Creating Music with Free Sound Sources, Free Plugins, and Free Software

■ Introduction

Recently, I came across a compilation album project that restricted participants to using only free sound sources and free plugins.
While searching for free samples and tools, I was surprised by the sheer number of free plugins and sound sources available. However, I also felt that many of these resources remain unnoticed due to their overwhelming quantity. So, in this article, I will introduce some useful free sound sources, plugins, and tools that I discovered.
By using these, you can save money and invest in a better monitoring environment or acquire higher-quality instruments and equipment!

*I mainly produce Lo-Fi hip-hop BGM and Vocaloid music, so my recommendations are based on that perspective. Thank you for your understanding.

■ Free Plugins (Instrument Category)

LABS - Spitfire Audio

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/

LABS is a free instrument plugin provided by the UK-based company Spitfire Audio. The plugin itself has a very clean and minimal interface, making it easy to use.

You can download numerous high-quality sound sources from their website, and the sheer volume of available sounds makes it hard to believe that it’s free.

If you’re installing it for the first time and don’t know where to start, I highly recommend Hand Bells. It produces a simple yet beautiful sound that can be used across various genres.
Not only the sound but also the creativity can be felt through the design, making it enjoyable to look at. Please be sure to take a look at the website. Below are some images from the website.

■ Free Plugins (Effect Types)

Flux Mini - Caelum Audio

https://www.caelumaudio.com/CaelumAudio/?Page=FluxMini

This plugin alters sound according to a set curve. It can be used to achieve effects similar to Kickstart (Nicky Romero).
It offers various presets and can transform a regular synth sound into something quite tricky. It’s suitable for EDM and dance music with a prominent kick, as well as beat-focused music production. Try applying it to bass or synth sounds.

Polyverse Wider - Polyverse Music

https://polyversemusic.com/products/wider/

Wider is a plugin that adjusts the width of sound. The operation is simple: drag the blue section in the diagram to adjust the sound’s width. The great thing is that there’s only one control, making it easy to use without confusion.
It’s a great plugin for beginners in music programming as it allows you to practice adjusting the sound by experimenting and checking in real-time, without relying on presets.

■ Free Plugins (Tool Types)

Youlean Loudness Meter - Youlean

https://www.pluginboutique.com/products/4960/

This plugin is very useful when you want to check the loudness value of a track.
By applying this plugin to the master track and playing the song, it clearly displays detailed LUFS values, as shown in the diagram. It’s definitely worth having in your setup.

■ Free Sound Sources

Aurora Lo-Fi Sample Pack - Slate Digital

https://app.slatedigital.com/sample-packs

This is a Lo-Fi sound pack that you can get for free by signing up for Slate Digital. The contents are divided into three folders: Drums, Melody, and Vocals.

For example, in the drum folder, there are two types of materials: Loops and One Shots. Within the loops, there are three variations: full drum loops, hat-only loops, and Top loops with just hats and snares.
The One Shot materials are organized into separate categories like hats, kicks, toms, rides, and snares, with many different sounds included in each.
For a free pack, it’s very detailed and well-organized, making it easy to modify specific parts of a drum loop when you want to change something.

■ Free Vocaloid & Voice

Singing Voice Synthesis Tool UTAU

UTAU is a singing voice synthesis software distributed as free software since 2008 by Ameya/Ayame. It allows you to create singing voices based on sampled voice libraries.
The voice library Defoko (shown in the top-left of the image) comes bundled with the software, but you can also download various other famous libraries like Kasane Teto for free.
Although it takes some effort, you can even create your own voice library using other software.

You can download UTAU here:
Win: http://utau2008.xrea.jp/
Mac: http://utau-synth.com/
*As of May 2022, it does not work on macOS Big Sur or later, nor on Apple M1 chips.

VOICEVOX

https://voicevox.hiroshiba.jp/

Have you ever wanted to add a Japanese phrase to your track? While there are many websites like Splice that sell samples, it’s often difficult to find Japanese voices on these platforms.
However, with VOICEVOX, you can input the exact phrases you want to be spoken, and you can also fine-tune the intonation and volume.

Additionally, the audio created with VOICEVOX can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, as long as you provide credit. Just like UTAU, it’s surprising that this is available for free.

*Supported OS
Windows: Windows 10, Windows 11
Mac: macOS Catalina and later
Linux: Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04

■ Conclusion

The plugins and software introduced here are all available for free. Why not try them out and see if they can be useful for your own productions?
You’ll be surprised at how high-quality and feature-rich they are, especially considering they’re free.

That concludes this report. I wish you all the best in your musical journey!

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