My favourite free VST instruments

Here are the links to my favourite free VST instruments, sorted by instrument type and some short descriptions.

• Keys:
• Piano:
• DSK The Grand - A simple grand piano plugin.
• Golden Piano - One of the many high quality free plugins by Agus Hardiman. This plugin mixes acoustic and electric piano samples with synths to give a cheesy 80s and 90s vibe.
• Grand Piano - A decent and customizable grand piano by Audiolatry.
• Monster Piano - Another high quality and customizable plugin by Agus Hardiman.
• Piano One - Comes with samples from a Yamaha C7 concert grand. Plenty of controls for reverb, mechanical noise, damping, style, resonance, harmonics, EQ, perspective, dynamics and also the option to alter its tuning with custom scale (.scl) files. 
• Other keys:
• CollaB3 - Rotary organ clone.
• Darksichord 3 Lite - A spooky harpsichord with options for distortion, delay, and many other features perfect for gothic sounds.
• Numa Player - Highly customizable. This plugin features four channels (acoustic pianos, electric pianos, keys, strings/pads) to mix and match, plenty of options for EQ, effects, and mastering.
• Monster Keys - Similar to Numa Player. Mix and match five parts from six instruments (keys, choir, pad, brass, pluck and sfx) with reverb, delay, and individual volume controls.

• Rock Instruments:
• Drums:
• Steven Slate Drums 5 Free - Scroll down for the free version. High quality drumkit sample VST.

• Exotic Instruments:
• Ample Percussion Cloudrum - One of those steel drums you play on your lap that are popular with hippies that have the money.
• DSK World Strings - Comes with Celtic Harp, Cumbus, Dobro, Dulcimer, Guzhen, Kanum, Koto, Luan, Pipa (with and without tremolo), Sitar, Tar and Oud.
• Monster Ethnica - Another great plugin from Agus Hardiman. Has plenty of traditional Indonesian instruments along with a Romanian panflute.
• Sitar Renaissance

• Strings and Orchestral:
• BBC Symphony Orchestra - A full orchestra sample of Piano, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, and Strings sections. Available through the Spitfire Audio App.
• Easy Strings - Another plugin by Audiolatry. Comes with Violin, Viola, and Cello.
• Monster Strings - By Agus Hardiman.

• Synths:
• Vital - One of the most popular free synths, especially for sound design. Comes with plenty of great presets and due to its popularity and customizability there are plenty more presets and tutorials to be found online for free.

• Samplers:
• Grace - A free plugin to create your own samples. Comes with optional free factory content.
• Independence Free - By MAGIX, the creators of SoundForge, Sequoia and ACID. Create your own samples or use the 2GB of free factory content offered by MAGIX.
• Micro Sampler with Waveform Free - The easiest sampling plugin I've come across. Comes built-in with Waveform Free by Tracktion.

• Miscellaneous:
• Black Metal Keys - As the name suggests, good for cheesy and cheaply produced black metal. Comes with eight patches covering choirs, strings, synth pads, and a spooky dracula organ.
• Decent Sampler - Allows you to play samples in the Decent Sampler format. Plenty of great, high quality samples are available through the official platform but there are hundreds more community contributions that can be found at PianoBook.co.uk. A simple way to get hundreds of high quality instrument patches freely and legally.