Free Virtual Instruments For Mac

Legendary instruments at your fingertips. AIR Music Technology is one of the pioneers in virtual instruments and effects. The AIR Instruments Bundle collects five stunning plugins—Boom, DB-33, Vacuum, Mini Grand and Structure Free—that give you the opportunity to add just the right vibe to any idea. Download the Best Free Audio Plugins. Synths, Reverbs, Compressors.and much more. Just click and download. 7 Best Free Virtual Instruments – VST/AU Plugins for Mac & PC Virtual instruments are software emulations of traditional instruments or hardware electronic musical instruments. There is a staggering range of virtual instruments available nowadays, covering multi-timbral rompler modules to dedicated emulations of guitars, basses, drums.

AllAudioUnitMASRTASVST
AllMacWin

AcousticBass by Airwindows

virtual acoustic bass

AU
Additive Synth by Expert Sleepers

Additive Synth

AU
AirySynth by Airy André

Synthesizer

AU
Alchemy Player by Camel Audio

Alchemy Soundbank Player

AU, RTAS, VST
au303 by Airy André

303-like

AU
Automat by Alphakanal

substrative synthesizer

AU
Bass Module by 4Front

Virtual bass

AU, RTAS, VST
bs-0 by Bismark

SoundFont / DLS sample player

AU, VST
BuzZer by Alphakanal

Polyphonic Softsynth

AU
BuzZer2 by Alphakanal

Polyphonic Softsynth

AU
Cheeze Machine by Big Tick Audio

String ensemble

AU, VST
Chip32 by ApulSoft

Synthesizer

AU, VST
Combo Model F by Martinic

virtual combo organ

AU, VST
Combo Model V by Martinic

virtual combo organ

AU, VST
Crossfade Loop Synth by Expert Sleepers

Crossfade Loop Synth

AU
Crystal by Greenoak VST plugin

Semi-Modular Synthesizer

AU
Curve by CableGuys

Synthesizer

AU, VST
Cyclone by Sonic Charge

Vintage sampler emulation

AU, VST
DaHornet by NUSofting

Vintage Synth

AU, VST
Drumachine R8 by KL

Drum synthesizer

AU, RTAS, VST
Drumcore Free by Sonoma Wire Works

Drums and percussions

AU, RTAS, VST
Enzyme Player by Humanoid Sound Systems

Synth player

AU, VST
EVP 73 by Emagic

Emagic's Electric Piano

AU
Fineline by KL

Digital fine synthesizer.

AU, RTAS, VST
FreeAlpha by LinPlug

Polyphonic Synthesizer

AU, RTAS, VST
Helm by Matt Tytel

Synthesizer

AU, VST
Hypercyclic by Mucoder

MIDI arpeggiator, gate effect and step sequencer

AU, App, VST
Independence Free by Magix

Sampler and more

AU, App, RTAS, VST
InstantSampler by Muxer

A simple freeware sampler...

AU
Jasuto by Jasuto

modular synth

AU, VST
Kairatune by Futucraft

Virtual synth

AU, VST
Kontakt Player by Native Instruments

expandable sample player

AU, App, RTAS, VST
KORE Player by Native Instruments

free software player for KORE Soundpack libraries

AU, App, RTAS, VST
Le Synthe by Pierre Couprie

EMS synthi AKS emulation

AU, RTAS, VST
MDrummer small by MeldaProduction

percussion workstation

AU, VST
MiniSpillage by AudioSpillage

drum synthesizer

AU
Mobius by Circular Labs

creation and manipulation of audio loops

AU, App, VST
Modelonia Player by NUSofting

hybrid synth player

AU, VST
Mr. Alias by Piz

synth

AU, VST
MrTramp by Genuine Soundware

electric piano

AU, VST
Musolomo by Plasq

innovative sampler instrument

AU
Nikola by Airwindows

virtual Tesla Coil

AU
Orca by FXpansion

Substractive synth

AU, RTAS, VST
Piano Module by 4Front

Virtual piano

AU, RTAS, VST
Piano One by Sound Magic

Hybrid Modeling piano

AU, VST
Play by East West

East West sample library player

AU, App, RTAS, VST
Podolski by Urs Heckmann (u-he)

