The SDK includes some Plug-ins implementation examples. The Legendary AGain and ADelay, thanks Paul Kellet the Open-source mda Plug-ins, a basic 'Note Expression Synth' supporting 'Note Expression Event', an example of pitchnames support Plug-in, a VST3 Host Checker which checks if a host is VST3 compliant and more. The Plug-In is a true peak limiter that offers recently enhanced levels of processing and metering accuracy. The result is that you get to see and automatically correct otherwise invisible reconstruction overloads - and conform to the accepted industry ITU-R BS.1770-4 standard.
This page contains download links and installation instructions for a selection of high quality third-party freeware VST plugins known to work well with Zynewave Podium and Podium Free. If you are new to VST plugins then this set of plugins is a good introduction. All listed plugins are available as both 32-bit and 64-bit (x64) versions. Dynamic Frequency Limiter is a combination of a band- peakfilter / compressor / limiter / transient designer. The plugin scans a frequency region in the spectrum to find the dB level of this region and use it to dynamically control the volume of the same or another frequency region either (sidechained) ducking, compressing, limiting, enhance transients or everything together at.
Download MDA ePiano is a vst instruments plugins developed by MDA, a free Electric Piano VST plugins that you can use on any VST Compatible hosts such as Steinberg Cubase, Nuendo, Wavelab, FL Studio/Fruityloops, Ableton Live, Adobe Audition, LMMS, Reaper, SONAR, Mixcraft, Acid Pro, etc. For more information about MDA ePiano please visit Developer Website. Aug 05, 2015 Download mda VST plug-ins for free. Source code for 'mda' audio processing plug-ins in VST format. Available for many years as closed-source freeware from mda-vst.com. Mda's DX10 is a simple 2-operator FM synth (3-op if you use the special FL Studio version). It has no GUI, instead you are presented with 16 parameters in your host's default interface. A lot of people seem to compare it to Yamaha's classic FM synths, but let me tell you: it's not comparable. Bright pianos are it's strong point. Agree with JustJoe - better than expected. Presets are MDA, Plain, Compressed, Dance (flange-y), Concert, Dark, School, and - surprised no one mentioned this, 'Broken' - a unique patch that captures the wonderful dissonance of a piano badly in need of tuning (the pitch changes with velocity - they thought of everything!).
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This article is about free piano VST plugins. For more categories, return to the Free VST Plugins page.
We truly live in the golden age of audio production, as there have never been more accessible or realistic virtual piano plugins. But with so many great options, how do you find one that will provide the sounds you’re looking for?
There are a variety of options modeling acoustic and electric pianos on this list, each with distinct features. Some are plain virtual piano instruments, and some offer a host of sounds and features. But no matter what kind of piano sounds you’re looking for, there is a plugin that will fit the bill. Here is a list of the best free piano VSTs.
Upright Piano by 99Sounds
BPB’s sister website 99Sounds recently released Upright Piano, a freeware piano VST plugin based on a set of samples recorded by Rudi Fiasco. The cool thing about the Upright Piano instrument is that it can sound both realistic and lo-fi. The built-in filter, tremolo, and reverb effects can be combined to create a lovely tape-like vibe. However, when used as-is, the instrument sounds very realistic thanks to the excellent source samples provided by Rudi Fiasco.
Upright Piano also features key release samples and envelope controls for adjusting the attack and release time. If you need a versatile free piano VST that is easy to use, this offering from 99Sounds is well worth looking into.
Auto tune voice changer discord. More info:Upright Piano
Upright No. 1 by Versilian Studios
Upright No. 1 is an upright piano plugin that offers a tremendous dynamic response. The articulation of your playing will really translate – and if you have a good enough MIDI controller, it can be almost as realistic as the real thing.
The plug-in comes with onboard volume, panning, and reverb controls, and also offers direct control over the ADSR curve of the envelope with individual knobs. Versilian comes in VST and AU formats and uses minimal CPU resources.
More info:Upright No. 1
LABS Soft Piano by Spitfire Audio
Spitfire Audios LABS is a freeware virtual instrument in VST and AU plugin formats that comes with an extensive collection of freely downloadable add-on sound libraries. Soft Piano is a free piano sound library for the LABS workstation. The samples were recorded with a felt-tipped piano and high-end Scheps microphones at London’s infamous Air-Edel studios.
