Best Free and Open Source Drum Machines

8 Best Free and Open Source Drum Machines

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns.

Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A drum machine often has pre-programmed beats and patterns for popular genres and styles, such as pop music, rock music, and dance music. Most modern drum machines made in the 2010s and 2020s also allow users to program their own rhythms and beats.

Drum machines may create sounds using analog synthesis or play pre-recorded samples.

Our recommended drum machine software is captured in one of our legendary rating charts. We only feature free and open source goodness.

Ratings chart

Let’s explore the 8 drum machines. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot of the software in action together with links to relevant resources.

Drum Machines
HydrogenHigh quality and sophisticated drum machine
GeonkickSynthesizer that can synthesize elements of percussion
DrumGizmoMultichannel, multilayered drum plugin and standalone application
orDrumboxReal-time drum machine and audio sequencer
avldrums.lv2Drum sample player plugin dedicated to Glen MacArthur’s AVLdrums
Drum MachineCreate and play drum beats
AutokitDrum machine plugin and standalone app
KickpadExperimental kick drum audio sample generator

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