LARYNX — Free Formant and Pitch Shifter Plugin (VST3, Windows)
LARYNX is a free formant and pitch shifter plugin for Windows 10/11 (64-bit), available as a VST3 and a standalone app. It shifts PITCH and FORMANT independently, so you can build octave-down demons with a normal-sized throat or chipmunk formants on the original note, flattens everything to a monotone C3 with ROBOT, and adds tube heat with DRIVE. It is the creative cousin of LOCKJAW inside BSMT.DSP, the free suite by Dr.dawgOG from Anand, Gujarat, and a free alternative to Soundtoys Little AlterBoy.
What LARYNX does
Every voice has two separate things going on: the pitch of the note being sung and the formants, the resonances of the throat and mouth that make the voice sound big or small, male or female, human or cartoon. Most cheap pitch shifters move both together, which is why pitching a vocal down makes it sound like a giant and pitching it up makes a chipmunk. LARYNX separates them. PITCH moves the note. FORMANT moves the apparent size of the throat. Move one, the other, or both in opposite directions.
ROBOT flattens the entire performance to a single monotone C3, the flat robotic delivery used on hooks, intros and vocoder-style ad-libs. DRIVE adds tube saturation on the way out, so a shifted voice comes back with warmth and grit instead of the glassy sound pitch algorithms tend to leave behind. Where LOCKJAW is the corrective, musical tuner, LARYNX is the dark creative tool.
Deep voices, harmony layers and robot hooks
The classic use is the octave-down double: duplicate the hook, drop PITCH by twelve semitones and raise FORMANT slightly so the low voice keeps a human throat rather than a monster's. Blend it under the main vocal for weight. For a female-to-male or male-to-female character voice, leave PITCH alone and move only FORMANT. For a hook that needs the robot, engage ROBOT and let the monotone sit against the melody of the beat.
On ad-libs, small formant shifts up or down make one rapper sound like a crew of different people, which is cheaper than booking a crew. LARYNX runs as a VST3 in FL Studio, Ableton Live, Reaper, Studio One, Cubase and Bitwig on Windows, and it is fun in the standalone app with a microphone.
How to use LARYNX
- Duplicate the vocal or place LARYNX on a send if you want to blend the effect under the original.
- Set PITCH in semitones; minus twelve for an octave-down double, plus seven for a harmony layer.
- Adjust FORMANT independently to keep the voice human, or push it for a character voice.
- Engage ROBOT for a monotone hook and add DRIVE to warm the result before it hits the mix.
LARYNX features
- Independent PITCH and FORMANT shifting
- ROBOT mode flattens the voice to a monotone C3
- DRIVE adds tube saturation on the output
- Octave-down doubles, character voices and harmony layers from one take
- The creative counterpart to LOCKJAW's corrective tuning
- VST3 and standalone for Windows 10/11 64-bit, free with no signup
LARYNX vs the alternatives
How LARYNX compares with the free and paid formant + pitch mangler plugins producers usually shortlist. The row for LARYNX is highlighted.
| Plugin | Price | Windows formats | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| LARYNX (BSMT.DSP) | Free, no signup | VST3, standalone | Independent pitch and formant, ROBOT monotone, tube DRIVE |
| Soundtoys Little AlterBoy | Paid (around USD 99 list) | VST2, VST3, AAX | Paid anchor: pitch, formant, robot and drive in one box |
| GVST GForm | Free | VST2 only | Formant shifter from the 2000s; VST2 only |
| Minimal Audio Formant | Free | VST3, AAX, CLAP | Modern free formant tool with a different feature set |
Prices are vendor list prices as seen in August 2026. Formats listed for Windows only.
LARYNX specs
| Plugin | LARYNX (formant + pitch mangler) |
| Category | VOCALS |
| Price | Free. No account, no email, no trial, no watermark. |
| Formats | VST3 (64-bit) and a standalone app |
| Operating system | Windows 10 / Windows 11, 64-bit. macOS build in progress (the download button switches when it ships). |
| Works in | FL Studio, Ableton Live, Reaper, Studio One, Cubase, Bitwig and any other VST3 host on Windows |
| Installer | One BSMT.DSP installer for all 27 plugins; tick the ones you want. It detects and updates older versions in place. |
| Version | Shown on the download button, fetched live from the releases repository. |
| Developer | Dr.dawgOG (BSMT.DSP), Anand, Gujarat, India |
| Support the project | buymeacoffee.com/dawgog (optional) |
LARYNX FAQ
What is a formant shifter?
A formant shifter changes the resonances that define the character and apparent size of a voice, without changing the musical pitch. LARYNX lets you move formants and pitch separately, so you can make a voice deeper or brighter without turning it into a giant or a chipmunk.
Is LARYNX a free alternative to Little AlterBoy?
It covers the same four jobs: pitch shift, formant shift, a robot monotone mode and drive. LARYNX is free with no signup and ships as a Windows VST3 and standalone app. It is not a clone; it is BSMT.DSP's own take on the tool.
How do I make an octave-down vocal double?
Duplicate the vocal track, put LARYNX on the copy, set PITCH to minus twelve semitones and nudge FORMANT up a little so the low voice keeps a normal-sized throat. Blend it quietly under the original.
Is LARYNX really free?
Yes. Completely free, no trial, no account. It is part of the BSMT.DSP installer on GitHub Releases; install it alone or with the full suite.
Does LARYNX work in FL Studio, Ableton Live and Reaper?
It does. LARYNX is a 64-bit VST3 for Windows 10/11, so it loads in FL Studio, Ableton Live, Reaper, Studio One, Cubase, Bitwig and every other VST3 host on Windows.
Install, SmartScreen and Mac questions are answered on the BSMT.DSP suite FAQ.
More from BSMT.DSP
See all 27 free BSMT.DSP plugins, the guide to mixing rap vocals with free plugins, and the list of free alternatives to paid vocal plugins. Need the vocal mixed by the person who built these? Mixing and mastering is open.