The sound is very warm and subdued, so if you’re looking for a bright piano with a fast attack, you might have to look elsewhere. Two sliders control the expression and attack, and there is a singular knob to control the amount of reverb.
This is another plugin that is great for music production as well as sound design. It has a somewhat limited application and isn’t for everyone, but if you specifically need a moody, vibey piano sound, the Soft Piano is the way to go. Included in the library are sustain pedal up and down samples for even more dynamic variation. It can waver a bit as the samples are trimmed at the heads, giving it more of a human feel – which is not ideal if you’re creating EDM or house music but perfect for more organic genres.
More info:LABS Soft Piano
4Front Piano by George Yohng
Not all virtual instruments need to offer the most extensive feature set, and 4Front Piano is about a minimalist as they get. The sound is naturally pretty bright like you imagine a parlor piano would be. This allows 4Front Piano to cut through a mix but it might be a little too bright for solo piano parts.
While the instrument might not offer much at all in terms of customization or visualization, it is a good free piano VST plugin that takes up virtually no resources. It runs on a mix of sampling and synthesizing technology to make a convincing hybrid virtual instrument. 4Front comes in several plugin formats, including VST, AU, and RTAS.
More info:4Front Piano
DPiano-A by Dead Duck Software
Piano Vst Fl Studio
DPiano-A is based on MDA Piano, an old freeware plugin that seemingly has no visualization other than a few control settings. But what it completely lacked in GUI, it made up for in the number of sound customization options it offered. In the meanwhile, MDA Piano became open-source software and Dead Duck Software refined the code to create a more polished-looking piano plugin called DPiano-A.
With DPiano-A, you have control over the decay and release of the envelope, hardness, and treble, as well as the stereo width parameter. You can also set the velocity sensitivity, tuning, and polyphony. Messing with the sliding polyphony control can even get you into synth territory, going way beyond simple piano sounds.
It’s not the most realistic-sounding free piano VST here, but it has some great presets that are useful not only for music but also for post-sound production for film.
More info:DPiano-A
Keyzone Classic by Bitsonic
Some freeware plug-ins are more robust than others, and Keyzone Classic is one of the more advanced free piano VST plugin on the market. It offers presets that emulate various acoustic pianos like Steinway, Yamaha, Rhodes, and more.
The control set allows you to set each stage of the ADSR curve, as well as adding in reverb and detuning within the plug-in. There are also master volume and controls over the rate and depth of the LFO. Keyzone’s sample library sounds excellent, and the architecture of the plug-in is beyond solid. It works with VST and AU plugin formats for 32-bit and 64-bit DAW software.
Vst Piano Free
More info:Keyzone Classic
Honorable Mentions
Mda Piano
- Piano One by Sound Magic is a synthesis-based piano virtual plugin. It doesn’t feature samples at all. The plugin uses Sound Magic’s piano modeling engine which is also used in the company’s paid piano plugins. Unlike sample-based piano plugins, this one is much smaller in size, so it is a quick download. I still prefer the sound of sampled piano instruments, though. The free Piano One plugin emulates the Yamaha C7 concert grand piano.
- Atmos Piano is a free piano instrument by Prism Audio. It has a soft and unique sound that is suitable for cinematic scoring and ambient music. The free piano plugin is based on the much more advanced Piano Model S instrument by the same developer.
For more freeware plugins and instruments, return to our Free VST Plugins page.
First of all - What is a VSTi?
VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. This technology is a publicly defined interface for linking audio components together. The VST was developed by Steinberg (www.steinberg.net) first for the MAC and later for the PC where it has burgeoned with the release of thousands of VST modules that process sound using the common interface defined by Steinberg. Steinberg first introduced the VST concept in their Studio software Cubase VST. After the concept was made available to the public, it has become a standard for developing effects and sound generators and the interface has been adopted by many other audio software developers (such as MUTOOLS MULAB). The VST modules are sometimes referred to as Plugins, because they have a common interface and can be 'plugged' into a common software socket.
