FSU APC FREE SOFTWARE & SOUNDS/STUDENT DISCOUNTS/TUTORIAL MASTER LIST

TUTORIALS AND THINGS FOR LEARNIN’S MICHAEL WHITE’S FUNDAMENTALS OF MIXING [BEGINNER – ADVANCED] WHAT’S ALL THIS ‘BOUT, THEN? Michael White’s Fundamentals of Mixing is a 62 part, almost 32-hour YouTube course on every part of mixing and mastering. The dude’s a professional mixer with 30 years of experience working with big names like Whitney Houston and 3 Doors Down (among others) and it shows. This is BY FAR the best tutorial series for mixing/mastering on YouTube. It covers everything from how to place your monitors to compression to re-amping guitars to panning to multitrack tape saturation. Primarily, he focuses on the practical application of effects and certain techniques and less on the technical aspects or the “what’s this knob do” part of mixing. Everything he discusses is applicable to every genre and DAW.

Besides the Fundamentals of Mixing course, I’ve grabbed a few supplementary videos from his tips videos and linked them right below. If you’re wanting something specific that’s not listed here, I’d look through his channel (especially the 133 video tips playlist). You might find what you’re looking for. You can also watch his series on his website, which has a couple of bonus videos at the end of the series focused on mastering (it requires registration but is free).

OTHER RECOMMENDED VIDEOS TO WATCH FROM HIS CHANNEL: Prioritizing Levels in a Mix – Around the Levels and Panning section (Lesson 15).

Creating Dynamic Contrast in a Mix – Around the Filters and Subtractive EQ section (Lesson 16).

Getting the Feel for Compression – Around the Functional Compression section (Lesson 17)

Creating Grove with Compression – Around the Functional Compression section (Lesson 17).

Creating Depth with Early Reflections – Around the Spatial Processing section (Lesson 20).

Choosing a Reverb – Around the Reverb/Effects section (Lesson 24).

MICHAEL WHITE’S FUNDAMENTALS OF RECORDING [BEGINNER-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Like his Fundamentals of Mixing course, this video course goes over the Fundamentals of Recording. It’s a 45-part series (or 9-part depending on how you look at it) that explains the basic of recording audio, with some brief covering of mixing and mastering. The final, 10th lesson is not free but doesn’t appear to be essential. At the moment, it appears to only be on his website. It requires registration, but it’s totally free.

CAMBRIDGE MUSICAL TECHNOLOGY’S PRACTICE MIXES [RESOURCE] WHAT THE WHAT? Cambridge Musical Technology has a huge resource of song stems available if you want to practice your mixing skills. They’re all totally free and cover genres ranging from Country to Dubstep to Metal to 70s Rock to Classical. Highly recommend this site as you can preview the songs before you download them, and these are actual songs made by actual bands and not some dude in a basement. I will clarify that you cannot use these stems for commercial purposes, so they’re just a resource for practice and education.

NEW YORK SCHOOL OF SYNTHESIS – INTRO TO SYNTHESIS [BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? The New York School of Synthesis’s Intro to Synthesis is a three-part series covering the basics of synthesis. Very professionally produced and an amazing resource. It was made in the 80s, which is obviously at literally every second of the series. Still, it’s one of the best resources out there for learning to make synths. Also, an amazing source for memes. If you can afford it though, I’d recommend using Syntorial for learning synthesis instead (more info in the Student Discounts section).

SOUND ON SOUND MAGAZINE’S SYNTH SECRETS [BEGINNER-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Synth Secrets is a 63-part article series on synthesis by the famous Sound on Sound Magazine, and the Synth Secrets series is also equally renowned. It covers literally every possible thing you could want to know about synthesis, but it does get a bit technical and dry at times imo. Still, an amazing series. If you can afford it though, I’d recommend using Syntorial for learning synthesis instead (more info in the Student Discounts section).

MUSIC TECH HELP GUY’S LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL SERIES [BEGINNER-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Music Tech Help Guy’s Logic Tutorial series is a massive, 132-part tutorial series on using Logic Pro X from the beginning to the more advanced stuff. It is BY FAR the most recommended Logic tutorial series out there and is universally agreed to be the best tutorial for learning Logic Pro X. It was hard finding any other options for Logic tutorials because everyone kept recommending this one. Also, he has tutorials for Ableton and Pro Tools too. Neat.

ABLETON LIVE 9 ESSENTIAL TRAINING ON LYNDA [BEGINNER] WHAT IS IT? Rich Schmuck’s (yes, that’s his actual name) Ableton Live 9 Essential Training is an almost 10-hour long tutorial series on the fundamentals of using Ableton Live 9. You don’t need to register for a trial or anything to access it, as FSU students get free access to Lynda.com. More info here.

SADOSWICK’S ABLETON LIVE ULTIMATE COURSE [BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Sadoswick’s Ableton Live Ultimate Course is a 49-part video series on YouTube about using Ableton Live. One of the most frequently recommended YouTube tutorials for Ableton Live. He also has other tutorials available on his channel.

MR. BILL’S ABLETON TUTORIALS [INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Mr. Bill’s Ableton Tutorials is a more advanced set of tutorials for Ableton Live, and another one that’s frequently recommended. My main problem with his tutorials though is that he always sounds like he’s bored.

