Leads are great. They are the sugary surface of any good track. They get you in the door and perk you up.

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But we all know what that one special ingredient is… The most important part of arranging and writing songs. It’s the soul of any good track:

The BASS.

The latest VST3 SDK (3.6.9) provides instructions to build a VST that doesn't live inside the SDK itself which is a big enhancement from prior versions which did not provide this capability. That being said, the solution introduced is still backward in my mind: you need to tell the SDK where your plugin is. Taking over from the mammoth four-part Mural series, Symphonic Strings harmonizes the separate volumes into one comprehensive library. At the top of its impressive feature list are 60-star players, 16 1st violins, 14 2nd violins, 12 violas, ten cellos, and eight super deep-sampled basses. The process of writing, registering, and debugging a plug-in is: Create a.NET Framework Class library project in Visual Studio Add the Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreAssemblies NuGet package to the project Implement the IPlugin interface on classes that will be registered as steps.

But there’s thousands of free VSTs out there. Which ones are good for bass? No sweat. We found all the best ones so you don’t have to dig.

Here’s our 10 favourite free bass VST plugins that will give you bigger, better bass.

Steinberg – Model E

The Model E is a useful 3 oscillator bass station capable of pumping out some nice lines.

The super simple controls make all your options easy to see and tweak. Plus the lower CPU usage means easy breezy basslines in no time.

TAL – Elek7ro

When it comes to free VSTs no one beats TAL. All their free plugins work great and are super useful. I’m a huge fan of their plugins and you should be too. Best free jupiter 8 vst.

The Elek7ro is no exception to their history of producing high quality tools. This synth-plug is good for pretty much everything. Including making some nice full basses for your tracks.

It even comes with a super helpful user guide for getting the most out of Elek7ro.

Plogue – Sforzando TableWarp2

The TableWarp2 is part of Plogue’s Sforzando bundle. It’s a versatile synth that gives you tons of classic sounds…

Including some superb mid-low range basses perfect for beefing up your tracks.

NUsofting – Sinnah

The Sinnah is great. It can create cool noisy tones with its 3 channel delay matrix and feedback sculpting.

It also has a pretty solid onboard EQ which really helps bring out the magic in each tone. So you can get tons of control over the bass sounds you create.

TAL – Bassline

I’ve already talked about the TAL-Bassline in an older Free Plugins article. But I had to put it on this list because it’s so good. The Bassline is basically built for better bass.

This plug has a warm analog sound and ‘robust core‘ for all your bass and acid needs. Plus, the TAL Bassline user guide will have your walls rattling in no time.

u-he – TyrellN6

U-he is another major source for some very superb free plugins. The TyrellN6 is a powerful overall plugin that will give you all varieties of nice analog synth sounds.

That means wicked basses too. It also has some nice triggering features that are super fun to play around with and a nice, clean interface for easy tweakage.

The download page is in german. So if you don’t speak German just scroll down to find the download link!

Ample Sound – Ample Bass P Lite II

The Ample Bass P Lite II is a nice electric bass plug perfect for some groovier and more rock-centric bass sounds.

Ample Bass also comes with some nice ‘articulations’ including palm mute, slap and legato slide for those little accents that makes bass pop. /free-stereo-tool-vst.html.

LinPlug – FreeAlpha

This plugin is the free version of LinPlug’s Alpha. But just because it’s the free version doesn’t mean it’s not good. In fact, it’s great!

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FreeAlpha‘s 2 oscillators are perfect for all sorts of nice basses and the built-in presets are superb starting points for all types of bass and more.

Bruce Sutherland – JUCEoplvsti

If you ever dreamed of making all those incredible sounds that lived on old DOS games then this plugin is your hot ticket.

JuceOPLVSTI is modelled on the Yamaha OPL sound chip found in some old PC computers.

Juce’s interface is a lot like a video game and is super easy to use to get some superb basses, leads and pretty much any other sound you need from an FM synth.

Synister – Synister

Synister is one of the best looking and easiest to use synth plugins I’ve ever seen. This 3 oscillator synth is perfect for making all types of basslines.

The interface is simple, organized and easy to follow. The effects, envelopes, oscillators, LFOs and filters all have their own drop down menus for an easy workflow. And it even has a built in step sequencer!

The bassline bottomline

A good bassline can make or break a track. Finding the best one for your track can be tricky.

These bass VSTs will give you everything you need to find the right one (Hot tip: Turn your monitors way up while you’re experimenting if you wanna meet the neighbours).

Put these in your DAW, start experimenting and take a trip to the international bass station.

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If you’re already set for bass check out our other Free VST Plugin Favourites: