Backbone is Steinberg’s new “one-of-a-kind” drum resynthesizer plugin

Drum sampler plugins? There are loads. Drum synths? Almost as many. Drum resynthesizers, on the other hand, aren’t quite so common.

That’s what Steinberg is giving us with Backbone, though; this new plugin puts the emphasis on letting you create unique kicks, snares, impacts, hi-hats and other percussive sounds, giving you the tools you need to design them from the ground up.

You start by layering up to eight samples, and you can then move on to modifying their tonal or noise elements and resynthesizing the individual layers. In doing this, you generate synthesized versions of the samples within the spectral domain, with plenty of potential for tweaking. There’s also a customisable spectral filter.

Steinberg Backbone

(Image credit: Steinberg)

Senior Marketing Manager Florian Haack says: “Backbone lets you create and manipulate drum sounds in unprecedented ways. You can feed the Drum Re-synthesizer with your own recordings and combine them with any kind of drum sample. It is such a powerful tool for those who like to get creative and want to develop their own signature drum sound. Personally, I have never had so much fun in crafting sounds as with Backbone.”

High praise indeed; Backbone is available now priced at £128/€149, and runs on PC and Mac in VST 3, AU and AAX formats. Find out more on the Steinberg 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. 

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