$59
The overall sound and general approach of Tattoo are clearly inspired by classic analogue drum machines. Pick one of the drum sounds from the conventional selection of kick, snares, toms, hats, cymbal, rimshot, clap and cowbell, and you won’t be overwhelmed with sound sculpting options. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of options, but there’s nothing here that’s likely to scare newcomers to the world of drum synthesis. It’s a setup that makes it easy to get to grips with creating your own kits and programming beats with them.
The programming element is where Tattoo really comes into its own. The step sequencer built into the plugin is similarly easy to get started with, but it packs a lot of clever features for creating and twisting beats. The randomisation features are particularly good; don’t think of them as completely random, they’re more of a quick way to add variations and movement to parameters.
The impressively feature-packed approach makes Tattoo something of a bargain. You’ll be hard pressed to find any drum plugins so well-equipped in this price range. If you want to dip your toe into the world of synthesised drum sounds and analogue-inspired programming, this is a great starting point at an affordable price tag.
07.46 AM
I think Drumatic 4 deserves to be on that list! http://www.drumatic.info/
Maybe even Maschine’s drum modules could be on the list.
Other than that, great list! I learned that Kickr was for windows now as well.
04.31 PM
vive le Drumazone
04.36 PM
vive le Drumazon !!!, mais pour faire le râleur, il y a juste une différence de tonalité, mais sinon c’est le top quand on rêve d’acquérir une 909.
10.33 PM
I agree with Sleepydog, Drumatic 4 is an amazing drum synth, would have like to have seen it on here
09.03 PM
Can’t believe Audiospillage and their whole line of drum synths didn’t get included, especially with so many redundant entries that did make it in. Have to give them a plug, but I’m just as happy keeping these all to myself…
03.06 PM
Yeah not sure why Drumspillage 2 and Elecktroid, both by Audiospillage did not make this list
12.18 PM
Waldorf Attack was a great unsing hero of Drum Machine VSTs imo.
09.46 AM
It would make sense to put Spark on the list as well.
12.50 PM
Another vote for Drum Spillage. I’ve demo’d just about all of these, and Drum Spillage is easily at the #1 spot for me. For both sound, and the ability to dial in sounds and timbres.
01.29 PM
Bazzism by Intelligent Sounds & Music – It’s my go to for kickdrums and its priced right!
07.52 PM
Yeah, not sure why we’ve got two kick drum plug-ins on this list?
I second Attack – It’s an oldie, but a goodie, for sure!
Tattoo is okay, but pretty limited sonically, especially when compared to the Audiospillage stuff, which for some reason didn’t make it on the list.
One omission I’m pretty surprised about is LinPlug’s RMV, which I think is totally underrated. I use it all the time… And it was one of the first plug-ins to combine drum synthesis and sampling – way before Punch or even Maschine!
Anyway, my 2 cents.
08.24 PM
Spark?
11.59 PM
you skipped the 2 best ones:
http://audiospillage.com/drumspillage.html
http://www.sonicacademy.com/KICK/
12.07 AM
You need to add Drumspillage 2 to that list.
Seriously!
02.50 PM
ahem…
Sonic Academy KICK was Future Music Gear Of The Year #1 and its not even in your list?
http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/future-music-gear-of-the-year-readers-choice-award-612743