A Look at 11 of the Top Drum VSTs
Acoustic drums can be challenging to record; they require numerous microphones, a sharp technique, a good-sounding space, and — and this is crucial when you’re working from home — patient and understanding neighbors.
As much as we love good old-fashioned acoustic drum recording, it’s simply not feasible for most musicians without access to a high-end studio and a budget to match.
Thankfully, virtual drums have come a long way in recent years, providing musicians with easy, affordable ways to outfit their tracks with mix-ready drum sounds. If you’re looking for studio-quality drum sounds without the studio, then here are 11 of Sweetwater’s favorite drum VST plug-ins!
Toontrack Superior Drummer 3
Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 3 is as all-encompassing as a drum VST can get, boasting over 230GB of world-class drum sounds recorded by studio legend George Massenburg. While these mix-ready samples make Superior Drummer 3 a must-have for producers picky about their percussion, they’re only the beginning. Superior Drummer 3 has a nearly endless assortment of ways to sculpt every tiny detail of your drum sound from the individual mic-bleed controls to 35 flexible mixer effects. Once you’ve dialed in your sound, Superior Drummer 3’s veritable Grooves library is a powerful creative catalyst for songwriters. The incredible level of fine-tuning available makes it easy to match the rhythm in your head. Perhaps the most impressive feature is the Tracker function, which effortlessly extracts accurate MIDI information from a completed audio track! If you’re a percussion perfectionist who requires unparalleled control when it comes to the drum kit, then Superior Drummer 3 should be at the top of your list.
Toontrack EZdrummer 3
Featuring top-tier Toontrack drum sounds with a simplified workflow, EZdrummer 3 offers a streamlined virtual-drumming experience that stresses songwriting and creativity, allowing guitarists or other nondrummers to build organic-sounding grooves in no time. EZdrummer 3 begins with seven versatile drum kits recorded at the world-famous Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany, by Grammy-winning recording engineer Michael Ilbert. If you’re looking to jump right in with a prebuilt drum track, then EZdrummer 3 includes a vast MIDI library of beats, covering the entire spectrum of musical genres. Add in the Tap2Find step sequencer, custom groove-shaping Bandmate feature, and expressive groove editing, and EZdrummer 3 is about as close as a VST can get to working with a real, live drummer!
Steven Slate Drums SSD5
Seventy-seven snares, 84 kick drums, and hundreds of toms/cymbals/percussion sounds: Steven Slate Drums SSD5 is an industry-standard drum VST favored by many of the world’s top hitmakers. Whether you prefer to build your own drum kit or simply use one of the several artist-modeled preset kits, SSD5’s radio-ready drum sounds provide instant sonic inspiration. In addition to the drum library, SSD5 is loaded with over 1,000 drag-and-drop rhythms that outfit your next track with a high-end percussive sheen. Moreover, this VST’s groove library also features an intuitive song-mapping function, allowing you to combine different grooves for each section of your song. You can even export your finished drum track as MIDI for later adjustment. Finally, Steven Slate Drums SSD5 boasts an entirely redesigned interface that makes it simpler than ever to load drums, shape tones, and carve out your favorite grooves!
MixWave
Do you ever listen to one of your favorite songs and wish you could capture the drum sounds on your tracks? MixWave’s artist series of drum libraries brings you the personal kits of some of the world’s top percussionists! From Tony Royster Jr.’s funky virtuosity to Mario Duplantier’s hard-hitting metal prowess, these drum libraries come loaded with kits curated by each artist, recorded in crystal-clear fidelity often at MixWave’s world-class studio. MixWave’s artist kit VSTs come pre-tweaked with a mix-ready sound; but, if you’re looking for greater sonic control, each plug-in comes loaded with a host of effects to reshape the artist’s signature tone into your distinct creation.
UVI Drum Designer
Electronic, hip-hop, and pop producers, this is the one for you! The UVI Drum Designer takes a decidedly modern approach to the contemporary drum VST, sporting a unique design that combines traditional sample-based drums with cutting-edge synthesis. At the center of this plug-in, four robust drum engines allow you to shape and mold your ideal electronic kick, snare, clap, and cymbal tones with awe-inspiring editing possibilities. These sounds can then be paired with samples from Drum Designer’s massive library, combining the best of the sample and synthesis worlds to add a fresh and unique kick to your next track. Next comes the eight-part sequencer, a veritable instrument unto itself that’s powered by eight engines, including one kick, two snares, one clap, and four cymbals to craft killer beats. Over 5,700 samples, more than 2,000 presets, and 316 kits: Drum Designer’s hybrid style of rhythm shaping is a must-have for producers looking to shape the sound of the future.
IK Multimedia Modo Drum
IK Multimedia’s Modo Drum bucks the trend of sample-based virtual drums, boasting a modal synthesis–powered approach that offers significantly enhanced control over your sound. This plug-in’s physical-modeling engine allows for adjustment of almost any parameter you can dream of, and this design is perfect for producers looking to slot their drums into a completed mix seamlessly. Modo Drum’s 10 predesigned kits run across the entire spectrum of genres, and you can even mix and match different elements from each set to build your preferred custom kit. Nine distinct virtual rooms breathe just the right amount of life and ambience into your sound, from a cramped and highly reflective space to the ringing echo of a concert hall, all with stunning sonic realism. Last, Modo Drum’s mixer comes with premium processing tools such as gating, compression, expansion, and much more — perfect for adding some final polish to your rhythm track.
XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2: Custom XXL Collection
While many of the VSTs on this list come loaded with different sounds to meet the needs of a wide variety of producers, XLN Audio’s Addictive Drums 2: Custom XXL Collection takes a slightly different approach. Instead of starting you off with a host of diverse kits that might not mesh with your sonic style, this collection begins with the incredible Addictive Drums 2 engine then gives you free rein to go on your own XLN Audio shopping spree! The Custom XXL Collection allows you to pick 10 products from XLN Audio’s massive library of ADpacks — top-tier custom drum packs specially voiced for different genres and styles from modern metal mayhem to smooth R&B percussion. In addition to these 10 ADpacks, you also get your choice of 10 Kitpiece Packs of individual instruments, such as boutique piccolo snares, cajons, and bongos, for greater utility in your setup. Last, the XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2: Custom XXL Collection finishes off with 10 MIDIpaks of your choosing, each containing 200+ beats provided by top session musicians for each pack’s respective genre, essentially lending your tracks the skill and imagination of a world-class professional drummer! Best of all, XLN Audio allows you to build your dream library on your own time — you can choose what you need to start with, and you have the freedom to come back for the rest as you see fit, allowing you to tailor your library to your particular needs as they progress over time.
BFD BFD3
BFD’s BFD3 is another strong contender for an all-in-one drum VST with some of the highest-quality drum samples in the business! BFD3 boasts a host of professionally recorded kits that are sure to please even the most demanding of producers, sporting a formidable suite of parameter adjustments including tom resonance and cymbal swell to impart your sound with an unmatched level of realism. If you utilize the power of precrafted grooves in your musical process, then a fantastic set of grooves recorded by top drummers Steve Ferrone, Brooks Wackerman, Peter Erskine, and more is sure to spark your creativity and give your track a professional feel. If you prefer to construct your own beats, then the fully editable groove engine makes creating and editing your rhythms a breeze, aided by BFD3’s amazingly intuitive user interface.
UJAM
The UJAM Virtual Drummer series of VSTs is another percussion plug-in set that takes a genre-focused approach, offering five different styles with widely different flavors. Solid 2, Deep, Brute, Heavy 2, and Phat 2 cover everything from brutal metal blast beats to old-school hip-hop finesse. They’re all sold individually — ideal for musicians who stick to a specific style and don’t necessarily need sounds for every genre. To streamline your creative process, each of these plug-ins features UJAM’s “frustration-free” interface that replaces endless menu diving with a straightforward and effortless learning curve. Most importantly, UJAM’s Virtual Drummer series boasts exceptional audio quality across the entire line. Spend a few minutes with any of their plug-ins, and their dedication to obtain the best drummers and kits for recording UJAM’s samples and flexible grooves is evident!
GetGood Drums
We have plenty of genre-specific plug-ins on this list, but GetGood Drums takes it to another level with the laser-focused precision of their One Kit Wonder series. Designed for songwriters, the One Kit Wonder series is true to its name, supplying you with a single kit of studio-level samples to polish up your tracks with mix-ready rhythms right out of the digital box. In addition to their genre-centric drum libraries, GetGood Drums also offers several artist signature kits so you can authentically capture the tones of the world’s most renowned drummers, including Dan Searle of Architects and Matt Halpern of Periphery. No matter which kit (or kits!) you choose, the built-in master EQ, parallel compression, and reverb effects offer enough adjustability without slowing down your creative process. Finally, the built-in groove player makes it easy to build your beats, but, if you’re in a hurry, GetGood Drums also offers plenty of artist- and genre-inspired groove packs that seamlessly pair up with their One Kit Wonders!
Heavyocity Virtual Drum and Percussion Software
Last, we’ll wrap up our list with a favorite of sound designers, industrial musicians, and cinematic producers everywhere: Heavyocity. While the Heavyocity DM-307 Modern Groove Designer comes close to the other plug-ins on this list, most of Heavyocity’s products are not typical drum-kit VSTs. It’s designed for modern electronic music producers, featuring a hybrid modular synth drum/live percussion/software drum machine setup. Instead, plug-ins like Damage 2, Master Sessions: Ensemble Drums, and Master Sessions: Ensemble Metals offer epic tribal drums, screeching percussion, and brooding metallic strikes that sound more at home on a movie trailer than on a pop track. However, if you’re scoring a film or working in sound design, then there are few better ways to impart a monumental sense of scale and dramatic tone to your sound project than Heavyocity’s unique percussion VSTs!
Download Some Digital Drums!
From cinematic percussion suites to signature artist kits to enormous drum libraries that can go toe to toe with the most well-stocked studio, there’s certainly no shortage of top-tier virtual drums in the modern musical market! Considering how feature-packed many of these drum VSTs are, it can be a difficult choice to nail down which one is right for your project. If you need additional information or help choosing the perfect VST, our Sweetwater Sales Engineers are waiting to take your call at (800) 222-4700!
