Free plugins for guitar, drums, bass and keys

HØJT is Danish for loud, and for high. Six plugins, each drawn as a stompbox: an amp with a board of pedals, a drum kit, a pitch shifter, a bass, an ambient pad and glass bells. No sign-up, no ads, no samples to install.

Guitar Amp

GA-3 / Effect / mono or stereo in, stereo out

The Guitar Amp window: an oxblood red amp head with six dials above a row of ten small pedals, each in its own colour

What it is

A whole guitar rig in one window: four amps, each with its own cabinet, and ten pedals around them. Plug a guitar straight into the audio interface and play.

  • Klar is clean and glassy, Brøl a mid-forward crunch, Torden a tight modern high gain, Glød warm and chiming at the edge of breakup. Each remembers its own six dials
  • Gate, compressor, overdrive, phaser, chorus, flanger, tremolo, cabinet, delay and reverb. Drag a pedal by its name to move it in the chain
  • Hear the cabinet through a dynamic, ribbon or condenser microphone, or play through your own cabinet impulse responses: drop WAV files in Documents/Hojt Audio/Cabinets
  • Twenty presets, a tuner, and meters for the level going in and coming out
  • 0.1 to 0.3 ms of latency, so it can be played live

Everything is our own design. It does not copy any real amp or pedal.

Download

WindowsVST3 + CLAP, 64-bit macOSIntel + Apple Silicon Linuxx86-64

The macOS and Linux builds have not been tried in a DAW yet. How to install

Listen

  • Guitar, straight in
  • Klar, clean
  • Brøl, crunch
  • Glød, edge of breakup
  • Torden, high gain
  • Torden, lead with delay
  • Preset Tåge: clean, long delay and reverb

The guitar in these clips is made by a program, not played, so the amp is all you hear change.

Controls
ControlRangeWhat it does
Onon / offBypasses the whole rig, without a click
Tuneron / offSilent tuning, 48 Hz to 1420 Hz against A = 440 Hz
Input-24 to +24 dBBrings the guitar to the level the amps expect
AmpKlar / Brøl / Torden / GlødThe amp and its cabinet
Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Master0.0 to 10.0The amp's six dials
Output-30 to +6 dBOutput level. A lamp shows when it clips; meters show the level going in and coming out
Gate: Threshold, Release-80 to -20 dB, 20 to 500 msNoise gate on the input. A lamp shows when it is open
Comp: Sustain, Level0.0 to 10.0Compressor. Level 5 is as loud as the pedal off
Drive: Gain, Tone, Level0.0 to 10.0Overdrive in front of the amp
Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo: Rate, Depth0.05 to 12 Hz, 0 to 100 %Modulation, in front of the amp or behind the cabinet
Cab: Mic, Resonance0.0 to 10.0Darker to brighter microphone position; less or more low thump. Steps through your own cabinet files
Mic typeDynamic / Ribbon / CondenserWhich microphone hears the cabinet: as designed, warm and dark, or open on top
Delay: Time, Feedback, Mix20 to 1000 ms, 0 to 90 %, 0 to 100 %Stereo delay
Reverb: Decay, Mix0.3 to 6.0 s, 0 to 100 %Stereo reverb

Drum Synth

DS-2 / Instrument / MIDI in, stereo out, six stereo stems

The Drum Synth window: a teal pedal with nine knobs, a footswitch for each of the four kits and one for Choke

What it is

A full drum kit with no samples. Every hit is made in the plugin as it is played, so there is nothing to install or to go missing, and no two hits are quite the same.

