Two Filters, TapeFi STOP, Compactor: Free Plugins of the Week
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Two Filters, TapeFi Stop, Compactor: Free Plugins of the Week · Source: BaconPaul, TapeFi, Kilohearts
It’s been a great week for free plugins! The awesome Two Filters by BaconPaul might just be the only animated filter plugin you’ll ever need. This week’s collection also includes a new tape and vinyl stop simulator by TapeFi and a precision ducker from Kilohearts.
Free Plugins of the Week
BaconPaul Two Filters: Dual Filter with Heaps of Modulation
According to developer BaconPaul, best known for his work on the Surge open source synthesizer, Two Filters began as a test bed for a new API. They’ve ended up creating what’s easily one of the best and most inspiring animated filter plugins I’ve seen in a while. And it’s free!
Based on the Surge filter library, Two Filters offers dual multi-mode filters with a plethora of types and slopes to choose from. There are numerous lowpass, bandpass, highpass, and notch filters, including emulations of legendary designs, plus a bunch of unusual types like Jatin Chowdhury’s Warp and tri-pole filters. The two filters can be arranged in various serial and parallel configurations.
The real fun starts, however, when the dual step LFOs at the bottom kick into action. Both offer up to 16 steps (but can have different pattern lengths) and are capable of bipolar modulation. And both can modulate the cutoff and resonance of both filters simultaneously at varying intensities, which means that you can go absolutely wild with modulation. Fantastic stuff, and a great teaser of what could be in the works for Surge!
Two Filters is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux in VST, AU, and CLAP formats from the developer’s GitHub page.
TapeFi STOP: Free Tape and Vinyl Stop Effect with a Twist
It’s only been a couple of weeks since TapeFi caused a stir with the fantastic Fail, a lo-fi plugin based on a cassette tape emulation. Their second release STOP also draws inspiration from the analog era. As the name suggests, Stop recreates classic vinyl and tape slowdown effects – but with a bunch of exciting extras.
STOP can create tempo-synced tape stop effects with selectable pitch ranges and a controllable slowdown curve. If you feel extra nostalgic, you can also add a vinyl layer to introduce some tasty dust and crackle noises.
But that’s not all. TapeFi STOP also offers a step mode for stutter-style slowdown effects – great for more experimental electronic music. There’s also a Digi effect for crunchy, downsampled textures from the age of vintage samplers. And turning up the Wash control introduces a combination of reverb and delay for added space. A great sophomore release from TapeFi – we can’t wait to find out what they’ll come up with next.
STOP is available for macOS and Windows in VST, VST3, and AU formats.
Kilohearts Compactor: Free Precision Ducker
Every once in a while, Kilohearts adds another free effect to its growing Snapin ecosystem. While Compactor can be used as an individual plugin for free, you can also load it in any of the commercially available Snapin hosts (Phase Plant, Multipass, Snap Heap) to combine it with other effects and modulate it.
Kilohearts Compactor is a precision ducking plugin that attenuates a signal based on the amplitude of another signal fed into the sidechain input. Perfect for making space in your mix for an earth-shattering kick drum, or for creating classic sidechain pumping effects.
According to Kilohearts, Compactor is extremely accurate and allows for “surgical ducking”. In addition to the range of gain reduction, you can adjust the Attack, Hold, and Release times to create the perfect ducking curve. The plugin also has a Stereo control for correlation adjustments, as well as a Mix control.
Kilohearts Compactor is available for macOS and Windows in VST, VST3, AU, and AAX formats.
Looking for more free plugins like Two Filters, STOP, and Compactor? Our huge archive will have you browsing for hours!
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