Beatsurfing releases VRAC: turn any sample into a drum kit for FREE

VRAC is a free plugin from Beatsurfing that allows you to Drumify any sample/sound.

You can take any sound, whether it’s originally percussive or not, and turn it into a punchy percussive hit.

VRAC is available in AU, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows.

One of the first things people want to know about any sample-based plugin is whether they can import custom samples or are limited to stock samples.

In this case, we can drag and drop any sample straight into VRAC, which is a major plus, especially for a free plugin.

You might wonder why you’d need to Drumify any sound, but a producer’s search for something different is maybe most apparent when it comes to kicks and snares, etc., and if VRAC is a path to something different, it’s worth exploring.

The plugin features six pads, each representing a variation of your drumified sample, creating a playable kit.

When you load a sample, you can set the start point, then use an interesting X/Y pad to shape your sound towards something resembling a Kick, Snare, Hat, or Clap.

The cool thing about the X/Y approach, rather than just selecting a single drum type, is that you have the hybrid space between the distinct sounds to experiment.

The interface is split into two sections: Global and Per Pad.

Each section has a dedicated Drumify knob, meaning you can adjust the effect for the entire kit while maintaining less drumified versions for specific pads.

You also have Pan and Pitch controls per pad, so there’s lots of variation on offer.

If you want more traditional percussion, try something like ProjectSAM’s free Lineage Percussion for Kontakt Player.

Beatsurfing doesn’t really do traditional, and we’ve seen that with previous releases like Random. It’s about experimentation and pushing past the normal boundaries; if you have a bunch of random samples sitting around doing nothing (and I know you do), VRAC could be a lot of fun and lead to some great results.

It could lead to a new signature sound that, in turn, leads to a conversation like:

Admittedly, you’d have to be drinking heavily and watching 2 Fast 2 Furious for it to play out exactly like that.

Nevertheless, producers like to have a little secret sauce when it comes to kicks and snares, and VRAC could have potential.