  • Four kits: Rock, Jazz, Metal and Groove, each with its own room
  • Kick, snare, side stick, six toms, hi-hat, two crashes, ride and bell, china, splash, and a shaker on Groove
  • General MIDI drum map: works with any drum pattern or e-kit. The hi-hat follows an e-kit's pedal, and with Choke on a cymbal can be grabbed
  • Six extra stereo outputs (kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, cymbals, room) for mixing the kit on tracks of its own
  • Playing harder changes the sound, not only the level

Listen

  • Rock kit
  • Jazz kit
  • Metal kit
  • Groove kit

Download

WindowsVST3 + CLAP, 64-bit macOSIntel + Apple Silicon Linuxx86-64

The macOS and Linux builds have not been tried in a DAW yet. How to install

Controls and MIDI notes
ControlRangeWhat it does
KitRock / Jazz / Metal / GrooveThe sound of every piece and of the room
Gain-30 to +6 dBOutput level
Room0 to 100 %Amount of room reverb
Tune-6 to +6 stPitch of kick, snare and toms
Damping0 to 100 %Shortens the ring of drums and cymbals
Kick, Snare, Toms, Hi-Hat, Cymbals-30 to +6 dBLevel of each group
Chokeon / offA note-off on a cymbal damps it at once, as a hand does
MIDI notePlaysMIDI notePlays
35, 36Kick42 / 44 / 46Hi-hat closed / pedal / open
38, 40Snare49, 57Crash 1, Crash 2
37Side stick51, 59 / 53Ride / Ride bell
41, 43, 45, 47, 48, 50Toms, low to high52, 55China, Splash
CC4Hi-hat pedal: how open 46 is69, 70, 82Shaker (Groove)

Pitch Shifter

PS-10 / Effect / in, out

The Pitch Shifter window: an orange pedal with one large knob, two small ones and a footswitch

What it is

Tune the guitar down without touching the pegs, or up like a capo. It shifts by up to an octave either way and is made to be played through live.

  • -12 to +12 semitones
  • The delay follows the note you play: about 12 ms on the low E string, under 3 ms high up the neck
  • At 0 semitones the signal passes through untouched, to the bit
  • Single notes are cleanest. For chords, turn Max Latency up to 25 or 30 ms

Listen

  • Notes, as played
  • Notes, 2 semitones down
  • Notes, 7 semitones up
  • Chords, as played
  • Chords, 2 semitones down

Download

WindowsVST3 + CLAP, 64-bit macOSIntel + Apple Silicon Linuxx86-64

The macOS and Linux builds have not been tried in a DAW yet. How to install

Controls
ControlRangeWhat it does
Semitones-12 to +12How far to shift
Max Latency2 to 50 msThe longest the delay may get. Low E needs 12 ms, chords are cleaner at 25 to 30 ms
Smoothness0.5 to 10 msLength of the crossfade where the sound is joined
Bypasson / offThe footswitch. Switches without a click

Bass Synth

BA-1 / Instrument / MIDI in, out

The Bass Synth window: a cobalt blue pedal with eight knobs and a footswitch for each of the two voices, Metal and Groove

What it is

A plucked string bass, one note at a time, made in the plugin as it is played. Two voices share the string: one picked, one played with a finger.

  • Metal is picked: clean lows under a distorted band of mids
  • Groove is played with a finger: warm, with a little drive, and it slides between notes that overlap
  • Picking a voice sets the knobs to that voice's own sound, like a preset
  • Letting go of a key damps the string

Listen

  • Metal, picked
  • Groove, finger

Download

WindowsVST3 + CLAP, 64-bit macOSIntel + Apple Silicon Linuxx86-64

The macOS and Linux builds have not been tried in a DAW yet. How to install

Controls
ControlRangeWhat it does
Metal, Grooveon / offThe two footswitches: which voice plays
Volume-30 to +12 dBOutput level
Drive0 to 100 %Distortion of the mids (Metal), tube drive (Groove)
Brightness0 to 100 %How hard the string is plucked and how long its top rings
Sub0 to 100 %Level of a sine under the string
String: Tone300 to 4000 HzHow dark or bright
String: Sustain0.5 to 8 sHow long a held note rings
String: Slide0 to 300 msGlide between notes that overlap; 0 plucks every note
String: Transpose-24 to +24 stMoves every note up or down

Shimmer Pad

SP-1 / Instrument / MIDI in, stereo out

The Shimmer Pad window: a plum pedal scattered with stars, with twelve knobs and footswitches for Chorus and Shimmer

What it is

A slow ambient pad for long chords far behind a mix. Each note swells in, drifts, and fades into a large hall that comes back an octave up.

