Top Drum Plugins

[Timothee Cazares]

Thefree plugin is based on BFD3, the well-known flagship drum instrument from BFD Audio. As expected, BFD Player includes a much smaller sample collection. However, it does not skimp on velocity layers or channels, offering a well-rounded and highly usable virtual drum set for free.

BFD Player caters to those with electronic kits, allowing for authentic sound triggering. That said, it also supports those without drumming skills through its 340 built-in patterns, a built-in mixer for sound balancing, and a 3D kit view for intuitive drum customization and playback.

If you want a free drum plugin that hits hard and cuts through a busy mix, this is it. MT Power Drum Kit 2 also has a massive library of MIDI grooves, which might be worth the price of admission alone.

The included Studio kit sounds great and has been one of a few industry standards for many years. But the best thing about the free version is that you get the complete MODO Drum engine. Any tweaking you can do in MODO Drum 1.5, you can also do in the free Custom Shop plugin.

The freebie version of Jamstix offers a limited amount of velocity layers and fewer drum kits than its paid counterparts. It also lacks MIDI export, kit customizations, and several other more advanced features.

If you prefer this workflow over Sitala, however, you might want to check out the full version of Speedrum. It comes with more controls for sound shaping your samples, as well as a lot of really cool effects like distortion, compressor, transient shaper, humanizer, and more.

DrumNet is an 8-slot drum sampler that uses AI technology to generate drum sounds. The free version offers all of the functionality included in the paid edition, apart from the ability to export AI-generated sounds.

I often use DrumNet as a temporary drum instrument while starting a new song. It helps me get a drum groove going. Later on, if I need custom sounds, I replace it with another drum VST or a drum sample pack.

This might not be ideal for some users, and should be pointed out in your write-up. Frankly, I feel if you are going to give something away, you should just give it away without strings attached, but apparently not everybody feels that way.

Battallion looks insane. I think the biggest key here would be to get something that you can easily map to a hardware MIDI controller. The best part about a hardware drum machine for me is the ability to sequence and live perform into the DAW. I get the best arrangements that way because im not copying and pasting on a grid.

It can be sequenced externally.

It can be skinned

I used to think it has a unique sound, but after they released the classic modes I could safely back away from that. It covers lots of ground in a very easy interface.

Plus there this: Sonic Charge - Patternarium for additional sounds and inspiration.

I still use Arturia spark in 2024. Sure I have microtonic and drumcomputer, but I just love messing with samples and the available synth engine in spark. Also the spark le controller is still fun to use (it is not needed to use the software).

The term VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology, a software interface that integrates software audio synthesizer and effect plugins with audio editors and recording systems.

Recorded using eleven additional room microphones set up in a surround configuration, you can produce drum mixes for anything from stereo to 5.1, 9.1, and all the way up to 11.1 systems.

With up to 25 velocity layers per instrument and quick access to controls for snare and hi-hat CC, this best drum VST transforms the response/expressiveness of your e-kit into an immersive experience.

MT Power Drum Kit 2, developed by Manda Audio, is a free drum sampler providing the rich, dynamic sounds of an acoustic drum kit designed specifically for pop, rock, and metal productions.

You can use your digital piano as a MIDI controller, allowing you to play in notes as you would a piano piece, and have your computer output this as other instruments (such as a drum kit) via the use of a VSTi.

If you only wish to use a few samples for different sounding drums, you can just work on a single computer or laptop and will not need a lot of RAM to do so (at least 16GB is recommended but 8GB will suffice for less intensive usage).

With an audio interface, you will be able to connect and record instruments and microphones to your computer and are not limited to a piano as your controller within your DAW. This recording works by converting an analog, electrical signal from your instrument/microphone into a digital one.

What drum VSTs you go for relies heavily on the genre or style you are composing for. You may look into electronic drums for EDM or video game scores, or softer, mellow kits for jazz ensembles.

You are likely to own a few different drum libraries for this reason. A good place to start would be to consider what kind of composition or song you are writing, or if you simply want a standard, all-round kit.