ABLETON’S OFFICIAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL [BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Ableton also has an official YouTube channel, with lots of tutorials covering how to use Ableton Live and the Ableton Push. Obviously a recommend.

IMAGE-LINE’S OFFICIAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL [BEGINNER-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Image-Line, the company that makes FL Studio, has an official YouTube channel where they post videos explaining how to use the different VSTs that come with FL and the basics of how to use the program. It’s a good one-stop shop for learning to use FL and their tutorials blow most of the others out of the water. Highly recommend, especially for the more intermediate stuff.

IN THE MIX’S FL STUDIO 20 TUTORIAL COURSE [BEGINNER] WHAT IS IT? In the Mix’s FL Studio 20 Tutorial Course is a free YouTube video series covering the absolute basics of how to use FL Studio. I recommend watching it on 1.25 speed because he talks at an ASMR pace.

SEAMLESSR’S FL STUDIO BEGINNER TUTORIALS [BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? If In the Mix’s series isn’t your cup of tea, you can always check out SeamlessR’s 12 part series on FL Studio 12. Alongside In the Mix, he’s one of the most frequently mentioned names for FL Studio tutorials. You can also check out his buckets of FL Studio tutorials for almost every possible subject.

12TONE’S BUILDING BLOCKS SERIES [BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? 12 Tone’s Building Blocks series is a 15 part, almost hour long YouTube tutorial course on basic music theory. It teaches you the gist of writing basic chord progressions in any key, changing keys without it sounding like crap, and using chords from outside of the key in a progression. He talks super fast, but it’s still a great and concise way to learn the basic theory.

MUSICTHEORY.NET [BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? MusicTheory.net is a website that provides you with a free simplified crash course in basic music theory. It has lessons and exercises to refine your basic music skills. Learn to read sheet music, write better chord progressions faster, how to use meters, etc. It simplifies things a bit, so I recommend using it with something else too.

MUSIC THEORY VIDEOS [BEGINNER – INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Music Theory Videos is a website that has tonnes of videos explaining the basics of music theory, including how to read music. A good companion piece to other tutorials.

TCHAIKOVSKY’S TREATISE ON HARMONY [BEGINNER – INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? The Treatise on Harmony is a book written by the classical composer and former teacher at the Moscow Conservatory Pyotr Tchaikovsky (yes, that Tchaikovsky). It has a strict focus on harmony but is a really good book and comes from someone who is proven to know what they are talking about. Only available in English on this site, but there are German and Russian editions floating around somewhere. MUSIC THEORY FOR MUSICIANS AND NORMAL PEOPLE [BEGINNER – INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People is a website that has a bunch of infographics in pdf form giving the gist of certain music theory topics. It’s best used as a quick reference, since none of the infographics go into much detail.

MUSIC FOR EAR TRAINING [BEGINNER – ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Music for Ear Training is a free downloadable software that teaches you to identify and write down melodies, rhythms and chords after hearing them. The software is free, but the companion books are not. Still, you don’t necessarily need those books and if you have manuscript paper (available for very cheap off Amazon) and a pencil you can go through these no problem. Being able to read music is a prerequisite for using this. Highly recommend, as this is what was used in my music school’s Aural Theory classes.

THE JAZZ PIANO SITE [BEGINNER – INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? The Jazz Piano Site is like MusicTheory.net but geared specifically for jazz theory. There’s some overlap between the two (and 12Tone), so your basics will be really solid if you go through all of them. Like MusicTheory.net, the site can simplify things at times, but it’s a good crash course. On the note of jazz theory…

JAMEY AEBERSOLD’S JAZZ HANDBOOK [BEGINNER – INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? The Jazz Handbook is a freely available crash course book in jazz theory. You won’t be ready to tackle Giant Steps or anything after working through this book, but it’s a good place for beginners to learn the basics of making jazz.

RICK BEATO [BEGINNER – INTERMEDIATE] WHO? Rick Beato is one of the biggest music theory YouTubers out there right now. He has loads of experience working on producing rock albums and his videos cover everything from production basics to theory. He obviously knows his stuff. but I feel his videos can get a bit ramble-y at times. Still worth checking out.

8-BIT MUSIC THEORY [INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? 8-bit Music Theory is one of the bigger creators in YouTube’s small music theory corner. His videos cover a specific topic as it relates to the soundtrack of specific games and is an amazing resource for seeing how some of this stuff works in context. Highly recommend regularly watching this channel after you get a good grasp on the basics.

HOLISTIC SONGWRITING [INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Holistic Songwriting is a YouTube channel that breaks down certain popular artists ranging from Taylor Swift to Bruno Mars to Muse to System of a Down. He covers certain melodic tricks they use, chord progressions, rhythms, and their public image and breaks them down in an amazingly easy to understand way. He also has videos giving advice for the music industry. Very highly recommend.

EARLY MUSIC SOURCES [INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Early Music Sources is a YouTube channel that covers the theory of music from the late Medieval up to the early Baroque (around 1000-1650ish). It’s very specialized, has great production value, and is criminally underrated. It may not be your thing but recommend checking it out when you get a good grasp of basic theory.

ADAM NEELY [INTERMEDIATE] WHO? Adam Neely is one of the biggest names on Music Theory YouTube right now. He makes really high-quality videos discussing a lot of elements in music. His videos lean a bit more philosophical than practical at times and the channel focuses more on jazz and classical, but it’s a good resource and a fun thing to watch and challenge what you think about music. If you dig really deep, he also has some pretty good jazz bass tutorials.

SIDEWAYS [INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Sideways is one of the big 5 of Music Theory YouTube (along with Rick Beato, Adam Neely, 8bit, and 12Tone). His videos focus on covering film music and reoccurring themes in film music. Like Adam Neely, some of his videos lean a bit more esoteric, and like Rick Beato, some of his videos (especially earlier ones) ramble a bit. A good channel that’s worth checking out.

ART OF COUNTERPOINT [INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Art of Counterpoint is a YouTube channel focused on teaching counterpoint, which is the practice of having multiple melodies going at the same time and making everything independent of each other. Recorded audio quality is a little wonky, but the information is good.

GRADUS AD PARNASSUM [BEGINNER-ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Gradus Ad Parnassum was a book on counterpoint written almost five hundred years ago. It’s been the gold standard for counterpoint books ever since. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven (among others) all learned counterpoint from this book. It shows its age a little bit with the religious bent that would raise eyebrows at a Southern Baptist Convention meeting, but it is by far the best counterpoint book ever written. Read it, learn it, live it.

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV’S PRINCIPLES OF ORCHESTRATION [INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Rimsky-Korsakov’s Principles of Orchestration (click “Translations” in the link and the book is in 12 parts on the site) is a book written in the 19th century about how to write and arrange for orchestra. It focuses more on blending instruments together and creating cool sounds with the orchestra. Still, it’s one of the leading books in orchestration and considered a staple. Available in Russian, English, and German. Also, it’s public domain.

INSTRUMENT STUDIES FOR EYES AND EARS [INTERMEDIATE] WHAT IS IT? Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears is a free resource for learning orchestration, which gives you audio clips and examples of every possible articulation for all the instruments of the orchestra at varying dynamic levels. Really good resource for learning.

FORSYTH’S ORCHESTRATION & CHORAL ORCHESTRATION [INT – ADV] WHAT IS IT? This is set of two books by Cecil Forsyth, which focus on writing for orchestra and choir. It’s highly technical and gives a LOT of detail on the physicality and historical developments of practically every instrument in the orchestra. A very dry read, but it’s an amazing resource to have for reference. Also, it’s public domain!

ORCHESTRATION ONLINE [INTERMEDIATE – ADVANCED] WHAT IS IT? Orchestration Online is a YouTube channel that covers…orchestration. Online. One of the few resources out there that talks about writing for things like string quartets and other small chamber ensembles like that. Dude is an actual professional orchestrator and he clearly knows his stuff. The material he talks about is kind of advanced, so I’d recommend getting a good grasp on theory and basic orchestration before jumping in here.

LYRIC WRITING & CREATIVE WRITING WITH PAT PATTISON [BEGINNER] WHAT IS IT? Lyric Writing and Creative Writing with Pat Pattison (professor of songwriting at Berklee) is a set of two playlists on YouTube that teaches some fundamental skills for writing lyrics. HIGHLY recommend these and his books too. Pat Pattison is by far the best source to learn writing lyrics from.

MISCELLANEOUS, ONE-OFF VIDEOS [VARIES, ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION] HUMANIZATION Mike Verta’s VI Techniques Part 1, Part 2 (Mike Verta)

Misha Mansoor’s Drum Programming Tips Part 1, Part 2 (Top Secret Audio)

The Cutting Edge of Swing Technology (Dave Bruce Composer)

RECORDING How to Record Drums With 1-5 Microphones with Brian Decker (Reverb)

How to Mic a Drum-Kit (Sweetwater)

10 Ways to Mic a Guitar Amp with Brian Decker (Reverb)

Studio Techniques for Recording Vocals (Berklee)

Basic Recording Techniques – The Piano (Audio-Technica)

Basic Recording Techniques – Strings (Audio Technica)

Basic Recording Techniques – Saxophones (Audio Technica)

Basic Recording Techniques – Brass (Audio Technica)

Basic Recording Techniques – Woodwinds (Audio Technica)

Basic Recording Techniques – The Small Ensemble (Audio Technica)

Recording a Choir, Parts 1, Part 2, Part 3 (Audix Microphones)

PRODUCTION How to Use Compression Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (Sonic Sense Pro Audio) Digital Show and Tell – About Bit-Depth, Dither, and Sampling Rates (Xiph.org)

SYNTHESIS The Synth Sounds of Stranger Things (Reverb)

The Synth Sounds of John Carpenter (Reverb)

Serum ~ Formula Parser ~ RTFM! Tutorial (On Cloud Sine)

SONGWRITING IMRO Songwriting Seminar with Pat Pattison (Irish Music Rights Organization)

ORCHESTRATION AND ARRANGEMENT Writing for Clarinet Part 1, Part 2 (Josh Plotner)

TRACK & SONG BREAKDOWNS Charlie Puth breaks down Attention (Rolling Stone)

Ludwig Göransson breaks down his production on Childish Gambino’s Redbone (Genius)

Ludwig Göransson breaks down his score for Black Panther (Genius)

How to Orchestrate Like John Williams Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (JJay Berthume)

FREE SOFTWARE MUSESCORE WHAT IS IT? MuseScore is a free sheet music notation software. You can use it to write or read music, arrange things, or make publishable sheet music for your songs. Can be a little buggy at times, but it’s by far the best option if you can’t afford Sibelius or Finale.

