Free music software to keep you motivated through lockdown
Several companies are offering free music software for those musicians, producers and engineers stuck at home during the quarantine.
Looking for new inspiration to get you through the lockdown, or do you need to work from home and you don’t have access to a DAW on your home computer?
Here is a list of several free music software packages, from plugins to fully-fledged DAWs to get you through the next few months.
Cherry Audio Voltage Modular Nucleus
What is it:
Voltage Modular is a pretty extensive software modular system, Nucleus is the slightly watered-down version. It offers a lot of the bread-and-butter modules to get started, and you can buy addon packages or single modules to extend your sonic palette.
Best feature(s):
- As a starting point, it sounds great and offers a lot of learning potential
- Offers quick connection modules to sync to your DAW very easily
- Has a separate FX version for audio processing
- Comes with a bunch of presets to learn from and get you started
The catch:
The included modules are pretty basic, and only offer enough for simple subtractive patches – that being said as a first journey into modular, this is a great learning tool
More info
Native Instruments Analog Dreams
What is it:
Analog Dreams is a Kontakt instruments made up of sounds inspired by vintage synths of the ‘70s and ‘80s, it’s all sample-based but comes with a ton of presets if you’re looking for quick inspiration.
Best feature(s):
- 100 Presets ready-to-go
- Covers everything from Bass sounds to leads and pads
The catch:
You need Kontakt or the free Kontakt Player and it’s only available until the end of March, request your free copy at their website below
More info
Cockos Reaper DAW
What is it:
This is a pretty strange one considering Reaper’s pretty open-door policy, however one thing to keep in mind is that a huge number of sound engineers and other music professionals will be working from home in the coming months, and technically that would be commercial use of the DAW – which would require a license. This is a pretty major step, as I’m sure there are studios scrambling to supply their engineers with software to take home.
Best feature(s):
- Reaper is an incredibly extensive DAW
- Most of the features you would expect in a professional DAW
The catch:
The license is only valid until the end of June.
More info
Avid ProTools
What is it:
This one is not as accessible as the previous, however for those working with ProTools who have several projects they need to take home – switching DAWs may not be an option. Avid is offering the opportunity for qualified media enterprise and educational institutions to apply for a free 90-day license to use ProTools.
Best feature(s):
- This is pretty huge considering ProTools is one of the most popular software packages in the professional audio industry
- They’re offering various licenses for their software packages from ProTools and Sibelius
The catch:
Like mentioned, you need to be a part of a qualified media enterprise and educational institution, details are on their website below.
More info
For those mobile producers…
Both Korg and Moog have released free mobile apps for music creation, The Minimoog Model D app is, of course, an emulation of their legendary Model D synth and the Korg iKaossilator is a recreation of Korg’s very popular sampler and FX processor.
They’re also available for a limited time, check out the details below.
MOOG | KORG
