The first thing you should make sure of when purchasing a drum sample instrument is that the sound suits your music. Different kits are better suited for different musical genres, just like drums in the real world. Black metal won’t be the ideal fit for a trio of jazz musicians. Some drum VSTs have a ton of samples that may be adjusted to fit any genre, as you’ll notice. Others are more specialized by genre.
The pricing is probably the next thing you should look into. Fortunately, the majority of drum VSTs are rather inexpensive! The average cost is roughly $100, with the largest collections (Superior Drummer, Addictive Drums) being the most expensive. That implies that everyone has access to superb drums within their DAW. Check out the plugin interface one last time to see whether you like it. Make sure it makes sense to you and is logical; if it appears intimidating, awkward, or in any other way unappealing, it won’t motivate you. Choose a drum plugin from the wide range available that best suits your needs.
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Addictive Drums 2
When it comes to drum libraries, Addictive Drums 2 is considered to be the gold standard. The majority of the top composers in the world should be familiar with the Addictive Drums collection. The libraries are available in a range of genres, such as jazz, rock, pop, indie, or electronic.
For fast inspiration, each library includes kit presets and pre-recorded tracks. You can start working immediately! Addictive Drums 2 is extremely user-friendly in producing desired outcomes, regardless of whether you need as much assistance as possible when writing drums or a seasoned professional. Let’s start now. One of the standard kits in this collection was recorded at the LA studio formerly known as Sound City using the well regarded Fairfax kit.
Additionally, 130 presets—”ranging from super-clean to extremely polished and radio-ready to heavily processed and distorted”—are included with Addictive Drums. Over 5000 motivating beats and grooves in all kinds and genres can be found in the additional Core MIDI Library. Like other drum software, MIDI grooves can be used directly or modified to fit your tune. For comprehensive control over the sounds of your drums, the onboard sampler includes EQ, compression, transient shaping, distortion, reverb, and delay.
There is a lot of complexity you can access in AD2 if you want to adjust and create the sounds, even though many of its best features are designed to be simple to use for non-engineers. In addition to the overheads, room, and bus channels with their own EQ and transient shaping, compression, and distortion, there is a 10-channel mixer. The envelope, noise content, and how the drums react are all under your control. Reverb and delay are other options. This is the Best Drum VST Plugin in 2023.
BFD3
The third iteration of BFD’s premier software acoustic drum studio, BFD3, offers unprecedented levels of realism and innovative features in an easy-to-use engine layout. BFD3 provides uncompromising detail with magnificent new kits, mix-ready presets, and modelling technologies for tom resonance and cymbal swells. The improved UI offers the simplest BFD experience yet with a new mixer and sound browser.
Along with a variety of performances by renowned drummers, BFD3 also includes a potent built-in environment for pattern building and modification that makes it simple to create drum tracks that sound exactly like the real thing. Seven new kits, an upgraded groove engine, a rudiment tool, a streamlined user interface, a quicker audio engine, mix-ready presets, and a ton of grooves performed by renowned drummers Steve Ferrone, Brooks Wackerman, Bobby Jarzombek, Peter Erskine, and Stanton Moore are all included in BFD 3. Given that many samples have up to 80 velocity layers, the level of detail is astounding. The collection is 160GB in size overall, however FXpansion has developed a lossless compression engine that reduces it to 55GB.
The brand-new BFD3 library is made to offer a broad selection of drum sounds right out of the box. It contains brush and mallet sounds and was recorded by engineers like Andrew Scheps, Rail Jon Rogut, and John Emrich in 2 rooms to create a variety of room atmosphere. Seven new kits, an upgraded groove engine, a rudiment tool, a streamlined user interface, a quicker audio engine, mix-ready presets, and a ton of grooves performed by renowned drummers Steve Ferrone, Brooks Wackerman, Bobby Jarzombek, Peter Erskine, and Stanton Moore are all included in BFD 3. This is the Best Drum Plugin in 2023.
Heavyocity Damage 2
With 60GB of epic-sounding, jaw-dropping cinematic percussion, Heavyocity Damage 2 starts up just where its predecessor left off. Thanks to its ground-breaking MIDI performance tool, crescendos, swells, and flourishes deliver a spine-tingling realism that has to be heard to be believed. Its 40,000+ samples and 860+ loops were painstakingly recorded on the world-class scoring stage at Skywalker Sound. Damage 2 has all of the vicious impacts, dramatic transitions, and deadly hits that made its predecessor such an alluring beast, in addition to three distinct engines with inspired, next-generation workflows. Whether you’re a sound designer or a composer, Damage 2 is ideal for producing gripping impact and tremendous widescreen tension. You may be sure to keep any audience on the edge of their seats with Heavyocity Damage 2.