Virtual analogue synthesizer

AU, VST
Pro SoloVst by AM Music Technology

Virtual analog synth

AU
Reaktor Player by Native Instruments

Reaktor Instruments Player

AU, App, RTAS, VST
Remedy by Keytosound

synthesizer

AU, RTAS, VST
SampleTank Free by IK Multimedia

Sampler/expander

AU, App, RTAS, VST
Sinnah by NUSofting

Synth

AU, VST
Soundberg by KL

Classic digital sampler with sample recorder and more

AU, RTAS, VST
SpatSampler 8X by AcousModules

Monophonic sample player

AU, VST
Spicy Guitar by Spicy Guitar

virtual guitar

AU, VST
Symptohm Melohman PE by Ohm Force

substrative synthesizer

AU, App, RTAS, VST
Synful Orchestra by Synful

Virtual orchestra

AU, VST
SynthMaster Player FREE by KV331Audio

SynthMaster presets player

AU, RTAS, VST
TAL-BassLine by Togu Audio Line

virtual analog bass synthesizer

AU, VST
TAL-Elek7ro by Togu Audio Line

virtual analog synth

AU, VST
TAL-NoiseMaker by Togu Audio Line

Substrative synth

AU, VST
TB TimeMachine by ToneBooster

Vintage sampler simulator

AU, VST
Ticky Clav by Big Tick Audio

Physical Modelling Clavinet

AU, VST
Triple Cheese by Urs Heckmann (u-he)

Comb synthesizer

AU, VST
Tunefish by Brain Control

Virtual analog synth

AU, VST
Turntablist by Super Destroy FX

scratching

AU
TX16Wx by TX16Wx

Sampler

AU, VST
TyrellN6 by Urs Heckmann (u-he)

Synthesizer

AU, VST
U-NO-62 by Togu Audio Line

Juno 60-like virtual analog synth

AU, VST
UVI Workstation by UVI

Expander / sampler

AU, App, RTAS, VST
Zen by Big Tick Audio

universal presets manager

AU, VST
Zoyd by Urs Heckmann (u-he)

Semi-Modular Synthesizer

AU

This post is for the Mac users.
When it comes to Mac OS X, the number of freeware plugins is very low, compared to the Windows world.
The popular “Save as VST” softwares (Synthedit and Synthmaker) are Windows only.
The “upgrade” politic of Apple is a sort of nightmare for developers (and sometimes users!), so many old free plugins don’t work anymore…

I have searched for free MAC plugins over the web and then tested !
– only free synth (not effects), in VST and or AudioUnit (AU) format
– the OS used is Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)
– i tested the plugins in Ableton Live 9 / Renoise / some free VST & AudioUnit host softwares (Pedalboard, the JUCE open source plugin host, VSTLord, AULab, Ugly VSTi Interface…)

Free Virtual Instruments For Mac

Free Virtual Instruments For Mac

It’s a selection with free virtual analog synths, organ emulations, epiano emulations, drum synth, bass synth, FM synth, emulation of Oberheim / NordLead / DX 7 synth, chip synth, guitar emulation…

and here a list of 25 free synth plugins for Mac OS X :

1. Synth1 AU/ VST

The must-have free synth plugin is available for Mac since one or two years, it is in beta state, it still have some minor bugs with the UI, but it’s usable and you can benefit from the incredible amount of presets created for Synth1, including these 😀
=>
https://blog.wavosaur.com/synth1-presets-chris-bank-volume-2/ &
https://blog.wavosaur.com/chris-bank-synth1-reup/
I had some problems for saving preset in Ableton Live.
Synth1 can do an incredible variety of sounds.
The most versatile Synth in this list

2. OBXD AU / VST

OBXD AU

The free Oberheim OB-X OB-Xa OB-8 emulation !
work without any problem in my AudioUnit / VST hosts on Mac.

