mission impossible: quality free (or cheap) mac-compatible virtual instruments?

domhatch

anyone know of any? or where to find 'em? there are plenty developed for windows, but when it comes to osx... yeah. ok. enough said.

cheers
dh|

Stoffeltoo

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/02/27/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-delay-vst-plugins/

Hi Dom, maybe this might help?

V8

Freeware instruments in plugin form arn't easy to find. I got a few loaded for the pimpocaster, but they be windoze only

Ableton Lite has a great piano and a bunch of other ones. And works great on a mac. You could use something like rewire to host ableton in your favoured daw just for the instruments. A bit of a hack, but it can work.

Or you can find some sampled instruments instead of a plugin - Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra was highly rated, comes in sfz format which may play nicely with your daw. Read up about using sfz files in your daw - maybe you'll need a player or sampler - that may be a quick way to get some good instruments on a mac.

domhatch

hmm... ok, tom hanks y'all. looks like the best solution is to start playing with ableton. done a little looking and the peeps over there play well with windows and mac osx; the only snag will be this binary illiterate ID-10-T error-prone mofo trying to get everything playing nicely together. plus there's plenty on the 'tube to get me started.

oh well, better late than never!

thanks again for the input!
dh|

peterleroux

Computer Music magazine has a pretty cool collection of VST plugins and instruments- 'free' with purchase of the magazine- in dead tree or electornic format. Most of them appear to be Mac compatible as well

domhatch

peterleroux wrote: Computer Music magazine has a pretty cool collection of VST plugins and instruments- 'free' with purchase of the magazine- in dead tree or electornic format. Most of them appear to be Mac compatible as well

HORY CLAP! that looks like an incredible option. and a pretty good overall mag to boot. thanks peter, will definitely look into that - plugins and instruments aside, it's probably a great monthly investment. just wondering how i'll fit the rest of my life around it...

cheers
dh|

peterleroux

domhatch wrote:
peterleroux wrote: Computer Music magazine has a pretty cool collection of VST plugins and instruments- 'free' with purchase of the magazine- in dead tree or electornic format. Most of them appear to be Mac compatible as well
HORY CLAP! that looks like an incredible option. and a pretty good overall mag to boot. thanks peter, will definitely look into that - plugins and instruments aside, it's probably a great monthly investment. just wondering how i'll fit the rest of my life around it...

cheers
dh|

If you can tolerate an ebook version, there's a 40% off sale this week- https://za.zinio.com/www/browse/product.jsp?rf=sch&productId=500258045#/

domhatch

peterleroux wrote: If you can tolerate an ebook version, there's a 40% off sale this week- https://za.zinio.com/www/browse/product.jsp?rf=sch&productId=500258045#/

good spot mate. it'll have to wait until friday tho - die geld is min met my tot payday...

cheers
dh|

nicklear

BPB best of 2016: http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2016/12/29/free-vst-plugins-2016/
Synths: CM as mentioned and BPB list
Soundfonts: Download free Plogue player then hunt for free soundfonts https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando/
Sampled instruments:
- Garageband
- BPB general list http://bedroomproducersblog.com/free-vst-plugins/
- DSK http://www.dskmusic.com/category/vsti-all/
- Xpand2 has a lot of instruments and is free with Pro Tools First, or $1 here for any DAW: http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2016/07/26/air-music-xpand2-is-priced-at-1-for-a-limited-time-only/
- Addictive Keys demo is free for 4 octaves only, but fantastic piano sound with great stereo field https://www.xlnaudio.com/addictivekeys
- Good link to keep an eye out for freebies or almost freebies e.g. Sonivox strings for $1 http://www.pluginboutique.com/deals/index?s=discount_desc

domhatch

nicklear wrote: BPB best of 2016 (etc, etc...)

thank you, thank you, thank you. i've bookmarked these for later consumption. many to consume!

cheers
dh|

Norman86

Dom, check future music this month, there are some programs on there. Noticed this on music radars website ?

nicklear

Another good piano with full octaves: http://www.supremepiano.com/product/piano1.html
Good bass and guitar: Ample http://www.amplesound.net/en/download.asp
Full orchestra of sound fonts (works with SforZando) http://virtualplaying.com/

nicklear

Just adding this list also: http://earmonk.com/free-sample-libraries/