I mean this plugin will allow the users to add all their vocals, with vocal layers, and then sync and align these either based on timing, strength or pitch.

This process is completely automatic and can be modified with on-screen modulations, I mean it able to align certain pitch within the vocals within the stack to match other pitch tracks. Easily change the pitch of vocals.

Check out the video below which shows more features in real-time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9TVE5TiDC4

My personal opinion about Vocalign VST Plugin!

Personal opinion I prefer using the traditional way of mixing and mastering vocals, and that's by using manual tools, playlist and moving the vocals into place.

This is something which has been done for centuries, and also most certainly, this is a process which has consumed some time to perfect, and some time to get everything aligned correctly.

I guess the times have changed, with so much automation and artificial intelligence, its seems like we have got lazier when it comes to music production and deeply depend on automation tools. But, I guess it has its perks of quicker working, quicker vocal sync, and less struggle trying to align the vocals into the correct position.

But, yes! I am quite impressed with how quick and easy it is to align the vocals with the show match options with different styles and input attributes of the vocals, with so much less effort.

What can Vocalign be used for?

• Easily align multiple vocals to match each other within the vocal stack.
• Alter or change the pitch of vocals.
• Comes with build in presets for quick and fast vocal mastering.

I wanted to know what you guys think? Is Vocalign the way forward for vocals to be mixed and mastered, I mean it's being used by many professional companies, I guess these guys would use it to align vocals when it comes to TV and game design. 

I can also see how professional music producers working with artist would use this to get a professional vocal alignment within their composition, comes with multiple matching options and multiple vocal timing attributes.

I have been learning how to use JUCE (projucer) VST development plugin, it's been almost 6 months of learning.

What have I learned?

I must be honest, but creating a 3D based UI (user interface style) VST plugin is a lot harder than it looks!

Before I give you more info on the whole process and obstacles I have endured during my UI development of VST plugin, let's have a look at my previous VST UI design style, this was achieved using GIMP (free photo editing software), check out my UI designed which was 100% 2D design based, mainly based on graphical shadows, graphical design and effects. 

My previous 2D VST UI design shown below (image).

Now I have improved this into 3D style UI VST plugin, before I tell you the whole process, let me show the 3D UI design version below.

Current 3D VST UI design shown below (image). (Also, I have updated some of the features in my recent release) 

Now as you can see, it looks 100x better when the UI is designed in 3D software, it looks a lot cleaner, it looks lot smoother, and lot more professional.

What do I think about the process of making 3D UI style VST plugins compared to simple 2D plugins?

All I can say it very hard, it took me weeks and months to fully learn how to use Blender 3D, which is a free 3D software, designed for the public to use freely.

Whist using Blender 3D, I had to learn all of these obstacles below to design a pro style 3D UI VST plugin.