3. Tyrell N6 AU / VST

http://www.u-he.com/cms/tyrelln6
DL here : http://www.amazona.de/amazona-de-freeware-synthesizer-tyrell-n6-v3/

U-He loves the Mac, don’t hesitate to have a look at the other freeware on the Website, all are working without problems in VST or AudioUnit format. I have also selected Triple Cheeze and Zebralette from the same developer. These plugins are good and full featured.

TyrellN6 plugin comes with a big amount of presets, and a deep variety of sounds. It’s powerful and easy to program. It’s rock solid stable and have a nice UI too!

4. FreeAlpha AU / VST

Free Virtual Instruments For Mac

FreeAlpha AU

This freeware from LinPlug sounds very good, it has punch and is easy to tweak. It can do punchy bass, but also nice pads and clean leads. Despite its simple look, it’s powerful and funky!

5. Crystal AU / VST

Free Virtual Instruments For Mac Download

The old Crystal Synth is still top, and one of the best synth for complex / evolving PADS, with its multipoint envelopes, and the complete modulation matrix.
One of the best virtual synth, for more than 10 years!

6. TAL NoiseMaker AU / VST

Best Vst For Mac

TAL Noisemaker

Like U-He, TAL has many freebees for Mac OS X.
I have selected Noize M4k3r and Elek7tro but you also have other interesting plugins.
The “Noise Maker” plugin has two osc + sub, a good filter and the famous Chorus “a la Roland”, so you have all you need for your fat bass/lead. Certainly more agressive than Crystal, it completes well the sonic arsenal.

7. Dexed FM VST

The famous free Yamaha DX7 emulation ! It’s VST only (no AU for the moment).
Use the cart / load / save button to browse or import presets.
It can read / write sysex files for and from the DX7.
Now all your FM needs are fullfilled: you can do pop ballad or Detroit techno, vive la FM !

8. MiniSpillage AU (Drum Synth)

MiniSpillage AU

Now that we have the FM synth, the Pad synth, the Bass synth and Lead capable synths, we need a DRUM synth. The Minispillage plugin has three dedicated algo for bass drum, wood drum and hihat.
I tend to prefer “Drumatic” but Drumatic is Windows only.

9. ComboF organ AU / VST

After all these synths, we now need an emulation of our prefered organ : the Farfisa combo organ!
ComboF gives you the sound of the Italian electric organ we all love. Available for Mac and windows, in AudioUnit and VST!

10. MrTramp 2 e-piano AU / VST

MrTramp2

After the organ emulation, we need the electric piano! MrTramp 2 is the best (free or not) emulation of the Wurlitzer electric piano. It’s raining again ! Now you can sound like Supertramp ! Breakfast in America !! There are not so much controls but you don’t need more, and the sound is excellent.

11. Cheeze Machine AU

Free virtual instruments for mac download

A dedicated string synth plugin for Mac ! The Cheeze machine from Big Tick is a kind of Arp Solina emulation. It has this phaser / chorus creamy sound.
it’s AU only and should work with your favorite Mac host software.

12. TripleCheese AU / VST

TripleCheeze plugin

Cheese again !
The U-He contribution to the first KVR Developer Challenge. It’s an original synth with unusual sound generation. Nice for plucked sounds. Works well on my Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Thanks to the comb filter, you can generate very original sounds.

13. Zr3 organ VST

We have ComboF for the Farfisa emulation, and for the Hammond B3 organ lovers, there’s Zr3.
It’s VST only and works nice in Ableton Live 9.
The only good free Hammond B3 emulation for Mac OS X.

14. TAL Elek7ro AU / VST

TAL Elektro

A perfect free synth for bass and perc sounds.
Don’t forget to check the other TAL plugins !