Plugins can also be obtained as DX and DXi modules. DX is short for DirectX, a plugin technology developed by Microsoft and principally available for the PC. For our discussion we will limit the Plugins to VST modules since the MULAB studio software is also limited to using VST Plugins. There are hundreds of free VST Plugin modules available for download on the internet. Most are compiled for the PC, but many are available for MAC and OSX. To utilize these modules, they must be downloaded from the Internet and then installed into a VST folder. This folder is then made known to audio processing software (e.g. MULAB) so that the software can locate and utilize the Plugin. This tutorial is oriented at the use of freely available Plugins, so that there should be no barrier to being able to complete these excercises.
Studio software typically goes through a 2-step process to make use of the VST module:
1. - The hard disk location of the VST module is defined to the application and it is scanned for compatibility. Typically it is added to a list of available VST modules kept by the application. Many software applications do this automatically at startup, but this operation is made by selection in MULAB.
2. - When the VST module is to be used by the application (e.g. MULAB), it is selected from the list of available modules and connected into the audio stream.
Although there are a few variations from the 2-step process, I have found that most applications follow this procedure. MULAB is not an exception and we will discuss below how to use a VSTi module as a virtual instrument. The use of VST as an effect (modification of audio signals) will be discussed in a later tutorial. In MULAB, to use a plugin, it must be installed in a Rack strip. (Plugins can also be installed as modules in the Modular Area - but this aspect will not be covered here.)
The VSTi is a Virtual Instrument Plugin (hence the 'i' on the end of VST). It is capable of producing sound through your Audio system. The sound may or may not be triggered by an input, so there are some VSTi's that just generate constant or variable sound but are sort of out of control so to speak. Most VSTi's are triggered by inputs that can be designated by the instrument design. This can be a midi event, or an audio trigger such as a volume level, a frequency point or band, pitch, or other audio source.
Tip: The terminology used to describe VST Plugins varies somewhat. However, the program that 'hosts' the Plugin is usually termed the HOST. In our tutorial, The MUTOOLS MULAB program is the HOST. The VST modules that are installed in your VST folder are the Plugins. In our tutorial, The MULAB program provides much more than acting as a Host - It is providing a multi-track studio for synchronizing several different audio streams and mixing these streams together with individual track controls and multiple plugins for each track. The VST modules are installed in a Rack strip and clips of Audio or Midi events are then assigned to the Rack strip.
Tip: Most of the VSTi (instrument) Plugins are termed synths. (Short for synthesizer). Typically they are sound generators. These plugins typically respond to MIDI events which can be note events or channel controller events (cc). The MIDI events are embedded in a track clip and then sent to the VSTi Plugins by assigning a sequence of MIDI events to a Rack. In some VSTi's the specific MIDI Channels that control the VST Plugin can be assigned, so be aware that this assignment is sometimes necessary. Most VST's are set to respond to all channels, but many drum VST's will only respond to MIDI events sent on Channel 10 (The General MIDI default channel for drum events). Plugins will generally respond to MIDI data sent from the MIDI INPUT Port assigned in the HOST so you can generally use your keyboard controller to test the response of a VSTi plugin. Care must also be taken when sending other controller events and Program Change events that may cause the VSTi to respond. Also be aware that your VSTi may respond to Program Change messages contained in the sequence and may need to be changed or removed.
Tip: If you don't want to mess with VST Plugins, MULAB has a comprehensive selection of built in instruments. Just click on any slot in one of the racks to load an instrument or effect.
Installing a VSTi
For this tutorial, we will use a VSTi that is generally available on the Internet at no cost and has been compiled for both MAC and PC. Many VSTi's have been developed to emulate specific instruments (and emulate them very well). e.g. the Grand 2, a concert piano; The virtual Guitarist, realistic guitar sounds; The virtual bassist, a variety of bass sounds. These are all available from Steinberg and are narrow in scope (a single instrument) but huge in sound quality (and more expensive). There are some other freely available synths that feature many patches (like General Midi) however, to illustrate the use of a VSTi in a simple setting, we have chosen to use just a single track featuring a piano.
We will start with the maxim-digital audio virtual piano henceforth referred to as mda-piano. Use your browser Internet explorer or Mozilla firefox and browse to this address - http://mda.smartelectronix.com/synths.htm. Both versions for MAC and PC are located on thius page. Down load the appropriate file which is an installer. Note: the links to this VST module for the piano may change, So just follow the links until you get to the download page.
