The amount of last month’s quality freeware plug-ins had me struggling to limit the list of top picks to just 4.

Shattersync, Beatburner, Umbra & Machin

The following plug-ins stood out for me. Feel free to post additions if you feel they should’ve made this list.

  1. Shattersync by Pluggotic
    Pluggotic took Jack Dark’s Shattershot Lite and modified it to be host synchronized and implemented MIDI. Shattersync is perfect for creating subtle hiccups to full scale FSU madness.
  2. Beatburner by Code Audio
    This synth turns your beats into lovely new sounds by waveshaping and filtering the input.

    Warning: Beatburner tends to suck up big chucks of your spare time!

  3. Umbra by H.G. Fortune
    Umbra is a synth / SF player combination much like H.G. Fortune’s STS and ProtoPlasm series plug-ins. It is great for experimental soundscapes & athmospheres. The free version of this synth includes only 24 waveforms (128 for the full version), but it is still has a lot to offer. I love H.G. Fortune’s lazy buttons which allow for fast and sane randomizing of this synth.
  4. Machin by de la Mancha
    I have to admit I haven’t even had a chance to check this one out, but I just know it’s going to be great fun, just like truc. Be sure to check this one out if you’re into FSU type plug-ins.

I know there aren’t any Mac plug-ins in this list, but I’m afraid I don’t own a Mac…