Best Free VSTs: Woodwinds

Posted November 9, 2021

Virtual flutes, now available in seven flavors.

Woodwinds section

Ensemble sustains/staccatos: Red Room Audio Palette – Primary Colors includes various dynamics. The overall sound favors the double reeds section. NKI (Woocommerce + Pulse)
Ensemble aleatoric: ProjectSAM The Free Orchestra‘s “Wild Winds” patch has various runs with a flute, oboe, clarinets and bassoons. NICNT (account)

Flutes

Transverse flutes

Flutes you play like a corn cob.

Bamboo flute: Jan Sutti’s WooFlute is an unidentified six-hole transverse bamboo flute ranged G4-C6. It has sustains, staccatos, marcatos, and flutter tongue. The sound isn’t super professional but the breathy quality makes it sound highly realistic compared to ye olde SoundFont or modeled synth woodwind. NKI
Daegeum (large Korean flute): 36play Samhyeon-Yukgak has a jeongak daegeum with some really nice vibrato. NKI; CATSNU Gugak LE has both jeongak and sanjo daegeums with a few more variations on vibrato. NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Dizi: Kong Audio Mini DiZi Win VST; Placeholder Stick’s Dizi from Freesound contains mordents, so it’s probably best to only use it for accents. SF2
Shinobue (Japanese bamboo flute): おとわび Shinobue NKI
Sogeum (small Korean flute): CATSNU Gugak SoGeum LE NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)

Concert flute

You know… “flute!”

Solo sustains/staccatos/flutter tongue/half note trills/grace notes/falls/crescendos

MSLP Flute Grbavac for Kontakt and Reason has sustains with and without vibrato. NKISXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist & Ivona Grbavac)

Solo legatos/sustains

Malaclypse the Younger’s Party Pipes‘ “Fruit Machine” and “Plastic Fruit” patches are concert and treble flutes, respectively. The versions not marked “keys” are designed to be used with a breath controller. SFZ

Alpine Project‘s Flute patch NKI (newsletter)

Solo legatos/staccatos

Fluffyaudio Simple Flute NKI (FastSpring)

Solo swells

NFO: Orchestral Swells‘ Woodwinds patch has a flute that can be soloed. NKIdspreset (account)

Solo overblown sustains

G-Town Church Sampling Project Overblown Flutes as a Kontakt instrument or part of the whole SFZ library NKISFZ (attribution @ Tobias Marberger)

Solo tremelos

Philharmonia‘s woodwind set has a few flute tremolos. MP3

Solo key sounds

Conrad Mollenhauer – Flute Key Staccato NKI (account)

Ensemble sustains/staccatissimos

Spitfire BBCSO Discover includes a flute section. VSTAUAAX (newsletter)

Solo sustains/staccatos

VSCO2 Piccolo VSTAU

Spitfire BBCSO Discover includes a piccolo. Just one. All alone. VSTAUAAX

Danso (Korean bamboo flute)

CATSNU Gugak DanSo LE includes sustains with and without vibrato, as well as various ornaments. NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)

Kuvytsi (Russian pan pipes)

EdgeSounds SF2: Kugikly SF2 (EdgeSounds)

Ney (Persian flute)

Faycel Sounds Nayat Arabiya NKI

Native Instruments Kontakt Factory Selection has one under “World.” NICNT (account)

Pan flute/panpipe

Gu Ziqing’s Bird Whistle is a decent generic pan flute soundalike. NKI (account)

Siku (Peruvian pan flute): Trackxico’s Zampoña Pan Flute v1 GM patch SF2; Stefingo Unosson’s Hoveflute NKI (account)

Quena (Bolivian flute)

Les Studios Palace Quena NKI (Sendowl)

Shakuhachi

Kontakt Factory Selection Shakuhachi has one under “World.” NICNT (account)

Samplephonics Shakuhachi has sustains and staccatos. NKIALPEXSSFZM5PSXTvstpreset (account)

KKLab Otoshi Dama 2019 contains some breathy shakuhachi ornaments and licks. Warning: sample filenames are in Japanese, so you should extract using the proper locale to avoid encoding errors. NKI (account)

Suling (Indonesian bamboo ring flute)

Monster Ethnica‘s “Suling Melayu” patch VSTAU (Maize)

Xiao (Chinese bamboo flute)

JADE Ethnic Orchestra Xiao Freebie includes legato, sustains, and ornaments. NKI (Strezov)

Vessel flutes

Flutes you play like a… dumpling?

