18 more Free VST plug-ins

xoxos has announced that all xoxos VST plug-ins that were previously sold are now available as freeware. Donations are still appreciated of course.

There are lots of very interesting plug-ins now available for free, including physical models, MIDI FX, algorithmic generators, voice generators and synths. All of them are available for Windows as VST instrument or effects plug-ins.

Aerophone

Aerophone models lip valve instruments with cylindrical bores such as trumpets and trombones. The lip valve is modeled with an oversampled 3rd order mass-spring to emulate expressive acoustic performance. The elementary acoustic circuit is capable of producing impressive emulations. Please be aware that to appreciably render a human performance with this circuit requires a volume of knowledge and application. download listen to (a very bad) mp3

Boing2

Boing is a bowed string model. Oscillation is produced with a friction calculation applied to a dispersive waveguide string with oversampling rates of up to 16x. The string loop includes a mass-spring modeled bridge. The body resonator consists of a mass-spring "air tone" model and a 5 band banded waveguide. download listen to mp3 listen to mp3

Phybes

Phybes is a banded waveguide suited for vibraphone and other mallet instrument emulations. The mallet impulse is modeled with a mass-spring to produce tonal variation from dynamic performance. download

Piamo

Piamo is an elementarily modeled virtual piano, providing variable performance timbrality in a gentle emulation leant to abstraction. download listen to mp3

Pling3

Pling3 is an all-purpose plucked string model suitable for synthesis and emulations. Pling3 is improved by coupling vertical and horizontal waveguides and by tuning the pitch response of the stiffness filter. A second version, Pling3b is included with an oversampled string. download Pling3 download Pling3b

Skunk

Skunk is a four part algorithmic percussion sequencer. Probability is used to determine which of eight sequences follows the current selection. This concatenative effect is useful for cross-rhythms and other simple rhythmic automations. download listen to mp3

Horizon

Horizon combines lush stereo unison voicing with a phrase sequencer that stays in key when the sequence is transposed. This simple format makes Horizon ideal for lead sounds in dance and other styles. The oscillators are also suitable for producing panoramic pads, before any stereo effects are applied to the signal. download

Syng2

Syng2 is a voice synthesizer which uses four bandpass filters to produce formants in any spectrally rich signal, or using an internal oscillator. The phoneme can be selected on a second MIDI channel, or preset words can be triggered. Syng2 was designed as an intelligible, low-cpu voice engine for Breathcube 2. The articulation is intended to be more natural than other 'robot voices' using this method, with plosives slightly emphasised to be heard with music. download full version mp3 folder

Voted Payware to Freeware 2008

Populus

Populus generates MIDI sequences with a 'biologically modeled behavioural' algorithm. The measure is treated like a 'year,' wherein notes grow, reproduce and combat. This VST is now freeware (june 09). download full version

Freeware as of Summer 2009

Period Seq

A simple algorithmic MIDI sequencer using four counters. Period Seq is included with all licenses. download listen to mp3 listen to mp3 listen to mp3

Gun

This emulative VST uses mass-springs and a noise source. It is almost identical to the freeware Bomb VST, with the addition of a gently randomised multitrigger clock for "automatic fire" sounds. This instrument was included with all other licenses. Gun is no longer distributed. listen to mp3

Friction

Friction VSTi combines a 2nd order mass-spring with a friction algorithm and two waveguide resonances. It is capable of elementary emulations of sounds produced by tangent surfaces, such as squeaky hinges and squealing tires. This instrument is proposed for experimental music and foley sfx. Friction was elected as freeware at kvraudio.com june 2009. download full version listen to mp3

Voted Payware to Freeware Summer 2009

Mass-Springs

Mass VSTi and Cymbal VSTi are percussion synthesizers that use mass-spring models to produce realistic dynamic and timbral effects. Boundary conditions imposed upon the movement of a multi-order mass-spring provide complex timbres that evoke common modes of vibration in acoustic forms. These models are augmented with conventional subtractive elements to comprise low-cpu solutions for improved realtime percussion synthesis. download listen to mp3 listen to mp3 listen to mp3

