Music tech Software Tech
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.
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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
Music tech Software Tech
Audio Damage ShinRonin, now free, is a throwback to 2003 plug-in design
You wake up. It’s the year 2003. Some upstart software developer called Audio Damage wants to let you patch a combo filter-delay however you like, including ways that will break your ears. Ronin is reborn as ShinRonin, from a time when software developers let you run with scissors and do strange things. This is one […]
Peter Kirn - July 6, 2026
Music tech Software Tech
Turn Ableton Push 3 into a single expressive percussive surface, free
Peter Kirn - June 15, 2026
Music tech Software Tech
Free: Minimal Audio Hybrid Filter, and some tips on how to use it
Peter Kirn - May 19, 2026
Music tech Software Tech
Free emulations of 80s Alesis MIDIVERB II, MicroVerb, in plug-in form
Peter Kirn - April 27, 2026
Music tech Software Tech
You can now get eight of UA’s best plug-ins free, plus the free LUNA DAW
Peter Kirn - April 15, 2026
Music tech Reviews Software Step 1 Tech
