Low Frequency GalleryDrum instruments by Shannon McDowell

Synthesized drum instruments

Drums made of pure synthesis.

Five drum machines and drum designers for your DAW. Every hit is synthesized as you play, with no sample libraries inside, so every kick, snare and conga can be tuned, bent and reshaped to fit your track.

Get Golpe FreeSee the collection
NOW SHOWING · 41.20 HzE1 · low E string
5instruments in the collection
0recorded samples inside
VST3for Windows 10/11, 64-bit
+ HTMLbrowser version with every purchase

The collection

Each instrument comes as a VST3 plugin for your DAW, plus a browser version that runs on any computer, Mac included.

Golpe's interface: Kick drum designer

LFG-01 · Kick

Golpe

Kick drum designer

VST3 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit · browser version included

Build a kick from three layers, then glue them together. Golpe is for the kick that has to sit exactly right in your mix, from tight and punchy to long, booming 808-style subs.

  • Three layers: sub, body and click, each with its own pitch sweep, envelope and drive
  • Glue compressor on the summed layers, with parallel mix
  • Presets, randomize and A/B compare
  • Golpe Free has the full synth engine, as a plugin and in your browser
  • Pro adds an FX chain (distortion, EQ, transient shaper, room reverb, limiter) and WAV export
FreeGolpe Free
$19Golpe Pro
More about GolpeTry it in your browserGet Golpe FreeBuy Golpe Pro
Chasquido's interface: Physically modeled snare and clap

LFG-02 · Snare & clap

Chasquido

Physically modeled snare and clap

VST3 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit · browser version included

A snare built the way a real one works: a drum head, snare wires rattling underneath, the stick itself, and claps from several hands slightly out of time, all running into a gated '80s room. Golpe's natural partner.

  • Drum head with eight vibration modes; tune it, muffle it, move the stick from center to edge
  • Snare wires with tension and head coupling
  • Stick snap: tip, rimshot or cross-stick
  • Claps of up to six hands, and the gated '80s room
  • Round-robin variations, so repeated hits never sound like a machine gun
$15Chasquido
More about ChasquidoBuy Chasquido
Cuero's interface: Physically modeled congas and bongos

LFG-03 · Hand percussion

Cuero

Physically modeled congas and bongos

VST3 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit · browser version included

Congas and bongos synthesized from the physics of a rawhide head: where you strike changes the tone, just as it does on the real drum. Quinto, conga and tumba, macho and hembra, plus clave, cowbell and güiro.

  • Five drums modeled from their head size, tension, density and damping
  • Six hand strokes, and a strike position that moves from bass tone to rim
  • Clave, cowbell and güiro for the full percussion section
  • Mixer with a channel per instrument, each on its own output in your DAW if you like
  • Sequencer with 16th and triplet grids and 20+ built-in grooves, following your DAW
  • WAV export, and a full user manual
$22Cuero
More about CueroBuy Cuero
Polvo's interface: 12-bit lo-fi drum machine

LFG-04 · Lo-fi sampler drums

Polvo

12-bit lo-fi drum machine

VST3 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit · browser version included

The gritty, sample-rate-crushed sound of classic boom-bap sampler drums. Polvo synthesizes each hit, then samples it through a crunchy converter, so tuning a pad down stretches the stair-steps exactly the way old hardware did.

  • Twelve pads: kicks, snare, rim, clap, snap, hats, shaker, toms and perc
  • Converter with bit depth, sample rate, input gain and input filter, plus 12-bit, 8-bit and clean presets
  • Swing, vinyl dust and tape saturation
  • Pattern sequencer that follows your DAW, with each pad on its own output if you like
  • Export Kit: save all twelve crunched one-shots for any sampler
  • A full user manual, with recipes for classic lo-fi sounds
$22Polvo
More about PolvoBuy Polvo
Panal's interface: Early-'80s hex-pad electronic drums

LFG-05 · Electronic drums

Panal

Early-'80s hex-pad electronic drums

VST3 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit · browser version included

Big, swooping synth toms, zappy snares and a gated room, played on a honeycomb of hexagonal pads. Panal goes after the electronic drum sound of the early '80s, a sound few plugins cover.

  • Four swooping toms, kick, zap snare, clap and laser
  • Closed and open hats, ride and crash
  • Gated room with adjustable length, plus drive
  • Patterns up to 8 bars that follow your DAW, with mute and solo
  • Each pad on its own output; MIDI learn with the General MIDI drum map built in
$29Panal
More about PanalBuy Panal
The Whole Gallery bundle: Golpe Pro, Chasquido, Cuero, Polvo and Panal

The whole gallery

All five paid instruments together, for less than buying them one by one.

Golpe ProChasquidoCueroPolvoPanal
$65$107 separatelysave $42
Buy the bundle

Join the Low Frequency Gallery newsletter

New instruments, updates and the occasional sale, sent to your inbox. No spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime. See the privacy policy.

About the gallery

I'm Shannon McDowell. I earned my B.S. in Music Production from Full Sail University in 2013, and I've been chasing drum sounds ever since.

Low Frequency Gallery is where I hang the instruments I build. Each one starts from the way a drum actually makes its sound, a vibrating head, a pitch that drops as the skin relaxes, or the stair-steps of an old 12-bit converter, and recreates it with synthesis. There are no sample libraries inside, so nothing is locked in: every sound can be retuned and reshaped until it fits your track.

Sounds you make with these instruments are yours to use in your own music, commercial releases included.