Are you looking for the best free VST plugins for vocals? Look no further. In this article, we've listed eight of the best free VST plugins for vocal mixing. These include reverbs for vocal space creation, compressors for mixing glue, vocal doublers, and autotune – ensuring all those sweet notes hit the spot.
1. TAL-Reverb-4
Nothing can brighten up a vocal, like a great-sounding reverb can. And for a reverb that fits that bill, we have the TAL-Reverb-4.
Its design is clear and straightforward. With the three central knobs, you adjust reverb size, diffusion, and amount of delay. You have an additional two for modulation rate and amount, and a low and high cut equalizer to shape your reverb sound. Use the finishing dry and wet knobs to adjust how much reverb is applied.
The reverb characteristics are diffused with a hint of the ‘80s. The echo sound is warm, organic, and analog – making your vocals shimmer deep in everything from small to large room reverbs.
This free reverb plugin works wonders on vocals and is an absolute essential in every producer’s toolbox.
Download free here.
Don't miss our article: 5 Steps To Create Depth In Your Mix
2. Acon Digital Multiply Chorus
A chorus effect on vocals adds richness, depth, and widening. And for your chorus needs, Acon Digital’s Multiply Chorus ticks the boxes.
With its clear interface, you can control and design your chorus effect in a heartbeat. You have rate and depth knobs to control frequency and amplitude modulation and sliders to manage dry and wet. A stereo spread knob to control width, and an equalizer to accurately choose in which frequency range you want to apply the chorus effect.
Furthermore, the voice count knob acts as a vocal doubling effect – controlling the number of voices in the ensemble. Increasing the number fattens up your vocals.
To make your vocals vibrant and put them in your mix's front seat – this free chorus will take you there.
Download free here.
3. Auburn Sounds Graillon 2
Some love the robotic T-Pain autotune effect, and some like it less (or a lot less.) But there’s an autotune middle ground – making your vocals sound great by making sure the notes are correct om tune. And with Graillon 2, correcting pitch is done in a breeze.
In a few clicks, select exactly which key or chords you want the vocal notes to be. Whether A minor or C major, this forces the vocals to just those notes – with surprisingly realistic results.
The primary setting to strike realism in the transitions is the “smooth” knob. With slower and more mellow pitch correcting changes, there’s little to give the effect away.
With additional features such as adding vocal doubling harmonics, this is a must-have free VST plugin for vocal correction.
Download free here.
4. Klanghelm DC1A
To make your vocals sit perfectly in your mix, you need compression. And for a straightforward, free compressor that works absolute wonders on vocals, there’s DC1A, by Klanghelm.
A compressor makes the quiet parts of a vocal louder and louder parts quieter. This process is needed to bring your vocals out in the mix and ensure that the volume remains steady throughout your track.
Achieving perfect sounding vocals is easy with DC1A’s two knobs; input and output, along with four buttons for compression characteristics.
When you increase the input volume, it feeds the vocals into the compressor, and you instantly start to see the gain reduction take place. You then choose your desired compression style with the buttons.
This compressor works from smooth leveling to excessive pumping – perfect for compressing all vocal styles.
Download free here.
5. Melda MAutoPitch AutoTune
Adding to our previously mentioned pitch corrector plugin, Melda’s MAutoPitch AutoTune allows for further sound design features other than its vocal tuning abilities.
The design is classic, with settings for the automatic tuning, additional effects, and scale selector.
To use, simply add the effect on your vocals, select your chosen scale, and hear the magic happen. When full depth and speed are selected, you've applied the classic radio hit autotune effect. But bring them back down a bit, and the vocals now sound natural and, most importantly – right on key.
Playing around with the dry and wet knob allows your original vocal to shine through behind your tuned vocal. And by adjusting the width – your autotuned vocals are transported to the edge of your monitors.
Together with the formant shift, these effects can make for some outstanding vocal doubling results.
Download free here.
6. Vladg Sound and Tokyo Dawn Proximity
What happens when you record vocals and realize in the studio that the microphone placement was off? Well, you’re screwed, right? Not exactly. Vladg Sound and Tokyo Dawn have created a (free) solution to this problem, called Proximity.
How can you solve recording with the wrong microphone placement in the studio? Well, different microphone placements have specific sound characteristics. For example, a greater distance away from the mic gives a loss in low frequencies. Proximity understands all surrounding psychoacoustic and corrects the faults to restore your sound accurately.
Simply set the original distance of your microphone and tell Proximity what you want to achieve. And just like that, the sound is now bright, clear – as it should be.
This plugin also works to emulate the opposite. Your microphone placement might have been perfect, but now you're looking to change things up. Proximity does that, too, with ease.
This plugin is audio engineering at its finest.
Download free here.
7. iZotope Vocal Doubler
Vocal doubling is a vital technique for any producer dealing with vocals. Luckily for us, iZotope, one of the most prolific plugin creators, has released its Vocal Doubler for free.
The technique stems from doing double (or sometimes more) takes of the same vocal in a recording session. By treating each vocal track differently, you can achieve vocal layers that add emotion and pack more of a punch with different panning and effects.
But doing multiple recording is time-consuming. It’s much easier to do it in post-processing – right in your DAW.
That’s where a free plugin like Vocal Doubler comes in.
With an intuitive, clean interface, doubling your vocals to perfection has never been easier. Simply drag the slider up and down for stereo separation or left and right for human variation.
This plugin is a must in any producer’s vocal toolbag.
Download free here.
8. Voxengo Oldskoolverb
Don’t let its rugged appearance fool you – Voxengo’s Oldskoolverb and vocals go together like bread and butter.
It’s always a wise idea to have many reverbs at your disposal. While many mostly do the same thing, different plugins offer different reverb algorithms and produce varying results.
Oldskoolverb features 18 different reverb presets, ranging from small drum rooms to school gyms, and five extra reverb modes. These modes are where things get very interesting for a free vocal VST plugin.
Combining the reverb settings with the modes, you can create any vocal reverb you can imagine. How about a haunting reverse echo, a crunchy old-style reverb, or a slapback reverb to let your vocals breathe?
With easy settings and clean results, this is a reverb plugin you need for your vocal mixing.
Download free here.
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There you have it. The 8 best free VST plugins for vocals in 2020.
Thanks for reading, and see you in the next article.
 About the authorPelle Sundin is a Swedish producer and copywriter, active with his chillout project PLMTRZ. He also produces psytrance. When he's not producing music, he surfs, skates, and chugs coffee. |
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