Hyperion

Waiting for an update to Talent? Hyperion is a flexible algorithmic MIDI VST designed primarily for melodic parts and capable of outputting three notes on three separate MIDI channels. Hyperion's flexible architecture and low CPU can be applied to live performance or to algorithmic composition. The "Unidentified Flying Object" of the VST world. "Hyperio" (with no "n") is a quick port of Hyperion's architecture for user-input scales. It react to pitch modulation differently. more information download Hyperion download Hyperio listen to mp3 (one instance) listen to mp3 (one instance)

Fauna

Fauna is a vocal tract model capable of emulating many animal (and human) sounds. The design is intended to produce natural sounding calls. Oscillators can also track the keyboard and create an array of unique synthetic textures. download more information listen to mp3

Circuit

Circuit is a probability based MIDI sequencer that joins short phrases together to create natural feeling rhythms. The concept is derived from classical schools of drumming, such as Tal notation for Tabla. download listen to mp3s

Series and MiniSeries

Inspired by Serialist composition, Series and MiniSeries are performance sequencers which use a modulated counter to index steps. Combined with Circuit's multitriggering, both versions create dense mathematic sequences with a few settings. Intended for percussion and experimentation, Series is also a powerful arpeggiator. download Series download MiniSeries midi vst page

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine is a commuted synthesis emulation of motors and similar mechanical sounds. download listen to mp3

10 Freeware VST Plugins worth checking out

The freeware scene in audio is constantly providing fresh and unique plug-ins that cover a broad range of virtual instruments and effects. The variety of designs are as numerous as their possible uses, as freeware developers and users break the boundaries of what is possible in audio software. This article covers 10 high-quality freeware plug-ins that have made it on the short list. Whether you're new to music creation or on the lookout for new software, here are five free instruments and five free effects that deserve a place in your plug-in folder.

Instruments

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02.circles by RLMA-LABS (PC)
CPU Usage: Medium-High

This synth features a new type of GUI, instead of knobs or sliders, there are circles that get brighter and dimmer when you adjust them. Based on the screenshot, my first impression was that this would be a novelty plugin that skimped on usable sounds, but when I actually tried it out and started designing with it, I found the sound engine is quality and there are more than enough modulation options to make unique and usable sounds and textures. If this plugin was a little bit easier on the CPU usage, it would become my go-to synth for some uses such as the "upper-mids" of wobble bass sounds.

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TAL Elec7ro by Togu Audio Line (PC)
CPU Usage: Medium

This easy-to-use synth features all the typical parameters in the best way possible and adds some extra features that allow you to create bigger sounds than you might expect from three oscillators. As the presets demonstrate, this synth is capable of a wide range of professional and modern sounds making the short time it takes to learn the parameters well worth it. A filter envelope, an amp envelope, and an assignable envelope are also on board, as well as two linkable LFOs that can be synced to the tempo. It has both poly and mono modes, making it useful for many purposes.

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Shortcircuit by Vember Audio (PC)
CPU Usage: Low

Shortcircuit is a plugin that allows you to load and map samples to a virtual keyboard. It features editing, effects, and LFOs and an automapping feature. If you have a folder of multi-samples, you can drag the samples onto Shortcircuit from Windows Explorer and Shortcircuit will try to automatically map the samples, usually successfully. It can also load soundfonts.

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Sonata (PC) by Soha Sound
CPU Usage: High

Capable of a wide range of sounds with some very beautiful pads, Sonata offers a unique way of synthesis. The CPU Hit is high, but this is expected with pad sounds and many computer musicians choose to bounce their pad instruments to audio files anyway. Sometimes the plugin clips internally, so you may have to turn the amp knob and the sustain level knob to remedy this. More soundbanks are available on the plugin's website.

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Triangle II (PC) by RGC Audio
CPU Usage: Medium

An extremely stable monosynth. Its unique features include atypical oscillator types, tweakable unison controls, distortion, and something called a Decimator which I have not heard in any other synth. The interface presents many other unique features in an easy-to-use fashion.
Be sure to check out the recently released soundbank by MG at KVR.

