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The SSL X-Orcism II- Voices from the Crypt plug-in is a FREE Halloween. This spooky vocal processor and multi-effects plugin incorporates a delay, reverb, pitch-shifter and noise generator.

Solid State Logic is getting in the Halloween spirit this year with the release of a new free plugin. The sequel to a plugin released 11 years ago, SSL X-Orcism II: Voices from the Crypt is a vocal processor and multi-effects plugin aimed at conjuring spooky timbres and haunting soundscapes.

Packing a delay, pitch-shifter, reverb and noise generator into a single processor, X-Orcism II can not only be used to transform your voice into “eerie and supernatural tones”, but also to lend an unearthly touch to synths, drums, guitars, or frankly any audio source that needs spooking out.

X-Orcism’s simple, easy-to-use interface is equipped with eight encoders; at the top-left we have Echoes and Crypt Size, for dialling in diabolical delays, and beneath that the aptly-named Ghoul and Wail controls can be used to control the pitch-shifter.

Cranking up the Howl control will “evoke the haunting beauty of desolate landscapes” by activating the plugin’s noise generator, which SSL suggests that you automate to create tension-building risers, while the Tombverb dial floods the signal in an atmospheric reverb fit for Tutankhamun. You can adjust the wet/dry balance to taste with the adjacent mix control, or reign in the levels using the output control.

X-Orcism II is equipped with a variety of presets to help you get started right away, and custom-built presets can be transferred across DAWs with SSL’s cross-platform preset management system.

All in all, X-Orcism II is a neat little free plugin, and what it lacks in fine-grained control, it makes up for in character. Though it’ll certainly come in useful for making your voice sound like Frankenstein or summoning dark, eerie soundscapes from your synths, the plugin has the potential to become a useful sound design tool all year round.

X-Orcism II is compatible with macOS and Windows and available in VST/VST3/AU/AAX formats. The plugin is available for free from SSL website, but you’ll be asked to sign up to the company’s newsletter before you can download it.

Developer Aaron Anderson has introduced Terrain, a free and open source software synth that’s available for Linux, Mac and Windows.

What Anderson has to say about it:

“Terrain is a Wave Terrain Synthesis plugin and the natural evolution of my prototype from 2016. This new product was created using JUCE, and features several drastic improvements over the prototype.

Both Terrains and Trajectories can be modified and automated at the audio rate. Trajectories feature a two-dimensional recursive feedback loop to create musically useful time-modulated shapes.

This version is also an Instrument Plugin, making control of plugin parameters and its usefulness as instrument greatly improved.

Terrain is a free and open source project.”

Video Demo of Terrain in action:

Terrain is available now as a free download for Linux, Mac + Windows.

MeldaProduction’s MFreeFXBundle, is the biggest collection of free plugins available from a single developer, bringing together 38 audio effects, mixing tools and utilities in a bundle that’s become an essential download for any producers working on a tight budget.

Today, MeldaProduction introduces the latest addition to its MFreeFXBundle, that the company say is “the most powerful free delay ever”: MDelay.

MDelay is equipped with two delay taps, each of which offers individual control over all of its parameters. In these two panels you’ll find controls for feedback, delay time, pan and gain, along with a choice of delay algorithms that lets you choose between a modern-sounding digital delay and a vintage tape delay emulation. You’ll also find three delay types, including a ping-pong mode for echoes that bounce across the stereo field.

The plugin’s delays can be entered in milliseconds or synced to the tempo of your project, with the ability to introduce shuffle or dotted, triplet and tuplet rhythms to add some rhythmic flavour to your delay lines. There are resonant high and low-pass filters onboard, along with a saturation control for dialling in warmth and character.

That’s already a decent amount of functionality for a free delay, but there’s much more: MDelay is equipped with several routing options for serial and parallel processing, along with adjustable filter routing, and opening up the panel on the right-hand side will give you access to additional controls that’ll let you experiment with mid/side processing, design custom macros and generate impulse responses. There’s also a comprehensive metering system onboard for monitoring levels and stereo width.

MDelay arrives with a selection of presets to get you started, but if you want to save custom presets, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid version. MDelay is the little brother to Melda’s six-band multitap delay plugin MDelayMB, which is currently available at a discounted price of €15

Find out more and download MDelay, along with the entire MFreeFXBundle, over at MeldaProduction website.