Go ahead and link to the downloads. Download the file to your favorite temporary folder but remember where you saved the file (ether mda Piano OSX.sit or mda_piano.exe). The mda-piano is not the utmost piano sound available, but it is small and can be easily loaded and appears to be highly compatible. And has several patches and parameters to create your own piano sound.
For the PC
Limiter Vst Plugin Free
TIP: Follow the procedure similar to that described in Tutorial 1 - Installation. This general procedure applies to almost every software download from the Internet Typically the software package (a ZIP file or exe file) must be downloaded to your computer and placed in a folder that you can later find. This is the installation file or setup file which must be then executed or unzipped to place the contents of the software package into a permanent folder for use. In the case of the mda-piano the end result will be to extract the mda Piano.dll module from the mda_piano.exe package by double clicking and following the instructions. I also would highly recommend setting up a special folder for VST modules such as MUSICVST. The mda Piano.dll will then be stored in this folder as MUSICVSTmda Piano.dll, so it can be located by MULAB. The zipfile (mda_Piano.exe) contains only a single file named mda Piano.dll which has now been extracted to MUSICVST folder.
For the MAC
TIP: Again we recommend that you maintain a separate DOWNLOAD folder that will receive all of your downloads. Double-click The download link. Then select the DOWNLOAD folder to receive the VST Plugin SIT or DMG file. The VST module may be contained within a SIT or ZIP file which is a compressed format and must be unstuffed by Stuffit which will decompress the files into your DOWNLOAD folder. Just double click on the .ZIP or .SIT file to uncompress the contents. In the case of the mda-piano OSX.sit this will creat a file without an extension named mda piano. Simply drag this file (the VST module named mda piano) to your VST folder. In most cases the uncompressed file will have an extension of .VST, but in this case it does not.
TIP #2: If the file being downloaded is a DMG (Disk iMaGe file), another Disk icon will be created probably on the desktop. Just double click on the DMG icon to start the installation process and follow the installation steps. This process is a little easier, but many times the VST module will not end up in your VST Folder.
Defining your Plugins
Let's get started again by running MULAB. Double-click on the MULAB Icon on your desktop to get MULAB started. If nothing has changed, the last session used will be reloaded.
Now we must remember where the mda-piano is located, it is time to let MULAB know of our new install. This is done by clicking the EDIT Button near the upper left corner of MULAB. Now click on VST Plugin Manager.
This is the list of Plugins that MULAB knows about (probably currently blank). Step 1 is to let MULAB become aware of VST Plugins, so click on Add VST Plugins button at the bottom of the page. (Our illustration shows a few plugins have already been added.)
The explorer display will appear and now you must remember where the mda-piano module was stored. If you followed our suggestion it is located in the MUSICVST folder, so navigate to this folder to find mda Piano.dll. With the VST folder highlighted, click on the OK button. MULAB will then look through this folder for any VST Plugins and add them to the list (database) of VST plugins. The process is displayed, so that you can see what happens and how many plugins are being managed. (If compatibility is an issue, the failed Plugins are noted and you may get a message to respond to skip the Plugin)
Note: You can also select individual VST modules and add them one at a time if you so desire. This is the preferred method for adding a new Plugin.
Click on the OK button and the managed list of Plugins will be displayed. You should see the mda Piano in the list. Click on the Done button to exit. This completes Step 1 for MULAB to be able to use a VST Plugin. If you add more VST modules to your plugin folders, this step must be repeated in order to add these new plugins to the list (database).
TIP: The List of VST Plugins (database) is contained in a file named VSTPlugins.xml in the MULABSettings folder. It should never be necessary to manually edit this file.
TIP: Mulab also provides a shortcut to install a VST plugin. You can simply drag a VST Plugin .dll file from the Explorer to any slot in a Rack. This will complete the plugin install.
Using a VSTi Virtual Instrument
In MULAB, plugins are loaded into slots in any Rack strip. Typically, midi input is directed to the Rack strip (or directly to the Plugin) by right clicking on the track header and choosing the target Rack or plugin. This links the midi input (sequence and/or midi input device) to the plugin. Later, you will see that this flexibilty provides for routing midi and audio signals freely.Mda Plugins
Now that a list of VST modules have been established for MULAB, we can consider the use of the VST module. In the following example, we will show you how to import a MIDI file into Mulab, select a VSTi module as an instrument, and tweak some of the VSTi controls. But first, we will download a midi file for importing into MULAB. Click on this link - BACH.MID - and save the target file in the MULAB folder. This is a Midi sequence for the piano.After you have downloaded the Midi file, start with a New Session. Click on the File button and select New Session. You will receive a prompt 'Open Session will close this session, OK?' Click on Yes.
