Apisonic Labs has released Speedrum Lite, a freeware drum sampler plugin in VST, VST3, and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstation software on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Speedrum Lite is a streamlined drum sampler plugin. It features sixteen drum slots and up to sixteen individual audio outputs. This means that you can connect each drum channel to a different audio channel in your DAW’s mixer for further processing.
Each drum slot features a volume envelope with attack, hold, and release times that can be adjusted. This is handy for tightening up a kick drum with too much room decay or softening the transient of a hi-hat for a shaker-like effect. The user can also edit the loaded sample’s start and end, as well as its volume, pan, and pitch. A pair of filters is provided for tone-shaping purposes, and the “Velocity” knob controls the dynamic response of each pad.
Most of these adjustments are clearly in the large waveform display above the control knobs. This is a nice touch, and the user interface as a whole is neatly designed. The user can change the GUI size between 60% and 200% from the drop-down menu.
Another cool thing about Speedrum Lite is browsing all samples in a folder using the arrows in the top-right corner on the interface. Drop a sample into a drum pad, and then simply go through the sounds in that same folder to find the perfect one for your track.
If you’re reading all this and the word Sitala came to your mind, you’re officially a drum sampler geek. Kudos to you! If not, all is not lost, young Padawan. Read our article about Sitala, which is another streamlined and workflow-oriented drum sampler plugin. It is also featured in our lists of free sampler plugins and beat making software.
All that said, Speedrum Lite is worth checking out if you’re in the market for a drum sampler plugin. I’m not sure if the word “Lite” in the plugin’s title suggests that we should expect to see a more powerful (and potentially non-freeware?) version of Speedrum. Maybe this is something that’s on the horizon for Apisonic Labs, or perhaps the developer simply intended to indicate that Speedrum is a simple and lightweight drum sampler.
Speedrum Lite can load samples in WAV, AIF, FLAC, MP3, and OGG file formats. It works as a VST, VST3, and AU plugin in any compatible host on all three major operating systems. There are various download options available, including a portable version of the plugin with a manual installer.
More info: Speedrum Lite (6.64 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/VST3/AU plugin formats for Windows/macOS/Linux)
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20 Comments
X-Raym
onNice ! 4×4 pads layout free samplers are pretty rare, so it is promising.
shango sankara
onFL studio can’t open it. Was also flagged by windows during install. Pity
Scaboopy da boop
onFront what I can tell, Abletons drum rack is better in every way compared to this. Never really understood why people even make 3rd party drum samplers like this. Both Ableton and FL studio have really good (usually better) stock options, making vsts like this redundant/useless.
Jamie
onyeah tbh, if it’s not introducing anything fresh or unique, it’s not really worth it
Adam
onThat’s true , but some people don’t use ableton or fl. They use Cakewalk or Tracktion Waveform instead and they don’t have stock drumpad machine .
Jamie
onTracktion does
Jarl jorvik
onBecause cubase doesn’t have one…
Jamie
onHey BPB!
Reason Lite is free from Waves.
I just received an email with my codes.
Kirill
onStrange, I didn’t recieve anything about that.
MRG
onI, for one, welcome the competition. Not everyone has a nice sampler in their DAW and won’t switch to a whole different workflow. Promising little thing, I do hope this Lite version gets more features before turning evil payware. In the meantime, I enjoy the Start/End features that Sitala lacks (for effect or getting rid of nasty clicks from dirty samples). I miss Sitala’s Compression. Layering à la Poise would be welcomed. Good effort, but devs, we need MOAR to be seduced! ;-)
SNTMNTL
onI believe that we as users can contribute by giving feedback to the developers. This sampler has a lot of potential and does a lot of things right, but there are some crucial features still missing.
For example I love how in Ableton Drum Rack you can “link” multiple pads to play at the same time for creating layered drum sounds (every sound can be edited independently, since each still sits on it’s own pad, but the pads play at the same time).
Start/End is indeed crucial, especially if you want to cut a single drum hit from a sequence / loop.
As a Cubase user I have access to Groove Agent 5 SE, but sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming when I just want to quickly do some drum work, hence I appreciate “simpler” samplers like this one.
Michal O.
onThis VST ticks all the boxes for me. So far I had a lot of success with GeistLite. Unfortunately the limitation of a single stereo output forces a not so streamlined workflow. Especially when I want to process individual sounds while maintaining all samples in a single unit. To be a serious competitor, Sitala has to introduce their anticipated update regarding sample start-end editing. So far Speedrum Lite looks like the best option among free plugins. I tried Poise and couldn’t get pass the tiny editing screen vs big browser window.
Wasyl
onThe only thing missing for now is choking (for hi-hats). I believe the devoloper will add this feature soon.
Michal O.
onI would add pad copying and sample zoom option. It’s a must for longer pieces of audio. This plugin is very responsive. Mouse wheel support is always welcome. I like that there is a modifier key to slow down the value increment/decrement. I tested Speedrum yesterday and compared velocity sensitivity with GeistLite. I couldn’t tell the difference when playing, which definitely is a good thing.
Wasyl
onMaybe. But I think that it should remain simple.
Look at Presonus Studio One: It started as a simple to operate DAW and that was in fact its main selling point. Now it is bloated and the screen is cluttered with too many features, functions and options. It is no longer that nice and easy to use. I would rather want to keep some apps and plugins simple.
Michal O.
onYour are right. If none of these options appear in the future, I will still use this plugin. I’m all for non cluttered, single layered GUIs. Easier to work with.
Wasyl
onThe developer stated on his YouTube channel that choking will be added in the free version, but layering will be in a paid one.
R.k. Barkhi
on4 layering, can’t u assign different notes to the samples n then copy n paste original note onto a new trigger note? 4 ex. if drum note is C then assign C# to next pad/sound n c&p all C notes to C#. U can stagger time placement for interesting feel/sounds.
PP
onThey updated it to 0.8.0. Now with choke :) Have not tested it yet but will tomorrow
changelog
v0.8.0
+ mono/poly voice mode (pad context menu)
+ 8 “cut” (choke) and “cut by” groups (pad context menu)
+ pad can be set to trigger the other pad (pad context menu)
+ shortcut to set all pads outputs to 1 or 16 channels (main menu)
+ preferences: toggle – clearing pad resets output to 1
# fixed not saving pad name change in some cases
# fixed custom pad name behavior
# Linux – fixed preferences file location
# MacOSX – fixed Catalina support
# Windows – fixed setup behavior
# minor gui fixes
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks for the info about the update! Sounds great!