Best Free VSTs: Drums

Posted November 10, 2021

Many of these are arbitrarily categorized by genre. Do a Ctrl + F to find your faves. Note: These are mostly “organic” drum sounds, as I’m leaving the emulated drum machine and synthesized sounds for whenever I get around to making a free synths list, bye!

General MIDI kit: Spitfire LABS Percussion has all your favorite GM honks and whistles. VSTAUAAX (Spitfire); Versilian Virtuosity Drums SFZ

Pop, rock, & metal drums

Standard kit: Naughty Seal Audio PD PLAYER‘s demo kit is premixed and sounds great out of the box. You have to download the player plug-in, then the kit found at the bottom of the page, which you can toss into the plug-in folder. VSTAUAAX; Manda Audio MT Power Drum Kit is a more compact option at less than 100mb, and has even been tested/beatmapped for Mixcraft. It has a nag screen at the start unless you’ve donated, but otherwise is fully functional. VSTAUAAX; Larry Seyer’s Powerkits Dry Clean Stick 3 is around 500 MB. SFZ (account); Wilkinson Audio Naked Drums as a Kontakt instrument or SFZ is a kit for control freaks — a set of multi-mic drum sounds designed to be manually routed to your DAW so you can mix each one to your liking. NKISFZ (Shopify or Github)
Virtual drummer kit: RAYZOON Jamstix 4 Free Edition is a perfect fit if you struggle to write realistic drum parts — stuff like spontaneous drum breaks and fills. You can pick virtual drummer AI models, play styles, and kits to produce tons of variations on basic drum patterns. The workflow is a little bit different than your standard drum VSTi, and the interface is the ugliest thing I have ever seen, but it sounds very good. Win VST

Clap: 99Sounds Clap Machine has a lot of natural one-guy-recorded-in-a-room-sounding claps. VSTAU
Crash cymbal: vst4free X Crash VSTAU
Kick drum: chokehold’s Dark VX Kick VSTAU; Quilcom B-2 Kick is a synthesized kick drum designer for all kinds of genres. Win VST
Snare drum: chair.audio EXC!TE Snare Drum VSTAU; Puremagnetik Snare Designer lets you sculpt your perfect snare sound from a Ludwig Acrolite, a Mapex Birch snare, and a Pork Pie Little Squealer. NKIALP (email); chokehold’s Black Noh Snare VSTAU
Snare rolls: VSCO2 Percussion has two. VSTAU

Jazz & funk drums

Jazz/funk kit: Orange Tree Samples Jazz Funk Kit NKISFZH2; Monster Drum‘s “12 Tooth Brush Kit” is a decent brush kit. VSTAU (Maize); Straight Ahead Samples Free Free Jazz Drums is a kit of improvs, fills, and riffs. There are very few actual one shots, but it may do the trick if you need some authentic fills for your jazz track. NKI (Woocommerce)
Vintage kit: Wavesfactory Old Tape Drums is a crunchy lo-fi Ludwig kit. NKI (newsletter); Jon Meyer’s Soft Drums is a 1960s Ludwig kit played softly. SFZdspresetNKI (account)

Country & bluegrass drums

Stomp box: Orange Tree Samples Stomp Box. NKI (http link)
Washboard: Philharomina‘s percussion has a few samples. MP3; See also ratchet, guiro

Hip-hop drums

Note: Drum machines and the like will be covered in the future.

Beatboxing kit: XPERIMENTA Beatbox NKI (FastSpring); Knobster BeatVox Win VST; stgiga’s Acapella Group XG(S)MT88* includes several percussive mouth sound patches (starting around #115). The samples are mono, and you’ll have to load a lot of SoundFont instances to use them as a kit, but that’s the price of making your songs extra unique, y’know? SF2
Lo-fi/garage kit: Jim Palmas’ iPhone Drums NKIdspreset (account)

Snap: 99Sounds Hands Make Sounds includes some snaps. NKI (email)

Epic, cinematic, and orchestral percussion

For your, uh, film you’re apparently scoring on a $0 budget.

Cinematic kit: ProjectSAM The Free Orchestra‘s “Power Strike” patch includes a gran cassa, a snare drum, some toms, and some cymbals. There are no round robins, but it does come with stage and close mic recordings, with a knob to blend between the two. NICNT (account); Keepforest Ferrum — Free Edition is a library of designed trailer hits and percussion. NICNT (account); SPLASH SOUND Percussion Elements‘ “War Drums” patch. NKI (FastSpring); Sample Logic Taste the Fury NKI (Woocommerce + Continuata); Impact Soundworks Cinematic Synthetic Drums has a distorted, electronic sound. NKI (Woocommerce + Pulse)
Orchestral kit: Free Sounds for ARIA Engine Vol. 1 has Garritan’s “Basic Orch Percussion” patch. SFZ

Anvil

VCSL‘s Anvil patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)

Bass drum

Ethan Edwards Distant War Drums comprises some dry gran cassa hits and rolls. EXSWAV (account)

Performance Samples Percussion Freebie includes a bass drum patch. NKI (FastSpring + Continuata)

Bell tree

VCSL‘s Bell Tree patch (SFZ mapping and samples part 1 and part 2) with sustains and glissandos (think magical sparkles and/or Antiques Roadshow prices). SFZWAV (Github)

World percussion

Every culture on the planet: haha percussion instruments go brrr

World kit: Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo has tom, timpani, taiko, tabla, frame drum, bongo, conga, djembe, dunun, doumbek, caxixi, and shekere patches. NKI

Tambourine¹: VCSL‘s Tambourine patches (SFZ mapping version 1 and version 2, samples version 1 and version 2) have hits and rolls. SFZWAV (Github); Spitfire LABS Christmas has a patch for tambourine hits and rolls. VSTAUAAX (Spitfire)

Central American, Caribbean & Afro-Cuban percussion

May have some overlap with South American and African percussion.

Latin kit: FreePats World percussion includes a cajón, bongos, a shaker, a tambourine, claps (very nice), claves (ok I guess), castanets (good), congas, and maracas. SFZSF2WAVH2; Monster Drum‘s’s “11 YPB Cajon Kit” includes a cajón, cabasa, maracas, and a tambourine. VSTAU (Maize); 8Dio The New Cajon and Bongo has bongos, cajones, and snares. NKI (Shopify)
Reggae kit: Monster Drum‘s “14 Adun SG Reggae Kit” VSTAU (Maize)

Bongos: VCSL‘s Bongos patch (SFZ mapping and samples) includes hits and rolls. SFZWAV (Github)
Cabasa: VCSL‘s Cabasa patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)
Claves: VCSL‘s Claves patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)
Congas/tumbadoras: D’Pinga Congas PMO VSTAU (Tentacle); VCSL‘s Conga patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)
Cowbell: VCSL‘s Cowbells patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github); VI Labs True Cowbells contains nearly 1 GB worth of sounds for the major cowbell enthusiast. UFS (OpenCart); Reflekt Audio More Cowbell Pls VST (Woocommerce)
Güira (Dominican metal scraper): D’Pinga² Güira VSTAU (Tentacle)
Güiro (fish): D’Pinga Güiro PMO VSTAU (Tentacle)
Maraca: MSLP Maracas for Kontakt and Reason NKISXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist)
Quinto: VSCO2 Percussion has some. VSTAU
Tambora (Dominican two-headed drum): D’Pinga² Tambora VSTAU (Tentacle)
Timbales: D’Pinga Timbal PMO VSTAU (Tentacle); Orange Tree Samples Timbales NKIWAV (http link)

South American percussion

Including samba instruments, Andean percussion, and instruments from the Amazon basin.

