As a guitarist, I love how a good vibrato can add a feel to a note. That natural warble that brings a note to life feels like a new world. Although we guitarists do that manually almost in every melody or solo, sometimes we need a pedal or, nowadays, a plugin to take that effect to extreme levels. So here comes the best vibrato plugins!
Vibrato pedals are a great help in creating deep seasick waves like we hear on Subterranean Homesick Allien of Radiohead or that natural warble in the songs of Mac DeMarco or Jimi Hendrix-style lead tones. Plugins come into help there to save us from finding those iconic pedals like Uni-Vibe, offering pretty amazing effects to shape our tone.
A common mistake here is related to the effects of tremolo and vibrato. While vibrato alters the signal’s pitch, tremolo is about changing the volume. So, the first creates a warbling effect, while tremolo creates a trembling effect. Tremolo thickens the sound, but vibrato adds expression and depth to solos and creates a psychedelic feel.
So, today, we will be in the realm of vibrato plugins to add that shimmer and swell to your guitar. Here, I will recommend 5 great units to have this effect in your collection and discuss how to use them to your advantage. So, let’s start vibrating!
1. Antelope Audio Adaptive Vibrato
Having a unit that can adapt itself to your playing style is a guitarist’s dream. Adaptive Vibrato is just like that with its dynamic and customizable design.
This unit is a part of the Synergy Core native plugin that offers a pretty realistic and natural effect. It feels more like an extension of your instrument. They tried and tested many different circuits to develop this virtual toybox.
I think what makes this plugin unique is the latch and trigger modes section. Latch mode is the standard mode, meaning the effect is applied when there is input signal. The Trigger mode, however, is a great touch that gives you precise control over how and when you want the effect to be applied. I love this as it is great for using it for dynamic playing.
Another feature I enjoyed was the five modulation forms, including sine, triangle, square, and both rising and falling sawtooth. With these selections, you can shape your effect depending on your tone. Be it subtle movement or a choppy, sharp impact, you can realize it.
The delay and rise control are also good additions to decide how the vibrato will evolve. You can go for a gradual swell to create drama by holding a long note and slowly letting the vibrato creep in. Or you can go for a fast kick-in for more high-tempo, rhythmically intricate partitions.
Finally, you have the dry-wet mix knob to blend the effect in as much as you like. The user interface has many controls, but it is quite intuitive and is easy to get used to.
Overall, Adaptive Vibrato is a pretty great choice. It gives you great control over your sound and is quite flexible when crafting different tones.
Adaptive Vibrato comes in VST3, AAX, and AU formats for Mac and VST3 and AAX formats for Windows.
2. Audiority Tube Modulator
The Tube Modulator brings back the vintage tremolo and vibrato effects from the iconic tones of the 60s with its multi-mode design. It is a great choice for those after that nostalgic warmth and character.
I like this modulation unit as it offers a good range of spatial and dynamic effects, including vibrato. All the units are authentic recreations of iconic vintage circuits. It comes with 7 modulation modes, 11 wave shape options, and spatial effects.
The modulation unit has tremolo, chorus, and uni-vibe, but combinations such as trem-vibe and chorus-vibe increase the versatility. From rhythmic pulses to subtle oscillations the unit offers quite a bit of creative possibilities.
I also appreciate the vibrato choices with 11 LFO wave shapes. The addition of experimental waveshapes is great for crafting unique tones. It also offers rate and depth controls to finetune the modulations.
Moreover, the panner, wide stereo simulators, and rotary speaker in the spatial effects section offer even further flexibility for rich soundscapes. This truly increases the versatility of the plugin allowing your sound to increase in width for a larger sound.
Another great feature for me is the XY scope, which gives real-time visual feedback to see the spatial positioning and modulation amplitude.
I must say this is a unit for guitarists who like a specific era in music, the psychedelic era of the 1960s and early 1970s, to be precise. So, if you don’t like the vintage feel and tube character warmth of valve amps, it is better if you pass this plugin.
In short, this is a highly versatile tool for musicians to craft vintage modulation effect combinations. Considering its price, versatility, and feature-packed design, I think it can be an important part of your toolkit.
Tube Modulator is available in VST, AAX, or AU formats for Windows 7 or above and Mac OS X 10.9 or higher.
3. MeldaProduction MVibratoMB
If you want control over your vibrato tone, check out MVibratoMB, which offers a unique approach with multi-band processing and precise modulation options across different frequency ranges.
The first thing I can say about MVibratoMB is its versatility in terms of GUI, effects, controls, and more.
I like it when plugins give the option of choosing between a basic user interface and an advanced one for more experienced users. The basic one has the fundamental parameters, and the expanded mode has so many controls and meters that it becomes overwhelming sometimes.
As for the effects, the multi-band is a great touch as it adds movement to the specific parts of your chosen tone without affecting the whole signal. It separates the audio into 6 bands to process it later individually. But, the catch is it can split the audio in different ways such as Level, Panorama, Frequency, Mid-Side, Transients, Tonal-Noise, and Parallel.
