BeatMaker has released Horror Box, a freeware sample-based virtual instrument in VST and AU plugin formats for PC and Mac.
Horror Box is a simple Halloween-inspired virtual instrument based on the Maize Sampler engine. It comes with nine instrument presets which are based on four layered sounds. The sample content takes around 100 MB of hard drive space when installed, but the included sounds can’t be accessed or downloaded separately as WAV files.
See also: Epic Halloween Sale @ Pluginboutique!The user interface features controls for filter cutoff, reverb amount, LFO rate and depth, as well as a simple attack/release amplitude envelope. It is also possible to choose the LFO waveform and the modulation destination. Located on left side of the GUI are the vertical sliders for controlling the volume of each sound layer. The layers are labeled “Strange Music Box”, “Another Dimension”, “They’re Here”, and “Core Horror”. By blending in different amounts of each layer, it’s possible to come up with some interesting sounding combinations, although they’re pretty much already covered in the included presets. Generally speaking, Horror Box is capable of delivering some decent horror-esque sounds, but it’s not very versatile or exciting from the sound design point of view.
The instrument is available for direct free download from the product page linked below and doesn’t require registration. The download is hosted at Google Drive.
Horror Box is available for free download via BeatMaker (70 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & macOS).