Damage 2 contains approximately 60GB of content and over 40,000 samples of heart-pounding percussive inspiration. Heavyocity went all out for D2, using gran casas and taikos ranging in size from 24 to 72 inches and 24 to 60 inches, as well as enormous bass drums, snare ensembles, toms, and ethnic drums, as well as a variety of off-kilter percussion components. And for the best possible sound quality, everything was recorded on the score stage at Skywalker Sound. With five independent mic channels and a programmable performance and effects engine, Damage 2 gives you a ton of control over your audio. Sweetwater is impressed with D2’s superior audio quality and adaptable playback engine; it will undoubtedly be our first choice whenever we require high-impact cinematic percussion.
Three cutting-edge sound engines are included in Damage 2 for maximum flexibility. The initial engine, Ensemble Designer, was created with an emphasis on epic sound and maximal playability. Its user-friendly browser makes it simple to load a massive array of unique and specially created banks of sources. A captivating soundscape is created by five unique microphone positions with instant 3D positioning, and D2’s MIDI performance tool provides realism in the shape of patterns, rolls, crescendos, and swells. Additionally, you can adjust the destruction using the Punish function. Your access to a 16-voice drum kit configuration with Kit Designer, the second engine, allows for smooth integration with Maschine, MPC-style, and Standard MIDI kit control schemes. For each voice, separate FX chains are provided, in addition to Hybrid and Damaged categories. The final engine, Loop Designer, elevates D2’s 860+ tempo-synced loops so you can easily create one-of-a-kind, immersive percussion beds. Create your own custom loops, create your own FX chains, and freely modulate and alter each loop. When time is of the essence, Loop Designer completes the task quickly.
AIR Drum Synth 500
The comprehensive electronic drum synthesizer Drum Synth 500 can create a wide range of sounds. Eight channels, including two sampler modules, make up this plugin. The remaining channels are specifically designed synthesizers that produce sounds for the kick, snare, clap, hats, toms, and other percussion. When it comes to drum synths, the interface is one of the simplest, and most users are already familiar with the parameters.
Similar to this, you can discover several straightforward effect plugins and fixed FX sends in addition to the many synth parameter options. A per-channel randomizer can also encourage sound designers to create something original. On a similar point, AIR also offers the superb Strike 2 drum ROMpler, which features 19 kits. There is a distortion, filter, and compressor on each channel. There are three variations of the distortion effect: decimate, bit-crush, and distortion. There are also two different types of compression and five different filter shapes. These are intended for adjusting the timbre or tone of your percussion instrument.
A volume fader, pan knob, and mute/solo buttons are all that the built-in mixer has to offer. In addition, there are two delay sends and two reverb sends. On the interface’s right side, the two effects each have their own controls. Unfortunately, there is no multi-out feature available in the plugin. Drum Synth 500, as the name suggests, features 50 kits, 500 audio samples, 500 midi grooves, and 500 drum sounds. It’s important to note that there isn’t any form of inbuilt sequencer or midi groove library. Instead, it provides midi files that you may replay or edit directly in your DAW.
The Drum Synth 500 is definitely usable in terms of sound. Similar to that, there is no menu diving whatsoever and the UI is simple to get used to. We had hoped to see a multi-out feature, though. Additionally, a built-in sequencer would have been helpful. Therefore, if all you want is a drum module, it’s fine.
ujam Symphonic Elements DRUMS
Hans Zimmer’s private library of percussion samples and phrases is presented in DRUMS. This rhythmic companion to STRIIINGS, which has been tried and true in Hollywood, makes it possible for anyone to play the cinematic drums. DRUMS are the inherent forces of rhythm! DRUMS offers 53 Styles with an average of 23 pre-made phrases, for a grand total of 1219 phrases. Additionally, each Style includes 5 one-shot Hits and Metals for a grand total of 265 one-shots.
DRUMS is made to be as practical and simple as possible, like many of ujam’s products. Along with pre-sequenced midi rhythms, this plugin includes a few one-shot hits of various cinematic instruments. It describes the two types of percussion instruments using the idea of low and high drums. While a groove is playing, you can instantly swap between the two types using the pitch wheel. In a similar manner, utilize the modulation wheel to alter the drums’ dynamics. Additionally, it offers single-knob controls with a drop-down menu of available effects on each.
A universal cinematic percussion library called DRUMS features pre-sequenced midi grooves and condensed effects. It’s more suited to those with limited experience or those with tight schedules, such as video game or television composers. Many people may find the lack of programming and mixing options to be a deal-breaker.