SampleScience’s 909 Lab plugin lets you play classic drum machine sounds that are always in key

If you’re sick of tuning your drum sounds to fit your project, you might like to try 909 Lab plugin, a new take on Roland’s classic drum machine that enables you to play all of its sounds chromatically.

This means that, as well as being suitable for rhythm parts, 909 Lab can also help out when you want to create 909-style basslines.

As with the original hardware, you get 11 sounds to work with, and these can be key-mapped in your piano roll (or played chromatically on your MIDI keyboard, presumably).

There’s tonal shaping via the Body, Sub, Click, Decay and Level controls, along with amp Floor and Ceiling knobs. You can dial in saturation, and some of the sounds have reverb.

Find out more on the SampleScience website. 909 Lab is available now for $30 and runs on PC and Mac in 64-bit VST/AU formats, though isn’t compatible with macOS Catalina and beyond.

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.