Effects

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EpicVerb (PC) by VarietyOfSound
CPU Usage: Medium

A great reverb for all purposes--that's an understatement. Its realism makes it useful for adding depth to any audio, its surprisingly low CPU usage makes it practical. There are multiple types of reverb and the right amount of knobs for sound designing. On the extra-large reverb settings it can turn any almost sound into a lush pad, and it can make a monaural synth sound stereo if you need it.

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CamelCrusher (PC and Mac) by Camel Audio
CPU Usage: Very Low

Featuring compression, distortion, filtering and parallel processing, CamelCrusher gives you multiple ways to pump and crush your audio when you need it quickly. It doesn't have a whole lot of settings, but sometimes that's a good thing.

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Glitch (PC) by dblue
CPU Usage: Low

Essentially nine effects in one, dblue's Glitch plugin remains one of the most popular freeware effects plugins available. Shuffle, reverse, retrigger, and crush are four of the effects that can be used to glitch up any audio fed into it. While each of these effects could stand on their own, Glitch features an optional step-sequencer where effects can be chosen and triggered. Some possible uses might be to glitch an element of the track every 8 bars, by muting and unmuting the plugin. The only danger here is the time that could be lost while using this plugin, because it is very fun to experiment with.

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bx Solo (PC and Mac) by Brainworx
CPU Usage: Very Low

This is fairly simple plugin, but a good introduction to Mid/Side processing. There are also buttons to hear the left or right channel on both speakers, and this comes in handy with sampling because sometimes you can extract a sound easier from just the right or left side. The stereo manipulation tools and width options are useful as well.

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Rough Rider Compressor (PC and Mac) byAudio Damage
CPU Usage: Very Low

The effect of this plugin is well-heard and every knob tweak makes a difference. You can definitely hear it pump up the ambience on acoustic drum tracks. It could be used by drum sound designers to boost the "decay" section of the sounds and the webpage for this plugin recommends using it on rhythmic tracks. It's definitely not an all-purpose compressor, but the simplicity and boldness of the plugin is refreshing.

This article was written by Sean Duncan

Finding Free Drum Kits

Music production software is made up of many challenges. Learning how to search for great free drum sounds is a challenge that many audio producers of all genres find themselves in. While it is an area where search engines don't always deliver, with knowledge of the different types of drum sources it is possible to build up a respectable drum library from the free hip hop samples and drum sounds available on the internet. Commercial sample providers might cringe at seeing this article, but I hope I can make up for it by posting links to their websites, and for telling the truth that it will take a much longer time to build up a drum library with only free samples than it would to buy a sample pack. I respect the art of drum creation and I do not support illegal downloading, and with so many legal opportunities there's really no need to. Keep your music producing legitimate and karma will help you succeed.

If you understand the types of places to get drums and why they exist, you will never be short on drum hits. In fact, you may have trouble with having too many. Four types of sources for free drum sounds, with plenty of links, are summarized below.

Source 1: Demos from commercial products (and the like)

The sounds from this source are designed as demonstrations of a larger product, and the creators of these packs provide them to encourage you to buy the full collection. As a result, many of the sounds are great, but be careful to check for a license or text file that outlines what you can do with the files. Most of the time, you will be able to use the sounds in your music producing, but sometimes the demo files are intended only for listening. You'll want to keep a copy of your licenses in a certain place on your computer for peace of mind should you come out with a release. Also note that you might be required to register, join a mailing list or fill out a survey in order to download the hip hop samples.

Sounds in HD
Look for (Demo)

Sonic Specialists
Look for (Free Sounds)

Bangin-Beats
Demo Kit

Analogue Drums
Big Mono

Samplecraze
Killa Kits

Loopmasters
Soundbwoy Killah

Free Drum Kits Blog
Free Drum Kits

Source 2: Free Sounds Pages from commercial products

Some commercial sample providers have a more convenient way to advertise their products. The examples I've listed have chosen to compile all their free sounds on one page, and there's no need to register or jump through any hoops. Like the first group, they attempt to find a balance between impressing the consumer and leaving them hungry for more. Since they are demos for commercial products, their description is the same as the first group, except more convenient.

