Rob Chokehold has announced the release of Sean Pandy Drums, a free acoustic drum rompler virtual instrument in VST/AU plugin formats for Windows and Mac OS based hosts.
The plugin is based on a free set of metal drum samples that were released a long while ago on a heavy metal production forum. Rob converted these free samples into a very nice looking (and also quite useful) virtual instrument that was made with Maize Sampler. The GUI looks very nice, and I mean VERY nice. The controls are well laid out and the whole thing looks pretty slick. The plugin is actually available in two different versions: a basic stereo version and a multi-out version in which every drum hit has a dedicated audio output.
As opposed to the original WAV samples which didn’t come with multiple velocity layers, the samples used in the plugin version actually feature six velocity layers. The subtle difference in tone for each velocity layer was emulated with some clever use of envelopes (longer attack and less sustain on softer hits) and it definitely sounds convincing enough. In addition to the six velocity layers, the instrument also features ten round robins per drum hit, meaning that you won’t hear the dreaded “machine gun effect” while playing snare rolls and double kick drum patterns.
The included drum sounds cover one kick, one snare, four toms, and a rather brutal sub bass sample labeled “Sub Blower”. The samples are mapped across the keyboard according to the General MIDI standard. Unfortunately, hi-hats and cymbals are not included, so you’ll definitely need to use some additional drum samples and/or loops in order to build complete drum tracks using Sean Pandy Drums.
I’ve never produced a heavy metal track, so I don’t really have any experience with mixing drums for this style of music. But even to me it’s quite obvious that these drums sound very punchy and all in all pretty damn tight. I’m sure that you’ll find a good use for this virtual instrument if you’re producing metal, or if you simply need some hard hitting drums for jamming.
Audio Demo
Check out the Sean Pandy Drums audio demo (100% dry):
Download
Sean Pandy Drums is available for free download via Rob Chokehold’s website (37.1 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & Mac OS).
Last Updated on January 29, 2016 by Tomislav Zlatic.
