Top 5 Must-have free plugins for producers

1. OTT – Multiband Compressor

 

OTT is an multiband compression, that is a more advanced form of compression. A multiband compressor splits the frequency spectrum into separate bands. Each frequency band also has dedicated compression settings. Applying different amounts of compression to the separate frequency ranges gives you more control. A multiband compressor is essentially an EQ and a compressor in one. You can read more about this and why you should use it here!

 

2. Pancake – Tremolo

With Pancake you can construct your own modulation curves. They can be easily drawn using soft or hard control points, thus producing gentle transitions or sharp bends in the waveform.

PanCake’s LFO can be beat-synced to your DAW, from a fast 1/128 note modulation up to 32 bars. It can also be set free-running from 0.02 Hz to 5.24 kHz, and can be triggered vie MIDI. A precise display of channel left/right volume provides helpful visual control.

 

3. SPAN – Spectrum Analyzer

SPAN is a real-time “fast Fourier transform” audio spectrum analyzer for professional sound and music production applications. SPAN provides you with a very flexible “mode” system which you can use to setup your spectrum analyzer preferences. You may specify Fourier block size in samples, FFT window overlap percentage, spectrum’s visual slope. Beside that, you can choose to display secondary spectrum of a desired type. Spectrum can be smoothed out visually for an easier examination. SPAN supports multi-channel analysis, and can be set to display spectrums from two different channels or channel groups at the same time. Spectrum’s color can be chosen to taste. It also features output level metering with adjustable ballistics and integration time, EBU R128, K-system metering. And it displays level metering statistics, headroom estimation and true peak clipping detection.

4. Ozone Imager – Stereo Widening Tool

With Ozone Imager you can easily widen or narrow your sounds to fit them in any mix. It’s the easiest way to spread out a narrow-sounding synth or nestle your bass guitar in the center. You also can stereoize turn mono into stereo, with no need for reverb or doubling. Use the new Stereoize II mode for subtle enhancement, or Stereoize I for a colorful phasing effect. And there are three different vectorscope meters to help check your stereo width and see if your left and right channels are lining up properly. Resize your plug-in window to get an even better view of the action!

5. Camelcrusher – Distortion & Compressor

CamelCrusher is a ‘colouring’ multi-effect plugin. It offers two characteristically different distortion sounds which can be blended together to create a wide variety of tones and textures. Great for guitars, drums and plenty more! There’s also a warm, smooth analogue-style low-pass filter with buckets of resonance. Assign a MIDI controller and start tweaking! Finally, let’s not forget the easiest-to-use compressor you’ll find anywhere. It can ‘phatten’ up your sound as quickly as you can turn up the ‘Amount’ knob!