Drums and percussion are the backbone in most of the musical tracks. Choosing the right drums and percussion in music production is crucial and can make the difference in the end. If you do not have the necessary experience to play drums, a drummer friend or money to hire one, then you must use drum sounds from a free drum library or use a free virtual instrument plugin.

• Best Free Virtual Instruments Mac
• Vst Plugins Free Download
• Free Virtual Instruments 2018

We have compiled for you a list with some of the best free drum VST plugins you can find on the Internet. Some of them are more complex for the most advanced and require some knowledge about synthesizing, others are very easy to use and intuitive, but all offers very good drum sounds and can be applied in a wide variety of musical genres. And best of all, they are free!

The 25 best VST/AU plugin synths 2019: all the best soft synths you need in your DAW. Virtual instruments, software instruments or just plain old VSTs - but on a basic level, they all operate in the same way. And analogue filtering, unison, copious modulation sources and a rack of effects. Reason users get the VST/ AU version free. Best free VST plugins, Have you been searching for synth, bass, vocals or guitar simulation? Rightly so, Virtual Studio Technology (VST) plugins or VST instruments are an essential element every music production enthusiast needs to craft and hone their soundscape with to add rich. Jan 15, 2019 - Our picks for the best free VSTs and free VST instruments include Hornet. Plug-ins out there in both the area of effects and virtual instruments.

SL Drums 2 by Beatmaker

SL Drums 2 is the newest version of Beatmaker‘s freeware drum VST, AU plugin available for Windows and MAC OS. Featuring over 450 drum samples, 118 new drum kits, new controls and new GUI design, SL Drums 2 is a great virtual drum machine to have into your DAW. Best part…it’s free!

Free Download: SL Drums 2

Impakter by de la Mancha

Impakter is a powerful drum tool and one of the best free drum plugin tested and used by us, featuring over 300 drum samples generated by analogue synths like Korg MS20, Roland Juno60, Kakken SX-150 and drum machines such as Yamaha MR-10, Korg KPR-77, Mattel Synsonics and Antonelli Organ 2377 rhythm box.

Impakter comes with 4 modules for kick, snare, hats and percussion sounds, 52 presets covering a range of sounds and styles plus more.

Compatibility: VST 32-bit plugin format for Windows.

Update: No Link Available

MiniSpillage by AudioSpillage

MiniSpillage is a professional quality drum synth plugin featuring 6 oscillators and open Hi-Hat Generator with a noise source and dual resonant filters. Besides this, MiniSpillage also features 3 fully editable drum pads and 3 exclusive AudioSpillage drum synthesis models – BassDrum, WoodDrum and ElectroHiHat. It is very flexible and capable of creating a wide variety of original drum and percussion sounds.

MiniSpillage is a free percussion synthesizer plugin only for Apple Mac OS X music apps.

Free Download: MiniSpillage by AudioSpillage

EXD-80 by Third Harmonic Studios

EXD-80 is a free Drum VST instrument plugin for Windows, featuring 8 drum modules, 4 stereo output pairs (each has its own stereo effects section) and also featuring 128 drum kit patches with 16 preset drum kits. EXD-80 can be used in any EDM music style from Electro, Industrial, Dubstep to Ambient, Bass, Hip Hop and more.

Compatibility: VST 32-bit plugin format for Windows.

Free Download: EXD-80 by Third Harmonic Studios

Drumatic 3 by E-Phonic

Drumatic 3 is a great virtual analog drum synthesizer with all sounds completely synthetic: bass drums, snare drums, hand claps, two tom drums, hi-hats, and bells. Uses graphical envelopes for amplitude and modulation, featuring 6 Stereo outputs, assignable for each sound. Drumatic 3 is a simple but effective drum virtual instrument great for any producer or sound designer.

Although the E-Phonic has released a new commercial version, Drumatic 4, the previous version is still available for download and is 100% free.

Compatibility: VST 32-bit plugin format for Windows.

Free Download: Drumatic 3 by E-Phonic

Drum Boxx by SonicXTC

Drum Boxx by SonicXT is another great freeware VST drum synthesizer with which you can create thousands of unique synthetic drum sounds for your musical productions. Drum Boxx features 12 individual signal channels, each with an individual drum synthesizer that can be tweaked, pitched, filtered, equalized, and distorted independently offering an extensive range of sound modulation and drum sound design. Also, 10 custom preset kits/128 user kits are available.

Compatibility: VST 32-bit plugin format for Windows.

Free Download: Drum Boxx Synth by SonicXTC

Drum Pro by StudioLinked

Drum Pro by Studio Linked is a freeware virtual drum machine designed for Windows and Mac OS and features a collection of 20 drum kits which can be expanded by purchasing new commercial drum expansions from the developer website. The graphical interface has 16 drum pads, and ADSR envelope for the volume and pan controls for each drum pad. Besides this controls, Drum Pro also includes a reverb mix control and a global volume control. You can easily play drum using your MIDI controller and Drum Pro plugin.

Compatibility: VST, AU 32-bit/64-bit plugin format for Windows and Mac OS.

Free Download: Drum Pro by Studio Linked

TS-808 by Tactile Sounds

TS-808 is a VSTi virtual instrument that emulates the legendary drum machine Roland TR-808 and is one of the best plugins of this kind tested by us. Using full schematics for each voice and more parameters this plugin is even an advanced drum machine than his predecessor.