AUDACITY WHAT IS IT? Audacity is like the white bread of DAWs. It’s really easy to use and is great for doing some quick tweaks to a finished track or stem. Also great for editing and recording audio for videos if you plan on doing any behind the scenes stuff, tutorials, or whatever. Much less computer intensive than your average DAW.

HIT FILM 4 EXPRESS WHAT IS IT? Hit Film 4 Express is a free film editing software. It’s the one I personally use and is around commercial quality with a lot of good features in it. It can also export directly to YouTube, which is great.

DAVINCI RESOLVE WHAT IS IT? In the category of “I have no idea how this is free” is DaVinci Resolve, which is another film editing software. It’s INCREDIBLY powerful and is probably the best free film editing software out there. It’s a step above Hit Film 4 Express, but fair warning it will probably melt any laptop you use it on. If you have some sort of high-powered gaming PC or something, go with this. If not, use Hit Film 4. GIMP WHAT IS IT? GIMP is a free image editor, basically a smaller, cheaper version of Photoshop. Great for editing photos of your face or other body parts, album artwork, or banners or logos. If you have the green (cash, not weed), I’d recommend getting a Wacom tablet too. Drawing with a mouse is no Bueno. If you have Photoshop or the cash for Photoshop, use that. If not, GIMP is good in the meantime.

PAINT.NET WHAT IS IT? Paint.net is basically the Audacity to Photoshop/GIMP’s FL/Ableton/ProTools/Logic. A lot more basic functionality so it’s great for doing something quick. If you need some fancy effect or something, jump to GIMP or Photoshop. If you want a quick touch up or do something quick, use Paint.Net.

INKSCAPE WHAT IS IT? Inkscape is a free program that lets you create vector graphics and is an alternative to Adobe Illustrator. Like GIMP, it’s not quite as good as Illustrator but it can get you by in the meantime. If you’re reading this and wondering “wait, what are vector graphics anyways”, basically you put points on a canvas and connect them with lines and use those to make shapes. After that, you use those shapes to make graphics. They scale to any size almost perfectly, so they’re mainly used to make logos or brand symbols and things like that. Good to have, but if you have Illustrator stick with that.

FREE SOUNDS - WEBSITES TO KNOW ABOUT THE BEDROOM PRODUCERS BLOG WHAT IS IT? The Bedroom Producers Blog is a blog for bedroom producers, naturally. It compiles and reviews a whole lot of free/cheap VSTs, samples, and programs. It’s one of the best sources for free VSTs on the web. Check out the “best of the year” articles and the main Free VSTs hub for a good starting place. A lot of the plug-ins I’m listing below I found on this site.

99 SOUNDS WHAT IS IT? 99 Sounds is a website that gives you a crap tonne of super high quality free samples. Like, we’re talking commercial grade samples here. They range from spacey synth stuff to warehouse percussion to weather ambiance like thunder/rain/etc. Everything is grouped into easy to download packs so you don’t have to hunt for a specific one. Also, they have one of the best free clap machine VSTs on the market.

I recommend: The Clap Machine, Warehouse Percussion, Garage Foley, Punching Percussion, Percussa Toolbox, White Noise SFX, Vinyl Noise SFX, Cinematic Sound Effects, Rumore Cinematic Impacts, Rain and Thunder (asks for donation with $0 minimum first, need to enter e-mail), Hands Make Sounds (also asks for a donation with a $0 minimum first, need to enter e-mail). Nothing on here is bad though.

VST4FREE WHAT IS IT? VST4Free is a website that lists free VSTs, obviously. The quality is a bit hit or miss, but the user reviews and ratings are a fairly decent indicator of the quality of what you’re downloading. Also has some stuff that’s pretty much disappeared from elsewhere on the net.

KVR AUDIO WHAT IS IT? KVR Audio, like VST4Free, is a website that lists free VSTs. They also host some paid plug-ins, and like VST4Free the quality is a bit hit or miss. Use reviews and ratings to find all the best stuff. Also, the search and tag functions are the best way to get around the site, which can be a little clunky to navigate sometimes.

FREESOUND WHAT IS IT? FreeSound is a website that hosts a lot of totally free sound-effects and samples. And when I say a lot, I mean a LOT. The site has everything from Mongolian throat singing to city ambiance to birds chirping. If you told me there was a sound clip on there of a bison relieving itself into a gramophone made out of rubber, I would believe you. That’s what their selection is like. Just be sure to check the royalties on some of those sounds, since some are non- commercial only.

FREE PLUG-INS - EFFECTS VARIETY OF SOUNDS PLUG-IN SUITE WHAT IS IT? The Variety of Sounds plug-in suite is a whole lotta great free mixing and mastering plug-ins. It has plug-ins for reverb, delay, EQ, tape dynamics simulation, etc. Highly recommend, especially epicVerb and the Nasty delay which are my go-to reverb and delay, respectively.

REAPER PLUG-IN SUITE WHAT IS IT? The Reaper Plug-In Suite is a collection of great free effects plug-ins. There’s some really good compressors (especially the multi-band compressor) in here and it’s nice to have around.

BLUE CATS FREEWARE PLUG-INS PACK II WHAT IS IT? The Blue Cats Freeware Plug-In Pack is a collection of a Chorus, Flanger, Frequency Analyzer, Phaser, Gain Utility, and 3-band EQ. The Chorus especially sounds amazing and I’d recommend downloading it just for that. Everything else in the collection sounds decent too.

THE SIMULANALOG GUITAR SUITE WHAT IS IT? The SimulAnalog Guitar Suite is a collection of free amps and stompboxes. Overall, they’re good and worth a download.

POULIN LECAB WHAT IS IT? Poulin’s LeCab has some of the best freeware guitar AMP VSTs out there right now. You can load impulses from real amps (which are all over the web) to get an actually good guitar tone out of it. They also have some good traditional amp simulators.

D-BLUE/ILLFORMED GLITCH WHAT IS IT? D-Blue/IllFormed Glitch a collection of glitching plug-ins, including the master “glitch” plug-in. There’s an updated paid version (Glitch 2) and a free version (Glitch 1). Has every effect from tape stopping to gating to crushing and a LOT more. One of my favorite plug-ins.

ORILRIVER WHAT IS IT? OrilRiver is a reverb plug-in and probably one of my favorites alongside epicVerb (see above). It has a great sound to it, and there’s a lot that you can customize in it. Definitely recommend.

TDR KOTELNIKOV / TDR FEEDBACK COMPRESSOR I & II WHAT ARE THEY? TDR Kotelnikov and the two TDR Feedback Compressor are three compressor plug-ins made by Tokyo Dawn Studios. They’re all three versions of the same plug-in and they have a great sound, especially for drums. Probably one of my favorite compressors. They also have some other free plug-ins that I haven’t gotten a chance to try out, including an interesting looking EQ.

MOLOT WHAT IS IT? Molot is another compressor plug-in, with a very subtle and warm sound. It’s good for something like vocals, where you want the pumping and breathing action of a compression but with more a subtle sound. Because of its subtlety, I don’t recommend it for drums.

W1 LIMITER WHAT IS IT? George Yohng’s W1 Limiter is an emulator of the Waves 1 and Waves 2 limiter. It’s ridiculously simple, but I love the sound of it and it’s my go to limiter. It’s still currently in Beta, and the final version will have more features. Highly recommend.

CODE RED WHAT IS IT? Code Red is an emulation of the Abbey Road Redd Console and the unique character it’d give mixes. Essentially, it’s an EQ and Saturator that has a unique sonic character and gives a different tone to the instrument you put it on. Sounds amazing on drums.

TEMPER WHAT IS IT? Temper is a great free distortion plug-in by Creative Intent. It’s very powerful (and a little CPU intensive), so be careful with how you use it.

TSE 808 WHAT IS IT? TSE 808 is a tube screamer plug-in. It’s probably one of my most used plug-ins, because of how amazing it sounds on guitars and basses. If I want to add a little more of a grungy bite to an instrument, this is my go-to.

FREE PLUG-INS – SYNTHESIZERS AND SAMPLERS TONE 2 FIREBIRD WHAT IS IT? Tone2’s Firebird is a subtractive synthesizer from way back in 2004. It used to be commercial but is now vintage enough to be free. It’s a great plugin overall even if it is outclassed by other commercial plugins.

AMPLE MUSIC BASS & AMPLE MUSIC GUITAR MK II WHAT ARE THEY? Ample Music Bass and Ample Music Guitar MK II are a VST emulation of a bass guitar and a finger-style acoustic guitar (not a classical guitar), respectively. They are surprisingly really good, especially for free. Two of my favorite free VSTs out there and I highly recommend getting both.

VSCO COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA WHAT IS IT? VSCO Community Orchestra is a free VST and collection of sample and probably one of the best free orchestras out there. It’s not going to compare to EastWest Symphonic Orchestra or Vienna’s Symphonic Cube, but it’s fine in a pinch.

DEXED WHAT IS IT? Dexed is an incredibly powerful emulation of the Yamaha DX7 FM Synthesizer. It is also probably one of the most difficult VSTs to learn out there, but well worth the effort. Check out this page to get you started.

MINIMOGUE WHAT IS IT? MiniMogue is an oldie but a goodie and an emulation of the amazing Mini Moog Voyager. It’s only available in 32bit at the moment, but it’s still an amazing synth and one of my favorites.

MODEL PRO WHAT IS IT? Model Pro is another oldie, this time an emulation of the Moog Prodigy. Like the MiniMogue, it’s a great synth even if it’s only available in 32bit.

COMBO MODEL F & COMBO MODEL V WHAT ARE THEY? Combo Model F is an emulation of the Farfisa Mini Deluxe Compact Combo Organ and Combo Model V is an emulation of the Vox Continental Combo Organ. They’re both good sounding organs that I’ll use occasionally. AZR3 WHAT IS IT? AZR3 is a Hammond/Drawbar Organ emulator and I’ll be honest it sounds great. One of my favorite go-to plugins. It has an overall great, versatile sound.

SYNTH1 WHAT IS IT? Synth1 is to free synthesizers what Serum, Massive, and Sylenth1 are to paid synthesizers. It’s a subtractive synthesizer, modeled on the Clavia Nord Lead 2 Red Synth. It can do a whole lot of stuff and there are entire communities based around developing presets for this synth. If you don’t have a great paid synth, this should be your go-to until you do. Website linked is in Japanese, but it should jump you down to the downloads and google translate can help with anything else. TS-808 WHAT IS IT? TS-808 is an emulation of the famous 808 drum sound that you hear all the time in pop music. It’s a great sound and one of my favorite for more electronic sounding drums. Even with EZ-Drummer, I’ll still use this one on occasion. Highly recommend.

MT POWER DRUMKIT WHAT IS IT? If you don’t have a great paid acoustic drum VST like Superior Drummer or EZ Drummer, MT Power Drumkit will probably be your best bet until you can get one. It’s not mind blowing and amazing, but it’s probably one of the best free ones out there and will get you by.

MINI ERHU WHAT IS IT? This one’s a bit out there, but Mini Erhu is a free VST that emulates an Erhu, which is a Chinese stringed instrument not unlike a violin. For a free plugin, it’s fantastic. It has a good sound and surprisingly decent quality.

PIANO1 WHAT IS IT? Piano 1 is a free and paid grand/upright piano VST. It has some soundbanks that are paid, but it comes with a basic free one. It’s probably the best free one that I’ve found out there at the moment, and it was my go to until I upgraded to an EastWest plug-in recently.

ALTER EGO WHAT IS IT? Alter Ego is a vocal synthesizer with speech capabilities. It obviously sounds like a synth, but you can make it work for some robot vocals if you process it a lot. Has two free vocal banks.

SFORZANDO WHAT IS IT? Sforzando is the go-to plugin for playing soundfonts and it can support both .sf2 and .sfz.

FREE SAMPLE PACKS & SOUNDFONTS MUSICRADAR FEMALE VOCAL SAMPLES & FEMALE AD-LIBS WHAT IS IT? The MusicRadar Female Vocal Samples & Female Ad-Lib Vocals are two sets of vocal samples that cover a wide range of genres. There’s about 1,665 samples in total.

ROB NEUMAN’S VOCAL PACKS WHAT IS IT? Rob Neuman’s Vocal Packs are a collection of three male vocal sample packs with 592 samples in between them. They have a bunch of different phrases and words, as well as random vowel sounds and whatnot.

THE 60S ROGERS POP KIT SINGLE HITS PACK WHAT IS IT? This drum pack is a collection of fairly decent sounding acoustic 60s drum samples. It’s easily compatible with Kontakt and the Reason/Ableton drum machines if you want to use it with them and has separate wav files if you don’t. Never used it personally, since I found it after buying EZDrummer, but it sounds fine from the demos (if a bit robotic).

STUDENT DISCOUNTS ABLETON LIVE STANDARD OR SUITE WHAT IS IT? C’mon. You know what Ableton is.

HOW MUCH IS IT? Standard is $449 normally and the Suite is $749. The discount is 40% off, which brings the price down to $269 (for Standard) and $449 (for the Suite). As far as I can tell, it doesn’t work with upgrading from the basic Ableton Live ($99) or upgrading from Standard to Suite. It also doesn’t apply to the basic Ableton Live afaik. But it does apply to the Ableton Live + Push deal, but that’s like $1000-$1300 and I know no one in this club can afford that.

I personally suggest just saving up for the suite and using a demo or something in the meantime. It costs like another $369 to upgrade from Standard to the Suite, which will run you ~$638 in total versus $449.

PS. It doesn’t stack with other sales

HOW DO I GET THE STUDENT DISCOUNT? Go here, click on one of the purchase links and verify your education status after you purchase. I don’t know the exact details because apparently you need to actually buy it first.

FL STUDIO SIGNATURE EDITION WHAT IS IT? It’s the box version of FL Studio Signature Edition. That’s the physical version with a USB stick, not the download.

HOW MUCH IS IT? FL Studio Signature Edition normally costs around $299. With the discount, you could end up paying anywhere from $229-$259 depending on where you buy it from. Most likely, you’ll get it for around $239. HOW DO I GET THE DISCOUNT? This one’s a little tricky and there’s a lot of steps to it. First you need to go to one of FL Studio’s resellers, not the actual site. You can find a list of them here and here. This will net you the academic version of FL Studio Signature Edition, which has most of the features of Signature edition but doesn’t give you a license to sell anything you make with FL commercially. In order to do that, you need to upgrade to the regular Signature edition after you install it, which costs $40. That’s still cheaper than just buying Signature.

SIBELIUS & PRO-TOOLS WHAT IS IT? Sibelius is one of the best sheet music and notation software on the market currently, if not the best. Pro- Tools is a DAW and is typical in most studios and used by professional mixers and engineers.

HOW MUCH IS IT? There are three versions: First (which lets you have up to 4 instruments score, $0), Sibelius (16 instruments per score, $299), and Ultimate (unlimited, $599). The student discounts vary, but for Sibelius the discount drops the price down to $199 and for Ultimate the price drops to $299. Monthly subscriptions are available, and the student discount can apply to those too.

Pro-Tools also has three versions: First (16 tracks and 4 Inputs, $0), Pro-Tools (128 tracks and 32 inputs and 60+ plugins, $599 for the box), and Ultimate (256 tracks and 192 inputs and 100 plugins, $999 for a download). Pro Tools drops down to $299 for the box and is the only version that has an available discount.

HOW DO I GET IT? Buy the educational versions during the checkout, then send them the proof of your enrollment to get the activation code. Easy.

SERUM WHAT IS IT? Serum is a wavetable synthesizer and is generally considered one of the best VSTs on the market.

HOW MUCH IS IT? Serum is usually around $189, the discount takes off 30% of the price, bringing it down to roughly $132.30. You can’t resell a discounted version though.

HOW DO I GET THE DISCOUNT? You need to use the Contact form on Serum’s website and ask them while providing proof of your attendance at school. When I did it, I just sent an e-mail from my school e-mail while asking nicely and they responded within about a week or so.

FABFILTER WHAT IS IT? FabFilter is a set of mixing/mastering plugins and synths. Some of the mixing/mastering plug-ins (especially EQ) are essentially the industry standard.

HOW MUCH IS IT? The full set is normally $999, but the plugins individually range from $34-$199. There are different bundles of the plugins at various prices. The student discount is a whopping 50% off, which puts a lot of the plugins in the “possibly affordable” range.

HOW I DO GET THE DISCOUNT? Go to this link and fill out the form, giving proof of your enrollment.

SYNTORIAL WHAT IS IT? Syntorial is a program that teaches you synthesis. It’s basically an interactive tutorial for designing cool sounds. It also comes with a synthesizer VST. If you buy it, you can download expansions that add tutorials for Serum, Massive, MiniMoog Voyager, Sylenth1, and CakeWalk. It’s highly recommended in the industry and has won a lot of awards. Full disclosure, I’ve personally started using this and also highly recommend it.

HOW MUCH IS IT? It costs $129.99 without. the discount. The Student Discount gives you 40% off, which bring it down to $77.99 or so. There is a free demo that covers the first 4 lesson groups (Basic Saw/Pulse Waves, Brightness, Volume & Press and Release, and Expanding Your Basic Sound), so you can try it before you buy it.

HOW DO I GET THE DISCOUNT? Go to this link. There is a form you have to fill out and you need to upload a scanned copy of your Driver’s License/State ID and some form of proof of enrollment (the easiest would be the Tuition Statement, which is found on the MyFSU page under Self-Service > Campus Finances > Account Summary > Tuition Summary).

SENNHEISER WHAT IS IT? Sennheiser is an audio equipment company and are mainly known for their headsets, headphones, and microphones. They’re pretty common in studios and live settings and one of the better brands out there. The E906 and E835 are really common choices. The E609 is also good for mic-ing guitar amps. If you’re buying a mic for vocals, I’d 100% suggest buying a pop filter (which you can get for $7-$12ish on Amazon). The e835 epack is what I’d recommend getting if you’re going for value (which is $115ish and includes a stand, clip, pouch, and XLR cable).

HOW MUCH IS IT? Their prices range from $100-$700 on microphones, $70-$1700 for over ear headphones, and $15-$1000 for earbuds. The student discount is 20% off.

HOW DO I GET THE DISCOUNT? You need to register an account with UniDays (which is a handy website to have an account with since they can direct you to a lot of other student discounts) and have them verify your student status. Some of the stuff on the site can’t have a student discount, but that doesn’t apply to most of the headphones and microphones. You can find a list of products that the discount doesn’t apply to on the terms page for the discount.

CASIO WHAT IS IT? Casio is a company that sells instruments and stuff relating to instruments.

HOW MUCH IS THE DISCOUNT? The discount is 10% off any purchase over $69.

HOW DO I GET THE DISCOUNT? This is probably one of the easiest ones to get, just enter the coupon code (currently SD10) during the checkout. That’s it.

SQUARESPACE WHAT IS IT? One of the like…8 websites that sponsors all of the YouTube videos. Also, they host websites, e-stores, and domains and stuff.

HOW MUCH IS IT? Their prices range from $144-$480 yearly or $16-$46 on a month-month basis. The discount is a whopping 50% off your first year if you register, bringing it down to $72-$240 for the first year.

HOW DO I GET THE DISCOUNT? Simply register with your .edu e-mail address. Go here and search for Florida State University in the drop- down menu and click it, then click “Get Started”.

RECOMMENDATIONS (THAT AREN’T FREE) Note: recommendations with student discounts are covered in the above section.

PAT PATTISON BOOKS THE BOOKS WRITING BETTER LYRICS The subtitle for this book is “The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting” and it’s not exaggerating. Written by the Professor of Songwriting at the Berklee College of Music, this is by far the best book to learn songwriting from. If you ever want to learn to write lyrics, this book is a must.

SONGWRITING WITHOUT BOUNDARIES A companion book to Writing Better Lyrics, this gives you lots of bonus exercises to hone your songwriting craft. It’s not essential, but highly recommended.

SONGWRITING: ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LYRIC FORM AND STRUCTURE A book published by the Berklee College of Music Songwriting that focuses specifically on songwriting structure with loads of exercises.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE The books are cheaply available off Amazon and hover around the $10-15 range each. Not too bad for a book you’ll probably using for the rest of your music career.

SAMUEL ADLER – THE STUDY OF ORCHESTRATION THE BOOK This is one of the big three of orchestration books, alongside the Forsyth (available freely above, though the Forsyth is much more technical) and the Piston (see below). It’s the book I learned orchestration from and is pretty much standard in music schools across the world. It’s currently in its fourth edition. WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Depending on the edition and whether you get a used copy or not, you can shell out anywhere between $10- $200 for this. Don’t bother with the CD or online listening materials, as they’re much more expensive and you can easily find the pieces online for free. The 2nd edition goes for about $10-72 (get the hard cover since it’s cheaper) off of Amazon, and the 3rd edition (the one I used) you can get for about $50-55ish depending on price. The cheapest for the most recent 4th edition is around $89-130 used on Amazon.

WALTER PISTON – ORCHESTRATION THE BOOK The last of the big three orchestration books alongside Forsyth and Piston. I haven’t personally used this one, but it’s just as commonly used as the Adler above.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE The book can be bought for as cheap as $42ish, and the price can go up to around $130. Your best bet is Amazon, but you can get a cheap one from biblo.com for $42 including shipping and handling.

WILLIAM RUSSO – COMPOSING FOR THE JAZZ ORCHESTRA THE BOOK One of the best books for learning jazz arrangement, and a good resource for learning jazz theory as well.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE You can get the book off Amazon for around $6, including S&H.

KOSTKA & PAYNE – TONAL HARMONY THE BOOK This is the book I learned basic music theory from. Covers loads of topics from basic forms to modulations to the circle of fifths and explains them well. Has loads of examples for each topic too. It’s currently in its 8th edition, but any edition from the 6th on will do just fine. Definitely recommend.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Naturally, Amazon. The sixth edition ranges from $17-25 which isn’t too shabby. The current 8th edition will cost you an arm and a leg. If you’re really hurting on cash, you can get the 4th edition (a little outdated but it should give you the basics) for around $10. Or just ask to borrow my 4th edition. If you’re willing to splurge, I’d recommend getting the workbook too (which is around $45 for the 6th edition and $120ish for the 8th).

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG – FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPOSITION WHAT IS IT? Love or hate his music, you can’t deny that Schoenberg is great at music theory. This is probably one of the standard theory books out there, and it’s one of the best resources for studying form and structure.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Your best bet here is actually Barnes and Noble, where you can get it for $15ish including S&H.

RICK SNOMAN – DANCE MUSIC MANUAL WHAT IS IT? It’s a guide to producing dance music, from the ground up. It covers genre characteristics and basic production skills like basic synthesis, vocal recording, and etc. It doesn’t cover much music theory outside of the genre characteristics I mentioned above. In fact, you’d be okay just skipping Chapter 10 entirely and learning theory elsewhere. What this book is good for is learning all the standard EDM production “lingo” and what the basic types of sounds are called, how they’re used, and the typical characteristics of popular (and formerly popular) genres. It’s more a book on arrangement and production than theory.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Amazon, naturally. It’s available for as low as $7.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS – MASSIVE WHAT IS IT? Massive is a wavetable synthesizer and one of the most popular synthesizers out there. It rivals Serum in its power, usability, and popularity.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Your best bet is going to the official website and buying it there. It costs about $149.

SYLENTH1 WHAT IS IT? Sylenth1 is an analog synthesizer and of the most popular synthesizers out there, alongside Serum and Massive.

WHERE TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Again, the official website. It costs ~$161 one-time or $11.52 a month.

EASTWEST PRODUCTS WHAT IS IT? East West is a company that specializes in virtual instruments. They’re internationally renowned and the quality of their plug-ins is so high that they are frequently used in professional film scores. Their Symphonic Orchestra, Piano, and Hollywood Choir plug-ins are some of the best (if not THE best) on the market, and their world instrument packs aren’t too shabby either.

WHEN TO BUY & PRICE RANGE Fortunately for literally everyone, East West loves having sales. Just wait until literally any holiday and you can get BOGO or ½ off plug-ins. Normally, their plug-ins can run anywhere from $399-$935, but with sales you can get them for around $199-$699. They also have a monthly subscription service, which gives you access to almost everything they have for around $30 a month.

If you’re wondering which edition of a plug-in to get, the Gold version is always a safe bet. Platinum gives you a couple extra mic positions and features which gives you a bit more customizability in the sound. Silver is a “lite” version, which can’t do as much and doesn’t sound as amazing.