• I had to learn how to add cameras, move the cameras into position inside Blender 3D, critical for correct final image of 3D VST render. (Render is referred to final image of whole 3D VST model). 
• I had to learn how to add correct light and 3D main scene light, this took me weeks to perfect, I ended up adding 10 different lights with different intensities, to make the final VST render look perfect.
• I had to learn how to add use mesh modelling such as cube, plane and squares, then moving around in face, edges and vertex to model all my rotating sliders, features and the VST itself, this part took me the most of my time, learning how to move around in the 3D space, model what I need to make the VST plugin look professional and good took me weeks to learn, I had to research every single modelling technique, YouTube came in very handy for this. To be honest, I felt like a right newbie, but then again I was quite new to 3D blender. This part is the hardest to learn, for anyone wanting to make 3D style UI VST plugins, learning 3D blender features, UI and whole process is very time-consuming.
• I had to learn how to add HDRi's, this is light background reflection which affects the whole 3D scene, this was quite hard to understand but I managed to get it to work, and polyhaven's hdris came in very handy, they come at CC0 license meaning they can be used for any commercial or commercial product release including paid or public projects, it was a lot of work just for the correct light scene and reflections this part of making my VST plugin.
• When it came to adding textures and design colours and material to my 3D model, I designed some material and textures myself and also used some commercial free to use texture from polyhaven, as these are also the same free to use with CC0 (commercial license) and free for the public to use for any commercial projects or products.
• I also had to change the whole unit system of my 3D blender software and resize the whole VST to meet my 900 by 700px requirements or my other VST 800px by 600px, so when I exported my VST plugin, this was in units and had to change this to "PX" pixels. This was quite frustrating as my whole project had to be resized, took me a whole day to get this correct, so it all matched up with my Juve (projucer) VST design coding UI.
• I had to use a dummy plane as a background modelling reference, this was an export of my UI from juce VST plugin, without any background reference modelling the buttons and everything into the correct position would have been quite impossible. This is a very important feature for anyone who wants to model a 3D VST plugin, make sure you have a reference when 3D modding your VST virtual instrument.
• I had to learn how to switch between object mode and edit mode, texture mode and all other modes, to understand how this free 3D blender software work is quite overwhelming, there's just so much to learn and so many features, in simple terms, it can get very confusing and overwhelming.

There is so much to write on here, all I can say it's 100x easier to make 2D based VST plugins, I mean look at the 3D mesh of my 3D VST plugin below, so much going on it's highly technical, but super cool!

As you can see, there has been a lot of work involved to get a 3D style VST plugin texture.

I also wanted to design a VST logo for my VST plugins, which took me some time to design inside GIMP, I wanted to make this quite unique and personalized to my VST plugin development.

Check out my VST logo development below, this was designed inside GIMP. I am quite proud how unique this is and how cool it looks! Not going to lie, but going to college and university, studying a bachelor of artist course had helped me allot, this includes music/sound design, 2D/3D design and programming overall.

These skills came in very handy during the making of my VST plugin.

 The main hardest thing I came across, whist making a 3D style UI interface VST plugin?

• Modelling the 3D VST plugin elements. 
• Aligning everything into place so it matches up with the UI inside Juce, making sure it looks good.
• Post colour correction, 3D texture and 2D UI alignment is time-consuming.
• Using GIMP to create promotional VST plugin 3D images was also very time-consuming, many renders, exports, alignments, blending and so much more.

How long did it take me to learn how to create a 3D UI VST interface?

This took me about a week or 2, but I took some courses on 3D blender before which came in handy, especially when I was designing my VST plugin, it could well take a newcomer a whole month or even longer to fully learn how to use the 3D blender software, I do warn anyone reading this, It's very hard to learn how to use blender 3D, but well worth the time and patience.

Would I go back to making 2D UI instead of 3D style UI for my VST plugins after learning how to use blender 3D?

Never! The VST plugins look 100x better, so if anyone here is thinking about using 3D blender to make VST plugin UI and VST design, then don't even think twice, it will be the best thing you will ever do!

I mean, check the top 2 images of this forum topic, and simply look at the difference yourself, 3D VST plugin UI and VST design looks 100x better, in my opinion, looks lot more professional.

What I used to make this VST plugin?

1. Juce (projucer) VST plugin development.
2. Xcode and MS Visual Studio for (C++) coding the plugins and also for exporting VST3/AU plugin formats, my VST plugin was designed to support Windows and macOS.
3. Grok 3 & 4 (I have premium membership) for support of coding and precise preset development, this made the whole process 1000x faster.
4. GIMP for image colour correction, manipulation, resize and promotional final image edits.
5. 3D blender for 3D VST UI and plugin design.
6. Polyhaven for HDRi background light & reflection map, and for some HD textures.

I have to be honest, I have been learning how to design and develop VST plugins for over 6 months during my spare time, it's been a huge learning curve, there is so much to learn and so much to explore.

Now if you wouldn't believe me that my VST plugins were terrible 6 months ago, then this was my first ever VST design mock up which I designed 6 months ago, check it out below.

