The kick drum spices up your music or audio projects and enhances the acoustics of other musical instruments. It has a low-end indefinite pitch that you may not get from other tools. Hence, it is one musical instrument that can never be overrated.
However, as a music creator or producer, you may not know how to play the instrument. Even if you could, playing it manually and mixing the sounds could be taxing. But with VST/AU kick drum plugins, you are right on track to a more leisurely journey.
This article will explore our top 7 best free-kick drum plugins and how you can use them to improve your musical projects. Let’s get to it.
VST/AU Kick Drum Plugin
This is a Virtual Studio Technology that enhances your audio projects with kick drum sounds. It is computer software that provides you with an interface for adding audio effects to your digital workstation. The VST integrates with your software synthesizers and allows you to customize your audio with kick drum sound effects automatically.
Wide arrays of VST/AU plugins that promise to bring out the best in your sounds are available online. However, finding the best plugin can be a hard nut to crack. We have made a list of our top free VST kick drum plugins to ease your stress. You can find them below.
7 Top Free VST/AU Kick Drum Plugins 2021
Our top free picks include the following:
T. REX 606
This is a rompler plugin and was created to sound like the Rolan TR-606 drum. It provides a simple user interface that allows you to mix your sounds and add various sound effects, even as an amateur. It is one of the best machines for home recordings.
You can find it in VST for Mac Os x and Audio Units. It has two knobs (volumes and reverbs) that allow you to switch levels to enhance your pitch. It also contains seven classic sounds that you will love.
Drum Pro
This tool has many free presets and sounds for absolute beginners and professionals who have no issues with free plugins. It covers any music genre that you might love but is specifically designed for Techno and EDM. In addition, you get global effects, plus 12 pads and 20 built-in drum kits.
Drum Pro has an advanced but intuitive user interface that allows you to unleash the sound god in you. The pads have dedicated pan and volume controls and ADSR parameters for volume levels.
To know more about ADSR envelopes and how to use them, you might want to check the link below https://blog.landr.com/adsr-envelopes-infographic/.
MT Power Drum Kit 2
This software offers samples that have been processed with EQs, compressors, and other audio effects to give you a perfect sound. It provides a snare drum and a natural-sounding kick feature. You can create your sounds from scratch or use any of the preset sounds.
It also has built-in compressors and a comprehensive groove library that offers thousands of rhythmic patterns. This VST works with 32/64-bit operating systems and most Digital Audio Workstations.
DjinnDrum
The DjinnDrum is modeled after The Linn LM-1 drum machine used by music legends like Peter Gabriel, Prince, and Michael Jackson.
This tool offers a drier sound, and you may need to compress and add EQ when you are done with the mix. It also has pitch control for some sound effects. It supports the 32/64 bit operating systems for Windows and also works on MAC OS X versions and beyond.
The Beat Factory Drums
This software offers an easy-to-use interface and customizable ADSR parameters that let you edit your sounds to your taste. It is designed with top-notch outboard gear that is absent in most free VST plugins. It provides ten drum kits, built-in reverb, and was modeled after the MPC 2500.
Line of Legends
The Line of Legends is not as technical as other plugins, but that does not affect its functionalities. The plugin provides a release and attack knob, eight (8) distinct output channels, and punch. It also provides 47 top-notch samples that you can customize to suit your taste.
You might want to set up the plugin in your DAW to view all eight output channels. They include- Snare, Tom, Hi-hat, Kick, Clap, Crash, and Ride. And it is excellent for beginners.
The KickMaker
The KickMaker plugin is designed with four independent oscillators and an ADSR curve for each oscillator. The ADSR curve is used for mixed signals when crafting kicks. This plugin is specially designed to help you prepare the best spices for your songs and recordings.
On a side note, you should also make sure that your DAW is fully set up and active before you can use most of these plugins. You might want to check here for insights on how to set up your home studio.
Conclusion
If you’re a beginner, you might want to try any of the free plugins listed above to get your creativity up to speed before moving to the paid versions. However, the cost of a paid plug-in might not determine how powerful it works.
There you have a list of plugins that you can use to tweak your songs to your taste. You can now craft kicks and add various sound effects to make your music as rich as you want.