Universal Audio just dropped a genuine Black Friday freebie - take your pick from an 1176, LA-2A, Pultec EQ, and more completely free of charge

A Macbook running Universal Audio plugins on a studio desk

(Image credit: Universal Audio)

As well as being the best time of the year to pick up a Black Friday plugin deal, Cyber Weekend is also a great time to pick up free gear. Most of the time you won’t get much choice on which plugins you can get for free, but Universal Audio has an amazing offer this year where you can get one of ten plugins completely free of charge.

This will be my fourth year covering the sales and this year I’ve seen more and more companies offering free software, but this is the first time I can recall anyone offering a choice of free plugin without you actually having to buy something. It’s super value for music-makers, because there’s bound to be one plugin in the list that will be useful to you.

Grab yourself a totally free plugin over at the Universal Audio site

I’ve used all ten of the plugins that UA is currently giving away, so if you want a nod in the right direction, I think the Verve Analog Machines Essentials is one that’s properly underrated. I use it a lot when an instrument needs a little extra pizazz without having to resort to EQing or going back and adjusting the overall mix.

If you don’t already have it, the 1176 Classic FET Compressor is another must-have. 76-style compression is one of those things that’s just ubiquitous with music production, with pretty much every major studio having at least one. Whether you want to get things to sit better in the mix or you need something fast to tame transients, the 1176 will be eminently usable in a huge range of mixing scenarios.

If you already have the 1176, the LA-2A is also available for free. I like to use both together, with the 1176 catching the fast transients and the LA-2A providing a limiting effect to catch those peaks that sneak through. You can use it to tame bass guitars and acoustic instruments like piano and acoustic guitars too, delivering a smoothing effect that imparts its own subtle character.

The Universal Audio Galaxy Tape Echo is another one I use regularly, great for slapback on a lead vocal or for some super cool delay throw effects when you need them. You can push it into self-oscillation for those ‘Karma Police’ style spiralling delay tones. It’s also got a handy tempo sync so your delays will always be in time with the rest of your track.