In this blogpost, I will try to show you lesser-known VSTs that no one is talking about. Some hidden gems that are possible to find only when you do some research yourself. Even if you’re long in the game, I’m sure you’ll find at least one or two that you haven’t heard about—especially this top five. You’ve got to get at least this top five in your library.
Number 5: LABS by Spitfire Audio.
You can’t go wrong with this library. Every instrument in it is extremely professional-sounding and of amazing quality. It just brings the professional sound much closer to all producers on a budget, and I’m loving it. The whole LABS is great, but here are some of my favorites: soft piano, strings ensemble, trumpet fields, hand bells, strings 2, moon guitar, and mandolin.
Number 4: SINE Factory by Orchestral Tools.
This one is slowly getting close to outperforming LABS by Spitfire. It already has a couple of outstanding instruments, and you should definitely keep your eyes open for new instruments coming out in this library.
We’re getting to the top three of the best free instruments that are beasts for dark, moody drill and trap melodies. You might notice there are a lot of organic, real instruments here. For some of you, it might feel like movie scoring, but I personally really like having orchestral and organic elements in my trap, drill, and hip-hop tracks.
Number 3: SK World Strings.
Oh man, this is one of my favorites on this list. It’s like a guaranteed banger. With some processing and effects, we’re topping out the best Omnisphere sounds here. You’ll find guitars, harps, and, most importantly, ethnic string instruments. They work amazingly not only for drill and trap, of course.
Number 2: Kontakt Player and Kontakt Complete Start.
I see so many producers miss out on this one! First of all, Kontakt Player allows you to find hundreds of amazing free libraries online. I can’t even stress enough how important it is to download this one and spend some time exploring the free Kontakt libraries available. Kontakt Complete Start is a free pack with synths, effects, VST instruments, and samples made by Native Instruments. It’s a pain to set up and download, but there are instructions on the site for how to do it. My favorites include the Kinetic Treats for creepy stuff, the Ethereal World section, and the vintage sounds.
Number 1: Creepy Piano.
The hidden gem, the myth, the legend. Omnisphere hides in shame behind this one. True, it doesn’t come with too many presets, but oh boy, this is all you need. No processing required to make a full melody foundation.
Let me know which one is your favorite down below in the comments. If you have ideas for the next blogpost, share them too!