Aztec death whistle: Boom Library Free Sounds – Death Whistle WAV (Woocommerce)
Kukkopilli¹ (Eastern European rooster whistle): Atom Hub Free Cuckoo Clay Bird NKI
Hun (Korean musical dumpling): CATSNU Gugak Hun LE NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Kazoo: NoiseCollector’s KAZOO! as a VST, Kontakt instrument, or SFZ (listed as “Kazoo One”) Win VSTNKISFZ (attribution @ NoiseCollector)
Ocarina: VCSL‘s “Ocarina, Typical” patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZ (Github); VCSL‘s “Ocarina, Small” patch as a Kontakt instrument, plug-in, or SFZ with samples NKISFZ (none or Github); Precisionsound Peruvian Ocarina NKISFZEXSFXP
Train whistle: VCSL‘s Train Whistle, Toy as a Kontakt instrument (“Train & Whistle”) or SFZ with samples) NKISFZWAV (Github)

Fipple flutes/whistles

Flutes you play like a hot dog with a… fipple on it…? I’ve lost the metaphor.

Apito (samba whistle): Gomafu Sounds Roulette Samba Whistle NKI (account)
Ball whistle: VCSL‘s Ball Whistle patch as a Kontakt instrument (“Train & Whistle”) or SFZ with samples NKISFZWAV (none or Github)
Recorder: Unreal Instruments Two Whistles has legato, sustain, slurs, staccato, half- and whole-tone trills, mordents, grace notes, and appoggiaturas. SFZ; Walid Feghali’s Feroyn’s Flute is your basic legato recorder. NKI (account); VCSL‘s Baroque Recorders as Kontakt instruments, one plug-in (“4 Recorder Pack”), or SFZ files (soprano SFZ mapping and samples, alto SFZ mapping and samples, tenor SFZ mapping and samples, bass SFZ mapping and samples) NKIVSTAUSFZ (none or Github)
Piccolo/Garklein recorder: Eamon’s Garklein NKI (account)
Shittyflute (meme recorder): smartelectronix dmiflute is a modeled flute that can sound like a dumpster fire with just a few parameter tweaks². VST; Fracture Sounds Emotional Recorder! NKI (Woocommerce); MSLP Recorder Out of Tune SXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist)
Shvi (Armenian fipple flute): TAQSIM Free‘s Shvi patch is a little cheesy sounding, but are you really in a position to complain, person who needs a virtual shvi? NKI (newsletter OR account)
Siren whistle: VCSL‘s Siren patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)
Slide whistle: Ethan Winer’s Slide Whistle has various pre-recorded up and down slides. SF2; Orange Tree Samples Free Slide Flute uses the mod wheel to emulate the sliding mechanism. NKI
Spilåpipa (Swedish pastoral flute): Stefingo Unosson’s Evertsberg NKI (account)
Tin whistle: Cordaro Rodriguez’ Legato Tin Whistle also includes a sprinkling of appoggiaturas, gruppettos, and mordents. NKI (account)

Single reeds

Xaphoon (bamboo “saxophone”): FluffyAudio Bamboo Xaxophone NKI (FastSpring); MSLP Maui Xaphoon for Kontakt (listed as “Tropical Typhoon”) and Reason has a shriller sound. NKISXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist & Christoffer Ahde)
Zhaleika (Russian hornpipe): EdgeSounds SF2: Jaleika SF2 (EdgeSounds)

Clarinets

Solo alto sustains: Malaclypse the Younger’s Party Pipes‘s “Big Stick” patch is an alto clarinet. SFZ; Abisai Ochoa’s Durango Folk Horn Band has the “Clarinet Durango” patch which has some fairly nice vibrato as SoundFonts go. SF2
Solo bass legato/sustains: Alpine Project‘s Bass Clarinet patch NKI (newsletter)
Solo soprano legato/sustains: Alpine Project has E♭ and B♭ soprano clarinets. NKI (newsletter)
Solo soprano sustains/staccatos: VSCO2 Clarinet has a somewhat nasal quality. VST; Christopher Maier’s Bedroom Clarinet is less pristine — an intimate, “imperfect” clarinet. NKI (account)
Solo soprano sustains: Faycel Sounds Clarinet Arabiya has a lot of vibrato and almost a soprano sax-like character. It is intended for Middle Eastern styles of music. NKI
Solo soprano swells: Catherine Hillier’s Subtle Clarinet NKI (account)
Ensemble sustains/staccatissimos: Spitfire BBCSO Discover has a clarinet section. VSTAUAAX (BBCSO + Spitfire)

Saxophones

Solo alto legato/sustains: Alpine Project‘s Alto Sax patch NKI (newsletter)
Solo alto sustains: Karoryfer Samples Weresax SFZ; Sika Oriental Scale as a Kontakt instrument or VST has legato/sustain with very lively vibrato. Deselect the red keys on the little keyboard to use Western tuning. NKIVST
Solo baritone sustains/staccatos: Karoryfer Samples Bear Sax also has some growls and noises. SFZ
Solo saxello sustains: VCSL‘s Saxello as a Kontakt instrument, plug-in, or SFZ with samples NKIVSTAUSFZ (none or Github)
Solo soprano sustains: DSK Saxophones has a soprano sax. VSTAU; DVS Saxophone… Yes, it’s the Mettaton one. Win VST
Solo soprano trills/subtones/slap tongue: Philharmonia‘s woodwinds MP3
Solo tenor sustains: FreePats Tenor Saxophone SFZSF2; Hidde Pieters’ Tenor Saxophone dspreset (account)

