What’s new at Zystrix? Read on… July 10, 2023 In this issue I’d like to cover some very interesting fake science news, a big thanks and a shout-out to painter and artist Carol Alden, another free download of piano music by Dangerous Neighbors called Feared Missing, and the continuing review of worthwhile free plugin downloads available right here right now. Because of the Independence Day holiday I didn’t get to cover everything I wanted to here, so those plugins and pedals will be reviewed July 24, 2023. Zystrix Fake Science News Special The European Space Agency sent a manned mission to Titan, a moon of Saturn, several months ago. Although the surface temperature is almost 300 degrees below zero F, they have managed to bring back rocks that are considered ancient evidence of how life began on earth and in our solar system. A popular evangelist preacher in Alabama claims this is fake science news because no one has ever proved that rockets can leave the earth, the holy book clearly shows that the earth is a flat firmament, and the 1969 USA landing on the moon is just a hoax. Actual fake science video footage is posted above. The Surounding Artwork Special thanks to Carol Alden for her oil painting artistry and creating this page background in primary colors. If you are looking at this page on a cell phone it’s probably out of visual range, but on a tablet or something bigger it’s the artwork that surrounds this page. Carol was at the Saint Joseph Art Fair on Lake Michigan July 8th and 9th, 2023 and travels the art fairs in Michigan during the summer months selling her paintings. Check out her paintings at her next show and tell her Fred at Zystrix says, “Hi”. Dangerous Neighbors There’s another piano piece available from Dangerous Neighbors if you like that sort of thing -- this one is called Feared Missing. It’s about 2 minutes 20 seconds long. The goal of this tune was to imply worry and tension so it’s not on beat everywhere and it doesn’t really resolve. Click this link to hear Feared Missing or simply visit the Dangerous Neighbors page -- the tune is also available near the top of that page. More Cool Free Plug-ins As you may remember I tried about 50 free plug-ins a couple weeks ago and here’s some more you may enjoy. Click the links and see what you thinks. Chow Centaur by Chow DSP As you can probably guess, this is a version of the Klon Centaur. Although I have never had the honor of playing through the original pedal, I have played through many variations of the same and I have to say this one is a worthwhile choice. It has a pleasant and smooth overdrive that makes any amp front end just sound better. Some people call it transparent distortion and, yes, it can definitely do that. For free this is an amazing plugin and should be considered mandatory ownership for any guitarist. It even sounds great on bass. Click here to download the Chow Centaur. Chow Matrix by Chow DSP If you need a complex and infinitely unpredictable multi-tap delay this download is for you. It goes from typically even repeats (tempo sync or not) to curious delays to outer space adventures to bizarre psychedelic dreams. The included presets are great starting points for designing new and personalized delays, or for inventing a trademark sound to sprinkle in your project. Used judiciously this plugin will make a guitar a super-wide multi-tap monster – great on solos. Overall this is an extraordinary delay effect for free, but be prepared; it’s only for the adventurous at heart. Killer. Click here to download the Chow Matrix. DR-84 Drum Machine by Pepto Audio This retro-style rompler type plugin is reminiscent of the 1980s drum machines (Roland, Simmons, E-MU, Yamaha, etc.) and it offers many of the same sounds. What’s a rompler? Rompler is a word combination of ROM (read only memory) and sampler, but without the ability to record new samples. This one only plays the pre-fabricated sounds built in. But that’s not a deal breaker. If you enjoy producing beats and loops then this plugin is a charm. Think Snoop Dog or Back Street Boys (and many others). I really like the GUI design; it’s intuitive and easy to get around on it quickly. If I had my druthers it would also have a sampler like the old Casio RZ-1 drum machine, but there’s a work-around for everything. All my old drum machines are long gone, but now they’re back again in an even better format. Click here to download the DR-84 by Pepto Audio. Softamp PSA by AXP If you enjoyed the original 1989 square black all analog Sans Amp guitar pedal and the subsequent improvement incarnations then you may like this plugin. Instead of spending over $300 USA for a used rack mount SansAmp PSA-1 manufactured in about the year 2000 (most come complete with rack rash) try this new and improved model. It definately rocks. It has all of the old features but they are overhauled and much better. I like the noise gate that “learns” the noise floor and