As you can see, I have come a long way in design, development and I am still learning, this image above was taken 6 months ago, I wanted to share this to inspire anyone reading this, that you can do this too! If you do loads of research, watch YouTube videos and learn. 

Also, I wanted to point out, I never had anyone outline everything required in paragraphs as I have above. When I started, I had to learn everything and research everything myself, so I hope it will guide you guys in the correct path and make things much easier for anyone who's reading this.

Hope this will give you guys a lot more understanding of making a 3D UI style VST plugin and the process of what anyone can endure during the whole process.

If you guys have any questions, drop them below, and I will do my best to get back to you soon as possible.

For the programming side, I have used a combination of AI such as chat GTP, GROK, Microsoft Visual Studio, Juce v8 and a combination of Windows and macOS, where I also had to used Xcode for deployment of VST3 and AU for macOS. Of course some coding language knowledge come in handy, the main issue here is understanding the whole flow of the setup and deployment to most major DAWS.

I must admit, programming a VST plugin in C++ is quite hard, but after a while you will kind of get used to it. When I first started a couple of months ago, I could-not even get the text to change colour or size, which was quite embarrassing to be honest.

Before I show you my design below and process of how I developed the user interface for Phaser VST. I would like to outline some obstacles which I have come across when using Juce V8 and MS Visual Studio for programming the VST. 

• When I downloaded and started using juce v8 for developing my VST plugin, I simply had no idea where to start, it's essential to know the basics before you start in my opinion, look up some courses if you're looking into the development of VST plugins. 
• Planning, what sort of plugin you're going to use, as each plugin will require different Juce modules and settings, and features, trust me, I never knew there's 8/9 different styles of plugin (settings) layouts and formats, with tonnes of modules. Sticking to Audio Plugin instead of GUI based plugin made the process a lot easier in my opinion.  
• Planning on how you want the VST to look, I had no idea, when it came to this, I sketched few design months earlier, but in the end came up with my final design, which was far from the first mock up I have done. 
• Getting the VST plugging in your DAW can be very hard, especially if you have never developed a VST plugin. I had no idea where to start, but an online course on using JUCE has helped me allot, I did kind of stopped halfway through the course and decided to look at other YouTube tutorials and research certain features independently, ask AI bots questions and do thorough research into the topic and features I was looking at, so I can gain extra knowledge in the fields of what I was looking for. There's like 50 different ways to add a slider or a simple button, with different outputs and different features, it took me a while to find my style and my design theme. Of course, when it comes to design, this is quite endless, since a VST plugin can look like anything the developer wants.
• Exporting and testing VST plugin is hard, as it comes in share-code, standalone, VST. VST3 and if you need extra AU, AAX and other exporting features, understanding how deployment works took me weeks and weeks of learning, it's definitely something no one talks about, but it's harder than you think. 
• And again, no one ever told me that you will need to use same project on macOS, get Xcode, install mac version of JUCE and you will need to deploy the macOS version of your VST plugin on macOS, this took many hours of struggle, understanding. This process was quite hard at first as I had no idea what settings I need, also including the pip metadata for VST3 and AU exports, setting up my projucer project correctly, setting up x-code to export all the necessary files, it took me about 50 exports to fully get the correct version and understand the whole process correctly. Took me hours to find out which version to use in Xcode for VST3 and AU work correctly on all macOS versions. 
• There's, so much to write on here, there are so many obstacles when it comes to making a VST plugin, I almost gave up half way and took a few weeks break from it, as I simply could not get a VST3 export, it was that difficult.

Anyway, here is my design break down of how I developed Buzz Phaser VST

These are the background elements designed in GIMP.

This is the upper and lower tab space showcase design I made in Gimp. 

The UI buttons, which I have designed in GIMP. They look a bit fuzzy below, but they are higher resolution in original format, maybe because I had to resize them all for this showcase process. 

