Synsonic Instruments has made its initial commercial drum plugins (Apollon, BD-808 Pro, BDE-01) available as free plugins for macOS and Windows.
Popular free drum synth plugins include the BD-808 Free and BD-909 Free from developer Synsonic Instruments. A few years ago, the developer also went commercial with three plugins that also focus on synthetic drums.
It seems this adventure has come to an end. Synsonic Instruments is now offering these initial commercial plugins as a free download.
Synsonic Instruments
Apollon, BD-808 Pro, and BDE-01, all previously commercial plugins, are now available as free downloads on the Synsonic Instruments website.
The first plugin is Apollon, a drum machine inspired by early hardware units. It features eight full-synthesized instruments: bass drum, snare, low tom, high tom, closed and open hi-hats, clap, and rimshot.
Each instrument features a range of classic controls, including tune, decay, and more, letting you modify sounds on the fly.
Alongside this, you get a built-in 16-step sequencer with velocity-sensitive steps and per-track shuffle to create groovy patterns with ease. Also onboard is a basic reverb and delay, with send levels per instrument. Plus, the sounds are fully MIDI triggerable.
BD-808 Pro and BDE-01
Another Synsonic Instruments former commercial plugin that is now free is the BD-808 Pro. It’s an expanded version of the BD-808 Free. Like the free version, it focuses on recreating the classic Roland TR-808 bass drum sound but with more features.
It features a fully adjustable oscillator, an AHD envelope, a click/drive, and a master section with a built-in compressor and overdrive. There’s also a glide function, which lets you use the plugin as a simple bass synthesizer rather than just a one-shot kick.
Neat, you can also save your own 808-style sounds in presets and play them with MIDI and advanced velocity control.
The third and last plugin is the BDE-01, another drum Synthesizer plugin. It’s again focused on bass drum sounds but has a more flexible core than the BD-808 Pro.
It consists of three main sections: an all-synthesized section, a noise generator, and a sample-based layer. A simple mixer allows you to bring all three layers together. The synth part has a multi-wave VCO with a pitch envelope, enhancer, and a VCA.
The sample oscillator lets you load custom samples, while the noise generator has a built-in filter, a dedicated envelope, and a VCA.
Further, you have a master section with accent, glide, and human controls.
First Impression
Three great drum synth plugins you shouldn’t miss. The only mini downside: the developer doesn’t offer support, and it’s not certain whether native Apple Silicon support is included. That needs to be tested.
The Synsonic Instruments commercial plugins are now available for free download. They are available for macOS and Windows. No info about native Apple Silicon support.
Apollon supports VST2 and AU formats, while BD-808 Pro and BDE-01 are available as VST2, VST3, and AU plugins.
More information here: SC
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