Goldbaby
(uniquely sampled drum machines)

Zenhiser
(mostly loops in various styles)

Sample Magic,
(also mostly loops in various styles)

Pettinhouse
acoustic drum kits

Blazin Kits
hip hop drum kits

Source 3: Completely Free Drumkits

There are quite a few drum kits and hip hop samples for audio producers designed by individuals and made available for free download for no reason except the kit maker's desire to share. Sometimes the kits come from sounds the creators originally intended for their own use, and sometimes they are made with the intention of promoting web traffic. Whatever the motive may be, these hip hop sample packs tend to come with the freedom to be used in songs, but it's important to know that great sounds are sometimes hard to find in this group. The landscape is constantly changing and many of the kits I wanted to list have gone missing from the internet or have been moved. Since they're hard to find, you might find some unique sounds to layer with other drums to have your own custom sound. Lastly, make sure that the packs were actually created by the person providing them so that you respect the art of drums and don't break the law. To ease your search, I have listed some examples.

Warbeats
Files Section

Mahfuz
drumkit volume 2

AudiotutsFree page

Cyberworm's sample blog

No Dough deconstructed techno kit

Source 4: Magazine Sample CDs

Some magazines provide DVDs of samples with every issue. Since there's no preview for the audio files you'll receive, magazine sample CDs are hit-and-miss. Unless you are familiar with who is producing the samples for the CD, I recommend finding another reason to buy the magazine and then hoping for the nice bonus of good hip hop samples for audio producers.

Good luck in finding even more sources out there for your audio productions!

Free VST - Sonik Synth 2

Sonik Synth 2 is the ultimate synth workstation, with more synth and workstation instrument sound than any other comparable hardware or software. Over 5,800 sounds and 8 GB make up the largest collection of modern and vintage instruments ever assembled in one product.

A synth workstation on steroids. A complete songwriting, producing and arranging super tool with the widest range of high quality vintage, modern and futuristic synth and instrument sounds ever combined into one package!

Includes an incredible workstation sound set of important compositional tools such as rich evolving motion synths, pads, leads, basses, electronic drums, percussion, and FX; as well as pianos, organs, guitars, drum kits and beats, orchestral instruments, human voices, ethnic instruments and more. Sonik Synth 2 also features an astounding 152 MB, 3 dynamics, grand piano and other first call high performance instruments.

Sampled flavors of every type of synthesis including analog, digital, FM, physical modeling, wavetable, granular, additive, resynthesis and more.

Includes a virtual museum of vintage keyboards inside, covering the widest palette of synth flavors ever assembled into one product. Experience the fat analog sound of Arps™, Moogs®, Obies, Jupiters, Gleeman™, Voyetra®, Serge™, EMS Synthi™, Prophets™, Trons, Rhodes®, Wurlies™, B3s™ all in one mega plug-in.

The FREE version is limited to only using the sounds it comes with, but what great sounds they are.



Download Sonik Synth 2 FREE (Windows)

Freeware - High C

HighC is a graphical music creation tool. It is a synthesizer, a sequencer and a mixer. Its goal is to make music composition as simple and direct as sketching.

An entertaining and educational tool…
No music experience needed: create stunning soundscapes and crazy ringtones in a matter of minutes. Learn acoustics, music theory and audio synthesis with a gentle, graphic approach. Even children learn and have fun. For simple learning or fun usage, it's free!

..that meets demanding professional needs
Master advanced synthesis techniques: FM, ring mod, additive, granular, and much more. No complex dashboards of knobs, dials and connectors with unpredictable effects. No programming. Just draw to unleash your creativity!

HighC uses only the simplest GUI techniques: draw notes, envelopes and wave shapes; move and resize sounds; copy and paste to create effects; group sounds into rhythms or patterns; repeat your groupings to create an harmonic line; link your sounds to one another to create modulations... It's simple, it's powerful!



Download High C

Free VST - KickLab XL

Kicklab is designed for beat makers who understand the importance of a good, solid Kick drum in their track. Often beat makers spend a large proportion of their time selecting, trimming, changing and balancing the Kick drum in their beats.

