The magic of software virtual instruments ! Recreating known piece of hardware, emulating famous synth, trying to capture the spirit of a machine, attempting to copy the sound and feeling of an instrument!

Here’s a compilation of all the articles about free VST plugins that try to emulate the most famous synths, plus links to the freeware plugins that are the only one to recreate a kind of machine (they didn’t get an article). Below is a list of best free VST emulations.

• Sampleson has released Fire ($29 value), a virtual instrument which emulates the Rhodes Piano Bass electric piano. The instrument, available in VST and AU plugin formats for compatible digital audio workstations on PC and Mac, can be downloaded completely free of charge for the next 60 days using the coupon code found in this article.Read More.
• Straight out of the box this free Rhodes VST can sound pretty bland, boring and lacking character but after some tweaking with the overdrive and harmonics controls it begins to come to life. It can’t precisely emulate the hardware it is modeled after, but it does a decent job.
• The categories are updated with the latest free plugins multiple times per year. Be sure to check back from time to time and keep your free VST plugin collection up to date! Free VST Plugins Directory Free VST Effects. Freeware effects in VST plugin format: Autotune – Free alternatives to Antares Auto-Tune.
• Goodhertz – All Plugins Bundle 3.5.1 VST, VST3, AAX x64; ProjectSAM – Swing More! V1.1 (KONTAKT) Splice -! ND WARP RC-20 Presets Pack; Marco Polo – Pad Thai Vol.3 (WAV) Zenhiser – Linndrum – The Drum Machine (WAV) Ample Sound – Ample Metal Hellrazer 3.2.0 STANDALONE, VSTi, AAX, AUi WIN.OSX x64.
• Some pretty good sounds can be achieved with this Free Rhodes VST. Especially if you add some reverb. Download LazySnake. A very rich sounding free rhodes VST. This VST is made up of 2 layers of 13 waveform sounds. Each layer offers the typical controls e.g. ADSR, Volume, spread, pitch, flanger and of course delay.

An infinite series of free software instruments, made by musicians and sampling experts in London, for anyone, anywhere. Presented in our own plug-in, they are easy to use, and compatible with any DAW. And in case you missed it — they're all free.

Here you can find free virtual alternatives to the classic analog synths :
MiniMoog, Arp 2600, Arp Odyssey, Synthi VCS3, Obeirheim OB-X

There are also your favorite FM / Vector Synthesis / “digital” synths :
Yamaha DX7, Prophet VS, PPG Wave, Ensoniq SQ80

The usual techno/trance suspects are here too :
Roland TB303, Alpha Juno, Juno 60, JP-8000, Korg Mono / Poly, Clavia Nord Lead 2

We did not forgot the Jazzy/Funky/Rock famous instruments :
Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond B3 organ, Farfisa combo organ, Hohner Clavinet, Wurlitzer E-piano, Mellotron & Arp Solina.

And even the antic Theremin + some funky toys : Speak and Spell & Stylophone.

This is work in progress, i’ll add free VSTi plugin if we find some new free recreation of well known synthesizers.

Zampler free vst. All the VSTi in this list are freeware.

Here we go :

1. Minimoog

2. ARP 2600

3. ARP Odyssey

4. VCS3 Synthi AKS

5. Oberheim OB-X / OB-Xa / OB-8

6. Roland TB 303

7. Roland Alpha Juno

8. Roland JP-8000

9. Roland Juno 60 / Juno 106 / Juno 6

10. Korg Mono / Poly

http://www.fullbucket.de/music/monofury.html

11. Yamaha DX7

12. Prophet VS

13. Ensoniq SQ80

14. Waldorf PPG Wave

15. Rhodes MK2 electric piano

16. Wurlitzer electric piano

17. Hammond B3 tonewheel organ

18. Farfisa electric combo organ

19. Clavinet D6

20. Mellotron

21. ARP Solina string ensemble

22. Theremin

23. Speak and Spell toy

24. Dubreq Stylophone

25. Linndrum LM-1

26. Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) Wasp

27. Clavia Nord Lead 2

http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/ + check my preset banks for Synth1 !