I then put all these together, and as you can see you get this below, (I also added a cool green spatial lines to make it look modern;

Everything else below was added using c++ coding, Juce v8 and MS Visual Studio.

This is how I designed and developed my first ever VST plugin, took me a few months to learn everything, but it was well worth it. Many hours of sweat, struggling, basically loosing my brain cells trying to figure out simple tasks, but in the end it was all worth it. I am now working on my 6th and 7th VST plugins, and the process is lot easier now as I understand the fundamentals and the whole algorithm of how this works. 

Hope you guys enjoy my post update on my VST plugin development process and how I made my first ever VST plugin. (Well, I say first, but this was my 2nd version, as the first design looked a bit cheap). 

There are tonnes of free VST plugins which can be used for general hip-hop beat-making and hip-hop music production projects.

I wanted to outline my top 10 recommended list, which I hope will help many music producers that are looking into Hip-Hop music production in general.

I have used over 100s of different virtual instruments (VSTs) and these shown (outlined) below are the VST plugins I would personally use if it came to making some hot and modern hip-hop beats.

Hope my personal recommendation list will help many music producers to make a correct choice when it comes to selecting the correct VST plugins.

These are my top 10 Free VST plugins that I highly recommend for all types of hip-hop production. These are my favourites at the moment, check them out below.

1. (Free VST Plugin) Grand Piano - By Audiolatary.

This is a very nice and free to download piano VST plugin which will sound great on most hip-hop style of beats and productions. There is also an extended premium version.

2. (Free VST Plugin) Decent Sampler - Loads of free add-on virtual instruments.

This is a free virtual instrument which has been build with tonnes of free extensions that have unique sounds, ranging from flutes, pianos, leads, synths, classic emulators of certain instruments and so much more. This plugin is a great choice for hip-hop music production. 

3. (Free VST Plugin) Analog Lab - Over 100 modern synth style instruments.

This is something I have comes across just recently the sounds (instruments) within this plugin are immaculate and sound very professional, I have not had a chance to use this on any hip-hop beat yet, but I will be using this plugin very soon.

4. (Free VST Plugin) TDR Nova - Great free mixing and mastering EQ VST.

I have used TDR Nova so many times in the past when it comes to EQ mixing and mastering drums, melodies or certain instruments. This plugin comes with bundles of presets and some great mastering settings. I highly recommend this for mastering hip-hop beats.

5. (Free VST Plugin) Sapphire Guitar 2 - Modern guitar strum sampler or singular guitar sound output.

Just recently I came across this free guitar VST plugin, It's packed with loads of settings and modulations, this is another VST which I have just recently came across. I will be using this in the future to make a modern hip-hop beat.

6. (Free VST Plugin) Jacob Collier Choir VST - *Requires Kontakt 8 VST, which is free, very pro choir VST.

This choir plugin has to be one of the best ever free choir's out there, it's free to download and free to use choir VST plugins, Kontakt 8 VST plugin will need to be downloaded for this extension of choir plugin to work. Both of these are free to download and I would highly recommend all hip-hop music producers to try this one out! 

7. (Free VST Plugin) Tyrell N6 - Over 500 synthesised virtual instruments.

Every modern hip-hop music producer has heard of Tyrell N6 synth VST, this is a well updated and looked after synths, packed with over 500 free instruments. I highly recommend this one! Comes with some great leads and harps instruments.

8. (Free VST Plugin) Vital VST - One of my most favourite free synthesizers, comes with tonnes of add-ons free presets.

Vital VST is a great free to use synthesizers which is packed with loads of great free instruments, this plugin comes with plenty of free online vital presets. The wavetable and plugins advanced features make this a great plugin for modern hip-hop beats.

9. (Free VST Plugin) UVI workstation Synthesizer - Starter synth with 50 free virtual instruments.

Just recently I have comes across UVI starter synths, this synth has some high quality instruments, which I strongly believe would sound great on modern hip-hop and rap beat production. I will definitely be using this plugin in the near future.

