Helm: free synth plugin by Matt Tytel
Polyphonic subtractive synth from the maker of Vital. Free and open source.
Opens Matt Tytel's own site.
Put SCRAMBLE. on your synths and melodies
One button rolls a new FX chain: glitch, stutter, tape stop, chops, reverb, delay and vocal tune. There are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible chains, the same count as the positions of a 3x3 cube. Save 10,000 presets a day and 1% of them would take 118 billion years, over 8x the age of the universe.
Not just loops: drum buses, 808s and bass, hats, vocals and the master bus. 3,000+ downloads so far.
Free alternatives to Helm
All free synth plugins →
FreeVital
Wavetable synth with a free tier full of presets and wavetables. The free Serum alternative most producers start with.
FreeSurge XT
Open-source hybrid synth with hundreds of presets and a huge sound range.
FreeTAL-NoiseMaker
Virtual analog synth for basses, leads and plucks. Light on CPU.
FreeSynth1
The legendary free analog-style synth, with thousands of user patches online.
FreeOdin 2
Semi-modular hybrid synth with 24 voices, free and open source.
FreeTyrell N6
Six-voice analog-style synth from the makers of Diva.
FreePodolski
Simple, CPU-light virtual analog synth from u-he.
FreeZebralette 3
Free single-oscillator version of u-he Zebra's sound engine.
FreeTriple Cheese
Comb-filter synth with a metallic, plucky character.
FreeCardinal
Free modular synth with hundreds of open-source modules.
Ready to upgrade? Paid picks
All best plugins →
Serum 2
The wavetable synth behind a huge share of modern trap, EDM and pop sounds.
Omnisphere 2
Massive synth and sound library. A hip-hop and film-scoring staple.
Pigments
Wavetable, granular and analog engines in one colourful synth.
V Collection
Dozens of classic synths and keyboards recreated in software.
Diva
Analog synth emulation known for its rich, warm sound.
Helm FAQ
Is Helm free?
Yes. Helm is a free synth plugin from Matt Tytel. The button on this page goes straight to the maker's own download page.
What is Helm good for?
Polyphonic subtractive synth from the maker of Vital. Free and open source.
What are the best alternatives to Helm?
Other free synth plugins worth trying are Vital, Surge XT and TAL-NoiseMaker. See the full ranked list of free synth plugins.