FrozenPlain July 2025 Newsletter

Welcome to our July update! This month has been about polishing Floe, our free sample player plugin — releasing version 0.11 with some great improvements. Version 1.0 is finally within reach next month along with a new FrozenPlain sample library.

Floe 0.11: The Fun Stuff

The latest Floe update brings improvements that makes the tool more enjoyable and fluid to use.

The star feature is velocity curve control for each layer. This replaces simple on/off velocity mapping with full curve control, letting you craft sounds that evolve dramatically as you play. By configuring these for the 3 layers, you can create instruments that are alive and morph between different timbres.

We’ve also streamlined the picker panels with much more intuitive navigation. Single-click loads sounds, double-click loads and closes the panel. The background dims when panels are open, keeping you focused. Plus, we’ve added next/previous buttons throughout the entire GUI—every menu now lets you quickly step through options without opening dropdowns.

The stability improvements have been substantial too. Floe 0.11 and its bugfix releases have squashed the nearly all the remaining rare crashes and edge cases. As always, let us know if you find a bug — we’ll fix it.

Final Features Before V1.0

We’re working on three exciting features that will complete Floe’s core feature set:

Macro knobs will let you create sophisticated custom controls for each preset. Map a single knob to control filter cutoff, reverb depth, and layer balance simultaneously—perfect for creating expressive, playable instruments that respond exactly how you want them to.

Preset descriptions will appear right in the UI, so preset makers (like us) can include helpful notes about each sound’s character and intended use.

Keyboard region splitting will let you assign different layers to different areas of the keyboard, opening up entirely new sound design possibilities.

Looking Ahead: Version 1.0

Next month brings the full launch of Floe version 1.0 alongside our first native Floe-format library. This isn’t just a version number bump—it represents Floe reaching maturity as a creative platform that’s ready to grow with you for years to come.

Understanding Formats: Mirage vs Floe

All our current products are Mirage-format, which works seamlessly in Floe but doesn’t yet tap into Floe’s more advanced capabilities like comprehensive tagging and cross-library mixing.

Floe-format libraries will unleash these features. Imagine combining strings from one library with pads from another, or searching across all of libraries by mood tags like "dark cinematic keys" or "ethereal acoustic textures." Libraries creatively enhance each other but without locking you into a cumbersome commercial platforms; Floe is free and open source - anyone can make changes to its functionality.

We’ll be converting our existing products to Floe-format as free updates, transforming your current collection into a much more powerful creative toolkit.

Product Spotlights

Deep Conjuring

Deep Conjuring (£20.00) explores the fascinating space between dreams and nightmares. Created with Beautiful Void Audio, it offers 92 instruments that range from nostalgic melancholy to harsh horror dread. Designed for adding psychological depth to any production.

Wraith

Wraith (£20.00) specialises in dark ambient textures and expansive pads. With 230 synthetic instruments organised into drones, tonal pads, and textures, it’s fantastic for creating atmospheric layers and building tension in cinematic work.

Floe in the wild

Word about Floe is spreading: we’ve been featured on several respected music technology sites this month:

• Synthanatomy wrote an overview article and demo video
• Bedroom Producers Blog featured our beta release
• Audio Plugin Guy also wrote up about our beta release
• audiofanzine also wrote about our release (French)
• KVR Audio added us to their plugin database

Community

Thanks for following Floe’s journey. Your feedback continues to shape our development priorities. Join the conversation on our forum, or catch up with us on Bluesky Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.

See you next month for the big 1.0 launch!

Welcome to FrozenPlain’s June 2025 newsletter

Our Continued Focus on Floe

This month continues our Floe development. For those new to Floe, it’s our totally free CLAP, VST3 and AU plugin that acts as the engine for FrozenPlain sample libraries. It’s the successor to Mirage, but we’ve given it a new name and made it free, open-source and accessible to any developer.

While Floe is still in beta, it’s increasingly becoming the best way to use FrozenPlain libraries. Our sample libraries work perfectly in Floe, and it offers significant improvements over Mirage: better browsing with tags and filters, the ability to combine sounds from different libraries, VST3 and CLAP support, easier installation, and many bug fixes.

If you’re already familiar with Mirage, Floe will feel totally familiar while offering these new capabilities. Download Floe for free from floe.audio. If you have existing FrozenPlain libraries, you’ll also need the Mirage Compatibility package to use them seamlessly in Floe.

Much of our work this month has centered around making Floe better.

New Blog Post for Floe 0.10

We’ve just released Floe 0.10 with major improvements to how you browse and find sounds. The improved picker panels make it much easier to navigate through hundreds of presets and instruments, with better filtering controls and cleaner interface design. Whether you’re working with small libraries or large collections, finding the right sound is now faster and more intuitive.

Read the full details and see screenshots in our latest blog post on the FrozenPlain forum.

The Little Things Adding Up

This month’s update showcases something important about how we approach Floe’s development: we really care about the small details that make daily use more comfortable and reliable.

These improvements come directly from user feedback and our own experience using Floe for real music production. We’re building Floe for the long term, which means taking time to get these fundamentals right. Each small refinement makes the foundation stronger for everything we’ll add in the future. Let us know what you want to see added.

Product Spotlights

Feedback Loops

Feedback Loops (£10.00) brings hard-hitting feedback FX and noise textures to your productions. Perfect for adding a harsh or brutal dimension to your music, this library contains everything from brutal feedbacking hits to atmospheric noise textures. With 200 samples and 50 presets, it’s ideal for future technology sounds, horror atmospheres, corrupted audio flows, and powerful distortion effects.

Phoenix

Phoenix (£16.00) offers smooth synth strings and choirs for lush atmospheric dimensions. Based on synthetic strings and choir samples, it’s perfect for creating wide string backdrops and ethereal choirs instantly. The 80 production-ready presets are organized into basses, keys, leads, pads, and sound effects, making it an excellent tool for cinematic underscoring and atmospheric music.

Coming Soon: Enhanced Library Experience

We’re currently working on adding comprehensive tags to all our existing sample libraries. This will take full advantage of Floe 0.10’s improved filtering capabilities, making it much easier to find specific types of sounds across your entire collection.

When ready, this will be a free update for all existing customers, significantly enhancing the value you get from libraries you already own. Instead of browsing through every preset, you’ll be able to filter down to exactly what you’re looking for with just a few clicks. You can browse for sounds such as: "dark ambient keys", "horror percussion hits" or "ethereal acoustic" and find precisely what you’re looking for.

These tags and filters work at both the preset and instrument level. Whether you’re looking for something production-ready (presets) or want to build something custom (instruments), the same browsing system helps you find what you need.

Community & Closing

Thanks for reading! We’re always interested in your feedback and experiences with Floe and our sample libraries. Join the discussion on our forum, where you can ask questions and help shape Floe’s development.

For more regular updates, follow us on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.

See you next month!