It is the foundation and building block upon which all the other elements are set upon, and the reality is that a bad sounding Kick can quite simply ruin your beat.

For this reason many beat makers lean towards selecting a Kick drum sample over a “synthesized” Kick, for one simple reason.... Kick drum samples generally sound better. But the problem the beat maker is then faced with is a lack of control over tweaks and modifications to the sound of the Kick in a static sample.

Beat makers have developed layering techniques have developed over the years where a sample Kick is mixed with other Kick drums from different sources, Eq’d and pitch changed and mixed and tweaked...to create the desired result.

Up until now this has been a combination of many different external techniques and processes all coming together, in samplers, external Fx plugins, synths and mixers. Enter KickLab from Angular Momentum.




Download KickLab XL

Free Beat Making Software - Alpha

More free beat making software for you beat makers out there. Today we bring you an excellent free synth from Linplug, makers of many great products such as Albino, RMV, SaxLab and CronoX3.

This free beat maker software is a plug-in VSTi that can be used in any compatible host (FL Studio, Cubase, Sonar, etc).

Even though this free beat making software is a scaled version of Alpha 3, it can still make some awesomly good sounds for use in all your beat making projects.

Focused on the essential modules of an analogue synthesizer Alpha 3 offers true hands on operation. Everything is where you would expect it, nothing is more complex as it needs to be. Nothing is less powerfull as it needs to be. Alpha 3 is the sum of all our experience in synthesizer manufacturing.




Download PC Version

Download Mac Version

Free VST - Inspector

Inspector is a compact, but powerful, analysis tool. From spectral analysis to extensive metering, Inspector gives you a full picture of your audio. Use the spectrum analyzer to get a clear and accurate representation of your mix. The peak and RMS meters, with customizable caution and warning zones, allow you to visualize and quantify the levels of your audio. The balance meter provides a visual indication of the balance relationship between channels.

Don't be alarmed

But wait! Inspector's usefulness doesn't end there. Use Inspector's unique alarm feature to specify what conditions are considered adverse, so Inspector can warn you about them. From total and consecutive clips to balance and headroom, you set the threshold then sit back and let Inspector do its work. Inspector's Master Alarm lights to inform you when your thresholds have been exceeded. You can even automate many of Inspector's parameters to make your analysis sessions simpler. For example, use your host to automate resetting all alarms at the end of a song to prepare for a clean analysis run.

Inspector gives you full-featured and flexible audio analysis

Download Inspector Now

Free VST - ReaPlugs

We always welcome news of free VSTs of any variety and we have a good set for you beat makers today.

Cockos Inc. the makers of the popular Reaper DAW have made their line of VST plugi-ins available for free. Reaper is quickly becomione a favorite among beat makers and we'll have a review up soon.

The Free VST plug-ins include a compressor, multi-band compressor, multi-tap delay, parametric equalizer, dynamics processor and gate effects.

All of the free vst plug-ins are high quality and can be used in any DAW that support the VST standard plug-in.

So remember, your beat making doesn't have to be expensive when you take the time to find the free VSTs that are available to you.

General features of ReaPlugs:

• Support for Windows 98/ME/2K/XP/Vista, WINE.
• Fast, usable UIs with good metering
• Low CPU and RAM use
• Highly configurable
• No copy protection
• No installation required (portable!)
• Freely usable

Download the Free VST plugins here.

Beat Making Software - 18 free beat making software links

If you're looking to make your own beats but just don't have any money at all to spend, you might find this list of legal beat making software very useful. This music software list does not include plug-ins and I did not try out each one of these. I did the research to find them, you can do the research to find which is best for you. :)

Note that some of these beat making software versions are "lite" versions and have commercial version as well. Have fun with this list of music making software!

Digital Audio Workstations

ACID Xpress (windows)- This is a 10-track version of ACID Pro software. It can do music recording, editing and mixing. Making beats is easy with this loop based software. ACID Xpress has an excellent ability to match the tempo and pitch automatically. I was a big ACID Pro user when I first started and it helped me to visualize how audio can be arranged. I didn't use the audio recording much back then. This is one music making software that I will have to revisit.