automatically sets the gate. There’s a lot of different sounds offered here, and once you get something you like you may enjoy trying these experiments. Plug the Chow Centaur (link above) or the Overdrive Pedal by Viator DSP (link below) into the front of the PSA for more front end drive. Try using the NadIR with your favorite guitar cabinet impulse response(s) after it for a more modern or personalized sound (don’t forget to set both speaker emulator knobs to zero). Try using the Diabolique (see link below) to fatten up the output even more. Try running it into the Poulin HyBrit with your favorite impulse responses for a massive Marshall roar. This plugin is highly recommended – it’s better than owning the original. Click here to download the Softamp PSA by AXP. Diabolique by Ourafilmes If you want some realistic sounding warmth and smudge for your tracks give this one a try. It’s got all the glowing sound of an old tape deck in just about any amount imaginable without all the wow and flutter. Think of it more as tubes and tape and not as a transport. It goes even farther than an old tape deck could possibly go because driving one like this would have fried the front end. It would have been another trip to the repair shop because the old tape decks simply couldn’t take this kind of abuse. And if you like the sound of the old red Focusrite tube pre you may like the tube saturation offered here – they seem very similar. Diabolique will seriously heat up or smear any mix or track in a believable way (if that’s what you need), or it can pleasantly round off the edges of any hard cold digital signal you offer it. Very nice. Click here to download the Diabolique by Ourafilmes. Overdrive Pedal by Viator DSP This is a simple pedal with a great sound. There isn’t much to it: input, trim, drive, and tone. This unadorned pedal has a convincing smooth natural grind and seems to lean more to the tube style of overdrive. It’s also possible to overdrive the front end of this pedal for even more slammin’ sweetness. And when it’s maxed out it still seems pretty quiet – a nice feature. If you need a pedal that’s more aggressive but round and pleasant sounding this is an excellent choice. Click here to download the Overdrive Pedal by Viator DSP. Tiny Comp by EXE Consulting This muscle pedal kicks sand in the face of the old MXR Dyna Comp and makes it seem anemic. It has features I don’t think I’ve seen in any other pedal compressors including the expensive ones at the music stores. Choices like limiting, expander, and gate or the usual compression are the options. And it even does side-chain ducking via filter frequency. De-esser anyone? And the compression can be an analog or digital emulation. Is there anything it cannot do? I didn’t notice any stereo option, only left or right. But there’s a work- around for everything. Also, it would be nice if it had a mix option for blending in the natural signal for a little more snap. But that’s a small potato. This compressor pedal is top- dog, what the Dyna Comp wishes it could be, and that’s way more than good enough. Click here to download the Tiny Comp by EXE Consulting. Honorable Mention Swamp synthesizer by H. G. Fortune There’s a lot of complex sound coming out of only two oscillators. This synthesizer excels at pads, soundscapes, atmospheres that are ethereal, spooky, sci-fi, metallic, and just plain strange. If you are looking to add a creepy or mysterious background mood this one is an excellent choice. I especially like the Lazy button on the far right bottom of the interface for creating new presets in a hurry, although there are other Lazy buttons that are also helpful in quickly tweaking a new sound. I wish it had a dedicated way to save patches instead of using the DAW for saves, but there’s a work-around for everything. It even includes a PDF manual for diving a little deeper into presets. And the company also offers the newer Swamp XT and the Ultra Swamp synthsizers. Surprisingly both of these synths are also free. I’m not sure how they do it. That’s an amazing amount of talent and sonic complexity for free. Unfortunately H G Fortune has passed away and I suspect we will never see anything so singular and inventive as this ever again. Here’s all three synthesizers… Click here to download the Swamp by H.G. Fortune. Click here to download the Swamp XT by H.G. Fortune Click here to download the Ultra Swamp by H.G. Fortune Don’t touch that dial… Stay tuned next time… Next time we’re going over some other free plug-ins I found that you may like. Remember, the rules are #1 no e-mail needed, #2. no password or pass-key needed, #3. no extra downloads needed for the plug-in to operate correctly, #4. stability and ability to work in many DAWs. And if I get the time I am still going to compare and contrast two newer but popular guitar distortion pedals and I’ll even post the video on a famous video website. I hope you enjoy it. It’s always a pleasant surprise when I find an unexpected ten dollars in the jacket pocket of a stranger. Knowledge art, and music for all…