28. Roland JX-8P

The famous Fender Rhodes Mark II stage 73 electric piano!
Essential if you plan to do funk-jazz, deep house, or any soulul music.
The Rhodes keys can be heard on countless tracks, from Herbie Hancock to Stevie Wonder, the Doors & Ray Charles, Chick corea & JojoLapin.

https://everyouth631.weebly.com/download-free-unity-for-mac.html. It’s funky, soulful, deep, smooth, jazzy, lounge, groovy.
Here are the best FREE VST emulations of the e-piano:

1. MrRay73 & MrRay22 VST by Guido Scognamiglio

MrRay 2.2 ! rhodes 4 ever

These two VSTi are donationware.
and they are pure synthesis, no sample involved.
The sound is very good, Mr Ray 73 VST gives you that funky feeling when you play it.
Mr Ray 22 has more parameters and some good classic effects : a chorus, a wah wah, a tremolo/autopan, a distortion and a stereo delay.

Mr Ray Charles:
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Mr-Ray-Charles-Shake-a-Tail-Feather.mp3

stormy !
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/riders-on-the-storm-mrray22.mp3

straight Rhodes e-piano
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mrray73.mp3

soft deep house chords
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mrray22.soft_.mp3

Rhodes piano through wah wah effect!
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mrray22.wahwah.mp3

2. MDA ePiano

Based on a small but clever wavetable, the antique MDA ePiano still sounds fresh in 2014!
and since MDA plugins became open source, you can also find version for Mac & Linux, and also 64 bit versions => http://sourceforge.net/projects/mda-vst/files/mda-vst/mda-vst-src 20100214/

MDA ePiano VST is simple & effective, of course it’s more limited than Mr Ray, but sounds great!

riders on the storm!
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/riders-on-the-storm-mda-epiano.mp3

Ray Charles – Shake a Tail Feather
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Ray-Charles-shake-a-mda-epiano.mp3

Rhodes Vst Plug-ins Free

3. EP-Station VST by Big Tick audio

Rhodes Vst Plugin Free

EP station : more groovy keys

A very nice FM modeled electric piano. EP-station is now freeware.
The plugin is not a straight emulation of a Rhodes piano.
It can also do the ” DX 7 e-piano “, the famous FM piano as heard on 95% of the pop / ballad / tv show theme / etc. tracks produced between 1983 & 1989.
The EP-station also features a chorus & a phaser effect.

smooth sound for deep house
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ep-station1.mp3

phased Fender Rhodes !
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ep-station2.mp3

ultra smooth Deep house Rhodes+phaser
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ep-station3-effectrhodes.mp3

FM pop piano ! the sound of the 80’s
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ep-station4-dxpop.mp3

4. 4Front R-Piano VST

Based on samples, but not only, this emulation gives you a clean sound.
It comes for Windows 32 & 64 bit, and Mac OS X.
4Front R-piano also include a reverb.

soft e-piano for lounge house
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/4frontrpiano.mp3

Fender Rhodes Vst Mac Free

plucked style
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/4frontrpiano2.mp3

5. LazySnake VST by Andreas Ersson

Lazy Snake VST

Back to a 100% synthesis emulation !
The Lazy Snake electric piano gives you this lounge and mellow sound.
The synth is easy to tweak, and you have a tremolo + wah wah effect.
It’s not really a Rhodes piano emulation, but it’s perfect for deep house chord.

soft clean deep house chord
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/lazysnake-smooth.mp3

wah wah effect!
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/lazysnake-wah.mp3

Ray Charles shake a snake
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Ray-Charles-shake-a-snake.mp3

6. Orange Lounge 2004A by StarrFish Lab

A funky japanese VSTi , created with Synthdit.
It’s not a Rhodes MK2 emulation, but it’s also groovy, and well suited for that deep house feeling.
We can feel the FM modulation but it’s nice!

pretty hard tremolo effect for this e-piano
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/orangelounge-deep1.mp3

funky !!
https://blog.wavosaur.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/orangelounge-deep2.mp3

7. SFZ + Learjeff jRhodes3 soundfont

/best-drum-sample-vst-free.html. SFZ+ soundfont player

SFZ+ + Learjeff Rhodes soundfont

There are some nice free Rhodes multisample bank around the interweb. So you can pick your favorite sf2 capable VST player and load a Rhodes piano soundfont into it!
Here i choosed the SFZ+ player by RGCAudio and the jRhodes sf2 , that’s the best combo!

(november 17 2014 update !!)

8. RhodyMK1 by Wahnsyn

A Synthedit VST plugin from Plugindex German website : it has a clean sound, i think it’s based on a soundfont / wav bank. It’s very usable. Unlike the other “classic” emulations, it features a vibrato effect instead of a tremolo effect, it’s strange but that makes unusual sounds!

9. Clavia Lab by Simple Media

Clavia Lab VST

This plugin is intended for e-piano sounds and also organ and clavinet / harpsichord sounds.