Spitfire Audio Releases FREE LABS Obsolete Machines

Spitfire Audio releases Obsolete Machines as part of the free LABS collection.

One of the things that I like most about LABS is the mixture of conventional and unconventional sounds on offer. Spitfire Audio typically tries to make even the more traditional sounds somewhat special by using a rare instrument model, unique location, etc.

But, when it comes to unconventional sounds, this latest release might be the most out-there collection yet.

Obsolete Machines is a collection of wild, weird, and strangely interesting sounds sampled from the creations of Sam Battle.

Sam Battle is better known as the YouTuber Look Mum No Computer, and if you know his channel, you’ll know that he is something of a Dr. Frankenstein in the audio world. He takes what some might see as obsolete machines and creates one-of-a-kind noisemakers that blur the lines between genius and madness.

Sam’s work famously combines two of any synth-obsessed muso’s favorite things; synths and classic video game consoles.

Two of his most notable creations are the GameBoy Megamachine, a 6-voice synth that features eight original Nintendo Gameboy’s per-voice, and the Seaga MegaDrive Synth, which is my personal favorite since I was always a Sega kid.

As if those aren’t crazy enough, Sam created a real Frankenstein’s monster with his 1000 oscillator Megadrone or Kilo Drone.

Spitfire Audio captured sounds from all these machines and more at Sam’s museum, which is open to the public if you fancy seeing these devices for yourself.

Now, you can stop stressing about wanting a 1000-oscillator synth but not having enough space; you’ve got one inside the free Spitfire Audio plugin.

The plugin has the same controls as always, with the first fader adjusting expression, and the second fader is more patch-dependent, controlling things like dynamics, unison, and warp effects.

The FX wheel provides a Low/High Pass Filter, Reverb (multiple types), Attack, and Release.

I think it’s fair to say that some of the sounds you hear on Sam’s YouTube channel are more chaotic than musical, which is fine because it’s all very experimental and fun. When you take the fun and adventure of building these machines out of the mix and put the sound into a plugin, it has to be more musical, and it is.

I often talk about the beautiful sounds that LABS provides for free, but with Obsolete Machines; it’s a different kind of beauty. The chaos is still very much there, but the ability to slide between chaos/ridiculousness and pure, powerful harmony is what makes this collection interesting.

LABS has amazing free sounds for most occasions; check them out.

I’m still loving BA-1 from Baby Audio, so check that out, too, if you haven’t already. And if you like old computers, check out our free Commodore 64 instrument.

The free Spitfire Audio plugin is available in AU, VST2, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS (10.13 – 11) and Windows (7, 8, 10).

Download: LABS Obsolete Machines

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