Gluecomp-3B, Coalesce, Hardstop: Free Plugins of the Week
Gluecomp-3B, Coalesce, Hardstop: Free Plugins of the Week · Source: DYMAI Sound, Modulor Audio, Raytown Productions
This week’s collection of free plugins brings you an adaptive multiband compressor, a versatile delay, and a hard clipper that means business: Gluecomp-3B, Coalesce, and Hardstop!
Free Plugins of the Week
DYMAI Sound Gluecomp-3B: Free Adaptive Multiband Compressor
Gluecomp-3B by DYMAI Sound is a free multiband compressor that automatically adapts to your music. Designed to offer you the benefits of three-band upward/downward compression without the hassle that often comes with it, Gluecomp replaces the traditional Threshold and Ratio controls with an Adapt knob that determines how much the compressor reacts. Quick, easy, and convenient!
That said, Gluecomp-3B is much more than a single-knob plugin and offers a bunch of options for you to control its behavior. You can choose from four modes: Transparent, Punchy, Loud, and Aggressive. There are also three detector modes to choose from (Peak, RMS, Loudness), and you can select whether you’re working on a single instrument or the mix bus.
Furthermore, Gluecomp-3B also offers a Color knob for adding console-style harmonics, and a Warmth control for adjusting the low-end balance.
Gluecomp-3B is available for macOS and Windows in VST3 and AU formats.
Modulor Audio Coalesce: Free Delay with a Twist
According to Modulor Audio, Coalesce is ‘the ultimate free delay plugin’. I wouldn’t go quite as far (we’ve seen some excellent free delays over the years), but it does offer plenty of versatility and many options for getting creative.
And it has a unique feature: Coalesce is the only delay I know of that lets you easily blend forward and reverse delays. Using the Direction knob, you can dial in anything between fully forward and fully reverse. This can yield some pretty interesting results – perfect for creative sound design.
In addition to the delay, Coalesce also offers additional effects such as a limiter, pitch shifter, ring modulator, filter, and distortion. There’s even a Diffusion section that lets you add reverb to the delay, and a built-in Ducker that allows the effect to react to the input signal. Great stuff!
Coalesce is available for macOS and Windows in VST3, AU, and AAX formats.
Raytown Productions Hardstop: Hard-Hitting Clipper and Limiter with a Free Option
Hardstop by Raytown Productions is a hard clipper and limiter plugin designed to make your tracks loud ‘without the fizz, the pumping or the guesswork’, as the developer puts it. The waveform view makes it easy to see how much of the peaks you’re shaving off, and automatic gain compensation ensures that you can judge the amount of clipping without being fooled by volume changes.
Hardstop also offers three anti-aliasing modes to achieve the perfect balance between quality and CPU load. It’s also got a built-in true-peak limiter for catching intersample peaks.
There’s also a Pro version ($39), which adds a bunch of extra features, including a Reactivity control for transient-aware clipping, a Shape control for adjusting the knee, and a Density knob for punch and tube-like warmth.
Hardstop is available for macOS and Windows in VST3, AU, and AAX formats.
Check out our archive for many more free plugins like Gluecomp-3B, Coalesce, and Hardstop!
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