Top 10 Weirdest VST Plugins 2019

Each family as well as each group of friends has that one weird guy doing some rather ubiquitous things which are straight up weird and that’s the case with plugin developers. We all have that one plugin that we load up when we’re in need of something extraordinary or simply crazy. What does it take to be on our list of weird plugins? We either judge the straight-up weirdness of the GUI or the sound shaping capabilities. Let’s just simply jump into the craziness, here is our top 10 list of weird VST plugins in no particular order.

Auto-tune is the vocal mixer’s secret weapon. MAutoPitch is one of the best auto-tune plugins around. It fixes pitch, corrects sour notes, and even gives you that iconic T-pain/Cher effect if you want it. This one comes in a free plugin bundle with all sorts of fun mixing toys. Aeiou is a vocal filter – its purpose is to apply the spectrum characteristics of the mouth to the input signal by filtering it. By applying the effect to rich signals (saw or square oscillations) it gives the illusion of a human who is sustaining a vowel such as ’a’,’e’,’i’, etc.

This plugin is great for special effects, like filtering down a vocal or making an intro sound tiny. Download iZotope Vinyl. Moving Beyond Free Plugins: My Favorite Plugins. I hope these 7 free plugins help you craft tracks that sound fresh and unique. If you’re looking to dive deeper, I also put together a list of 5 plugins I use on every mix. This free chorus effect VST plugin works both ways, but best on guitars and vocals of course. You can create fake vocal dubs by expanding the stereo image and create some space. Or you can use it to build you some special effects if into sound designing. Modulate pitch and loudness, shape it with build-in EQ and spice it up with integrated pre. Auto-tune vocal VST is the vocal mixer’s secret weapon. MAutoPitch is one of the best auto-tune plugins around. It fixes pitch, corrects sour notes, and even gives you that iconic T-pain/Cher effect if you want it. The most advanced user interface on the market – stylable, resizable, GPU accelerated. I recently wrote a guide on the best free vocal effects VST plugin, which is good if you are not planning to spend much on music production plugins, however, as soon as you want more customization or intuitive interface, you’ll find yourself contemplating on which good and affordable vocal effect plugin to buy, and that is why I created this guide. Get a huge range of vocal transformations from one simple plug-in. Change the pitch of a voice, or change the singer’s gender with formant shifting. Lock onto a single pitch for robotic sounds. You can even control the vocal’s melody using MIDI for creative vocoder-like effects. Check on Plugin Boutique: Soundtoys Little AlterBoy Vocal.

1 Glitch 2 by Illformed

This is technically a step sequencer but what’s unique about it is the fact that it doesn’t trigger sampled sounds. Instead it triggers FX. This is a Swiss army knife for slicing, dicing, screwing, twisting, turning and mangling your sounds. There’s a whole bunch of FXs here such as randomizer, modulator, tape stop, retrigger, reverser, stretcher, LoFi, distortion, gater and delay.

Since Glitch features a multi-lane editor, you can trigger and tweak these effects in real-time. The Mutate function is our favourite because it really randomizes each effect into something completely unexpected. Weirdly enough you can get some really inspiring and awesome results. For 50 EUR you’re getting a lot of fun here.

2 Frohmage by Ohmforce

The name itself sounds cheesy! But aside from the name the UI itself is all cheesy and weird looking. If you disregard all of this you’re getting a really decent resonant filter. It’s designed to be dirty, warm and can add some serious colour to your signal. Frohmage features a low-pass filter, multiple band-pass filter and a distortion stage and it can really transform your tracks.

The EVOLVE knob uses multiple pitch-shifting delays for each band of the multi band-pass filters and it creates some out-of-this-world effects. You can even map your MIDI controls to this plugin to control all of the effects in real-time like on a synth. If you’re feeling cheesy, this one’s for you and it’s a freebie by the way.

3 The Orb by Audiothing

This is a formant filter which simulates the characteristics of the human voice. Featuring a set of three band pass filters, The Orb can transform any sound into a vowel-like formant-filtered sound. With the three LFOs you can modulate the Vowel, the Emphasis/Resonance of the formants and the Drift which can shift up or down the frequencies of each formant.

You can also create your own set of vowels by changing the name and frequency for each vowel/formant. Oh and it also looks like a control panel of a submarine or something from the cold war era, so it’s cool to look at as well. It’s 50 EUR so give it a go if you please.

4 Ned Flangers by Killapluggies

Even though this is a straight-up simple flanger, they got us with the name here. Just for the name itself you need to take a look at this one. It’s 32-bit Windows only but has some dirty raw sound which many modern digital flangers don’t have.

The GUI has four simple knobs for control and features Ned Flanders dressed as the Devil. Have we mentioned it is free? Go get it!

5 Delay Lama by AudioNerdz

This is the first VST instrument which features vocal synthesis with a real-time animated 3D interface. What it does is that it enables you to make a Tibetan monk overtone sounds simply by playing one note due to its monophonic structure.

Use the built-in XY pad to adjust the pitch of the sound and go through the vowels. It features a simple stereo delay to add some depth to the sound. This a ridiculously funny instrument in the best way. It’s free, so you don’t have an excuse for not at least trying it.

6 Meow Synth by Meowizer

Here’s something for all of you cat-lovers out there. The sounds of this synth are actually based on a real cat owned by the developer. It’s a freebie and it’s actually nice for creating some weird sounds. It features a single oscillator which is basically a cat meowing and it has an auto filter.

Strangely enough it’s velocity sensitive and it has monophonic and polyphonic modes. Meowizer also features a built-in chorus and tempo-synced vibrato with controlled attack.

7 Physion by Eventide

It was formerly known as Fission, but the guys from Eventide decided to change it for some reason. This is a structural effect that breaks-up a signal source (or a sound) into its basic components and then processes them individually, only to combine them back together again. It separates the transients and tonal elements in order to individually process them.

