Last Updated on January 4, 2021.
Indian instrument VSTs are quite hard to come by, especially the free ones…
This is why I put together this list of the 8 best free ones I could find.
FL Studio from Image-Line is likely the most favored DAW of all time due to its easy to navigate interface, user friendly features and functions, and high quality native plugins. How about a massive collection of 100% FREE presets for some of the best native FL Studio plugin instruments such as Sytrus and Toxic Biohazard?
Let's get straight to it…
Acoustic Indian Dhol Lite by RDG Audio
Available for Windows and Mac.
Acoustic Dhol is a sample based Indian Dhol Instrument.
It has been sampled from 3 types of real Indian Leather DholInstruments; Wooden Dhol, Steel Dhol, and Fiber Dhol.
It is the first VST and AU plugins that can play real IndianDhol inside any Digital Audio Workstation.
Indian, Punjabi, Bollywood, and Bhangra styles are availablein Acoustic Dhol.
Over 100 articulation and 22 presets are also available.
If you are tired of playing boring Indian Dhol loops and areconstantly looking for new ones, just try the Acoustic Dhol VST and AU plugins.
You can also purchase the full version, should you want to.
Related: Here's a huge list of the best free VST plugins in the world.
Features
- Sampled from 3 types of Indian Dhols
- Over 100 different articulations
- 22 presets
- Style : Indian,Punjabi,Bollywood,Bhangra
- MPC style GUI
- Velocity sensitive
- Round Robin sampling : YES
- Attack Realease Rotary Knob
- Tune Volume Pan Rotary Knob
- Algorithmic Reverb
- Level meter
You can download it here.
Related: List of the best Sitar VST Plugins.
Indian DreamZ by DSK
Available for Windows only.
DSK is well known for creating loads of free and prettycool-sounding plugins.
Indian Dreamz is no different…
It features a couple different typical Indian instrumentswhich work pretty damn well!
These instruments are; Sitar, Sarod, veena, Tar, tampura& Tabla.
All in all, it's a great plugin, absolutely give it a shot!
Features
- 6 Indian Instruments: Sitar, Sarod, veena, Tar,tampura & Tabla.
- Velocity response.
- Amp. envelope and micro-detuner.
- HP/LP Filter.
- Midi automation.
You can download it here.
Related: Here's a list of the best free Piano VST Plugins.
Crypto Cipher Free Sample Pack
Available for Windows and Mac.
It's a Free Tryout Pack of Indian Kontakt Instrument andwave/Rex Samples.
The pack was created out of Products available at CryptoCipher and Some other Rare Indian Instruments.
Here's the list of instruments;
- Double Sided Hand Drum
- ThingamaKit –SFX Instrument.
- Pambai – Rare South Indian Percussion.
- Tabla Mouth Percussion / Thunderous Raga VoiceSamples.
- Mouth Shots (Tabla Mouth Percussion).
- Indian Harmonium Scripted.
- Tabla Loops.
- A patch from Voices of Ragas Vol-1.
- Sound Design Instruments.
- Violin Raga Phrases Instrument.
You can download it here.
Syntar by Syntar
Available for Windows only.
Syntar is a VST instrument designed to fulfill yourevery sitar sound requirement.
For best results play with droning continuous bass notes and a higher melodyline.
Built in soft distortion, delay and flanger effects make iteasy to tweak the Syntar to fit your style of music perfectly.
You can download it here.
If you're looking to record quality music at home, then here's a list of the essential home studio components which you might find useful.
Real Sitar Player by RDGAudio
Available for Windows and Mac.
Real Sitar is a sample-based Instrument.
It has been sampled from Asian and many types of real SitarInstruments.
Sampled with 4 Mic Position, it is velocity sensitiveinstrument with built in Round Robin Presets.
It comes with Win 32-64 bit VST, VST3, AU and Mac VSTplugins.
Real Sitar is free but you can purchase the expansion pack forabout $50.
You can download it here.
Iowa Alto
Available for Windows and Mac.
Iowa Alto Flute is a sampled alto flute from theUniversity of Iowa Electronic Music Studios.
The sound quality is pretty impressive, especially for afree plugin…
So, give it a shot.
You can download it here.
VSCO2 Flute
Available for Windows and Mac
Versilian Studios Chamber Orchestra 2 Flute, also known asVSCO2 Flute, is an incredible free plugin that samples a real Flute.
All of the VSCO2 plugins are fantastic and I absolutelyrecommend them to anyone who is in need of some free ones.
You can download it here.
SwarPlug 4
Available for Windows and Mac
SwarPlug is a VST, Audio Units and AAX plugin that will workon most DAWs.
It features an ever increasing number of instruments (over80 so far), each with a large quantity of MIDI loops that you can audition andsimply drag & drop on your tracks, to achieve something genuinely soundingin instants.
The full version sells for quite a lot, but you can downloada demo version.
Features
- over 80 perfectly sampled Indian instruments
- customisable mapping of playing areas withspecific parameters settings
- multi-mic fader (for ML instruments)
- MPE support
- Cross-Legato mode for seamless cross-fadingpitch bendings
- scales customisation with semitone tuning
- modulations panel with large array of modulationpossibilities
- time-stretching
- buses and effect
- and much more…
You can download it here.
HandPan Tribalized
While not being strictly Indian, this HandPan sample library could certainly add some flavor to your productions.
It usually sells for $35, but it's now free for a while, so make sure to get it while you can!
You can download it here.
Virtual Harmonium by SamCycle Audio
Available for Windows
A Harmonium is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when wind is sent by foot-operated bellows through a pressure-equalizing air reservoir causes metal reeds screwed over slots in metal frames to vibrate.
This Free Harmonium VST features;
- 4 Drawbars for control of reeds including octave select
- Attack Decay Sustain Release
- 3 intuitive tone controls + reed control
- And more!
You can download it free here.
You'll need a MIDI Controller
In order to be able to use these plugins properly, you will need some sort of MIDI Controller.
While you can use your mouse to map the MIDI in your DAW, it's a lot faster and easier to do it with a keyboard/controller.
My recommendation here is for you to get something like the M-Audio Oxygen 25 MK IV MIDI Controller which you can find at Amazon at a very affordable price, plus it comes with some extra software like Pro Tools First.
Conclusion
It was actually hard to find good-sounding Indian VST that were actually free, but here are the ones I found.
Some of them allow you to purchase the premium version, which you could definitely do if you find yourself using them a lot.
I hope this information was useful…
Have a great day!
Virtual instruments are software emulations of traditional instruments or hardware electronic musical instruments.
There is a staggering range of virtual instruments available nowadays, covering multi-timbral rompler modules to dedicated emulations of guitars, basses, drums, keyboards, and more.
Some of these VSTi plugins (as they're also called) are free. So in this article we'll take a look at some of the best free virtual instruments you can download today. Many of which are pro worthy.
Find more great gear here:
Intro: About Virtual Instruments
The benefits of virtual instruments are fairly obvious. They take up much less space than their hardware equivalents, they don't overheat, and many of them have virtually unlimited polyphony. They are also much easier to edit and they almost never break down.
Here we run down some of the most intriguing virtual instruments currently available. Although some purists may scoff at the idea of these replacing their well-loved guitars or keyboards, there is no denying that they provide a surprising range of great sounds at a price that even professional musicians will appreciate.
Best Free VSTi Plugins
The List
The Roundup
Native Instruments' Kontakt Player is arguably the Don of all free virtual instrument plug-ins. Based on the company's own hugely successful Kontakt sampler, Kontakt Player effectively hosts all sample-based instruments developed for its more fully-featured big brother.
The compatibility goes the other way as well. All free instruments developed specifically for Kontakt Player will load up and play in the full version of Kontakt. Between the two, there is a staggering assortment of free and paid instruments, all boasting of the trademark Native Instrument quality.