15. VST Speek AU / VST

Coming from here ! the funkiest text to speech in plugin format !
The best C64 Sam oldskool text to speech emulator, for all your techno voices.
Available in 32 & 64 bit, VST & AU

16. Zebralette AU / VST

Zebralette plugin

Coming with the demo of Zebra, the famous synth by u-He, Zebralette is a nice synth, with unusual sound, and powerful possibilities and plenty of special waveforms to play with.

17. Model – E VST

The antic VST from Steinberg, now free, and now available in VST format for Mac OSX.
It has been surpassed in all domain by many other synth (freeware included). But it can be useful and you can get some nice sounds out of it if you tweak it with love.

Free

18. VB-1 virtual bass VST

VB1 bass

Another prehistoric virtual synth from Steinberg, this virtual bass plugin is free and available with Model E in the same package (see link above). Very simple sound, can be useful.
Freeware for Mac are rare so we take it!

19. MDA Piano ePiano DX10 & JX10 VST

NO GUI

These free VST work for Mac OS X, they don’t have UI, you’ll have to use the default interface supplied by your host.
– Piano & ePiano are sample based synth, the ePiano is very good, it’s a kind of Rhodes emulation.
– DX10 is a FM Synth, it has only two operators, but you can still get nice bell sounds out of it.
– JX10 is a very nice virtual analog synth, despite some bugs (the Windows version has the same), it can do some very nice leads.

20. 4Front R-Piano AU / VST

Another free electric piano emulation for your Mac!
It’s simple and has a nice clean sound. Perfect for deep house chords.

21. Chip32 AU

Chip 32 AU

This is the URL where you can also find the Cheeze Machine VST, and also the very good Clavinet emulation by Big Tick (TickyClav). Chip32 is a very simple plugin, perfect for your chip tune needs.

22. Spicy Guitar AU / VST

A free Audio Unit / VST emulation of an acoustic guitar ! It’s use a physical modelled synthesis, and is a great emulation. Here are coming the ukulele / banjo / Flamenco guitar !

23. Scythe VST

Scythe VST

A very simple VA Synth (VST only), with two oscillators, a filter, modulation envelope & some embedded effects : bitcrusher / phaser / chorus / delay.
It’s simple but efficient.
You can also generate random presets!

24. Automat AU

A virtual substractive synth with 3 osc, and filter for each osc, + many effects and modulations.
It’s audiounit only, and like Scythe, it has a random preset generator.

25. VOPM VST

VOPM VST synth

A VST emulation of the Yamaha YM2151 Chip that was used in many arcade games, and is similar to the chip in the Sega Megadrive. It’s a 4 operator FM synth, with 8 algorithm.
here’s a lot of preset for VOPM : http://truechiptilldeath.com/blog/2010/05/04/opm-patches-out-of-most-genesis-games/

26. Bonus tracks ?

Vst free download mac

1) there’s also kickmaker, a free kick drum synthesizer in VST and AU format : http://teragonaudio.com/KickMaker.html

and C700, that can load sample in aiff and wav format :
http://picopicose.com/software.html

2) I also tried other free VST plugins for MAC , but with no luck (no one working in any host on my Mac OS X Mountain Lion), i think these are too old plugins, or maybe ppc plugins (even if they were said to work on Mac OS X).
For example :
the Delay Lama ! http://www.audionerdz.nl/download.htm
AU303 & AirySynth : http://airy.andre.online.fr/AU/index.html#au303

3) I’m working on a port of Rave Generator VST for MAC, here you can find a beta (x64 only, VST only) :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/149376535107031/835302689847742/

3) I’m also working on a port of CreakBox (the TB303 plugin) for MAC OS X (i already have converted it to VST2.4 then to 64 bit), see link ( @ 6. and in the comments) :
https://blog.wavosaur.com/best-free-tb-303-emulation-sotware-vst-plugins-standalone/

Free Vsts For Mac

4) i’ll do another posts with the free effect plugins for MAC ! It seems there are more effects available for free than synths.