Another standout feature I found was the customizable LFO shapes with the LFO editor. It allows you to create custom LFO patterns to design your vibrato. You can piece together or draw the waveform to create unique vibrato patterns. Then, you can use the Smoothness control to make the vibrato steeper or sharper. And finally, the step sequencer is there to create the rhythmic modulation.
If you get overwhelmed with so many controls and options, you can basically use the simple interface mode and use the presets to create your sound. The preset choices are endless, as there is a global preset server to reach and use presets created by any plugin user worldwide.
With all these controls, the unit features very high versatility and gives a huge amount of control to the user. I think it is a great tool for sound design for game and film music as well as for guitarists who want to create unique tones.
MVibratoMB comes in VST, AU, and AAX formats for Windows 7 or higher and Mac OS X 10.7 or later.
4. Martinic Audio Scanner Vibrato
Modeled after the legendary tonewheel organ of the 1940s, Scanner Vibrato brings back the authentic character of the electromechanical effect with a simple GUI.
The unit does not offer a great range of features, as it comes with a straightforward user interface. But, with adjustable rate, depth, and stereo width as well as different chorus and vibrato effect choices, offers a good range of effects.
I like that the plugin has three chorus and three vibrato modes that you can either use together or choose to go with an individual one.
A great touch for me is that they changed the fixed rate design of the original hardware and added two different customizable rates to use, linked or unlinked. This opens the doors for more creative uses of the effect.
I think this VST is a great one for pads and strings, but actually, it is pretty interesting to use with guitars, too. It brings back the vintage warmth and allows the guitarists to create unique modulation textures.
I recommend using the C-1 and V-1 modes with low depth and rate settings for subtle movements in clean tones. For leads, I would go for V-2 or V-3, depending on your needs, with higher depth and rate.
Furthermore, the software offers 16 presets, which are pretty okay but need some tweaking. As it has a simple and intuitive interface, I would recommend experimenting with it instead of using the presets without touching any controls.
If you are looking for a versatile plugin to control every part of your effect, you might want to skip this one. But, if you are after a simple VST to add some vintage effects and not get hassled by complicated controls and GUI, this one is worth checking out.
Scanner Vibrato comes in VST and AAX formats for Windows 7 or higher and OS X 10.7 or later.
5. AudioThing Things Motor
For those looking for new and interesting ways to use modulation, Things Motor shines as an innovative and quirky plugin inspired by the experimental “Crystal Palace” device from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
As one of the surprising plugins I have used, I must say Things Motor does not only modulate; it transforms. It offers many effects, from chaotic chops to subtle warbles, and it truly gets you to ranges and experimental sound design. That being said, it also succeeds in acting like a traditional modulation VST.
It seems to me that the most important feature here is the multi-wave LFO. It drives vibrato, tremolo, and panning while you can choose the waveform from a good range of options, including Sine, Triangle, Ramp Up, Ramp Down, Square, Sine Up, Sine Down, Exp Up, Exp Down, and S&H.
My favorite part of the plugin was playing with LFO speed and sync. When I slowed it down, it gave me long and evolving movements, which sounded pretty subtle, but when I cranked it up, the tone became jittery and staccato-like. I really enjoyed the fast rate as it made my guitar pulse with energy.
The interaction between panning options and tremolo is also pretty interesting. I really loved how my guitar got hypnotic when I adjusted the stereo spread to make the sound dance between the speakers. I think this can come in handy for ambient and psychedelic tracks.
Along with some decent presets, there are also randomization options.
Finally, the interface looks vintage and nice, and it has a clean design. It is pretty straightforward with the fundamental knobs and controls.
I would suggest playing a simple arpeggio with a clean tone and letting the VST do its job. Experimenting with the settings will bring the tone to life in unpredictable ways, especially when you use randomization.
This is a pretty inspiring plugin that can serve as a playground for guitarists. You can go off the beaten path to create different soundscapes and create odd vibrato effects from subtle movements or full-blown weirdness.
Things Motor is available for Ma, Linux, and Windows in VST, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP, and AUv3 formats as well as a Standalone app.
Last Words
Before closing the list, I want to highlight some of these plugins that truly served me through the years, not just because of their features but also because they inspired creativity and transformed my tone in unique ways.
I love the Tube Modulator as it gives that warmth, vintage tones, and effects. It is great for creating nostalgic shimmers in clean tones or making the lead guitar more dramatic with pulses. MVibratoMB is the powerhouse selection with its multiband processing. I like it as it gives great control to my hand to craft my modulation effect. I can create any kind of movement that I want with the unit. Finally, Things Motor is my go-to plugin for experimentation. It has this unique modulation circuit along with a great randomization system to create atmospheric textures to go to unpredictable realms.
All the plugins on the list offer something special, and choosing the right one depends on your budget and needs. Whether you’re chasing vintage vibes, refined control, or untamed creativity, there is a plugin that will help you get what you want. These are great tools for shaping your voice as a guitarist. Hope you enjoy them in your workflow!