10. (Free VST Plugin) K1V VST - With over 1000 free virtual instruments.

K1V is an emulated virtual instrument which I have downloaded quite recently, not expecting for it to be packed with tonnes and tonnes of some awesome vintage style instruments. The instruments inside this VST will sound better with reverb and extra EQ on the effects stack, I highly recommend this VST!

There you go guys, these are my top 10 current virtual instruments for making my own personal unique hip-hop and rap style melodies. 

Of course, everyone would have a different selection of VST plugins, but these are my top 10 at the current moment. I wanted to share these with you guys, to make your life a little easier, especially when it comes to selecting the correct VST plugins for making hip-hop melodies.

If you wish to add any extra VST plugins to this list, feel free to add them below with a reply to this topic.

When it comes to game design, there are plenty of free virtual instruments (VST Plugins) which are free to use and free to download.

I wanted to highlight my best 6 virtual instruments (VST plugins) which I tend to use or will use when it comes to game sound development. 

I would highly recommend all game sound designers and developers to check these out below:

1. Charlatan

Charlatan comes with some great LFO's, sound wave modulations and settings, built in noise output which is great to create whoosh, wind or a sea waves types of sounds. With Charlatan, I was able to create some amazing sound effects from whooshes, to rising sounds, transient effects.

I highly recommend trying Charlatan plugin out, with this plugin it's quite possible to create over 500 different style of sound outputs, great for any style of video game sound design.

2. Charlatan 3

Charlatan 3 is an upgrade from Charlatan, this plugin comes with extra built-in modulation features providing the ability to re-produce many different types of game style sound effects.

In my opinion, this is quite possibly one of the best VST plugins to use when it comes to game sound design compositions and working projects, providing the ability to create almost any type of sound effects and any style of virtual instrument, ranging from leads, pianos, pads, and experimental sounds.

Again, I highly recommend this virtual synthesizer plugin.

3. Vital VST

This VST comes with built-in wavetables, allowing the game sound designers to edit the wave input and pretty much recreate any sound desirable. Comes with 3 sets of oscillators, in addition it also comes with unison features, built in post-effects, ability to link and control the LFO's uniquely. 

This VST is free to download and free to use, in my opinion this is an extraordinary VST plugin which is great for creating any style of sound effects as well as game design background music.

4. Primer VST

Primer VST is pretty much new when it comes to music production, this virtual instrumental synthesizer comes with tonnes of features and presets. It provides the ability to create some unique style of sounds and great for creating some unique and high quality sound effects.

I would highly recommend this type of virtual instrument for any style of game sound design ranging from sound effects, re-creating unique virtual foley sounds to background music.

This plugin comes with:

• ADSR features.
• 2 types of Oscillators.
• Built in filter.
• LFO's.
• 3 type of voices, mono, legato and poly.
• 2 or 4 unison voices.
• Built-in effects such as phaser, reverb, chorus delay.

5. Podolski instrumental plugin

Podolski is a great free virtual instrument when it comes to creating, generating and composing unique types of video game sounds. In my opinion, it would be very easy to create tonnes of sound effects with this VST. It comes with built-in oscillator, wave warp, glide features, wave shape filters and so much more.

This plugin could also be very powerful when it comes to creating game background sound design.

I will definitely use this virtual instrument in the future to create some amazing sound effects when it comes to game design or even TV/film video style sounds.

6. Zebralette

This free spectral synth is something I have used in the past to create some amazing music compositions, this plugin can be used to create some awesome game design background music. 

This -plugin comes with built-in:

• OSC FX
• Mixer
• Effects
• MSEG filter which comes with poly, single or mono settings.
• LFO and Envelope settings.
• Its UI allows easy to modify and edit the wave shape using its waveform editor. Also, great for sound effects.

