VST; RTA-Windows. 'Glitch is one of the more interesting free VST effect plugins available. “GFM Distort is a bread-and-butter distortion.
Distortion is one of those effects that can have a use in any recording or music production setting. Even if you aren’t particularly into brash and dirty sounds, distortion plugins will have value for warming up sounds and introducing a bit of analog-style tone and response to your productions.
Here we rundown some of the best free distortion VST plugins available. Whether you are looking to give your tracks a slight edge or you are after total industrial mayhem, these plug-ins will deliver at a price that your wallet will love.
- Check out our new site for even more FREE DOWNLOADS!
- But there’s thousands of free VSTs out there. Which ones are good for bass? 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.
Find more great gear here:
Introduction: About Distortion Plugins
Distortion plug-ins replicate the sound of analog circuitry being pushed to the limit.
With tube amps or op-amp circuits, feeding excessively high levels early on in the chain results in a warm, gritty, and present sound that sounds bigger, louder, and more exciting.
Distortion is used to marvelous, effect by guitarists, but it can also add life to synth parts, drums, and even vocals. In fact, if you work in a studio long enough, you would be hard pressed to think of a sound source that wouldn’t benefit from varying degrees of distortion in some way.
Free Distortion Plugins
The List
Distortion Plug-in Roundup
Creative Intent’s Temper Distortion is a distortion plug-in that has a rich saturation stage.
The variable saturation curve helps produce a warmer and edgier sound than most distortion plug-ins are capable of.
It also employs phase distortion that helps enhance clarity and produces a more characterful drive. A resonant lowpass filter and a feedback control further aids in tone shaping.
One of the best qualities of Temper is how it can be pushed to extreme levels of distortion while still retaining clarity.
As far as digital distortions go, this is one of the few that manages to be pleasant sounding even as it mangles your sound.
TNT by Ourafilmes was originally intended as a drum and distortion plug-in that is also useful for creating special effects.
It is actually a suite of distortion plug-ins consisting of a single band and a multi-band unit, each of which come in mono and stereo versions. The single band version is further enhanced with the addition of a tone knob.
Later versions of the plug-in come with a 6dB crossover filter that enables the separation of the low and high bands.
Bass Distortion Vst Free Downloads
With the ability to set different saturation algorithms for each band, TNT is quite a bit more versatile than your typical distortion plug-in.
Audio Damage is well known for its quality plug-ins, and FuzzPlus 3 holds up the company’s reputation admirably.
An updated version of the company’s original FuzzPlus pedal emulation, the FuzzPlus delivers the same great-sounding fuzzy distortion and enhances it with a filter modeled after the filter on Korg’s classic Microsoft-20 analog synthesizer.
Along with the ability to feed the processed signal back to the distortion circuitry, this results in increased sound-shaping possibilities.
The FuzzPlus 3 works amazingly well for processing drum loops and synths, transforming them into weird and wonderfully bizarre rhythms and textures.
But it is also quite capable of restraint, producing subtle saturations and tonal coloration when adjusted to moderate settings.
Distorque’s Plusdistortion is a plug-in emulation of the MXR Distortion+ pedal, which is favored by guitarists for its wide range of tones.
From light grit to all-out fuzz, the Distortion+ pretty much covers all the bases, and Plusdistortion is every bit as versatile.
The secret to the Distortion+ is the germanium diode clipping circuitry and the lo-fi op amp that produce the pedal’s distinctly characterful tone. The Plusdistortion somehow manages to capture the spirit of the pedal, with the added tweakability afforded by software.
Also from Distorque is Rangebastard, which is an emulation of another classic guitarists’ tool, the Dallas Rangemaster.
Like the Plusdistortion, the Rangebastard builds on the tone-shaping capabilities of the original with added features and tweakability.
With 2x oversampling, stereo and mono modes, and controls for input filtering, transistor, and even grid current, the Rangebastard is pretty much the Dallas Rangemaster on steroids.
More mangled textures are in the offing from Distorque, by way of the Face Bender.
