InstaDrums
Free, open-source VST3 drum sampler plugin built with JUCE.
Download
Windows
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| InstaDrums-v1.1-VST3-Win64.zip | VST3 plugin — copy to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ |
| InstaDrums-v1.1-Standalone-Win64.zip | Standalone application |
macOS (Universal Binary: Apple Silicon + Intel)
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| InstaDrums-VST3-macOS.zip | VST3 plugin — copy to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ |
| InstaDrums-AU-macOS.zip | Audio Unit — copy to ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/ |
| InstaDrums-Standalone-macOS.zip | Standalone application |
Linux (x64, built on Ubuntu 22.04)
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| InstaDrums-VST3-Linux-x64.zip | VST3 plugin — copy to ~/.vst3/ |
| InstaDrums-Standalone-Linux-x64.zip | Standalone application |
macOS note: Builds are Universal Binary (Apple Silicon + Intel). Not code-signed — after copying the plugin, remove the quarantine flag in Terminal:
xattr -cr ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/InstaDrums.vst3 xattr -cr ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/InstaDrums.component
Features
Sampler
- 12 pads (4x3 grid), expandable by 4
- Velocity layers with round-robin (auto-detected from filenames: Ghost/PP/P/MP/F/FF)
- Drag & drop sample loading (single files or folders)
- WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, MP3 support
- Kit presets (save/load .drumkit files)
- Smart folder loading with name matching (kick, snare, hihat, etc.)
- General MIDI drum mapping with configurable MIDI notes
- Choke groups, one-shot / polyphonic mode per pad
Per-Pad Controls
- Volume, Pan, Pitch (+/- 24 semitones)
- ADSR envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)
- Low-pass filter (Cutoff + Resonance)
Per-Pad FX
- Compressor (Threshold, Ratio) with GR meter
- 3-band EQ (Lo / Mid / Hi, +/- 12dB)
- Distortion (Drive, Mix) - tanh waveshaper
- Reverb (Size, Decay)
- Each FX toggleable with animated switches
Multi-Output Routing
- 7 stereo output buses: Main, Kick, Snare, HiHat, Toms, Cymbals, Perc
- Each pad pre-assigned to its bus (configurable)
- In REAPER: enable additional outputs via routing for separate track processing
- Pads with inactive buses automatically fall back to Main
Master Bus
- Master Volume, Tune, Pan
- Output Limiter (0dB brickwall, toggleable)
- Peak VU meter with hold indicator
GUI
- Dark modern UI inspired by hardware drum machines
- 3D metal knobs with glow effects (orange for sample controls, blue for FX)
- Waveform thumbnails on pads + large waveform in sample editor
- ADSR curve overlay on waveform
- Carbon fiber background texture
- Rajdhani custom font
- Fully resizable window with proportional scaling
- Animated toggle switches
Building
Requirements
- Windows 10/11
- Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools (C++ workload)
- CMake 3.22+
- JUCE framework (cloned to
../JUCErelative to project)
Build Steps
git clone https://github.com/juce-framework/JUCE.git ../JUCE
cmake -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
cmake --build build --config Release
Output:
- VST3:
build/InstaDrums_artefacts/Release/VST3/InstaDrums.vst3 - Standalone:
build/InstaDrums_artefacts/Release/Standalone/InstaDrums.exe
Install
Copy the VST3 to the standard location:
xcopy /E /I /Y "build\InstaDrums_artefacts\Release\VST3\InstaDrums.vst3" "C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\InstaDrums.vst3"
Sample Packs
The plugin ships without samples. Recommended free sample packs:
- Salamander Drumkit (CC0, acoustic, multi-velocity)
- Free Wave Samples (royalty-free)
- Samples From Mars (free drum machine kits)
Tech Stack
- Language: C++17
- Framework: JUCE 8
- Build: CMake + MSVC 2022
- Audio DSP: juce::dsp (IIR filters, Compressor, Reverb)
- Font: Rajdhani (SIL Open Font License)