It's quite possible to make wide range sound sounds using this synth, sounds such as:

• Virtual pianos
• Virtual synths
• Virtual leads
• Virtual Pads
• Experimental virtual sounds
• FX virtual sounds
• And, so much more!

I would highly recommend trying this virtual instrumental plugin.

Why do I recommend these 6 free (VST) virtual instruments/synthesizers for game sound design?

Overall, I would highly recommend downloading and trying these virtual instruments out.

When it comes to game sound design, each of the virtual (VST) plugins come with their own unique set of settings and features. 

If anyone is looking for some decent virtual instruments, these 6 plugins which I have highlighted above are the ones I would highly recommend any game studio or game sound designer to use.

All of these virtual plugins are freeware, open source or simply free to use. Meaning, they can be used inside commercial game sound design projects without any copyright issues.

If you guys have any extra virtual (VST) plugins or synthesizers you would wish to add to this list, simply reply to this topic below, thanks.

Although I highly recommend using paid and professional DAW's, starting off with a free to use program is highly recommended when starting off.

I have made a full list of DAWs which has been outlined at "My Top 5 Free Music Production Software (DAWs)", check it out if you need a full list of free music production software packages.

But, if you are a Windows user, looking for free DAW for windows, I would recommend trying these out below;

• Reaper (Free DAW for 60 days, with full functions, pro DAW program).
• Tracktion (Free waveform DAW).
• lmms (Free for all users and developed by the community).

I have already outlined these in my previous topic, just in case someone is looking for DAW software which supports Windows, I wanted to make it easier to locate my top recommendation list.

Hope my list of these 3 will help anyone out looking for free DAW for windows. I recommend trying these out.

If you guys have any others which you believe should be on this list, drop them below within the topic reply, thanks.  

To be honest, there are tons of free to use online beat makers, but personally, I would only recommend trying these out highlighted below;

All of these 5 free music production software packages that I have listed below are free. In my opinion, they are a great choice for anyone thinking of becoming a music producer, beat maker or sound engineer.

1. GarageBand (only available for macOS)

GarageBand is something I have used back in uni, when I was creating some background music for one of our creative 3D projects. It's very easy to use and very easy to construct a song or instrumental in my point of view. I highly recommend trying this one out if you are a macOS user.

2. Traktion Waveform

This is a free music production software DAW, It's free to use and free to download, personally I haven't used this one, but seen some great online feedback on this plugin. Supports Windows, macOS and Linux.

3. Audacity

Although you can't produce a full beat using this music production software, you can still edit any wave forms and input any sounds with its free tools, I used this in the past to trim my vocals, normalize the sound dB, and fix the pitch of certain samples.

4. LMMS

This is a free to use open source style DAW which will allow any style of music production, composition, effects, drum pattern edit and so much more. It's free to use, and this one has been developed by the public contributions.

5. Reaper

Reaper is a professional music production software package, and it's partly free, it's a great choice for new and upcoming music producers in my point of view, since it provides full features of the reaper music production software DAW for 60 days. 

I have heard many good things about reaper, and would recommend starting off with this, trying the software for 60 days and see how you get on.

In my point of view, all music production software packaged (DAWs) come with similar features. Starting off with a free to use DAW program is highly recommended in my opinion, as many music producers find out early if this is something they enjoy or otherwise.

I did this in my younger days, started off with wave pad, before I moved over to FL Studio. 

Personally, I would recommend paid music production software packages as they have been developed and designer in a more professional manner, and offer much better tools, features and sound quality outputs, I have outlined some of these below;

• FL Studio (I have used FL for over a decade, there are tons of tools, features and core content).
• Logic Pro (Widely used by the music industry, games industry and film industry).
• Cubase (Used by professional sound engineers, music, games and TV industries).
• Ableton Live (Great for beat makers and vocalists).
• Pro Tools (This one has been out for decades, it highly compares to FL Studio).