To get budget-savvy musicians and producers started, NI offers a free Kontakt Factory Selection consisting of 50 premium instruments. Some of these are slightly cut-down versions of the instruments developed for Kontakt, while some are full versions developed specifically for Kontakt Player.
Fl Studio Instruments Free
While Kontakt Player focuses mainly on standard instrument libraries, Native Instruments' Reaktor Player is geared more towards the synthesis side of things.
DemonstrationReaktor is of course the full-blown modular synthesis environment that gives users unparalleled and unlimited opportunity to design virtually any type of synthesizer, sequencer, or signal processor they could think of from scratch. With Reaktor Player, users are able to play back a wide variety of instruments and effects developed in and for Reaktor, with a more modest set of editing capabilities.
As with Kontakt Player, there is a huge range of ready-made instruments available for use in Reaktor Player. NI even offers two free devices to get you started: the Blocks Wired pre-patched modular synth and the Mikro Prism synthesizer.
Reaktor Player obviously doesn't come close to providing the depth of power and customizability offered by the full version of Reaktor. Nevertheless, it is a good introduction to modular synthesis. Furthermore, the availability of hundreds of Reaktor instruments cover a board range of sound-crafting options.
Ample Guitar M Lite is the free version of Ample Sounds' popular AGM guitar simulator. Emulating the warm, rich tones of the Martin D-41 acoustic guitar, Ample Guitar M Lite is now on its second version.
For the price of a free download, you get an enhanced set of features that now match the capabilities of the full version. The note range now spans E1 – C5, and the plug-in now works as a standalone instrument. Even if you do opt to use the instrument in your DAW, multiple instances will take up much less resources than before, and they will load up faster as well.
DemonstrationAs you may have guessed from the name, Ample Bass P Lite is Ample Sound's free bass guitar sample player plug-in. A cut-down version of the full Ample Bass P II component of the company's Bass Series product line, this plug-in has fewer samples and fewer round robin variations than the full version. It also has a smaller note range than the paid product, covering D1 to F4. Nevertheless, the Ample Bass P Lite does a good job of cranking out the distinctive tones of the Fender Precision Bass, which it models.
Download Instruments For Fl Studio
Manda Audio's MT Power Drum Kit is a free drum sampler that has a fairly wide selection of acoustic drum kit sounds. Great care has been taken to record and process the original samples, giving users a range of high-quality drum sounds perfectly suited for pop, rock, and even metal.
Those who wish to process their drum sounds with their own plug-ins might not appreciate the fact that the MT Power Drum's sounds are already processed. Nevertheless, EQ and compression were applied quite tastefully, and the sounds should fit in well in most mixes.
DemonstrationTogu Audio Line has garnered quite a bit of acclaim for its excellent line of synthesizers and effects processors, a number of which are free. NoiseMaker is one of these, and it compares favorably to the company's own paid emulation of the Roland Juno 106 analog synth, the TAL-U-NO-LX.
The NoiseMaker incorporates some of TAL's more popular effects processors on board. There is the Juno-derived chorus with two modes for starters, along with a reverb, a delay, and a bitcrusher, all of which exist as free standalone plug-ins.
DistroCore's DC Bazz::Murda is a bass and kick synthesizer that is capable of a surprisingly wide array of sounds. Although aggressive and distorted industrial sounds are its forte, it can be dialed back for more subdued tones as well. Even so, this is one plug-in that was obviously designed to get as loud and nasty as possible. For some users, that could be a good thing!
Top Pick
Native Instruments' Kontakt Player and Reaktor Player are a couple of the best free virtual instruments that you can get, without a doubt. They provide a superb one-two punch that simply can't be beat.
Between the two, you pretty much have all your bases covered, whether you need bread-and-butter rompler sounds, exotic World Music libraries, or synthetic sounds ranging from vintage to cutting-edge.
Best Free Instruments Fl Studio
Given the wide range of sounds they cover and the trademark NI quality, these two are neck-and-neck as our top picks for best virtual instrument plug-ins.
