Free music software round-up: Week 15

Developers continue to rock the free plug-in world with new releases - seven instruments and effects have come our way since MusicRadar's last round-up two weeks ago.

Highlights this time out include our old friends Knobster returning to crazy form, synths of various types, a processor that promises to produce a sound that's horrible and even a workhorse bundle of effects.

It's an impressive and eclectic list, but our search for more free music software goes on. Send details of your new releases to musicradar.pressreleases@futurenet.com.

H.G. Fortune Swamp XT

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

An evolution of the original Swamp synth, this XT version offers what the developer calls 'timbre modulation' - the two oscillators' waveforms are processed in a "unique way" to change the sound. As well as the free version, you can also purchase a 10-voice enhanced edition for €25.

Kriminal Mozi

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

The EDP Gnat hardware synth was released in 1980 - Mozi isn't a strict emulation, but it does take inspiration from it. It's a pretty simple affair, being a single oscillator, subtractive and monophonic beast, but if you want a break from the complexity of many of today's software instruments, click that link.

Krakli RMXL

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

Previously available exclusively as part of Computer Music magazine's CM Studio as RichmanCM, RMXL uses a hybrid of physical modelling and FM synthesis to produce its 'plucked and struck' tones. Sounds are generated from two independent sources, each of which can have its own settings.

Knobster MelloFan

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

After its last release, Slitch, we thought that Knobster might have gone all serious on us, so it's good to see the developer back to its barking mad self. MelloFan enables you to make music by playing - you guessed it - a standard household fan: you can adjust the amount of rotation, an ADSR envelope and a low-pass filter.

KX77FREE KX-Synth 2.0

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

An updated version of the synth that's based on the classic EMS VCS3. We're in modular territory here, and version 2.0 adds six voices of polyphony, the KXMOD system for phat vintage leads and a CV and gate sequencer. These are the highlights, though several other tweaks have been made, too.

Agares Media Agares RackA3 Effect Suite

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

Designed as "the basic effects toolkit that every musician needs", this six-strong bundle may not break the mould but it certainly covers plenty of useful bases. Plug-ins include triple delay, distortion, flanger, pitch shifter, reverb and chorus - if your current processors aren't cutting it, give 'em a try.

The Lower Rhythm Blister

Platform/format: PC/VST Download

The developer reckons that Blister is a kind of nuclear option that should be used "when all other attempts at making something sound horrible have failed". It features tube-style gain, bit crushing and a synth that detects your signal frequency, and promises to "barf out a slew of noisy, atonal junk". Sounds wonderful to us.