  • Twelve voices of detuned saws and breath, with filters that wander
  • A chorus and a hall built in, each on a footswitch
  • Shimmer: the hall's tail is played back an octave up and fed into the hall again

Listen

  • Shimmer Pad

Download

WindowsVST3 + CLAP, 64-bit macOSIntel + Apple Silicon Linuxx86-64

The macOS and Linux builds have not been tried in a DAW yet. How to install

Controls
ControlRangeWhat it does
Volume-40 to +12 dBOutput level
Attack0.01 to 6 sTime to swell to full level
Release0.05 to 10 sHow long a note fades once the key is let go
Cutoff150 to 8000 HzHow dark or bright once swelled
Dry0 to 100 %Level of the pad itself, beside the effects
Voice: Detune, Breath, Motion0 to 30 ct, 0 to 100 %, 0 to 100 %Width of the saws, noise in each voice, how far the filters wander
Space: Chorus, Reverb0 to 100 %Depth of the chorus, level of the hall
Space: Decay1 to 20 sHow long the hall rings
Space: Shimmer0 to 60 %How much of the tail comes back an octave up
Chorus, Shimmeron / offThe footswitches. Off fades the effect out

Glass Bells

GB-1 / Instrument / MIDI in, stereo out

The Glass Bells window: a pine green pedal with two bells printed on it, ten knobs and footswitches for Delay and Reverb

What it is

Soft glassy bells for sparse lines far behind a mix, with a ping-pong delay and a hall built in. A bell rings out by itself, so how long a key is held does not matter.

  • Twelve voices; lower bells ring longer
  • Every note has its own place between the speakers, and the echoes bounce from side to side
  • Brightness and how hard a key is struck set how much glass is in the strike

Listen

  • Glass Bells

Download

WindowsVST3 + CLAP, 64-bit macOSIntel + Apple Silicon Linuxx86-64

The macOS and Linux builds have not been tried in a DAW yet. How to install

Controls
ControlRangeWhat it does
Volume-40 to +12 dBOutput level
Brightness0 to 100 %Glass in the strike
Decay0.3 to 10 sHow long a bell rings
Attack0.5 to 50 msHow softly the strike fades in
Dry0 to 100 %Level of the bells themselves, beside the effects
Delay: Time, Feedback, Mix50 to 1500 ms, 0 to 90 %, 0 to 100 %Ping-pong delay
Reverb: Decay, Mix0.5 to 20 s, 0 to 100 %Hall
Delay, Reverbon / offThe footswitches

Install

  1. Download the zip for your system and unpack it.
  2. Copy one of the two plugin files to its folder below: .vst3 for most DAWs (Reaper, Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio, Studio One), or .clap where the DAW supports it (Reaper, Bitwig, FL Studio, Studio One). Create the folder if it is not there.
  3. Let the DAW scan for plugins. They are listed under Hojt Audio.
SystemVST3CLAP
WindowsC:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP
macOS~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP
Linux~/.vst3~/.clap

macOS: one more step

macOS stops plugins that were downloaded and do not come from a registered developer. After copying, open Terminal and run this once for each plugin you installed, with the name of the file you copied:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/HojtGuitarAmp.vst3

Updating

Copy the new file over the old one. Projects that use the plugin open with their settings as they were.

Something wrong?

Tell us which plugin, system and DAW in an issue on GitHub. The macOS and Linux builds come straight from the build server and have not been tried in a DAW yet, so reports from there are especially welcome.

A sound you miss?

Say what you would like to hear, or what sounds off, in a sound wish, or suggest something new. Every one is read.