Samba kit: Freeztar Brazil Kit has triangles, a berimbau, a surdo, a low-pitched cuica, and a pandeiro. SF2

Agogô: VCSL‘s Agogo Bells patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)
Amassador macaco (low-pitched Brazilian drum): AMA 1 Free Edition includes one. NKI6 (Wix)
Bombo: Jose Serrano’s Andean Bombo dspreset (account)
Cajón: Pulpo Audio Cajón VSTAU (Tentacle); Peter Esch’s Cajon NKI (account)
Caracaxa (Amazonian guiro): AMA 1 Free Edition includes one. NKI6 (Wix)
Caxixi: Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo‘s Caxixi patch. NKI
Cuia bocó (Amazonian gourd drum set): AMA 1 Free Edition includes one. NKI6 (Wix)
Cuica: Muletone Audio Brazillian Series: Cuica NKI (account)
Favamaraca (Amazonian maraca): AMA 1 Free Edition includes one. NKI6 (Wix)
Pandeiro: Pulpo Audio Pandeiro VSTAU (Tentacle); Muletone Audio Brazillian Series: Pandeiro NKI (account)
Rainstick: borth audio Sticky Rain NKI (FastSpring); Quilcom B-2 Shake & Scrape has a rainstick patch. Win VST
Surdo: Philharmonia‘s percussion has a few samples. MP3
Tamborim: Muletone Audio Brazillian Series: Tamborim NKI (account)
Tamborinho (Amazonian hand drum): AMA 1 Free Edition includes one. NKI6 (Wix)
Zabumba (Brazilian bass drum): Zabuma EH SF2 (attribution @ Edivan Halen)

European percussion

It is a well-established fact Europeans hate drums.

Bodhran (Irish frame drum): lorenzo’s Bodhran NKIdspreset (account); Subaqueous Epic Frame Drums – Ableton Live has some samples. ALP (email)

African percussion

Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, etc.

Agboba (modern Ewe bass drum): Native Instruments Kontakt Factory Selection has one in the “Kroboto – Boba – Kidi” patch under “World.” NICNT (account)
Bendir (North African frame drum): Fernando A. Martin’s Arab and Turk instruments has Bendir and “Syrian Bendir” patches. SF2; Subaqueous Epic Frame Drums – Ableton Live has some samples. ALP (email)
Darabuka: Petrosfera’s Djembuka includes a “Djembuka_Lap” patch. SFZ (email); Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo‘s Doumbek patch NKI; Subtersonik Music Remo Doumbek. You can also grab this SFZ mapping for it — Ctrl + F “Remo Doumbek.” 1 is dry while 3 is double tracked. WAVSCMSFZ
Djembe: Paul Summerlin’s Djembe Hard Hits EXS (account); Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo‘s Djembe patch NKI; Supreme Samples Djemko is a processed djembe designed to resemble a taiko for more cinematic drum cues. NKI (newsletter)
Dunun (Malian bass drum): Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo‘s Dunun patch NKI; Philharmonia‘s percussion has two dunun oneshots (labeled “djundjun”). MP3
Kidi (mid-sized Ewe drum): Native Instruments Kontakt Factory Selection has one under “World.” NICNT (account)
Kpoko-kpoko (Nigerian double-ended rattle): Sasje’s 9 world instruments contains a Kontakt version of Greg Bossert’s kpoko-kpoko samples. NKIWAV (attribtuion @ Greg Bossert)
Kroboto (small Ewe master drum): Native Instruments Kontakt Factory Selection has one under “World.” NICNT (account)
Log drum: FluffyAudio My Log Drum NKI (Woocommerce)
Shekere (West African gourd maraca): Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo‘s Shekere patch NKI
Sistrum (African disc rattle): Sasje’s 9 world instruments contains a Kontakt version of Greg Bossert’s sistrum samples. NKI (attribution @ Greg Bossert)
Udu (Nigerian jug drum): Project16’s UduC3 SF2; AS Free Collection‘s “UDU Free” UFS (OpenCart)

Central/West Asian & Middle Eastern percussion

India, Iran, Nepal, etc. Check the African section above too for some Middle Eastern instruments.

