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Sitala by Decomposer

Sitala Free Drum Sampler Plugin Is Officially Released (v1.0)

38
By // Updated on News

Decomposer releases v1.0 of Sitala, a freeware drum sampler instrument in VST, AU, and AAX plugin formats for digital audio workstations on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The early alpha version of Sitala was first announced in 2018 (here’s our news article about Sitala alpha). It immediately drew our attention as an uncommonly streamlined drum sampler plugin.

See also: Free Sampler VST Plugins

Whereas most flagship drum samplers have so many features that you simply need to read the user manual to fully grasp their workflow, Sitala does exactly the opposite. This freeware drum sampler is simple, intuitive, and easy to grasp.

Sitala  Overview

If you’re unfamiliar with the early versions of Sitala, here’s a quick overview.

Sitala features sixteen drum pads, each capable of loading one sample. The user can adjust the volume, pan, tuning, compression, envelope, and tone for every sample. Each drum pad can be mapped to a separate audio output for further processing in the DAW.

Easily load the samples via drag and drop or with the built-in file browser. Rearrange the loaded drums and save custom kits for later use. It’s also worth noting that Sitala comes with a default 808 drum kit, which sounds quite decent.

However, once you start using Sitala, you will discover that its biggest (and most important) feature is the workflow. It also packs a few hidden workflow enhancements, such as the frequency spectrum preview when adjusting a sample’s pitch. Easily tune the bass drum to your project’s key without having to use a spectrum analyzer (or even your ears, lol).

Sitala 1.0

So, what’s new in Sitala 1.0?

The plugin now features auto sample trimming (to remove silent parts), auto beat-slicing, and automatic output routing in Reaper. Also, Sitala now comes in the AAX plugin format.

Here’s a more detailed feature overview, courtesy of Decomposer:

  • Sample trimming: Everybody asked for this one, so it’s available now. The main thing people wanted it for was to clean up poorly cut samples, which Sitala now does automatically: if you drop in samples with leading silence, it automatically sets the play start to the correct position.
  • Beat slicing: We automatically detect and snap to transients within samples to make it possible to grab individual sounds out of a sample. It’s also possible to slice each chunk out to a separate pad.
  • Automatic Multi-Out in Reaper: Sitala automatically detects if you’ve set Reaper up in stereo or multi-out mode and configures itself accordingly. It automatically renames the tracks to correspond to Sitala’s pad names.
  • AAX Plugin: We’ve had lots of Pro Tools users asking for Sitala, and this release also includes an AAX version.

If you’re looking for a blazing-fast drum sampler plugin, don’t waste any more time and download Sitala right away. The only similar plugin out there is Speedrum Lite by Apisonic Labs, but Sitala is more polished at the moment.

More info: Sitala (32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin format for Windows, macOS, Linux)

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About Author

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

38 Comments

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      I love it! Grace is still my main sampler for drums, but Sitala works great as an alternative for building simple drum kits.

      Reply

  4. PureFire

     on

    Thanks Tomislav & BPB.
    I seen this a while ago but i’ve held off from downloading it so far, but i will try it out after reading your review of it, it sounds awesome now with all of those new functions, and it will most likely get even better with future updates too 👍
    I am wondering if it has any swing ?
    Thanks 😊

    Reply

  5. Jon B

     on

    Yes! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for to use in Reaper! It’s so time consuming to use the built-in ReaSamplomatic5000. I love Reaper, but it’s not very good for producing electronic music when compared to Ableton, Bitwig and Logic.

    Reply

  6. Michal Ochedowski

     on

    8 seconds of the video was enough for me. Finally sample trimming is available. I wonder if sample playback has been changed. When I made a test in October, Sitala clearly didn’t retain characteristics of the samples. There was mid-range boost and high frequency roll-off. fxpansion GeistLite and Cwitec Music Software TX16Wx could not be beaten in this regard. They played back everything just like original files.