Also, if you want to produce music on the go, maybe whilst you're travelling, there are a few online music production interactive software packages which require no installation and can be used within the Internet browser, check them out below;

• Soundtrap (Online based free music production software)
• beepbox (Another free online free beat maker platform)

Some of these synth free VST plugins are very advanced and come with tons of features and settings, sometimes it makes me wonder, how the heck are some of these VST plugins free? That's how good some of these are.

There are tons of free VST plugins online, but I wanted to highlight my 2025 selection. So, if you are looking for free Synth VST plugins, check out my selection below;

1. Vital VST 

Vital VST is a free virtual synth instrument, comes with tons of keys, pianos, leads, and tons of free presets, overall this a great advanced wavetable synthesizer with some great advanced features and modulation settings. Makes this my number one go to choice when it comes to free synth VST plugins in 2025. The quality and functions of this plugin is very similar to Serum VST.

2. Tyrell N6 

The free version of Tyrell N6 is simply amazing, it comes with tons of leads, pads, keys, FX, other experimental instruments as well as some cool soundscapes and gated-sounds. This free synth has been well-developed and designed, this plugin is quite low on CPU and simply provides some excellent virtual instruments for any music production purpose.

This plugin has been widely used for over many years, and has made it to my top 2 on this 2025 free synth list. I have made some epic beats using this synth, and it's well worth trying this one out.

3. K1V VST

The KIV is as good as the old school Nexus VST, It's simply packed with over 1000s of different virtual instrumental sounds ranging from pianos, harps, brass, leads, keys, percussions, drums, experimental synths, leads, guitar virtual instruments and so much more.

When I first downloaded this plugin, I was simply blown away with the amount of sounds that are inside this rompler style virtual instrument, some of the virtual instruments will require post edit effects such as EQ, compression and reverbs, but the quantity of virtual instrument choices are simply mind-blowing.

The K1V has made it to my top 3 list in, 2050 must have and must try synth VST plugins.

4. Romplay 2

Packed with over 140 free synth instruments, this rompler is another great addition to any music production browser library. Comes with some amazing leads, pads, keys (pianos), synths, textures and FX. I was quite surprised when I installed this inside my DAW, quite amazing on how such simple design, basic looking plugin, outputs such unique and high quality sound outputs. 

I highly recommend trying this one out guys.

5. Charlatan 3

When it comes to virtual analog synthesizers, Charlatan 3 has come a long way from its previous older version, I have used Charlatan 3 to compose some epic beats at the start of this year. This VST plugin comes with around 60 free virtual instruments, but some of these sounds are simply amazing.

Once again, I highly recommend trying this free VST out, the sound quality of this plugin will have many music producers in a wow form of situation, it sounds quality, and it's free.

6. Aeolian Meditation 

Aeolian is an addictive style synthesizer which comes with around 120 free virtual instrumental presets, the design of this plugin has been well constructed and again sound quality is decent. I am quite surprised that not many music producers and sound designers are simply not aware of this free Synth plugin. 

I had to add this to my list of my 9 most recommended synths for 2025. This free synth plugin is simply underrated, and I believe it should be getting a lot more attention that it's currently receiving. I highly recommend downloading and trying this one out. 

I hope that my selection of these 6 plugins will come in handy when it comes to music production and free synthesizer style virtual instruments. 

This is my recommended selection for 2025.

If you guys have any other synth VST's you would like to add to this list, simply reply to this topic below.

Now, looking at some of these code your own VST plugins courses and step-by-step tutorials, all I can say is that it is not going to be easy.

This is what I have figured out;

1. I will need to learn a whole new programming language of c#/c++
2. All software which is used for developing and coding VST plugins is free but comes in a huge file size of around 10GB all combined.
3. Without any coding knowledge of c#/c++, this will be quite hard to start off, and I will need to learn the basics first. 

This is also what I have learned, that there's this development program called JUCE, which is a VST plugin development software, it's completely free to download and free to use. JUCE has been developed to simply construct and manage musical virtual instruments, it comes with tons of features and has been used by many well known VST plugins used by the music production industry, such as;

• NTS1 synthesizer has been developed by using JUCE.
  