Unfortunately, TS-808 is only available for Windows.

Free Download: TS-808 by Tactile Sounds

MDrummer Small by MeldaProduction

MDrummer Small is the little brother of the MDrummer Large, and is one of the most complex and versatile free virtual drum machine plugin from this list. Even this plugin is the “little brother” still lets you create some very good drum sounds and comes with more than 500 MB of samples, multisamples, rhythms and other data.

MDrummer Small also features MIDI Command Method, Integrated Arrangement Sequencer, Jamming Functionality and many other useful features.

Compatibility: VST, AU plugin format for Windows and Mac OS. A standalone version is also available (only for Windows).

Free Download: MDrummer Small by MeldaProduction

Line of Legends by VST4FREE

Line of Legends is a free drum plugin created by VST4FREE specifically for Hip Hop beat makers, using free drum samples released by RealDrumSamples.com. The GUI is divided in 8 sections: Kick, Snare, Clap, Snap, Toms, Hi-Hat, Ride and Crash, each using its own individual output. Also features punch knobs for attack sculpting and Release, Pan knobs. In total Line of Legends comes with 47 high-quality drum samples.

Compatibility: VST, AU plugin format for Windows and Mac OS

Free Download: Line of Legends by VST4FREE

I think you have already noticed that there are only 9 free drum plugins, not 10. We left this spot open so if you have a recommendation please use the comments section. Depending on your comments we’ll choose the tenth plugin for our list.

We have thought about these plugins:

• Beat Factory Drums by Beat Skillz
• MT Power Drum Kit 2 by Power Drum Kit

You might also like to check our list with Best Free VST Synth Plugins of 2015

The drum machine changed music. There’s no getting around it.

Every DAW software these days comes with some sort of sampler or drum machine built right in. They’ve become a pillar of modern music production.

But picking a sound can be tough when you have infinite possibilities at your fingertips.

That’s why these drum VST plugins are so great. They impose some limitations to help you corral the creative juices a bit.

Best Free Virtual Instruments Mac

So here’s the 10 best free drum VST plugins for making your drums pop.

T.REX 606

The name says it all. The T.REX 606 is a compact rompler modelled after the iconic Roland TR-606 drum machine.

The simple interface keeps things basic. Which is nice these days when so many VSTs are needlessly complicated.

It’s just volume, reverb and 7 classic sounds. Easy peasy.

Download it here for free

Djinndrum

The Linn LM-1 is a classic drum machine. It’s been used by everyone from Peter Gabriel, to Prince, to Michael Jackson.

But let’s face it, these days they’ve gotten a bit pricey for what they are.

No problem, The Djinndrum has you set for all that classic sound that the LM-1 packs in.

Download it here for free

Drum PRO

Drum Pro has 20 built in drum kits, 12 pads and global effects, what more do you need from a drum machine plugin?

The Drum Pro has you covered no matter what you’re making. Big EDM? Check. Techno? Check. Everything else you need for sweet drums? Check that too.

Download it here for free

Line of Legends

This plugin may not look as technical as others. But don’t let the looks of Line of Legends fool you.

Vst Plugins Free Download

This plugin boasts 47 high quality samples, 8 individual output channels, and punch, release & attack knobs for some serious tweakage.

Heads up: you may have to set up the output channels in your DAW if it’s only showing one channel. So check your DAW manual to figure out how.

Download it here for free

Sean Pandy Drums

Sean Pandy Drums is based on a sample pack made by heavy metal drummer Sean Pandy. So if you’re looking for a heavier drum sound on your mix, this VST will definitely give you it.

The ‘Sub Blower’ is especially good and certainly lives up to its name…

Download it here for free

KickMaker

2 of the most important elements in any track that thumps is the kick and bass. So they deserve some serious attention.

That’s what makes KickMaker so great. It’s a plugin built for crafting the perfect kick. So what’re you waiting for? Get kickin’.

Download it here for free

Beat Factory Drums

Beat Factory Drums is easy to use, sounds great, and packs a serious punch.

It has fully tweakable ADSR parameters so you can customize each and every kit to your sound. Not bad for a FREE plugin.

All you have to do is enter your email and that’s it.

Download it here for free

MT Power Drum Kit 2

MT Power Drum Kit 2 isn’t just a plugin for drums. In addition to top notch drum sounds that cut through any mix, it also has a fully pre-programmed groove library.

It’s wicked for composing your own patterns, or stringing together grooves for the drum accompaniment you need.

Download it here for free

Dub Turbo DrumTROOP

Free Virtual Instruments 2018

The DrumTROOP drum machine is big both in its sound and what it offers. It’s a powerful tool for everything from EDM to house and back again.

Their website calls it a “weapon of mass production.” I can’t really disagree with that. It’s definitely massive is every respect.

Download it here for free

Single Cycle Vintage Drum Elements

Vintage Drum Elements has a nice, warm analogue sound that so many vintage drum machines have.

The 12 pad interface is easy to use and tweak, and the preloaded samples are all top notch.

Name your price or enter your email to grab it on the Single Cycle Bandcamp.

Download it here for free

Drumming up the perfect sound

Nothing beats a banging drum track. They’re the backbone of tons of top notch songs.

And the drum machine is a superb way to hone in on a specific sound for your tracks.

So grab these sweet plugs and program away!

Already set for drums? Grab some of our other favourite free VSTs.