I recently came across some really fun and interesting free VSTs made by a guy called Rex Basterfield. He’s been very prolific - I’ve only tried a fraction of them so far. They’re free in the true sense of the word - no licensing or authentication needed, just download, unzip and add them to a plugin folder.
There’s some sample modelling and some real world instrument simulations, plus some effects plugins, all as Windows VSTs. They’re compatible with Windows 7 onwards, though you may have to add a font to get some of the knob labels to appear, in Win 7. Some even work in XP.
His YouTube channel showcases some but not all, and gives a brief introduction to using them:
The full list is on his website:
Click the image for one to download it. FireFox blocks them but just use the Allow button in the Download dialog, then scan them if you’re worried. They’re perfectly safe.
I’ve been very impressed with some of the instruments. None of them are based on samples, they’re all algorithmically generated, some using physical modelling I haven’t tried the effects yet but some of those look interesting too.
Yes! That’s a good one. Since it’s an emulation, with knobs to adjust things, it can make some quite different bagpipe sounds too.
I’ve never played a full set but I do own a cheap chanter I’ve played a bit. I looked into electronic practice sets, which can be moderately expensive for that they are, but it wouldn’t be too hard to DIY a bagpipes MIDI controller - or I could just use one of my sax-like wind controllers.
Since it’s a niche market, there don’t seem to be many choices for synth plugins, and they’re mostly sample based, which is fair enough for bagpipes since they don’t have a lot of expression possibilities, but being able to set up your own sound seems like it would appeal to a lot of people, plus it could save some money.