BeatSkillz has just released Synthwave Drums, an 80s style drum rompler virtual instrument in VST and AU plugin formats for PC and Mac.
Synthwave Drums is a sample-based drum instrument featuring 1,356 individual drum sounds across 113 different drum kits. Each kit features twelve drum sounds, including two kicks, two snares, two claps, two toms, two percussion sounds, a clap, and a cymbal sample. The drums are mapped to the first two octaves, ranging from C1 (kick 1) to B2 (percussion 2).
As suggested by the title, the included drum sounds are inspired by 80s synth music and its modern derivative genres like synthwave, dreamwave, and others. All the building blocks of authentic 80s drums are included, from classic drum machine samples to reduced bit depth and lower sample rates to emulate the sonic characteristics of old-school hardware samplers. Although it is a sample-based instrument, Synthwave Drums allows for some basic sound manipulation like pitch adjustment, release envelope control, volume, and panning. In addition, the plugin features a built-in reverb effect. The interface also features twelve drum pads for triggering via mouse (or a touch screen, ideally).
As noted in the official product description, BeatSkillz aimed to provide both the raw classic drum machine sounds and the fully processed mix-ready drum kits. Users who want to apply their own signature processing will probably prefer to use the raw drum sounds, whereas those who need some good sounding 80s drums ASAP will definitely choose the latter option. The multi-out version of Synthwave Drums provides the option to send each drum hit to a separate channel in the DAW for individual processing with external effects.
The plugin is priced at $79 but the team at BeatSkillz has decided to drop the price to $49 during the intro sale period. Offered in VST and AU plugin formats, Synthwave Drums is compatible with all major digital audio workstations on PC and Mac. Both 32-bit and 64-bit host applications are supported.
More info: Synthwave Drums ($79 regular, $49 intro price)
3 Comments
JoeHF
onHi, does anyone know the licensing for this? I realize that usually this goes without saying, but with sample-based VSTs, it does kind of matter, if the plugin ever gets used in a commercial capacity, and I didn’t see anything on the Beatskillz FAQ page (but maybe I missed it). I know IK had issues with this kind of thing once upon a time (i.e., they had some kind of restriction(s) on using their products for video game soundtracks or something). I just want to cover my rear end, before touching anything that’s not 100% royalty-free itself, and based on 100% royalty-free sounds. Thanks!
Anon
onBeatskilz is such a sleazy hyping company.
Breener
onDoes Beatskillz hype their products? Yes.
Is Beatskillz sleazy? No.