LMMS (linux/windows) Linux MultiMedia Studio - it looks like FL studio but is not FL Studio compatible. It can run on Linux and Windows based computers. You can make beats, compose melodies, mix master and more with this cool little freebie. Music making software like this is a welcome find.

Koblo (mac/windows) A very new player on the block. It's another free open sourced audio recording and music making software. It has some unique online collaboration features, because it's connected to the Koblo cloud. You'll be able to work together with other musicians or band members across the planet.

Anvil Studio (windows) Can do audio and MIDI sequencing. Looks a little old, but hey of the audio sounds fresh, who cares what it looks like!

Kristal (windows) This music making software has been around for a few years now. it hasn't been updated in a while from what I can tell but it has a lot of features.

Music Studio Independence (windows) has a great number of functions for every part of beat making, such as composition, arrangement, audio recording, mixing and mastering. It handles MIDI and audio. One awesome looking music making software.

MultitrackStudio (windows) This is an audio/MIDI multitrack recording software for Windows. It combines a multitrack audio recorder, a mixer, lots of effects and a MIDI sequencer in one package: everything that's needed to turn your computer into a digital multitrack music recording studio and beat making device.

MU.LAB (mac/windows) Marketed as an alternative, state of the art software application for OSX and Windows, transforming your computer into a real music studio! It does not overwhelm you with a complex feature set, in which you can get lost. Sounds perfect for a new beat maker.

Quartz (windows) This is one I have heard about but the website product page was down when I researched it. The home page makes a reference that it runs under Vista so I assume it still being developed. I hope to learn more abou this music making software.

MusE (linux) is a Linux based MIDI/Audio sequencer with recording and editing capabilities written by Werner Schweer. MusE aims to be a complete multitrack virtual studio for Linux, it is published under the GNU General Public License. MusE has among other things support for MIDI, Audio Effects, etc.

Ardour (linux/mac) is a digital audio workstation. You can use it to record audio, edit and mix multi-track audio recordings. You can produce your own CDs, mix video soundtracks, or just experiment with new ideas about music and sound.

Rosegarden (linux) is a well-rounded audio and MIDI sequencer, score editor, and general-purpose music composition and editing environment. Rosegarden is an easy-to-learn, attractive application that runs on Linux, ideal for composers, musicians, music students, and small studio or home audio recording environments.

Audio Recording and Wave Editors

Quick Audio (windows) A full featured audio recording and manipulation program that lets you edit, play and record digital audio as well as convert between various popular audio formats. It has standard audio editing features, multiple undo, audio spectrum analysis as well as support for up to 24 VST plugins.

Wavosaur (windows) is a free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing, processing and recording audio sounds, wav and mp3 files. Wavosaur has all the features to edit audio (cut, copy, paste, etc.) produce music loops, analyze, record, batch convert. Wavosaur supports VST plugins, ASIO driver, multichannel wav files, real time effect processing.

Freecycle (linux) is a beat slicer running on GNU/Linux platform using the QT toolkit, providing amplitude domain and frequency domain beat matching / zero crossing algorithms. It exports sliced audio chunks and generates a MIDI file which can be used to play the sliced loop, or you can jam with it as soon as you’ve made slices using a midi keyboard or sequencer.

WaveSurfer (linux/mac/windows) is an Open Source tool for sound visualization and manipulation. It has been designed to suit both novice and advanced users. Probably not as useful for your average beat maker, but the price is right.

Sweep (linux) is an audio recording editor and live playback tool for GNU/Linux, BSD and compatible systems. It supports many music and voice formats including WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis, Speex and MP3, with multichannel editing and LADSPA effects plugins.

Audacity (linux/mac/windows) This is more of an audio recording editor but it can do multiple tracks. it's open source and can run on Mac/PC (Windows) and Linux. It has many advanced features and can use plug-ins. This is probably better used a sampler for you beat makers out there. For free music software this is the best wave editor out there.

Beat Making Software - FL Studio

Fl Studio is a all-in-one DAW that has a strong appeal for sample based beat makers and composed style beat makers. FL Studio was formerly called Fruity Loops but because of the negative connotation of the term "fruity" it was renamed.

