverse, Sample Reverse, EFX send.

Dream 64 – Chip Synth by Odo Synths
(Windows ONLY – VST)

I have to admit – I’m a sucker for nostalgia. So when I stumbled across Odo I had to share! This thing is the ultimate way to get those iconic chip sounds from our youth and yea, I guess we can go ahead and implement them

Free chips. No double dipping!

into modern music. Why not? After all, this isn’t exactly a chip emulator. This is an instrument that re-creates chip sounds PLUS adds modern features for our listening pleasure. Here are more details from Odo Synths:

Odo Synths has announced the release of version 3.0 of Dream 64, the free Chip Synth VST instrument plug-in for Windows.

Dream 64 is not an SID emulator, but it’s a plug-in that can recreate sounds that are used in chip-music. It’s inspired by the SID chip from the old but good Commodore c64 but with some extra features for fun.

Main features:

• All sequencers have a start and end loop but start always at step one.
• Start-step never can be higher than the end.
• Every sequencer has its own BPM rate or all have one manual rate.
• 8 step Wavetable sequencer with audio on/off (gate effect).
• 8 step Arp sequencer notes from c to c3 and one c4 note.
• 8 step Ring modulation sequencer notes from c to c3 and one c4 note.
• A Bitcrusher only for the ringmod. This is nice if you use the Wavetable.
• 16 step easy to edit filter-sequencer. Can be used for nice bass sounds because it has an end step (will sustain).
• Waveforms for the oscillator are saw, triangle, pulse, noise, ringmod mode. The noise is very special – it can be pitched by key or fixed.
• Oscillator octaves from -3 to 2.
• Ring modulation oscillator notes from c to c3 and one c4 note and a bitcrusher (this is nice for the wavetable sequencer).
• 2 LFOs with 21 waveforms BPM rates and manual with inverter.
• The LFOs can start (key sync) (host sync) and (free run).
• Destinations of the LFOs are pitch/pulse/ring osc and Filter.
• 2 modulation envelopes with inverter and BPM retrigger.
• Destinations Pitch/pulse/ring modulation.
• Filter Envelope can be switched to the filter sequencer.
• filters lowpass/hipass/bandpass/low and hipass/band and hipass/band and lowpass.
• Random for most of the controls.
• Reset most of the controls.
• Double click is reset for most of the controls.
• Bitcrusher before and after filter.

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