• Vital VST has been developed inside JUCE.
• Spitfire audio uses JUCE to developed their plugin. 

The list simply goes on, here are more VST plugins which have been developed by JUCE

Juice is just the development program, and it's used in combination with Microsoft Visual Studio or other code language handling software, if you're using macOS you will probably be using Objective-C, anyway, this software can be quite large when it comes to file size and the space required on any system for this to work was well over 10GB.

To be quite honest, I would be quite clueless on all of this shown above, if there wasn't for this one online code your own VST plugin courses which I have enrolled on, now this online develop your own VST video guides come with marked and monitored coursework, there is no time limit as to when you can submit and get certificate for your VST, which is quite ideal if your busy, working, and have other things to do. 

The course I would recommend when it comes to coding your own VST plugins?

Intro to Audio Plugin Development by kadenze has made it a lot easier for me to understand all of this, and I would recommend anyone trying this out, I do have to warn you, it's not going to be easy! But it will be worth a try and worth the knowledge.

Now, most certainly that there are over 100s of free to use piano VST plugins, all come with different effects, styles and sound output quality. But there are only few of these which I like using.

These are my top 5 free to use piano VST plugins!

1. Piano Uno

Piano Uno comes as a default free to use piano extension inside Kontakt 8 by native instruments, I came across this free piano plugin by accident when I downloaded Kontakt 8, to be quite honest I had no idea it had any extensions, since it was free to download. There are around 6 different styles of piano ranging from bright piano to dark and the quality of this piano VST is simply outstanding. Supports Windows and macOS and is quite good on the CPU. This free piano VST is definitely in my top 5 at the moment.

2. Basic Piano

Another great extension VST which is free to download, basic piano is simply amazing and sounds perfect inside my DAW, I did have to download the decent sampler to run this VST plugin, which is also free to download. The piano sounds clear, crispy, and comes in high definition. Supports Windows and macOS and is very low on CPU usage. I am quite impressed with the quality on this one, definitely in my top 5 free to use piano VST plugins. Sound even better with post effects such as extra reverb and EQ.

3. Klavir Piano

When it comes to the most creative and interactive piano VST plugin, Klavir Piano by Mndala2 is simply amazing. Comes with interactive GUI which enables the end user to manipulate the piano sound by moving its on-screen features, it also has some amazing built-in effects. Klavir 2 is an extension for Mndala2 Engine, which is also free to download. Supports Windows and macOS and sounds amazing, definitely recommend trying this one.

4. Yamaha CS20M

Yamaha CS20M is simply amazing, this is another great free extension VST plugin which is free to download for decent sampler engine. A very classic and vintage style piano sound, which comes at a high quality with ability to add some effects, as-well as piano sound, this plugin also contains some other sounds which emulate the Yamaha CS20M. Supports both Windows and macOS and trying this VST is something I recommend in 2025. 

5. Micro Piano

If you're a big fan and support the 90s use of piano instruments, then micro piano will simply take you back to the 90s, a very cool vintage piano VST plugin which has been developed to sound simply amazing, to be honest the quality is lot better than any other free to download vintage style piano VST plugins, and it also comes with built-in effects. The plugin design is very simple, but the piano instrumental sound output is quite cool. Supports Windows and macOS and is very low on CPU usage. 

These are my top 5 piano VSTs in 2025, I hope you guys enjoy my personal list of my most favourite piano plugins which I have used in the past and even today. 

At the moment the piano plugin that I keep retuning to is the piano uno by native instruments, it's simply amazing and sounds very clear. I have used it around 10 to 15 times within my projects in the last few weeks, so I definitely recommend trying this one out.

There are over 100s of free to use piano VST plugins, but these are my top 5.

If you guys have any personal favourite which you think should be on this list, post them below with a reply.

PAV