Daf (Iranian frame drum/tambourine)

Fernando A. Martin’s Arab and Turk instruments has “Riq_Full” and “Darbuka & Riq” patches. SF2

Dholak (two-headed Middle Eastern drum)

Subaqueous Dholak Drum Rack ALPWAV (email)

Hatheli (Indian tambourine stick)

Sasje’s 9 world instruments contains a Kontakt version of Greg Bossert’s hatheli samples. NKIWAV (attribution @ Greg Bossert)

Meditation hand bell

VCSL‘s “Hand Bells, Nepalese” patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZWAV (Github)

Naal (Indian double-sided drum)

HandHeldSound Mini Naal NKI (Woocommerce + Pulse)

Pambai (South Indian festival drum)

Crypto Cipher Free Sample Pack includes a pambai. NKI (Woocommerce)

Tabla

MONSTER Drum‘s “06 Vian Dangdut Kit” has some tabla sounds. VSTAU (Maize)

Ecliptiq Audio Vita Solo‘s “Tabla” patch. NKI

Subaqueous Tabla Drum Rack and Samples ALPWAV (email)

Tabla mouth percussion²: Crypto Cipher Free Sample Pack includes a limited version of their “BOL Tabla Mouth Percussion” library. NKI (Woocommerce)

East Asian percussion

China, Japan, South Korea, etc.

Chinese rock kit: MONSTER Drum‘s “08 Dragon Yao Gun” includes a kick, snare, gongs and kuai ban clappers. VSTAU (Maize)

Janggu (Korean hourglass drum): CATSNU Gugak JangGu LE NKIEXSALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Kagura suzu (Shinto ritual bell stick): おとわび神楽鈴 for Kontakt or as a plug-in. Click the little blue button to download in your preferred format. NKIVSTAU
Kotsuzumi (Japanese shoulder drum): Inspire Instrument Kotuzumi Free NKI (account)
Paranku (Okinawan hand drum): おとわびパーランクー. Click the little blue button to download. NKI
Taiko: Subaqeuous Taiko Instrument as an Ableton Rack or SFZ ALPSFZ (email); Angus Roberts-Carey’s Pangea Percussion offers a dry, up-close taiko sound, a good contrast to the usual verby “epic” ensemble taiko approach. NKI (account); Prisma Sounds Taiko is the pro-verby-al epic ensemble taiko. NKI
Tamtam (Chinese gong): Alan ViSTa’s Chau Gongs has 20″, 28″, and 40″ tamtams. VSTAU
Tar (Middle Eastern frame drum): Ahmed Almusawi’s Valencia Tar NKIdspreset (account)
Uchiwa daiko (Buddhist fan drum): Inspire Instrument FanDoramu NKI (account)
Wind gong: Alan ViSTa’s Chau Gongs has a 20″ wind gong. VSTAU

Southeast Asian/Austronesian percussion

Indonesia, Thailand, Fiji, Vietnam, etc.

Dangdut kit: Monster Drum‘s “06 Vian Dangdut Kit” VSTAU (Maize)

Ching (Thai finger cymbals): Precisionsound Tibetan Meditation Bells has “ching” and “chap” sounds. SF2; Etched Sounds Ching NKI (Woocommerce)
Gendang Bebano/Rebana Melayu (Malaysian frame drum): Monster Ethnica‘s “Gendang Melayu” patch VSTAU (Maize)

Kendang (Sundanese double-sided drum): Monster Ethnica’s “Kendang Sunda” patch VSTAU (Maize); Casa da Música Javanese Gamelan has a kendang ciblon, kendang gending, and kendang ketipung. An SFZ mapping is also available. NKIWAVSFZ
Lali (Fijian log drum): Botdog Samples Lali Drums NKI
Sanh sua (Vietnamese cricket clapper): Sasje’s 9 world instruments contains a Kontakt version of the Vietnam cricket samples by Greg Bossert. NKIWAV (attribution @ Greg Bossert)
Wooden frog: Quilcom B-2 Shake & Scrape‘s “Frog Rasp” preset models this sound nicely. The “Castanets” preset is a good soundalike for single hits rather than rasps/scrapes. Win VST

Antarctican percussion

ヽ(╹ᗜ╹) I’m here all week!