Double reeds

Bombard (Breton shawm): Michel Cöme’s Celtic Soundfont‘s “Bombarde” patch has a few pitches. SF2
fCrumhorn (medieval musical candy cane): Sasje’s Crumhorn is made using modular synthesis. NKI
Duduk³: Evolution Series World Colors Clar-Duduk has sustains, staccatos, crescendos, slides, mordents, and appoggiaturas. The sound resembles a clarinet and has a very lovely vibrato, though the transitions between notes aren’t great. NICNT (Woocommerce); BALKAN Ethnic Orchestra Duduk Freebie has legato, sustains, and various mordents. NKI (Strezov)
Piri (Korean double reed): CATSNU Gugak LE has a hyang-piri, se-piri and dang-piri. NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Taepyeongso (Korean oboe): CATSNU Gugak TaePyeongSo LE has sustains, staccatos, ornaments, and some of the most sarcastic vibrato I’ve ever heard in my life. NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Zurna (Middle Eastern double reed): Faycel Sounds ZURNA NKI

Concert oboe

The word “oboe” comes from the French hautbois. What a great name for an instrument you blow on.

Solo legato/sustains: Alpine Project‘s Oboe patch NKI (newsletter)
Solo sustains: Florestan Woodwinds includes the oboe from Fluid as one of the patches. SF2
Solo trills/tremelos: Philharmonia‘s woodwinds MP3
Solo swells: NFO: Orchestral Swells includes a Woodwinds patch with an oboe that can be soloed. It’s a bit pad-like. NKIdspreset (account)

Ensemble sustains/staccatissimos: Spitfire BBCSO Discover includes an oboe section. VSTAUAAX (BBCSO + Spitfire)

Cor anglais/English horn

Solo legato/sustains: Alpine Project‘s English Horn patch NKI (newsletter)
Solo sustains: Dannenberg Wind Oscillator has a decent modeled one. ENS (account); Philharmonia‘s woodwinds set has some non-looping sustains. MP3; Ziya Mete Demircan’s English Horn has regular and vibrato sustains. SF2

Bassoons

Time to adore the Earth.

Solo bassoon legato/sustains: Alpine Project‘s Bassoon patch NKI (newsletter)
Solo bassoon sustains: Ethan Winer’s Bassoon NKISF2; Dannenberg Brass has a decent modeled one. ENS (account)
Solo bassoon swells: NFO: Orchestral Swells includes a Woodwinds patch with a bassoon that can be soloed. NKIdspreset (account)
Solo contrabassoon sustains: Dannenberg Wind Oscillator has a decent modeled one. ENS (account)
Solo contrabassoon sustains/staccatos/flutter tongue: Philharmonia‘s woodwinds MP3
Ensemble sustains/staccatissimos: Spitfire BBCSO Discover has a bassoon section. VSTAU (BBCSO + Spitfire)

Indeterminate quantity of reeds

Bagpipes: FreePats Bagpipes SFZSF2
Binioù kozh (Breton bagpipes): Michel Cöme’s Celtic Soundfont‘s “Biniou coz” patch has a few pitches. SF2
Cornemuse (French bagpipes): Michel Cöme’s Celtic Soundfont‘s Cornemuse patch has a few pitches. SF2
Bock (Bohemian bagpipes): Soundbytes Dudy has ranges for chanter and drone sounds. SF2S3P
Uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes): Kelan Rooney’s Uilleann Pipes NKI (account)

Free reeds

Free virtual instrument series

View the main page or learn more about 📕 plug-in formats. licenses and download requirements.

🎹 Pianos, organs, & keyboards
🎤 Solo vocals, choirs
🎻 Orchestral strings
🎸 Guitars, harps, lutes, & zithers
🎷 Woodwinds & free reeds
🎺 Brass & horns
🔔 Idiophones
🥁 Drums, percussion
Synths & drum machines – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)
DAWs, samplers, & FX – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)

Footnotes

I don’t know for certain if this is a kukkopilli but it seemed like the closest fit ok it is a bird-shaped vessel flute with one hole
See example. This instrument is best described in the words of the sole commenter when he astutely noted, “lmaoooo.”
Perhaps owing to its use in a number of cinematic soundtracks in the early 2000s, the Armenian duduk has become a surprisingly popular sample instrument. It is apparently also the sound behind the fictitious tsungi horn and double flute. Thanks, Wikipedia!