Beatskillz brings you '80s drum sounds in its Retrohit plugin

As you may have noticed, the charts are currently full of '80s-influenced pop, so now seems like a good time for Beatskillz to be launching Retrohit, a drum plugin that's packed with sounds from the decade of excess.

Said to be based on the sound of popular '80s pop\dance and rock, this features 50 kits that include kicks, snares, hats, cymbals claps, toms, FX and percussion. There are 12 sounds in each patch, and more than 600 samples are provided. Some of the kits are processed, so you can get that '80s vibe right out of the gate, while others are supplied dry so that you can apply your own sonic sauce.

Machines sampled include the LinnDrum, E-MU SP-12, Oberheim OB-MX and Fairlight CMI. The sounds were recorded through tube preamps and compressors from the likes of Neve, Thermionic Culture and Drawmer.

Each hit has its own volume and pan controls, and there are global settings for pitch, reverb, attack and sustain. Retrohit supports MIDI control, and all the samples are supplied as WAVs so can be used in other software if you wish.

Retrohit is available now for PC and Mac as a VST/AU/AAX plugin. The intro price is $39, but this will rise to $59 on 1 October. Find out more on the Beatskillz website.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.