It features six transient effects and seven tonal effects and it can really alter the sound in unimaginable ways. You can totally change a drum sound by processing the resonant pitch without affecting the transient pitch and it can adjust the impact of a pick on a guitar string. Physion also features reverb, delay, chorus, phaser and tremolo for adding depth so it’s more than just a transient and tonal shaper. Bearing in mind the price tag of $179, it’s a good thing they offer a time-limited test version.

8 Cannabis Vocoder by Bitsonic

We simply had to feature this one! This one covers everything a weird plugin should have. A weirdly looking interface is absolutely matched by the sound shaping capabilities.

Cannabis vocoder is a funny plugin which can completely change the sound of your vocal track. The mono version is an effect plugin and by using the effect on the vocal track the software automatically tracks the tune of the vocal track and calculates the pitch of the changed sound as well. The poly version is a VST instrument application so you can load the vocal track into the software and by playing your midi keyboard you can create a polyphonic vocoder effect. Real cannabis is often not free and it will get you into a lot of trouble with the authorities, but this plugin version won’t. 🙂

9 Backsmack by Freakshow Industries

Okay, so this one REALLY wins on all fronts! It looks like it’s out of this world and sounds like it too. This is how Freakshow Industries describe it:

“A chaotic reverser plugin built to make mom proud. Backsmack uses government approved paradox processing technologies to expose the hidden terrors of music. Uncover the plots of ghosts, aliens and other rogue entities with Freakshow Industries Backsmack”.

This is how we describe it: ABSOLUTELY MENTAL. In the best possible way. This one is our favourite of the bunch. For 20 bucks it’s a no-brainer too.

10 Triple Cheese by U-He

This one is similar to a lot of synth plugins out there but it goes through a lot of short chromatic delays in order to create some rather strange sounds. With a massive set of features in its interface and a giant host of presets, this comb synthesizer should keep you busy for a few hours… or weeks. Depending on your synth addictiveness, it’s a cheesy synth to say the least.

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In our How to Mix Music guide we talked about why mixing dynamic sounds is a tough egg to crack. Vocals are super dynamic so they’re trickier to mix.

But you don’t have to pull your hair out every time you hit the mixing board to get the perfect vocal.

There’s a dizzying amount of audio effects plugins out there. That’s why we did the digging so you don’t have to.

Here’s 9 plugins that will help you get your vocals and beats fitting together like peas and carrots.

1. Vladg and Tokyo Dawn Proximity

Ever recorded an entire vocal only to realize you had the mic in the wrong spot? No sweat.

The Vladg and Tokyo Dawn Proximity lets you change the mic placement AFTER you record. Pretty useful and pretty cool.

2. Acon Digital Multiply Chorus

Vocals need some color. That’s where a chorus plugin comes in.

Acon Digital’s Multiply Chorus will thicken up your sound. It’s a whole bunch of tiny delays (we’re talking milliseconds) that fill out your vocals to liven them up a bit.

3. Melda MAutoPitch Auto-Tune

Auto-tune’s origins are pretty strange. But there’s no denying that it’s an invaluable tool for producers dealing with vocals.

Best Free Vocal Effect Plugins Vst

Auto-tune is the vocal mixer’s secret weapon. MAutoPitch is one of the best auto-tune plugins around. It fixes pitch, corrects sour notes, and even gives you that iconic T-pain/Cher effect if you want it.

This one comes in a free plugin bundle with all sorts of fun mixing toys.

4. Voxengo OldSkoolVerb

Reverb for vocals is essential. Reverb takes your vocals out of the room you recorded them in, and allows you to make your own sound space.

OldSkoolVerb has got you covered no matter what your needs are. From huge halls to a tiny closet, it gives you all the options to create the perfect sonic space in your mix.

5. Klanghelm DC1A

The DC1A is a nifty little character compressor by Klanghelm. It uses sophisticated compression settings and an easy 2 knob setup that has you covered “from smooth levelling to heavy pumping.”

Be sure to check out their absolutely EPIC demo video.

6. Alex Hilton A1 Trigger Gate

If you’re wondering how far you can push your vocal track this plugin will do a great job letting you know.

Using a step-style sequencer the A1 Trigger Gate packs in a boat load of cool effects. It’s good for all sorts of stuff. So grab it and start experimenting.

Vocal Effect Vst Plugins Free Downloads

7. Glitch Machines Hysteresis

Just like any other part of a mix, vocals are a great place to experiment. The effects on Hysteresis definitely deliver a whole bundle of experimentation.

This delay plugin creates “robotic artifacts and abstract music malfunctions.” Count me in.

8. Acustica Ochre EQ

All good mixing needs a keen sense of EQ early on. Vocals are no exception.

That’s why the Ochre from Acustica is so useful. It’s perfect for sculpting out the best vocals you can.

Vocal Effect Vst Plugins Free Trial

9. Fine Cut Bodies La Petite Excite

Exciter plugins add subtle harmonics to your vocal track for some extra sonic-excitement in the high range.

The free La Petite Excite from Fine Cut Bodies (you just have to signup to get it) is a great plug to try out.

Throw it on your vocal and enhance it to your liking with some subtle harmonic distortion.

Vocal Effect Vst Plugins Free Downloads

Go make that perfect vocal

Vocals are tricky to mix. But with these handy plugin tools it doesn’t have to be so tough. Grab ’em all, hit the studio and get cracking on that perfect vocal track.

And don’t forget to let us know your favourite plugins for mixing and mastering vocals. We wanna know all your tips and tricks too. :)

Vocal Effects Vst Plugins Free Download

Get all of the LANDR-approved free VST plugin collection: