Music Resource Library

A growing document of curated music resources from here and around the web

About This Library

Welcome! Looking for quality free plugins, presets or samples? They're below + tons of other articles, videos and free resources to help you improve at making music. The downloads are resources I've tried and probably use often. The articles, videos and tutorials are quality, NO BS, content that I've checked out (or wrote) and will help you improve.

The Index

Resource Suggestions

I love hearing about great free resources! If you have a suggestion for the library you can reach out to me on the contact page. I’ll check it out and if it’s a good fit, I’ll put it in ASAP.

Free Downloads

Spitfire Labs

Samples

Orchestral stuff, synthesizers, and just weird awesome instruments by the legendary company, Spitfire. Get them all. (Spitfire)

Spitfire Moon Guitar

Komplete Start

Variety of Free Stuff

7 Synthesizers, samples, and more all for free. Incredible. (Native Instruments)

Tokyo Dawn Labs

Variety of Free Stuff

Maybe the highest quality mixing plugins you can get for free. Nova EQ, SlickEQ and the Kotelnikov Compressor. All worth the download. (Tokyo Dawn Labs)

Tokyo Dawn Labs Nova

OTT and More

Variety of Free Stuff

From the creator of Serum, the OTT is a multiband compresor used widely by electronic producers. Get it and others. (Xfer Records)

U-He FREE SYNTHS

Variety of Free Stuff

Scroll down to the bottom of their products page for a list of amazing free synths and other goodies. (U-he)

Zebralette by U-he

Diva Presets

Presets

30 House Presets created by Sound7. I particularly dig the Chord based presets. This is a direct download link provided for Music Sequencing. Check out their website, Sound7, for templates, samples and more presets. (Sound7)

Boscomac

Variety of Free Stuff

The most incredible donationware synths and effects. Warning: You need the full version of Reaktor 5 or 6 (which is you have to buy) to use. (Boscomac)

Ableton Live Lite

DAW

Free limited version of Ableton Live. A DAW popular in electronic music and for live performances. (Ableton)

Pro Tools First

DAW

Free limited version of Pro Tools, great for testing out how you might like it. (Avid)

LMMS

DAW

A Free, open-source DAW. (LMMS)

99 Sounds

Samples

They promise "free sound effects and sample libraries of commercial quality, at no charge" and they deliver. (99Sounds.org)

Samplefino

Samples

Free Drum Samples with Email (Samplefino)

Free Sound

Samples

A ton of free sounds of various quality and license requirements. Still worth knowing about. (FreeSound.org)

Ozone Imager

Stereo Imager

Great free plugin for spreading sounds across the stereo spectrum. (iZotope)

Softube Saturation Knob

Distortion

Softube is a highly reputable company with highly skilled engineers, this is an amazing free saturation plugin. (Softube)

Saturation Knob by Softube

Temper

Distortion

A very interesting distortion plugin. (Creative Intent)

Youlean Loudness Meter

Meter

Checking the perceived loudness of your music is an important step in today's world of streaming. (Youlean)

Youlean Loudness Meter

Span

Meter

A great spectrum analyzer. Alway mix with your ears, this plugin is still great for checking your work. (Voxengo)

Span Plugin

Tan

Compressor

A free VCA-style compressor. (Acustica)

Vinyl

Creative

A lo-fi effect that can add mechanical noise, dust, scratches and create the sound of a record stopping. (iZotope)

Roth-AIR

Creative

A saturation / eq / multiband compressor that boosts high frequency content in a pleasing way. (Daniel Rothmann)

Valhalla Freq Echo

Delay

A quirky echo effect by the legends at Valhalla. (Valhalla)

Valhalla Freq Echo

PanCake2

Creative

A customizable stereo panner. (Cable Guys)

PitchProof

Creative

A Harmonizer and pitch shifter. (Aegean Music)

Brainworx bx_subfilter

Creative

Neat little filter for processing low frequencies. (Brainworx)

Basics

The Basics of Music Production

Video and Article

Originals from Music Sequencing including videos/articles like "Audio Effects Explained for Beginners" and "What DAW Should You Use". (Music Sequencing Original)

Audio

Digital Audio Basics: Sample Rate and Bit Depth

Article

A great explanation of Sample Rates and Bit Depth. Basic information anyone working in digital audio should be know. (Presonus)

Producing

Producing by Music Sequencing

Video and Article

Originals from Music Sequencing that will expand your producing knowledge. (Music Sequencing)

Intro to Synthesis

Video

Old video but great info introducing the basics of synthesis, i.e. making sounds with synthesizers. (New York School of Synthesis)

Sound Design Playlist

Video

A collection of videos from around youtube about sound design. (Various)

Recording

Recording Videos and Articles by Music Sequencing

Video and Article

Originals from Music Sequencing that will expand your recording knowledge. (Music Sequencing)

The Truth About Recording Levels

Video and Article

Sets the record straight on recording levels in digital audio. (Pro Sound Web)

Mixing

Mixing by Music Sequencing

Video and Article

Originals on mixing explaining mixing techniques, how to use different effects and more. (Music Sequencing)

Tracks to Practice Mixing

Interactive

Free to download multi-track recordings for you to practice mixing + other resources. (Cambridge Music Technology)

Interactive Frequency Chart

Interactive

A useful reference chart of where many instruments fall on the frequency spectrum. (Independent Recording)

Mix With the Masters

Video

The free videos from a paid site where professional mixing engineers tell you about mixing. (Mix With The Masters)

Gregory Scott: Demolishing the Myths of Compressions

Article

Fantastic article clarifying some common misconceptions about comression. (Attack Magazine)

4 Types of Analog Compression—and Why They Matter in a Digital World

Article

Essential knowledge for anyone using emulations of classic compressors. (iZotope)

Mastering

Free Guide: Mastering with Ozone

PDF

Great guide for mastering whether you have Ozone or not. This is a direct download link. (iZotope)

Music Mastering Masterclass with Joe Lambert

Master Class

A great masterclass from a professional mastering engineer. (SonicScoop)

How to Master Your Music in 5 Simple Steps

Video

A good, clear teacher, who will give you the skinny on mastering your own music without baloney. (Into the Mix)

Is Your Track Loud Enough / Loudness Penalty Plugin

Video and Article

Loudness explained well. Meauring your track and getting it to the right loudness for streaming. (White Sea Studio / Ian Shepard)

When In Doubt, Dither

Article

What dither is and why you should do it. (Ian Shepard)

Studio / Gear

The Studio by Music Sequencing

Video and Article

Originals explaining how to build a studio, various studio gear, and custom implementation of music tech.(Music Sequencing)

Gear Reviews from Music Sequencing

Video and Article

A collection of the gear reviews done by Music Sequencing. (Music Sequencing)

Ear Training

Teoria Musical Ear Training

Interactive

Ear training practice for intervals, chords, melodic dictation and more. (Teoria.com)

Sound Gym

Interactive

Ear training for mixing engineers with games and stuff. (SoundGym)

Music Theory

A comprehensive guide to basic music theory for EDM producers

Article

A very helpful guide written on Reddit to the basics of music theory. (u/ShitBirdMusic)

The Circle of Fifths - How to Actually Use It

Video

A helpful description of the circle of fifths (Michael New)

Music Business

How to Get All Your Music Royalties: ASCAP, BMI, PRS, SoundExchange, PROs and the Rest

Article

Article updated on May 9th, 2019 on how to collect royalties for your music. (Ari's Take)

Promotion

Spotify for Artists

Website

The Official Spotify for Artists Site. (Spotify)

Spotify playlists: your secret guide to getting featured

Article

Article detailing strategy to get on playlists. (promoly)