Free Plugins For Mac
Finding good plugins, especially free ones that sound great, can be quite a challenge. Beatfactory Drums is a free drumkit plugin which works in any DAW on Mac OS. 11 Best Free Plugins for Mixing & Mastering – VST, AU & AAX. Flux – BitterSweet v.3 – Free Transient Designer Plugin. This plugin is a transient shaper. Not only does it look great it performs great as well. You might be wondering what a transient is, it’s basically just a sharp change in the audio signal level. Our software library provides a free download of Sapphire Plug-ins 7.0 for Mac. Our built-in antivirus scanned this Mac download and rated it as virus free. The application is categorized as Audio & Video Tools. The most recent installation package that can be downloaded is 143.7 MB in size. Dexed is a free Synth which can be downloaded and used or free, only 3MB in size, available for both Mac and Windows. This plugin can be used in FL Studio or any other DAW supporting AU/VST plugins. Also comes with built-in 30+ free presets with an option to export and import your own saved presets. Free VST Plugins are one of the most exciting things about mixing. In the past it was impossible to imagine that so many quality tools could be available at no cost. Today there are more great free plugins than ever before, but the freeware scene is always changing.
These are the best free realistic instrument plugins for Windows and Mac!
So, if you're looking for free virtual instruments that can be used for composing orchestral or realistic music, these 5 plugins will help you do just that.
And all but one will work on both Windows and Mac, but I do mention an alternative for the one that doesn't plus a bonus free sound library at the end.
Chart of the best free realistic instrument plugins
This table includes all of the free realistic instrument VST plugins that are mentioned in the article below.
| Plugin Name | Available Plugin Formats | Supported OS |
|---|---|---|
| LABS | 64 & 32-bit VST, AAX, and AU | Windows & Mac |
| Cloudrum | 64 & 32-bit VST, AAX (Mac only), and AU | Windows & Mac |
| Sonatina Orchestra | 64 & 32-bit VST | Windows |
| SSD5 Free | 64-bit VST, AAX, and AU | Windows & Mac |
| Virtual Playing Orchestra | WAVE & SFZ | Windows & Mac |
| (Bonus) Taiko Drum Samples | WAVE & SFZ | Windows & Mac |
1. Spitfire LABS
The first one I want to mention is Spitfire LABS, a great resource to get free orchestral instruments and they add a new one every month, at least that's what they say.
So hey, save the article and check back in a couple of months, they might have a new one available.
From this, you can use an array of different instruments like strings, guitar, piano, and choir that all sound great.
Free Plug-ins For Mac
Each instrument allows you to control expression, dynamics, and reverb. Some even come with more control.
Free Vst For Mac
2. Ample Sound Cloudrum
The next instrument I'd like to highlight is Cloudrum by Ample Sound.
This one sounds pretty cool and is quite different from their regular approach to making plugins as they almost entirely stick to stringed instruments.
With this one being the only exception. Even though it's slightly out of their expertise, this one really hit the mark.
3. Sonatina Orchestra
Now if you're looking for a robust library of orchestral instruments including percussion, strings, and brass, you might really like Sonatina Orchestra.
Unfortunately, this is the one that doesn't work for Mac. But, is very similar to one that does, called VSCO2.
These two plugins seem to have a lot of the same instrument samples and you can find the free download link for VSCO2 in this article.
Check it out, I also demo how it sounds in a video available on the article.
4. SSD5 FREE
If you're looking for a fully functional deluxe drum kit, SSD5 FREE has many different drums for you to use.
With this plugin, you get more control compared to just using samples such as mixing directly in the plugin.
5. Virtual Playing Orchestra
The last one is a bit of a process to get set up but it does sound good and I suggest that you at least listen to the demo I made before you decide not to give it a go.
Virtual Playing Orchestra does require you to download the wave files, sfz scripts and a separate sfz player such as sforzando made by Plogue.
And there are other orchestral libraries that have sfz format so it won’t be a waste of your time.
6. (Bonus): Taiko Drum Samples
Finally, the bonus sound library. If you're looking for some free Taiko drum samples, you can get them from this pay-what-you-want resource.
If you feel that it's worth some money, the option is there for you but you can get them for free.
In this library, you'll find some nice drum one-shots to use in your music or even sound effects.
Free Garageband Plugins For Mac
I hope these free plugins will help you make better orchestral music or just music in general.
