Free music software round-up: Week 3
Please be upstanding for the Erectifier
It's time, once again, to kick off your music making week by rounding-up what the world's developers of free software have been up to over the past seven days.
The focus is very much on effects this time, though there's also a jazz piano to consider if you're short in the sounds department. As always, links to download pages are provided, so you can be using all of this software in a matter of minutes.
Rusty Trombone Erectifier
Platform/format: PC and Mac/VST Download
The Rusty Trombone Erectifier - that name alone should be enough to make you want to download this doubler/phaser/exciter plug-in, and the charmingly homemade-looking interface will draw you in further. Developed by Shuriken, it's designed for widening and phattening your sound, but it can also be misused in other ways.
Evopax D1-A Graphic EQ
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
The big idea behind this graphic EQ is that it sounds distinctly analogue but, because of its 'multi-dimensional buffers' (values used in the plug-in are pre-calculated), it shouldn't put too much strain on your CPU. Version 1.1 is now available, and enables you to select three different types of filter mode - one for each resonance level.
Freeverb3
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
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This open source Impulse Response processor has just been updated to version 2.0.7. Several bugs have been fixed, and stability in zero-latency mode has been improved. Give it a spin.
Joe Real Jazz Piano
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
Chances are that you already have an acoustic piano in your sonic armoury, but if you don't - or if you're unhappy with the one you've got - you can try Joe Real's offering. It's described as "warm with good bass and treble", though the developer does warn that you "need to have plenty of memory".
I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.
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