Rapid Flow has released drumGRID, a drum plug-in with over 1,000 vintage machine samples and a sequencer that can run up to 128 steps. The new instrument puts a lot of control into each beat, from groove and timing to pitch, filters, and sample playback.
The sound library has some well-known gear in it. Rapid Flow recorded drums from the MFB Tanzbär, Vermona DRM1, Cwejman BLD, Nord Drum 3P, 8RAW8, and 606. The team used studio hardware from API, SSL, Neve, and Rupert Neve Designs to capture them.
And there's more gear on the way. Sounds from the TR-909, Elektron Analog Rytm MKII, and Erica Synths Perkons are due in a later update. That should give beatmakers a broader set of kits to use without having to record each machine.
The sequencer is where things get quite deep. Users can set up straight, triplet, or dotted rhythms, while Euclidean mode helps spread hits across a pattern. Each step gets its own note chance, velocity, pan, and timing offset. Filters, resonance, bit rate, and stretch can change on a single hit as well.
For those who like hands-on beatmaking, steps can be set with a mouse, entered from a MIDI keyboard, or played live. Timing can stay locked to the beat or be left loose. Scenes can also change through MIDI notes, key presses, or DAW automation, which may help with live sets and song sections.
Groove controls have plenty of range. Seven shuffle styles can affect the full kit or just one drum lane. Individual tracks can move up to 64ms ahead of or behind the beat, with a global shift for the kit. Repeats have their own curves and spacing, which should come in handy for hi-hat rolls and fills.
Each lane also acts as a sampler with room for eight sounds. Users can stack samples, cycle through them, pick them at random, switch by velocity, or morph between them. Pitch, fades, sample rate, bit depth, filters, and stretch have separate controls, while amp and filter envelopes shape each hit.
Choke groups are part of the setup as well. That lets a closed hi-hat stop an open one from ringing, much like a real drum machine. Small detail, but useful when making a kit behave the way a player would expect.
One choice stands out. Rapid Flow left compression and EQ out of drumGRID, letting producers use their preferred mix tools instead. Multi-output routing gives each drum its own path or lets several tracks share an output. Custom samples, project shortlists, preset folders, scalable controls, and light or dark themes round things out.
Windows users need version 10 or newer, while Mac support starts at macOS 10.13.6. VST3, AU, and AAX formats are on offer.
The intro price is £95 or €125, down from the usual £129 or €169. Newsletter subscribers can get another 30% off, and there's a full 45-day trial for anyone who wants to test it before paying.
The sound library has some well-known gear in it. Rapid Flow recorded drums from the MFB Tanzbär, Vermona DRM1, Cwejman BLD, Nord Drum 3P, 8RAW8, and 606. The team used studio hardware from API, SSL, Neve, and Rupert Neve Designs to capture them.
And there's more gear on the way. Sounds from the TR-909, Elektron Analog Rytm MKII, and Erica Synths Perkons are due in a later update. That should give beatmakers a broader set of kits to use without having to record each machine.
The sequencer is where things get quite deep. Users can set up straight, triplet, or dotted rhythms, while Euclidean mode helps spread hits across a pattern. Each step gets its own note chance, velocity, pan, and timing offset. Filters, resonance, bit rate, and stretch can change on a single hit as well.
For those who like hands-on beatmaking, steps can be set with a mouse, entered from a MIDI keyboard, or played live. Timing can stay locked to the beat or be left loose. Scenes can also change through MIDI notes, key presses, or DAW automation, which may help with live sets and song sections.
Groove controls have plenty of range. Seven shuffle styles can affect the full kit or just one drum lane. Individual tracks can move up to 64ms ahead of or behind the beat, with a global shift for the kit. Repeats have their own curves and spacing, which should come in handy for hi-hat rolls and fills.
Each lane also acts as a sampler with room for eight sounds. Users can stack samples, cycle through them, pick them at random, switch by velocity, or morph between them. Pitch, fades, sample rate, bit depth, filters, and stretch have separate controls, while amp and filter envelopes shape each hit.
Choke groups are part of the setup as well. That lets a closed hi-hat stop an open one from ringing, much like a real drum machine. Small detail, but useful when making a kit behave the way a player would expect.
One choice stands out. Rapid Flow left compression and EQ out of drumGRID, letting producers use their preferred mix tools instead. Multi-output routing gives each drum its own path or lets several tracks share an output. Custom samples, project shortlists, preset folders, scalable controls, and light or dark themes round things out.
Windows users need version 10 or newer, while Mac support starts at macOS 10.13.6. VST3, AU, and AAX formats are on offer.
The intro price is £95 or €125, down from the usual £129 or €169. Newsletter subscribers can get another 30% off, and there's a full 45-day trial for anyone who wants to test it before paying.
