Two for the price of none as Synsonic provide a couple of iconic drum machines – or their sounds – for free. OK you don’t get the complete kits but you do get perhaps the most important element, the kick, from each machine. And you can sculpt each one, so as these are the kicks that started (or, uhm, kick-started) a generation of dance, this is a must download. www.synsonic-instruments.com
We’ve already featured the paid-for version of Steven Slate Drums – alovely bombastic set of drum kits with a huge number of sounds and styles – and this is the cutdown single (Deluxe 2) kit-free version. You get three kit presets and, as you’d expect with Mr Slate, the recording of the sounds is immaculate and there’s plenty of control over them. www.stevenslatedrums.com
Pepto Audio’s freebie goes off road compared to other titles here in that it focuses neither on electronic classics nor acoustic drums but some more obscure machines. You therefore get the sounds from Simmons and Linn Drum machines plus the Oberheim DMX, E-mu Drumulator and Yamaha RX1 over 14 kits. Great if you want beats of a slightly different nature. www.peptoaudio.blogspot.com
It’s easy to forget that NI do so many freebies as part of the constantly evolving Komplete Start single download. Beats gives you five instruments and a bunch of drum loop production kits and is more flexible than it looks. You should also be reminded that Start gives you eight other instruments and seven synths too – for free! www.native-instruments.com
There should be a rule that we never do a freeware roundup without mentioning LABS. This is, lest we forget, Spitfire’s free instrument collection with its feet in just about every camp. Drums is just a single kit but you know it sounds amazing and is superbly recorded. And one kit can go a long way. Just ask a drummer. labs.spitfireaudio.com
We’re not going to argue with a drum ROMpler that has the word ‘Monster’ in its title – twice – and Monster Drum is not just one of our favourite freebies. It regularly gets voted top over at KVR and has a look and set of sounds for every genre you can imagine; making it one of the most flexible (and colourful) drum machines around. www.agushardiman.tv
Your DAW might have 808/909 sounds but these machines will drive your electronic ambitions higher
Triaz is one of the newer releases here and throws in a huge library of 10,000 sounds, great sequencing and a triple-layered sound engine to let you sculpt beats like never before. The core concept and feel is very electronic but there’s no reason you can’t throw your own samples in here and take it where you like. www.wavealchemy.co.uk
Mac/PC $149 In many ways, BeatBox Anthology 2 is the ultimate electronic drums resource as it has all the sounds – 11,000 samples in all – from over 10
