Grammy-winning producer Mike Dean (Kanye West, Travis Scott, The Weeknd) has put out SMOKE MONO 1 — a no-restrictions, full-featured monophonic analog-modeling synthesizer he developed under the Dean’s List Plugins banner. It runs natively on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs as well as Windows in VST3 and AU formats, and ships as a free download with bundled stems and Dean’s own factory presets.
What is SMOKE MONO 1?
SMOKE MONO 1 is a monophonic synth designed around bass and lead patches with character — virtual-analog oscillators with sub, a Moog-style ladder filter that self-oscillates at high resonance, and a custom saturation circuit that adds grit without losing the low end. The plugin is built around the kind of saturated, mono lead and bass sound that defines a lot of contemporary hip-hop and trap production, and it ships with a stems pack and presets pulled from Mike Dean’s own work.
Key Features
- Analog-modeling engine — Saw / Square / Triangle / Sine virtual-analog oscillators, octave-switchable sub, realistic unison detune
- Resonant filter — Moog-style ladder with Cutoff / Resonance / Envelope Amount, keyboard tracking, and self-oscillation at high resonance
- Bass-preserving distortion — custom saturation circuit, from warm tape texture to aggressive overdrive, without losing low-end
- Glide + Legato — adjustable portamento, legato mode, last-note priority mono voice
- Full ADSR envelope — from snappy plucks to slow-blooming pads, with a separate Depth control on the filter envelope
- Built-in effects — host-tempo-synced Delay (default 1/4), Reverb with a Freeze function, and a Chorus for width
- Bundle: SMOKE MONO 1 VST3 + AU plugin, stems (kick, bass, smoke lead, pad, drums), Mike Dean factory presets, macOS .pkg and Windows .exe installers
- Mac (Intel + Apple Silicon native) / Windows
How to Download
Click the “GET IT FREE — MAC” or “GET IT FREE — PC” button on the official site and download the installer for your platform. On first launch you’ll be asked for your name and email. The PC installer has triggered SmartScreen / antivirus warnings on some systems — Mike Dean has confirmed it’s genuine on his X account and the Mac build is Apple-notarized. Use your normal judgment when downloading.
Final Thoughts
Free monosynths are common, but ones designed by an active platinum-credit producer with a built-in stems pack from real sessions are not. SMOKE MONO 1 leans into a specific sound — saturated, low-end-forward leads and basses — and is more or less optimized for it out of the box. If your work touches hip-hop, trap or any production where mono lead and bass tones do a lot of heavy lifting, it’s an easy add to the synth folder.