    Reply

    • Scott Wheeler

       on

      The actual truth — we had this reported to us and we were curious, so we sat down and analyzed the output: the only difference is how loud they are. Some samplers have things configured such that center panned is 100% volume in both channels. Sitala uses a different common algorithm which puts things below 100% on both channels when panned center so that you get a smoother total amplitude sweep going from left to center to right.

      Reply

      • Scott Wheeler

         on

        Just to expand slightly on that: if you’re skeptical, take the output of both samplers, normalize and compare them. If you hear something different, generate spectrograms. If they’re different, I’d be very interested in seeing that. :-)

        Reply

        • tylab

           on

          The thing that never ceases to amaze me about music is how deeply the relative loudness between different sounds messes with your perception of the relative quality between those sounds. Its really not something that can be understated.

          Reply

        • Michal Ochedowski

           on

          I just compared a drumloop played on its own and played with Sitala. High frequency roll-off is very obvious. It starts around 6 kHz. I didn’t even need to analyze the audio. Anyone can check it. Play any high quality drumloop which has sounds occupying all frequencies.

          Reply

          • frozenjaZz

             on

            Wow…
            I discovered, a bit late… that Poise had this high end roll off problem too!!
            I’ll test it….
            and I guess I ‘ll stick to R5K sampler built in Reaper then!

            Reply

            • Michal Ochedowski

               on

              Poise was actually the first sampler, which I tested against this issue. Someone mentioned it in a BPB comment section a while back. Then I moved to other samplers like Apisonic Labs Speedrum Lite (it also has high roll-off) and Sitala. I narrowed it down to GeistLite and TX16Wx. The first one seemed to be discontinued, so my choice was simple.

              Reply

          • FrozenjaZz

             on

            I did a test with a drumloop, and yes…
            After having exported to wave, normalized, and playing along with the original drum loop with phase inverted, I could hear some high freqs, very low volume though.
            So I used Pro-Q in matchEQ mode, and it showed me that from 6Khz there is a slight roll off, 0.5dB.. not much, but real.
            Do I care… maybe not?

            Reply

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      Thanks for the tip! I’m waiting for the download to finish so that I can review the plugin before posting about it. But the download is too slow, so I’ll probably just post a news article without a mini-review.

      Reply

  8. Wasyl

     on

    I love this plugin, I’ve been using it for a couple of months.
    And I would be delighted if Sitala developed a similar plugin but more resembling Ableton Sampler (for chromatic playing).

    Reply

  10. vangelis

     on

    Looks great! I’m all for the clean looking gui and it seems so easy to setup and use. Any chance it gets a pitch envelope function in the future?

    Reply

  11. whiteaxxxe

     on

    Best invention since the invention of sliced bread. Looks like mankind needs most urgently things that slice things or things that are sliced. :-)) Sliceway to hell…

    Reply

  12. MRG

     on

    Slowly but surely, and I don’t mean to call you Shirley, this little thing is establishing itself as a must-have.
    One suggestion. When you “slice to pads”, it would be great to have the option to copy the effects. Typical use case: load loop, adjust pitch, slice to pads. Other fx (compression, shape, …) could be useful/fun too. Alternative thought: global change of pitch? Anyways, loving that thing.

    Reply

  13. ND

     on

    Nothing new, just a poor rip off of Ableton’s native plugins Drum Rack and Simpler. People with the skills to develop plugs like this should find their own style and concept.

    Reply

  14. Rafael

     on

    Huh… I download the 64-bit version and it apparently installs a 32-bit plugin. Weird.
    Also, similar to last time I tried it, dropdown menus still not properly work.

    I’m using 64-bit Reaper on Windows 8 by the way.

    Reply

    • MRG

       on

      So, yeah, the 64bit installer allows you to ALSO install a 32bit VST, as an option.
      You can’t install a 32bit version from the 32bit installer if the 64bit version is already installed, some conflict happens. The only way to have both, and some would want that, is to use the 64bit installer, which does both. Weird behaviour, indeed.
      TL;DR: you’re not dreaming.

      Reply

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