Share it with someone so they don't miss out on these sweet freebies. As always, thanks for reading.
| Software | Description | OS | License | File Date | Comments | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voxengo SPAN 2.10 | Real-time spectrum analyzer. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2016-03-04 | 2 | 80db |
| Automap 4.9 | Offers an instant controlling solution for your MIDI Hardware controllers to work with all your plug-ins. | Mac | Freeware | 2015-07-09 | 0 | 70db |
| VST Plug-in Pack 7 | Pack of 30 VST plug-ins. | Mac | Freeware | 2003-11-21 | 4 | 65db |
| TAL-Vocoder-2 V1.02 | Vintage vocoder emulation with 11 bands that emulates the sound of vocoders from the early 80s. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2013-01-07 | 2 | 65db |
| Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst 2.1 | Frequency spectrum analyzer. [VST/AU/ RTAS] | Mac | Freeware | 2014-01-20 | 0 | 65db |
| hypercyclic v1.5.554 | The hypercyclic is a MIDI Arpeggiator and Mangler [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2015-03-08 | 0 | 60db |
| Ambience v1.0.7 | Reverb plug-in. [VST/AU] | Mac | Free | 2010-08-16 | 5 | 60db |
| MultiInspectorFree v1.2.0 | 31 band spectral analyzer. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2009-03-06 | 6 | 60db |
| SonicBirth v1.3.0 | Design your own AudioUnit/VST plug-ins. | Mac | Freeware | 2007-11-18 | 0 | 60db |
| bs-spectrum v1.3 | Spectrum analyzer. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2008-07-18 | 0 | 60db |
| Piano One v1.2 | Piano One is virtual piano instrument based on the Yamaha C7 concert grand piano. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2012-10-15 | 0 | 60db |
| WormHole2 v2.0.6 | Audio plugin to transfer realtime audio over a network. [VST/AU] | Mac | Free | 2008-01-16 | 1 | 55db |
| Clocker v1.0 | Utility plug-in that sends MIDI clock. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2008-05-20 | 0 | 55db |
| Freeverb VST Source | Freeware high-quality digital reverb VST plugin. | Mac | Freeware | 2000-05-22 | 2 | 55db |
| LFX-1310 v1.4 | Multi-effects plug-in. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2009-11-27 | 0 | 55db |
| W1 Limiter | Brickwall Limiter - clone of Waves L1, with identical output. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2005-01-19 | 3 | 55db |
| Delay Trio v8.0.3 | Collection of three delay effects. [VST/AU/RTAS] | Mac | Freeware | 2013-07-08 | 0 | 55db |
| TX16Wx Software Sampler v2.4.0 | FREE software sampler based on hardware samplers of the 80s and 90s. [VST] | Mac | Freeware | 2014-09-15 | 0 | 55db |
| BeatCounter v2.1 | Beatmatching software. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2014-03-17 | 4 | 55db |
| Zampler 1.1 | Zampler is a free audio sampler processing application. [AU/VST] | Mac | Freeware | 2012-08-09 | 0 | 55db |
| Jack OS X v0.83 | Low-latency audio server. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2009-10-23 | 0 | 55db |
| bx_solo v1.0.1 | A tool designed to get you started with the M/S technique. [VST/RTAS] | Mac | Freeware | 2008-04-29 | 0 | 55db |
| Amplifikation Lite v1.1.3 | Real-time guitar processing. [VST/AU] | Mac | Freeware | 2012-11-05 | 2 | 55db |
| MuLab Free v7 | Top-quality sound and music production system, transforming your computer into an inspiring modular studio. | Mac | Freeware | 2016-06-06 | 0 | 55db |
| Alloy v2.02 | Provides key sound shaping effects for your tracks and busses, bringing them to life with six processors designed to give character to every element of your mix. [VST/AU/RTAS] | Mac | Demo | 2013-08-23 | 0 | 55db |
| Izotope Vinyl v1.73 | Plug-in for creating lo-fi vinyl sound effects. [VST] | Mac | Freeware | 2006-08-09 | 1 | 55db |
| Tempo Sync Reverser v1.0.1 | Reverses the sound for a set amount of time. [VST] | Mac | Freeware | 2006-07-21 | 0 | 55db |
| TrackPAD v1.01 | Vrtual 'Sticky / Post-It' for tracktion. [VST] | Mac | Freeware | 2005-05-01 | 0 | 55db |
| H20 | Simple compressor VST plug-in | Mac | Freeware | 2000-09-01 | 1 | 55db |
| Fre(a)koscope 0.8 public beta | FFT-based real-time spectrum analyzer. [VST] | Mac | Freeware | 2005-03-26 | 0 | 55db |