Forgotten Keys VARI-64 Mk II brings the Hammond Autovari-64 Mark II analog drum machine from the 80s in a Kontakt library to your DAW.
Drum machines are just as much a part of electronic music history as synthesizers. The classics are Roland TR-808, TR-909, and others. But there were also many drum machines in the 80s that did not achieve fame status. One of these is the Hammond Autovari-64.
This is a rare analog drum machine from the 1980s with 11 drum voices. This instrument is now available to explore in a Kontakt (full) library.
Forgotten Keys VARI-64 Mk II
VARI-64 Mk II is a re-creation of the rare Hammond Autovari-64 Mark II analog drum machine from the early 1980s. All 11 voices have been sampled (multi-sampled) with great care, says the developer.
For this new release, Forgotten Keys has created a new Kontakt user interface with instant control over the sounds and a channel-strip mixer on the second page. This includes tune and pan controls for each voice.
Then, you can also explore the touch-tempo and use a programmable auto-vari sequencer, all taken over from the original. There is also a built-in MIDI file recorder making exports to your DAW an easy task.
It ships with all 64 original preset rhythms and six fill-ins. They authentically reprogrammed them at the same 48 pulses per quarter note as the original hardware.
First Impression
Difficult to say anything about the library. There is no sound demo currently. But it’s nice that there is now a library available with sounds from this drum machine.
Forgotten Keys VARI-64 Mk II is available now for an introductory price of 13,22€ instead of 16,54€. It requires Kontakt 5.8.1 (full). Player version is not supported.
More information here: Loot Audio
The Autovari 64 was already vintage tech in the 80s. It dates back to the early 70s because thats when I got mine, sitting atop my Hammond Cadet Organ. Many higher end 70s Home organs had similar rhythm machines built in but the autovari was offered as an upgrade that sat atop an organ, complete with its own sheet music stand. I loved it and used it up to the late 80s on my experimental punk tracks. One neat feature is you can press two buttons at the same time for weird effects. Not sure if this emulation would let you do that.