Ice kit: Boyss-Sound-e-Scapes 5th Year free pack NKISFZWAV (email)

Found sounds

Household objects suffering musical abuse.

Body percussion kit: Maz Blanko’s Pure Snap Magic is a sample collection of claps, snaps, and stomps designed for layering. WAV (account); DSmolken’s Body Percussion includes various body hits and slaps. SFZ (Github); Marco Iannello’s Body Percussion has a shaker sound made from hands rubbing together and it’s kind of great. dspresetNKI (account)
Car kit: VSTOff C4 Drum Kit NKI (account)
Drill kit: Sampleso Carpentry Tools‘ “Carpentry Percussion Kit” patch NKI (Squarespace)
Dumpster kit: Reflekt Audio Dumpster VST (Woocommerce)
Found objects kit: The Thump’s Things I’ve Dropped dspreset (account); Sean Byrd’s At Home Kit EXS (account); 8Dio Mini has all kinds of small sounds, including plastic cup hits, zipper sounds, snaps and claps, teeth clacks(!!! ! !! ew), watch ticks, water drops, pencil scratches, and of course, button presses for all ya Gamer™ beats. NKI (Shopify); Man Makes Noise Freedebeat is a more intense and dramatic kit featuring metal, rocks, and wood. NKI (email)
Glass bottle kit: Reflekt Audio Bottle Pop VST (Woocommerce)
Kitchen kit: Michael Picher’s Baking Pan-demonium is a set of 9 pans. SFZ
Pumpkin kit: Fracture Sounds Pumpkin Patch NKI (Woocommerce)
Toaster kit: Kralc Toaster Percussion NKI (account)
Metal kit: Riverwood Air RAW Power Metal Percussion has pretty much all the scrapmetal bangs, clinks and rattles your freeware heart could desire. NKI (account); chokehold’s Tiny Metal Impact has more minimalist metal object sounds. VSTAUWAV
Wooden kit: Kralc’s Wooden Percussion NKI (account)

Balloons: decent|SAMPLES Balloon Drums has a light, metallic, timbale-like sound. NKISFZ (newsletter); SzcZ’s Scratch the balloon has various balloon squiggles and squeaks. NKIWAV
Cheek pops: Tim’s Face NKI (account)
Clock ticks: Minimal Instruments Minimal Clocks VSTAU; Soni Musicae The Grandfather Clock NKISF2Win VST
Clicks: Icebreaker Audio Key-Clicks is the sound of various keyboards being played while turned off. Instant ASMR! NKI
Metronome: RyoSakuma Wittner Metronome Samples NKIWAV (account)
Ruler: The Bards Guild LLC Rulerz SFZWAV (email)
Typewriter: borth audio Typewriter SFZ (FastSpring); Wavesfactory Typewriter NKI (newsletter)
Wok: It’s All Noise Wok NKI6 (newsletter)
Wooden spoons: Inspire Instrument Wooden Spoons Free NKI (account)

Comic ad clipping that reads, "Without knowing a single note of music, you play instantly on sight!"

Free virtual instrument series

View the main page or learn more about 📕 plug-in formats. licenses and download requirements.

🎹 Pianos, organs, & keyboards
🎤 Solo vocals, choirs
🎻 Orchestral strings
🎸 Guitars, harps, lutes, & zithers
🎷 Woodwinds & free reeds
🎺 Brass & horns
🔔 Idiophones
🥁 Drums, percussion
Synths & drum machines – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)
DAWs, samplers, & FX – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)

Footnotes

Whence does the tambourine hail? Nobody knows, which is why it’s here in the generic section. The tambourine lives inside each of us. Here’s a lady playing tambourine.
Be the first and only person on your block to have one!