The Best Plugin Companies that you may not have heard of
And you should have.
VST Plugins market is flooded with new products every day. Synthesizers, Sample Libraries, Effects, Utilities, and more are released day after day giving us a hard time choosing the best fit for our needs.
In my opinion, having too many plugins is counter-productive. I believe that just as you choose your hardware collection wisely, you should also choose your software collection. Having a small and effective set of tools will save you a lot of time and will help you shape your own distinctive sound. Plus, having a small collection of plugins will make you take the most of them by diving deeper and learning their strengths and flaws. There is nothing more time-consuming than playing a MIDI clip over and over to audition hundreds of presets in a synth plugin. So choose your weapons wisely.
Today, we are going to feature some of the most creative and well-made VST plugins that you may have not discovered yet. Companies that we think deserve a lot more attention and credit from producers since they are putting out amazing instruments and effects.
Felt Instruments
Felt Instruments is described by the phrase Left-Field Sampling. They make some of the most interesting Sample Libraries of orchestral instruments like Piano, Violin, Cello, and more. All plugins have their dedicated standalone player so you won’t need a Kontakt or any other third-party sample player. The player itself looks awesome and it’s very easy and intuitive to use.
All libraries sound beautiful and they are not your standard orchestral samples. Keys and Strings are heavily processed and have a very lofi and ambient character while also being extremely expressive. These are instruments with a lot of character and textures that will stand out in your mix providing a very organic feel to your productions.
If you are looking for a simple and plain string sound, you can find it almost everywhere. Felt Instruments brings on the table a unique take on traditional sampling, giving extra care and thought to the sampling process to offer you instruments with identity and soul.
Highly recommended for Scoring, Ambient, and Drone musicians.
Fors
Fors is a Max for Live plugin creator that makes the most innovative and inspiring devices for Ableton. Unfortunately, if you are not using Ableton Live and Max for Live, you won’t be able to take advantage of these beautiful little devices. They have all sorts of plugins, Instruments, Effects, and Sequencers you can combine all together or use separately.
All the devices are somehow special as they offer unconventional sounds and functions in an easy and clever way. Their synth instruments have a very distinct sound that you can manipulate as much as you want and they don’t use the standard subtractive synthesis techniques.
The ones that I use all the time and I love are the sequencers. Roulette, Jog, and Dot are three totally different sequencers that you can use to create amazing sequences and melodies by just tweaking a few parameters.
We truly hope that Fors will continue creating great plugins in the future and hopefully, they will expand into more DAWs to share their great work with more and more producers.
Slate + Ash
Slate + Ash is probably a boutique plugin manufacturer. Besides selling Eurorack modules and the sturdy MIDI controller 16n Faderbank, they are also the creators of three unbelievably deep and rich sample VST instruments. The Landforms, Cycles, and Auras.
Landforms is an orchestral library pushed into its limits. Multiple layers create evolving textures and sounds, synthesizer sounds merged with physical instruments, arpeggiators, and lush effects generate ethereal soundscapes and melodies that feel alive.
Cycles is a powerful looper, splicer, and granular synthesizer. Its interface at first feels odd, but you can quickly guide yourself through it and create exciting sequences. It also has a ton of modulation options, many sequencer modules (I especially like the XY pads that feel like the Tombola Sequencer on the OP-1), and a granular synth engine.
Auras is another texture and sound design instrument with a wide variety of sounds that have a lot of movement and a live performance feel to them. It is designed to be performed and not programmed and to interact with the multiple layers that each patch has. Using an MPE keyboard will take your experience with Auras to the next level.
Slate + Ash has delivered some beautiful instruments that will last you forever. There is always a majestic and beautiful sound ready to be explored and performed in them. If you want your music to stand out, then getting a plugin like this will make your life a lot easier.
Mntra Instruments
If we are talking about a company that takes a plugin design to the absolute next level, this is definitely Mntra Instruments. In Mntra, they create the most beautiful-looking plugins you’ve ever seen and at the same time, they are user-friendly and easy to navigate.
With 9 instruments to choose from (some of them are free too!), you can find your next droney synth for your productions. All Mntra instruments, as their name cleverly implies, are merging and manipulating traditional sounds and instruments into VST synthesizers. From Tibetan Horns to Aztec volcanic rocks, Mntra Instruments use samples to create some very rich and ear-catching synths. At the same time, seeing those animated visuals interact with your slider movements and tweaking, you will be inspired to explore their sonic possibilities.
Mostly suited for ambient pads and textures, Mntra’s plugins will spice up your pad game in a way you wouldn’t imagine.
