Haunted Dollhouses and Industrial Wastelands - 5 FREE Packs and Plugins to Make Your Music Weirder
Below are 5 free packs and plugins to make your music sound like: an old 1980s computer starting up, the sound design from an episode of The X-Files featuring an industrial wasteland where something isn’t quite right; plugins that will make your music sound like Emily the Strange was a collaborator, and more!
Featuring Moon Echo by AudioThing + Hainbach, Spectral Textures from Ableton, HomeCorrupter by igorski, Valhalla Space Modulator & 271 free malfunctioning synth samples from MusicRadar.
Moon Echo - Moon Bounce Simulator - AudioThing + Hainbach
This is a free delay plugin from Dublin-based plugin company AudioThing and electronic composer and YouTuber Hainbach.
This emulates moon-bouncing - a process of radio communication where signals are sent to the moon and reflected back, coloring the sound with artefacts in the process (you can find out more about this here).
This has the fun vibe of a control panel you would find within a 1990s space exploration PC game; the animated visualizer is a really fun touch. If you adjust the ‘time’ parameter on the bottom right, this adjusts your distance from the moon, which is reflected in the animation. Also, you can select between one or two dishes on the menu to the left of the animation (simplex and duplex), which will update the animation with one or two dishes.
This creates so many new, delightfully strange and beautiful sonic options, even into the most basic of sounds, even with just singular piano notes.
Before:
After:
I was curious what the ‘ping moon’ feature was - this will allow you to get the actual data of the moon on the day you are using it - “If you want the accurate distance to the Moon, press “Ping Moon” and the plugin will try to connect to NASA for that data” [via the AudioThing website.]
The noise can be turned off via the parameter ‘moon dust,’ or you can adjust it so that the noise only plays along with the sound. Hours of fun await you.
Strings Before:
Strings After:
Connect with AudioThing
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Connect with Hainbach
Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | X
Spectral Textures | Ableton
Created in an abandoned garden center in Germany, Spectral Textures is a free pack for Ableton users, consisting of a blend of field recordings, synth sounds, and samples, made by musician and sound designer Uwe Zahn, aka Arovane.
These range from haunting, drone-like soundscapes with metallic undertones that sound like abandoned industrial sites, textures that sound like they were taken in a sewer in a sci-fi film set in New York, percussive elements, and plush, rich field recordings.
I have found this fantastic for adding subtle dimensions to my music - for example, when transitioning from the verses to the chorus, adding something from this makes the choruses nice and wide, while making everything sound a little more eerie and strange. It is a great standalone option too - there is so much included in this that you will literally never run out of options.
Connect with Ableton
Instagram / X
HomeCorrupter - igorski
‘HomeCorrupter’ was made by Amsterdam-based Igor Zinken (aka "igorski"). The GUI for this has a serious X-Files vibe to it - I can fully imagine this being one of the interfaces in an old X-Files computer game.
The appeal of this plugin is not merely cosmetic; it is a very powerful tool that yields some delightful results with very minor adjustments.
It is mostly based around adjusting the sample rate, bit depth, and clock speed; all of which can have an LFO applied to them via the controls on the right (speed and depth).
With just the sample rate parameter, I turned a string pad sound into a dreamy 1980s Sega-sounding pad, I also got some gorgeously lush results from adjusting the clock speed, making the pad instantly sound warmer.
You can do some really cool things by automating these parameters (e.g making instruments that sound like they are an old computer starting up) - it allows you to emulate sounds from another time, which makes sense as it says that it “harks back to a period in which computers weren't actually that good at handling audio” [via igorski’s website] by instantly adding more character and flavour.
HomeCorrupter Automated Clock Speed:
Connect with Igorski
Website / Instagram
Valhalla Space Modulator
This is a straightforward, immensely powerful flanger plugin. Valhalla DSP makes some of the best plugins on the market (Valhalla Super Massive has been one of my most used reverb plugins to date; you can use it to make your instruments sound like they have gone through a void in the cosmos).
The controls are fairly self-explanatory; adjusting or automating the ‘rate’ parameter is a really fun way of getting some gloriously strange results.
You can also use it to create bizarre reverbs and delays, the kind that Emily the Strange might use, and if you just want to add some dynamics and warmth to your house pads, you could use it as a doubler or chorus.
Valhalla Space Modulator Before:
Valhalla Space Modulator After:
Connect with ValhallaDSP
Instagram / Facebook
SampleRadar: 271 free malfunctioning synth samples | MusicRadar
These were initially on a DVD that was included with an issue of Computer Music Magazine - these samples are now available on Music Radar’s website, free of charge. Music Radar has an absolutely treasure trove of high-quality royalty-free samples that will allow you to add wonderfully weird and unusual dimensions to your music. I actually made a quick piece solely using the samples in this sample pack:
Demo using Music Radar’s Malfunctioning Synth Samples:
The sounds range from bleeps that sound like kistch robotic sound FXs from a cult 1970s sci-fi movie; deliciously glitchy, unpredictable synth sounds, and other rich soundscapes that will make your music sound like it is from a strange dimension where sound travels differently.
About Eimear O Sullivan
Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)
Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com
In this section of the blog you will find recording advice, tips and tricks from fellow artists and music producers.
Interested in writing a story for this section as a guest or joining the Musicngear team as a Contributing Author? Contact us at info+newauthor@musicngear.com
