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YouTuber and musician Venus Theory has announced the launch of a new series of free sample instruments, kicking off with a free library of sounds sampled from the Arturia Polybrute 12.

In this new video, Cameron explains that he was saddened to learn that Spitfire Audio had transformed its beloved LABS series of free software instruments into a paid subscription service, LABS+.

“I think that fucking sucks, really bad,” he says. “Had I not had access to free music-making software like Audacity, or all the free plugins I’ve used over the years… I don’t think I would be making music today.

“This is a huge loss for the aspiring musician and composer community. But instead of just sitting here bitching about it on the internet, I thought: why not just do something about it?”

Cameron’s answer was Auras, his own series of free and professionally-recorded sample instruments designed to run in Decent Sampler, a free sampler plugin. The first instrument in the series is Auras:Polyscape, a collection of “deep and cinematic” sounds crafted with the Arturia Polybrute 12 synthesizer.

The sounds in Polyscape were sourced from Cameron’s custom-built patches and recorded through analogue tube preamps to “capture the glorious and imperfect nature of analogue synthesis”.

“Featuring a brand-new UI design and editor, Polyscape brings the expressive nature of these custom patches featuring ‘motion recording’ to life with new dynamics and expression controls, a re-designed velocity response mode toggle for more organic and realistic velocity performance, custom IR’s captured directly from the Polybrute 12, and a hand selected A-B layer system.”

AURAS free instruments for all. No Strings Attached. No Subscriptions Bullsh*t. Just Sound.

Cameron has put a hell of a lot of time and money into this project, so if you find yourself enjoying Polyscape, you can support him by becoming a patron. Download auras:polyscape from Venus Theory Gumroad.

Universal Audio is renowned for its top-tier software emulations of classic bits of gear like the Teletronix LA-2A and UA 1176, but the company has also developed some fantastic plugins that recreate the sound of vintage technology without imitating a specific piece of kit.

One such plugin is the Century Tube Channel Strip, a vintage-inspired recording channel that comprises a virtual tube preamp, three-band EQ, master output modules and an optical compressor.

Universal Audio have announced that they are currently offering their vintage-inspired Century Tube Channel Strip, though it’s priced at $199, the company is giving away Century Tube completely free for a limited time.

UA says Century Tube will help you get “warm, vintage sounds” from sterile-sounding digital tracks through its analogue-modelled tube mic preamp, which should gift your recordings with the characterful tone of tube saturation. The plugin’s preamp section offers low and high-gain settings for different microphone types and a 80kHz high-pass filter to remove any unwanted low-end.

Alongside this you will find a three-band EQ with two fixed bands at 10kHz and 110Hz – useful for quickly dialling highs and lows up or down by +/-12dB – and a third, sweepable band that covers the mid-range.

Modelled on an optical compressor, Century Tube’s Opto Leveller is a one-knob affair providing basic but effective control over dynamics; dial the compression amount up to 10 to imbue your signal with some analogue-style grit. Finally, a Master section gives you control over the levels of the output stage.

Watch the video below to hear the plug-in in action:

Century Tube runs on macOS and Windows and is available in VST/AU/AAX formats. It’s available free until September 15th. Find out more on Universal Audio website.

Novation has announced that they are making Comeback Kid from Baby Audio – described as an “Analogue-flavored Delay Plugin” – available as a free download for owners of the company’s hardware.

Make your delays come back stronger. It is available for MacOS + Windows.

Features:

• Delay setup:

Tempo-sync modes: Straight, dotted, triplet (syncs to your DAW’s BPM). Free mode: 0.01 ms – 2500 ms.

• Accuracy:

Double-click the numerical display and type-in your desired delay time – down to 0.01 millisecond precision.

• Ping-Pong:

Classic stereo delay trick.

• Ducker:

Ducks the delay signal when the dry signal is playing — for a cleaner sound.

• Lo-Cut + Hi-Cut:

A pair of analog-modeled filters to shape the tonal response of the wet signal.

• Attack + Sustain:

Flexible transient designers to shape the envelope of your delay signal.

• Cheap:

A custom 11-bit signal path inspired by vintage digital delays.

• Tape:

Analog-modeled saturation algorithm, which will give you a classic tape delay sound.

• Swirl:

Warm and organic-sounding phasing effect that adds movement to your delays.

• Sauce:

Algorithmic reverb for adding diffusion to the wet signal.

• Wider:

Changes the timing between the left and right signals to create a wider delay sound.

• Richer:

Changes the pitch between the left and right signals to create a lush and wide delay sound.

• Pan:

Pans the delay.

• Mono:

Turns the delay into a mono signal.

• Destiny:

Subtle randomization algorithm that creates a more human delay feel.

• Off mode:

Double click the “Comeback Kid” logo to disable the delay engine. This allows you to use the plugin’s flavoring tools on your dry signal — like a regular multi-FX / color box.

• Display options:

Switch between dark and light background colors.

Until 1st Sept ’24, all Novation hardware owners can download a free copy of Baby Audio’s award-winning delay plugin, Comeback Kid. To claim your free download, head to the ‘My Software’ page in your account, and follow the redemption instructions.