The Natural end of the scale will show clean, unprocessed presets, whereas the Extreme side will show heavily-processed, pre-produced presets. This combination addresses one of the frequent criticisms of drum libraries in that they contain too much reverb.

The AD2 program allows easy access for you to tweak one of their in-built drum presets, or to build up a custom kit of your own. The mixing tools in the preset drums are straightforward, meaning less time is spent in the tech and more time composing.

There are separate adjustable knobs to tweak the levels of the snare, kick, high-hat, as well as the overhead and room microphones. Increasing or decreasing the knob will raise or lower the volume respectively. These knobs are ultimately changing the separate levels of the snare, kick, and bass on a minuscule scale without affecting the volume level of the whole kit.

The Edit tab will take you to a window with even more settings to customize including EQ, distortion, tape, and noise. These are adjusted per drum part (snare, bass) and per microphone (overheads, room) for even further tweaking and unique custom settings.

There is a Snapshot feature in the bottom right of the window which will record your current settings. If you change settings, you can always look back at the snapshot within the UI and compare your current settings to a previous snapshot. This feature helps you get that perfect kit sound for your mix.

In the Beats tab on the top right of the window you will find a variety of grooves where you can search stylized beats with their own set of variations. You can even place what drum part goes on what beat to get finely tuned results according to your composition. This is done in the grid search.

As mentioned above, there are some really neat features that cater to beginner or professional composers and producers looking to add that perfect kit to their project. This library stands out with its user-friendly interface that comes with advanced settings to create a customized sound and beat. It is industry-standard and the drum presets sound amazing with little to no effort.

The complete collection is about $700. There are also Custom and Custom XL packages where you can yourself choose the packs to be included. For a more in-depth comparison between the AD2 packages, refer to this page.

Update 2021: Heavyocity Damage 2 has been released and contains double the sample count/size of the original Damage. The new library was recorded at the legendary Skywalker Sound in California and has an updated UI. Owners of Damage 1 are eligible for a discount.

Rhythmic suites contain loop menus and single loops. Loop menus include stylized loop presets, and single loops allow for more control settings within the chosen loop. The control settings include tweaking the mix of the processed loop, and changing its MIDI via the MIDI to Host feature.

There is a trigger FX option, where you can trigger specific effects while using a MIDI controller. The loops range across 4 different genres: epic organic, epic tech, industrial and mangled pop. The loops are customizable through the AMP Sequencer so you can create your own unique patterns.

Overall, Damage is a fantastic choice for cinematic, and industrial-orchestral fusion kits and percussive sounds. The sound palette makes it a favorite for composers, producers and sound designers. It is a must-have for those looking to incorporate epic, trailer music-style drums to their mixes.

The engineer behind the library is the multi-award-winning Chuck Ainlay, known for his work with the Dixie Chicks and Dire Straits. This library is best suited for songwriters looking to amplify their tracks with drums full of depth and flavor.

The Browser tab filters grooves into song structure formats, making it quick and easy to find grooves that are best suited for a verse, or for a chorus. The user is even able to create a folder and place their favorite grooves in there.

The sounds of the various drum kits are high-quality and can fit perfectly into your song, regardless of style. I find that the focus is on the grooves rather than building a custom kit sound, which works well for creating songs on the fly.

In college, I used a VST on my Macbook and the size of the screen was too large length-wise for my 13-inch Macbook, so I could never utilize the tools at the bottom of the window. It was so frustrating! It goes to show you that even small, subtle features can create a positive impact on your workflow.

In the right section of the window are the property boxes where you can tweak the sound of specific parts of the drum kit. This includes drum tuning, reversing the sound, pitch FX, and more.

The Grooves tab has been enhanced for Super Drummer 3. It keeps all the features from EZdrummer 2 and improves the workflow by allowing multiple song tracks to audition several different grooves at once; combining the browser and search function in the same window; introducing a tempo and time signature editor within the song tracker; and also establishes the grid editor which works like a MIDI editor and allows you to move rhythms, quantize, adjust velocities, and edit CC data.

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