Virtual Instrument

Rating: 5/5 Stars. The latest release in Heavyocity's Mosaic Series, how does Mosaic Pads measure up?

If you are working in genres such as lounge, hip‑hop, downtempo or lo‑fi, Tympo's  ‘performative drum instrument’ will be right up your street.

Now in its third decade, MetaSynth is still a synthesizer like no other, and its companion sequencer Xx follows the same path...

Dawesome’s Novum is a granular synthesizer with a multi‑layered approach to sound design.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Vocalise 3 provides 7GB of vocal‑inspired sample data and runs in a dedicated front‑end within Kontakt 6.7.1.

Rating: 4.5 Stars. Fledgling company Vegas Audio’s new drum plug-in tempts you to take a chance on a roll of the fruit machine...

Rating **** 4/5 Stars. If you need something to help you cook up dynamic drones, creepy cues or surreal synths, Timedrops has a lot to offer.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Sampleson describe their latest release, Alienize, as a cinematic sci‑fi instrument with mouse gesture‑based modulation.

Does the latest iteration of NI’s Komplete music production suite provide all the tools you need?

Sonuscore transform the sounds of the orchestra into cinematic soundscapes.

Vir2’s Phoenix is a one‑stop shop for rises, hits and whooshes.

Arturia’s mighty V Collection continues to grow and improve.

Rating: 5/5 Stars. If you are looking for an ‘easy’ virtual acoustic drum instrument, GoranGrooves’ Handy Drums provide an interesting alternative.

Modo Bass 2 builds on the success of the original, adding more and better basses.

Softube take on Roland’s classic SH-101.

This powerful ROMpler aims to be all things to all synthesists.

Toontrack’s EZdrummer just gets better and better.

Veteran software Mellotron specialists GForce have recreated the sounds of the earliest models with startling accuracy.

Sampleson’s modelled Wurlitzer ticks all the right electric piano boxes.

Sample Logic deliver a flexible pad, soundscape and atmosphere designer with a powerful DIY twist.

Hans Zimmer’s drum collection doesn’t disappoint.