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This guitar IR download also includes a Tactical Munitions Manual with suggested uses and detailed cab combinations. This is the best free guitar impulse download available anywhere. Djammincabs Maxxx 4x12 “Murder Your Competition.” I feel brave. I want to try them now. Here’s my email... Djammincabs for Guitar Download Free Guitar Impulse Responses Click here to download over 200 Free Guitar Cabinet Impulse Responses. Djammincabs for Bass Guitar Download Free Bass Impulse Responses Click here to download over 200 Free Bass Guitar Cabinet Impulse Responses. Best Free Guitar Impulses. The Top 11 Best Free Guitar and Bass Cabinet Impulse Responses for 2022 (in alphabetical order…) Find, download, and test the best free guitar cabinet impulse responses for 2022. FREE BASS LOOPS SAMPLES DOWNLOAD ROYALTY FREE BASS LOOP SAMPLES FREE BASS LOOPS Over 200 samples are included in the collection Download the complete collection of 24-bit bass loops here. NOTE: This download size is approximately 369 Megs. Free Pendulate Synthesizer Presets Original Newfangled Audio Pendulate synth patches/presets Click here to download over 240 Free Pendulate Synth Presets (patches) Synapse Audio Dune Synthesizer Download Over 200 Free Synapse Audio Dune 2 and Dune 3 Synthesizer Patches and Presets Click here to download over 200 FREE Synapse Audio Dune 2 or Dune 3 synthesizer patches or presets. NOTE: This synth patch download is slightly over 1 Meg in size. Free Reverb Impulse Responses Choose from hundreds available in 48K 24 bit WAV format including new original reverbs. CabSpace Over 400 Guitar Isolation Booth Reverbs Download over 400 Free Zystrix Original Reverb Impulse Responses, and over 200 Free Zystrix Original BONUS Reverb Impulse Responses. Download all the Alesis MIDIVerb 4 reverb impulse responses. Download all the Lexicon MPX-1 reverb impulse responses. Download all the Alesis Wedge reverb impulse responses. Download over 50 Reverb Relics from the past. Click here to download free reverb impulse responses. Free Drum Samples Only Available from Zystrix Free Gong Samples and Sounds Free Snare Drum Samples and Sounds Free Bass Drum Samples and Sounds Free Oriental Cymbal Samples and Sounds Free Oriental Bells Samples and Sounds The Ultimate Original Drum Sounds List Download over 2000 original slammin’ rock bass drums. Download original Gongs, Cymbals, Broken Cymbals, and Bells. Download Over 200 Free Original Bass Drum Sounds and Samples. Download over 200 Original Free snare drum sounds. Click here to download Drum Kit Sounds. Dangerous Neighbors The SW Michigan Power Trio. Free Rockin’ Music Downloads The music for the next book will be out in 2023. Production is a little behind but there’s a sneak peek demo of how it’s supposed to go for the first tune on the album. This tune is called Sting of Death and it’s the backing music for the first chapter. Click here to download recent Dangerous Neighbors. Download tunes from the 80s to today. Use the special codes on the Embalmed for Life page (see the DOWNLOAD FREE AUDIO BOOKS link below) and get free downloads for the complete album and the free horror audio book The Fluid - Embalmed for Life. Click here to download various music from Dangerous Neighbors. Download Free Synth Samples for Intros, Interludes, and Endings Listen to example #01 by clicking here (MP3 Sample) Download FREE professional quality stereo sample packs that slowly evolve over time. All samples are in 48K 24 bit WAV format and are about 20 seconds long or more. If you like suspense, psycho, outer space, or terror then this collection is for you. These range from paranoia to sci-fi, cinematic gore to strange industrial horror, and creepy creatures to insane laboratories. Click here to download all the synth Intros, Interludes, and Endings. DOWNLOAD FREE AUDIO BOOKS The Fluid, Embalmed for Life There are Free Audio Book codes for Audible downloads (must sign up). There are also free sample downloads of the book reading. There are free downloads of music samples. There is a free “Look Inside” download of the paperback. There is a free glossary of the largest list of mortuary slang in the world. The Free Dangerous Neighbors Album The Fluid, Embalmed for Life comes included as part of the audio book and parts are available here as a free download. The paperback book is available for sale at Amazon dot com. I have no control over these sales; because of the Amazon agreement I cannot offer complete paperback or complete audio books here. I’m sorry for any inconvenience. Click here for free audio books, book reading samples, music samples, etc. NEW RULES NOTICE -- What Zystrix does with your download information… Take me back to the top of the page. 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