VST is 30 years old, and Steinberg is giving away some of its earliest plugins

It’s the format that changed software music making forever: the VST plug-in format turns 30 this year. Steinberg is giving away updated versions of Neon, CS-40, Karlette, VB1, and LM7 — some of its earliest plug-ins — to celebrate. And that means you can run these vintage instruments (plus one tape delay) on your modern Mac or PC.

Remembering Kieran Foster; legendary Glitch2 effect now free

You may know Kieran Foster by his other aliases — illformed, dblue, MaDHaTTeR. That’s just how omnipresent he was as a light in electronic music communities, from the music and rave scene to software to Renoise. His sister has made his legendary Glitch2 effect free in his memory. Instead of pouring one out, you can crank up its sequenced sound-morphing powers and let his work live on.

Peter Kirn - August 2, 2026

Free BEAST Repeat for Ableton Live is so good, you’ll switch genres to IDM

Dillon Bastan, prolific Max for Live patch stylist to the stars, is at it again. BEAST Repeat takes the fun glitchiness of Ableton’s stock Beat Repeat and adds extensive new ways to re-pitch, fade, stretch, twist, gate, pan, filter, and generally mangle per-pattern and per-beat. And it’s free?!

Peter Kirn - July 22, 2026

Audio Damage ShinRonin, now free, is a throwback to 2003 plug-in design

Peter Kirn - July 6, 2026

Download a book on Dutch electronic music history, Philips and beyond, free

Peter Kirn - July 3, 2026

Turn Ableton Push 3 into a single expressive percussive surface, free

Peter Kirn - June 15, 2026

Free: Minimal Audio Hybrid Filter, and some tips on how to use it

Peter Kirn - May 19, 2026

Free emulations of 80s Alesis MIDIVERB II, MicroVerb, in plug-in form

Peter Kirn - April 27, 2026

You can now get eight of UA’s best plug-ins free, plus the free LUNA DAW

Peter Kirn - April 15, 2026