Fans of classic fuzz pedal circuits will recognize the name as a combination of the Fuzz Face and Tone Bender MKII, both of which are still highly regarded in the guitar world.
Like those two pedals, the Face Bender delivers nasty, spitting distortion that walks the fine line between musicality and all-out sonic mayhem.
Full-on, retro-style fuzz is the primary domain of this plug-in, but it can also be dialed back for more tasteful saturation.
Finally, DistoCore’s Disto::FX is every bit the “Dirty Sound Destructor” as the marketing copy so proudly boasts.
Designed for all-out sonic assault, this is a loud and proud distortion plug-in that specializes in a surprising variety of distortion flavors.
Top Pick
Creative Intent’s Temper Distortion is the clear winner in this roundup. With the ability to get as down and dirty as any of them, it also cleans up nicely for more sedate and sensible saturation.
This is not to say that the rest of the entrants are slouches. Ourafilmes’ TNT and Audio Damage’s FuzzPlus 3 are certainly quite capable of delivering everything from a slight touch of grit to end-of-the-world sonic devastation.
Distorque’s pedal emulations for their part are all potentially useful for more traditional, stomp box flavors. And you just gotta love Disto::FX’s ability to make a heaving, bristling mess out of anything.
So while Temper Distortion gets the nod as our “top pick”, we wholeheartedly suggest that you download them all and have all your distortion bases covered.
After all, you can’t beat the price!
Inspired by Russ’ article 10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins Every Guitarist Should Try I thought I might see what was on offer for bass players. I’m not talking about EQ and compression here but bass distortion.
Using Distortion On Bass Guitar
Over the last few years I have gone from almost never using distortion on bass to almost never leaving a bass track clean. I’m not talking about Muse style fuzz here but gentle saturation effects. I have found this to be a very useful treatment for bass as introducing some distortion generates additional harmonics and can have the effect of raising the apparent level of the bass without actually turning it up by giving the ear extra information above the fundamental. Its possible to use surprising amounts of distortion on a bass track without the effect being one of distortion as much as gelling with the rest of the track. As with so many things context is everything.
The thing I look for in bass distortion is a sense of integration with the original clean sound. This is highly subjective but the least successful plug-in distortions I have heard have a sense of being stuck on top of the original sound rather than being a part of it. Additionally increasing distortion should be accompanied by a reduction in dynamic range and this compression effect makes a significant contribution to the overall feel of the effect.
At the end of the day there is no good or bad here, just personal preference but the striking thing about all of these plug-ins is that they all sound different and some dramatically so.
I restricted my choices to free AAX64 plug-ins. Some of these plug-ins were only available for a limited time. I did not include plug-ins with unlimited demo modes (for example Massey plug-ins) as they are not strictly speaking free.
To hear examples watch the free video.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Air Distortion
Originally included to make up the numbers - I’d tested nine, ten is so much neater, this little-used by me (actually possibly never used) plugin is surprisingly flexible.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Avid Lo-Fi
A real favourite of mine, in this application just use the distortion and saturation controls.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Softube Saturation Knob
The biggest strength of this plug-in is its simplicity, no danger of endless tweaking here.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Soundtoys Little Radiator
All the simplicity of Saturation Knob but with a subtler, smoother sound
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Eleven Free
While I couldn’t get this to stand up on its own, in conjunction with a DI track Eleven Free offers useful amounts of grit and clank.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Devil-loc
Dirty, squashed and never brittle Devil-Loc goes further into filth than most.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - DB-33
Combining tube overdrive and a pronounced cabinet resonance, putting bass through a leslie sounds decidedly vintage.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Avid DynIII Compressor/Limiter
Using inappropriate settings can produce abrasive buzzy tones if that’s what you need.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Avid PSA-1
Bass Distortion Vst Free Plugin
A lot of people’s first choice, although there are alternatives there is no denying that SansAmp sounds great on bass.
10 Free Pro Tools Plug-ins For Bass Distortion - Soundtoys Little Primaltap
Distortion Vst Effects
Although its a delay, Little Primaltap overdrives in a distinctively aggressive way.