Click on the FILE Button again. This time select Import midi file. You will be prompted to navigate to the BACH.MID file location, which is now located in the MULAB folder. Highlight the BACH.MID entry and then click OK. Now click on the Merge Into Current Composition button. (MULAB allows multiple compositions to be arranged). A prompt will appear that allows selection of the Track to which to the first channel of the midi file will be imported and the starting position. In this example, take the default and click OK. The midi file sequence will be placed on Track - Rack 1 - starting at position 1.1.0 (Bar 1, beat 1, 0 ticks). If there were more than 1 midi track, they would be placed on consecutive tracks in MULAB.
The track named Rack 1 will display an image of the events in the imported midi file. To see the actual note events, you can double-click the 'piano' sequence. (We will get into editing later).By default in a New session, signals on track 1 (midi or audio) are routed to Rack 1, the second track is routed to Rack 3 etc. By right-clicking the track header, you can select which Rack strip to use as a target. In this case, we will just use the Rack 1 strip to hold the piano synthesizer. No changes need be made.
The next step will be to insert the mda-piano VSTi plugin into the Rack 1 strip.
You will be presented with a list of various routings to choose from in the Choose Module box. Maybe only one VST module that is of interest - The mda piano. Click on the mda piano and the Choose Plugin box will close and you will see the mda piano appear in the slot you selected in Rack 1. Additional slots are provided so that you can add effects and sends to other Racks. This makes it easy to add additional plugins for example EQ, Reverb, Filters, etc.
That's it. The VST module is now installed in Rack 1 To hear what the piano sounds like, Click the Play/Stop triangle. Click again to stop the play. Or if your midi keyboard is hooked up, you can play the mda-piano.
Looping Measures
To really get the sound right, it takes some iterative listening and tweaking. This is where the VST really shines because you have all these neat controls to tweak. But often the spot you want to use slips on by all too fast. This is where looping comes in.
To loop the track that is selected, simply right-click in the measure numbers above the track (and below the transport bar). A menu will be presented that allows you to set loop points and toggle looping on/off. From the menu select a loop start and select a loop end. Or you can just drag the loop start and loop end icons to any position on the measure number line. Now when you start the transport it will play to the end of the looped section and start over again at the beginning of the looped section. The Loop can be toggled on and off by click the loop icon (just below the metronome icon in the transport bar.)
Controlling the Plugin
To really get into the nitty gritty of editing the sound, most VST's offer an abundance of tweaks. The mda-piano is no exception.
To make the plugin window appear, mouse down to the Rack Desk again and double-click the mda-piano slot. Alternatively, click on the little up arrow at the edge of the slot. This will open the plugin 'edit' window. Most plugin windows can be closed by using the ESC key or by clicking on the 'X' box.
You will note that there are several parameters that can adjust the sound of the piano - maybe more to your taste. The designer has placed these controls for you to tweak.
Presets
Many VST plugins have been pre-programmed with settings that can be selected by name or number. The 'presets' are stored within the VST plugin or sometimes in external files (.fxb for banks (collections) or .fxp for a single program). Most DAW host programs provided methods to quickly load and save these presets (sometimes referred to as programs). Clicking on the Options button above the mda Piano display opens up a dialog box that gives you choices. Select Choose Program from the drop down box and you will see the specific piano sounds that have been preset for the mda-piano. Click on any of these to select the preset. You will see the sliders move to the new preset positions.
These choices in currently loaded presets are also available by name at the top of the plugin display. Click on the name to display all of the named presets. Click on the arows to advance through the list of presets.
To capture what we have done, so far, requires only to click on the File Button and select - Save Session as .. This will allow you to save the changes into a new session and preserve the original settings for Bach.MuSession. Again you will be presented with an explorer screen where you must navigate to the folder where the new session is to be saved. Highlight this folder and then click on New File button at the bottom of the display. Type in a new name (you don't need to add the extension .MuSession) then click on OK or press Enter. All changes from this point forward will be saved to the new named session. And you can return to this point after exiting, by simply loading this new session.