FL studio has been used in commercial recordings from artist such as Jay-Z, Destiny's Child and Mary J. Blige. FL Studio has a very strong following on the rap and techno genres.

The current version as of this writing is version 8.

The Good

FL Studio is extremely powerful. Creatively FL Studio can deliver just about anything you can think up. It has a very strong support for sample manipulation. This is one reason why sample based beat makers are find it so useful. I would say it has the best sample editing capabilities (recording, chopping, slicing, tuning, etc..) of any DAW on the market. Truth is it blows hardware like the AKAI MPC out of the water when it comes to manipulating samples.

FL is relatively easy to use from the start as it starts you off in a sample based pattern editor. Point and click beat making at it's finest.

FL Studio audio processing is among the best out there and has shown consistent top marks in comparison testing.

MIDI support is also included.

The relatively low price ($199) and the lifetime updates are two very strong reasons why newbies to the beat making game go for it. When I originally purchased it it was $99 and I have had updates ever since. Many new features are added with each release and new major releases tend to come out about once a year.

FL Studio has the ability to use VSTs for both effects and instruments which makes getting new sounds from it, easy and affordable. The sheer amount of free VSTs out there make it especially appealing to the beat maker on a budget.

The Bad

FL Studio has a bad rap because of the stock sounds that come with it. They are not as polished as something like Reason and there is some confusion as to how to load the various sounds from the library. This can be easily overcome however because of the number of free and commercial plug-ins and drum kits that FL can use.

Most notably for the beatmaker is the absence of top notch drum kits. Again, this can be corrected by supplementing the library with other sources.

Some advanced functions can be difficult to use. There are advanced things like automation controllers that can be driven by mathmatical functions. Don't be scared by this however. I like to think of it as more bang that I can use if I need it, but is not neccesarry. There are many video tutorials on the FL Studio site that can help and one of my favorite FL Studio tutorial sites, Warbeats.Com is another excellent resource.

The Ugly

Some people say the interface is a sore spot for the program and it can be. Many of the controls are tiny when viewed on high resolution displays. This can be a source of frustration when trying to dial in that knob to just the right place.

FL has a primarily dark color theme which some people find not as easy to view for long periods of time when compared to light based themes.

Conclusion

Whether you are a sample based beat maker or prefer to compose your own beats from scratch, FL has all the toold you will need. Be sure to get familiar with plugin sites like KVRAudio.com and tutorial sites like Warbeats for maximum enjoyment. The lifetime updates insures that 10 years from now you will still be on the latest and greatest.

Beat Making Software - Reason

Reason is a popular software for making beats for some very good "reasons". The current version as of this post is version 4. One of the most famous Reason created beats is T.I.'s "What You Know Bout That".

The Good:

First, Reason has a great sound to it. Part of making beats sound good is the quality of instruments and effects processing. Reason does not disappoint, this is a quality program.

Second, it comes loaded with enough sounds and a great variety of sounds it will keep all you beat makers inspired for a long time.

Compared to other DAWs, Reasons sequencer is very similar as is the main mixing console.

The Bad:

Reason does not offer extensive sampling / recording tools. This might be a minus to sample based beat makers. But if your needs are simple, it shouldn't be a big hurdle to overcome.

Third-party support comes inthe form of instruments and patches for existing Reason intruments. The common VSTs type instrument or effect is not supported.

The Ugly:

As with all beat making programs, there are some minor issues in my opinion. The biggest one is that in an effort to make all the sound generators and effects look like real hardware rack equipment, it makes a very poor use of the screen. I also found that routing instruments and effects was confusing at times.

This is a minor gripe though. Many people are making beats with Reason and love the fact that it makes them feel like they are using real hardware.

Conclusion

If you are NOT primarily a sample based beat maker the Reason is a good option. If you really like to tweak samples and manuipulate audio look elsewhere for your fix. The great sounds mean you can get a nice start on your beat making but the lack of support for the VST standard will leave you out in the cold as your non-Reason buddies all brag about the new plug-ins they can use.