Venus Theory sampled $50k of gear at a synth convention to make this free plugin
Synthbox features 20 patches made with various bits of modular gear and hardware synthesizers
YouTuber and musician Venus Theory has released a free plugin based on a sample library recorded at this year's Knobcon, a synth convention located in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Venus Theory says that $50,000 worth of gear was sampled to create the instrument, a collection that included Eurorack modules and hardware synths from Melbourne Instruments, Future Retro, Landscape, Roland, Soma, Modbap and more. He even sampled a 'super broken' Fairlight CMI Series III.
After spending the day at Knobcon taking recordings of the instruments on display, the moustachioed content creator cleaned up the samples and fitted the library into a DecentSampler sampler instrument. Synthbox is equipped with a filter, filter envelope and amp envelope along with a basic reverb and delay. That's not what you're here for, though - it's the fantastic collection of sounds at the heart of the library that makes it worth a download.
If you're a music nerd, a synth fan or even vaguely interested in production, Venus Theory's Youtube channel is worth subscribing to. One of the most thoughtful YouTubers in the music technology world, he covers a variety of subjects from AI to sampling to self-promotion, and releases electronic music under the same name.
Download Synthbox for free on Venus Theory's Gumroad page.
- Read more: The best free VST synth plugins 2023: wavetable, FM, virtual analogue and more
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I'm MusicRadar's Tech Editor, working across everything from product news and gear-focused features to artist interviews and tech tutorials. I love electronic music and I'm perpetually fascinated by the tools we use to make it. When I'm not behind my laptop keyboard, you'll probably find me behind a MIDI keyboard, carefully crafting the beginnings of another project that I'll ultimately abandon to the creative graveyard that is my overstuffed hard drive.