mattbarden Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 First off, I love Reaper. With it I find myself using Protools less and less. I wasn't even aware of it until a few years ago poking around the forums here. I've been learning how to use it ever since and it's been working great for me, plus the price is excellent! The only thing I really use Protools for anymore is crafting ochestral sounds since Reaper has none of these built in. I'd honestly like to sell off all my Protools stuff and just use my POD HD as an interface with Reaper to simplify and streamline things. Does anybody know any good cheap (or even free) VST's for these sorts of things? I know KVR Audio has a slew of free stuff but there is so much to sort through. The only add-on VST I have in Reaper currently is my EZDrummer with the Metal Machine expansion (which is awesome btw if you haven't tried it yet) so I'm covered for 95% of what I do. But sometimes you just need a little extra sauce you know? I mainly need orchestral sounds, mostly string sections (or even individual string instruments, I can make the separate parts myself if need be), a few horns, some timpanis and other assorted percussion like chimes. Anybody come across anything good that might be helpful for a one man band trying to write an album? Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealZap Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 http://www.vst4free.com/ http://www.vstwarehouse.com/ http://www.vstplanet.com/ in other words... they are everywhere! i would look for more like this though: http://www.musicradar.com/us/tuition/tech/the-27-best-free-vst-plug-ins-in-the-world-today-277953 where someone else has checked them over and recommended them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radatats Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 native instruments Kontakt 5 is a real standout. There are so many good libraries available for it especially orchestral and even some free ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Protools, that's the DAW that can't use VSTs right? Mind boggling how it could even be considered professional when it doesn't support an essential extension like VST. It's like trying to build a computer without putting the power supply in. I use stuff like Amplitube, Guitar Rig, and Lepou amps. Usually does the job for me. Revalver might be a good choice too, but I quickly lost interest in Revalver 4 as it seemed more like hype than an actual improvement. The "tone cloning" thing seems more like a gimmick than something actually usable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealZap Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 yeah but steinberg created VSt's and cubase... which in my opinion is the least usable DAW... unless of course you started way early in the game with cakewalk etc... then it may feel normal... but its far from intuitive! in other words... im glad we can mix and match and choose.... Protools, that's the DAW that can't use VSTs right? Mind boggling how it could even be considered professional when it doesn't support an essential extension like VST. It's like trying to build a computer without putting the power supply in. I use stuff like Amplitube, Guitar Rig, and Lepou amps. Usually does the job for me. Revalver might be a good choice too, but I quickly lost interest in Revalver 4 as it seemed more like hype than an actual improvement. The "tone cloning" thing seems more like a gimmick than something actually usable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbarden Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thanks for the tips all! I had made a similar post in Reaper's forums a while back and signed in after I made this post to find someone responded and recommended trying Acoustica's Mixcraft and just loading the VST's that come with it into Reaper. I've been toying around with the demo for a few hours and honestly their sound bank isn't too bad for the price of admission.It definitely lacks a bit in adjustment options inside of Reaper but they don't sound too bad out of the box. You do get a few other goodies too like, eq's, compressors, limiters and so on. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on it but I'm curious if anyone else has had any long term use with their plugins? I'm hoping they could tide me over until I can justify the price of the full version of Kontakt, which is my dream plugin. Any thoughts/actual user based experience? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radatats Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 you will love these and they are totally free... http://pro.magix.com/en/independence/independence-free.1013.html http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletank3free/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealZap Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I love mix craft. Not free but it's worth it for the way it eases the workflow and technology areas and keeps you on the music. It's the closest thing to GarageBand and logic you can get on windows. I use a lot of plugins mostly UAD, toontrack, and waves. Not free but worth looking at when you get a few bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbarden Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Really appreciate all the help and suggestions, you have no idea how much this helps! As a guy who's only background in music was being a vocalist it has been a HUGE undertaking to learn all the necessary instruments and equipment for what I want to do, which is your good old fashion metal! Along the lines of Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Ozzy and the likes. It's been about 7 years now and for one guy to learn from the ground up how to play guitar, bass, digital drumming on midi keyboards, running DAW's, mixing, mastering etc I'd like to think I've done pretty well thus far but there is still much to be learned. If only there were other musicians in my area that shared my musical goals...man would that make life easier! I can't even begin to explain how long it's taken just to be happy with my primary sounds, I've tried so many different pieces of gear it's unreal. Line 6 has been great for an apartment dweller who can't use loud tube amps and I'm really happy with the HD series. I have the original HD500 now, I used to have the XTL, X3L and tried countless competitor's products too but they always came up short for me. Toontrack's Metal Machine has also been a godsend, big props to Sneap and Tempesta on that one! Again, thank you so much for the help, you're all awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrellM5 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I like the Emissary amp vst from Ignite Amps and the Lepou stuff; works great with Reaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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