Free music software round-up: Week 46
MusicRadar's round-up of the best new free music software returns after a couple of weeks on hiatus, and there's plenty for us to catch up on.
There are a couple of waveshapers, a piano sympathetic resonance generator, an additive synth and a pitch shifter.
If you've got a new free music software release, make sure you let us know about it by emailing musicradar.pressreleases@futurenet.com with all the details.
Sound Magic Piano SR
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
You'll find quite a few sampled piano libraries that have their own sympathetic resonance parameter, but if yours doesn't, this plug-in can fill the gap. It does its work based on an incoming MIDI signal via physical modelling, and promises to give your piano sound more colour and make it feel more real.
Exoplug.net X Wave Symmetric Waveshaper
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
This waveshaper enables you to create shapes graphically using up to 16 points and comes with two different slope types: curve and stairs. The former is said to be good for overdrive effects, while the latter can do bit reduction. There's a built-in limiter and a Pre Gain knob, too.
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miniSoftMusik Extractor
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
This additive synth offers four oscillators that can be used simultaneously, while there's also a morph function. Other features include a multimode filter, flexible tone distortion and a step sequencer (for note, attack and decay envelope). A chorus is onboard too. You can check out a video demo here.
pdp7 dot org Waveshaper
Platform/format: Mac/AU Download
Another waveshaper - this one's for Mac users. As you can see from the interface, it's pretty simple: there are just three sliders, and you can choose your shaping function (tanh, sin, atan, foldback and saturate are all options) from a dropdown menu.
b.serrano Red Shift 2
Platform/format: PC/VST Download
This second version of Red Shift may be described as a pitch shifter, but the developer indicates that it can also serve as a delay, phaser and chorus. It comes with a couple of LFOs, a step modulator and a mod matrix.
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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