Now that we can get some music going, it's time to move on to the finer points such as recording some midi events. You will need a keyboard controller for the next tutorial - Midi Recording.
Advanced (Windows Only)
For those of you that are more familiar with MIDI song development, but want to use a VSTi, I would highly recommend the sfz VSTi module from RGC Audio. This is a Soundfont VSTi instrument that will load and select Soundfont banks and respond to patches. This instrument is supplied as a standalone executable or a VSTi. So it will work with MULAB or any other VST Host program.
If you are familiar with Soundfonts (used in the EMU/Creative line of soundcards) you may have access to a large variety of Soundfont banks which are also available throughout the Internet Download the sfz VSTi from RGC:AUDIO (now under the Cakewalk brand) and install it in your VST folder. Add it to MULAB by clicking on the File button and selecting the VST Plugin Manager. While you are on the net, cruise on over to Hammersound.net and get a copy of the neat General Midi Soundfont bank named sYnerGi-8MB.sf2. This bank contains 128 GM instruments, 8 percussion sets and a few more bonus banks. It works beautifully with the sfz module to provide a complete soft synth General Midi set of sounds. The sound bank download is both zipped and sfpacked so it is only about 6MB. It must be unzipped to a temporary Folder and then the SFPack program is used to unPack it to a Soundfont folder (or the VST Folder will work).
Use the Upper right Rack select window to Choose a Rack for each track and then click in the Rack for each track and add the sfz Soundfont VSTi as the Target. Click on the 'e' Edit button and then click on the sfz File area to find and load the Soundfont of your choice.
Opus De Funk (Horace Silver)
To give you an idea of what sounds can be achieved with this setup, take a look at the arrangement above. Here are 4 sequence tracks (MIDI). Each track chose a new Rack using the sfz sound font player. Each instance of the sfz loaded the sYnerGi-8MB.sf2 sound bank. Each track selected a different instrument e.g. Vibes, Bass, drums (in bank 128), and piano. Fairly easy to set up. The result sounds like this ... OpusFunk.mp3 (double click to listen).
The sequence tracks were ripped from a MIDI file (originally created by Phillip Van Galen). The MIDI file was reduced to 4 tracks using Voyetra Orchestrator Plus (A midi editor - look under Files at the Music By Computer site.). You may note that there are some effects added to enhance a couple of the tracks - Leslie effect on the vibes and Delay (chorus) on the Piano. We will get into effects in a later tutorial.
Polymer Suds (Johnny Pumphandle)
Another neat synth from RGC:Audio is the Triangle II . This synth is totally self contained and is also Freeware.
It has a load of presets, but once you get started with this baby, you will tend to create your own sounds - Look at all those knobs. It is installed exactly like all the other VSTi, so it should cause no difficulties if you follow the simple procedures in the Summary below. The Triangle II also comes with a fairly extensive manual which describes what each of the knobs is used for. Still pretty daunting, but you can create some very satisfying sounds.
Polymer Suds was created entirely using the MULAB program and Triangle II. (Actually the piece was first composed using PG Music midi tools to create the melody and backing and whittled to 4 Midi tracks using the Triangle II synth to audition the patches). The basic midi file was imported into MULAB and then set up on 4 Rack strips. A little reverb was added to give the final sound some depth, but essentially with so many internal settings available in the Triangle II, the effects only get in the way.
Once the piece is mixed (see our tutorial on mixing), It is a simple matter to click on the FILE button and select Mixdown to Audiofile which creates a CD Quality stereo audio file that can be burned to a CD or converted to an MP3. For the record, I use the Lame MP3 encoder and Audacity to convert my WAV files to MP3. I find that I can get the best representation using this encoder. This operation can be performed on both the MAC and the PC.
Summary
Here are the steps to using a VST ...
1. Download the setup file for a VSTi instrument
2. Install the DLL or VST file (and any presets) into your VST folder
3. Run the VST Plugin Manager (File button)
4. Select a track and assign a Rack to insert the VST module, the click in an empty Rack slot to load the VST.
The first 3 steps are only needed when a new VST module is installed on your computer.
That's it.