When producing electronic music it’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of making tracks which sound very synthetic. That’s because most of the sounds we use are made by using synthesizers - and almost all of them at the core use the same basic waveforms. Even most samples are synthesized, making the drums quite static sounding. In recent years a new, much more natural sound has been getting more and more popular. The genre of Organic House combines downtempo arrangements with ethnic, Indian and Middle Eastern elements. Such tracks often feature multi-layered percussion and a melodic layer that...

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 5 of free lo-fi processing plugins for both Windows & Mac. The list includes plugins from big names (Izotope, Caelum Audio) and less known developers. The plugins allow you to dial in saturation, vibrato-style effects, add noise, digital distortion and much more. Let’s get started! 1. Izotope Vinyl (Mac/Win) Vinyl simulates the dust, scratches, warp, and mechanical noise of beloved vinyl records. Try the new Lo-fi effect to add the signature tone of 80s hip-hop resampling. Bring character-filled artifacts and classic tone to your production in seconds. Get here 2. Tape Cassette...

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 5 of free sidechain plugins for both Windows & Mac. The list includes plugins from big names (TAL, MeldaProduction) and less known developers. They mostly give you access to LFO-Tool style effects, so they’re also perfect for all kinds of volume modulation. Let’s get started! 1. TAL-Filter-2 (Mac/Win) TAL-Filter-2 is a host synced filter module with different filter types, panorama and volume modulation possibilities. This can be used for tremolo or trance gate effects. Panorama modulation maybe is useful to pan your percussion, hats or sound effects in the stereo room for...

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 5 of free limiter plugins for both Windows & Mac. The list includes plugins from big names and less known developers. The limiters are specialized in different tasks, from giving you maximum transparency to an analog feel. Let’s get started! 1. D16 Frontier (Mac/Win) Frontier is a studio-grade limiter plug-in with simple and straightforward user interface. It allows for quick and efficient controlling dynamics of a channel, bus or master output. Frontier can be used as very transparent mixing / mastering limiter (at certain settings) with just licking the loudest amplitude peaks, or...

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 5 of free drum synth plugins for both Windows & Mac. The list includes plugins from more popular developers (AudioSpillage, Sampleson) and less known developers. None of the plugins use samples - only analog modelling oscillators. Let’s get started! 1. MiniSpillage (64-bit, Mac only) MiniSpillage is a free professional quality drum synthesizer plugin featuring high resolution 64-bit DSP processing. MiniSpillage includes 3 exclusive drum synthesis algorithms (Bass Drum, Wood Drum, Hihat) along with distortion effects and resonant filters. It features the same high definition 64-bit DSP engine as found in its larger...

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 5 of free acoustic drum kit plugins for both Windows & Mac. The list includes plugins from big names (Steven Slate, Spitfire Audio) and less known developers. The drum kits are all multisampled, giving you an incredibly realistic sound. Let’s get started! 1. Steven Slate Drums Free Steven Slate's free VST does the job perfectly here. It sounds incredibly solid and realistic, offers you 3 mix-ready presets, and allows for maximum customization of your sounds. With this drum kit you're all set, no matter for which genre you need it for. Get...

In this article you’ll find some secret features of Ableton Live. They make the production process easier, more enjoyable, and allow you for much more customization of the program. Some of these hidden gems also improve the sound of effects or give you additional creative processing capabilities. Let’s get started! 1. Hiding the Global Overview Are you one of the Ableton Live users who are not really fans of the Global Overview window? Even though it might be useful when navigating huge fragmented projects, in some cases it takes up a bit too much of your precious screen real estate....

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 10 of free Chorus effects for both Windows & Mac. The list includes both classic analog device emulations, as well as modern plugin inventions. Let’s get started! See Also: 10 Best (Paid) Chorus VST Plugins for Windows & Mac What is a Chorus effect?   The Chorus effect is one of the most important tools of every music producer. It multiplies the voice of a track - some just “double” the signal, some chorus effects add even more voices. It works similarly to a group of people singing in a choir -...

In this list you’ll find the absolute top 10 of Chorus effects for both Windows & Mac. The list includes both classic analog device emulations and modern plugin inventions. Let’s get started! See Also: Top 10 Free Chorus Plugins  1. Roland Dimension D Emulation: UAD Studio D The original rack unit released in 1979 has been incredibly popular in studios worldwide for adding subtle spatial enhancement, rather than obvious pitch modulation, which is the case with plenty of other chorus effects. The UAD emulation is particularly faithful to the hardware. Other options include the Arturia Dimension D and the Overloud Modula. Check out UAD Studio D here....

Are there useful, great sounding drum synthesizer plugins which can stand up to modern hardware drum machines like the Elektron Analog Rytm? Let's find out! 1. Microtonic This VST is probably the best drum synthesizer combined with a pattern sequencer. You can use it to play sounds with your own MIDI as well. It is purely synthetic and uses no samples at all. The GUI allows for easy sound manipulation without having to go through endless navigation pages. For us at PML, Microtonic is as close as you can get using only software to modern analog drum machines like the Elektron...