MeldaProduction has announced the release of an alpha version of MDrummer 2 Small, the freeware version of the forthcoming MDrummer 2. The full version - MDrummer 2 Large - is expected to be released soon with an introductory price of €119. Both function as VST instruments for Windows.

MDrummer Small is the lightest version of MDrummer (288 MB). It does not contain the drumset generator, rhythm editor or rhythm generator. However it contains several drumsets and rhythms and it is free. MDrummer Small also comes with the MDrummer demo version, which includes all features, however you cannot save or export anything, it generates random noise and contains only a few resources. But, you can setup your own drumsets and rhythms and even use the rhythm generator.

The main changes in MDrummer 2 include:

• 5GB of HQ multisamples of 2 drumsets.
• 12,000+ loops including world music, new rhythms.
• MMultiSampler now processes new multisample format mixing several sound sources, layers and alternating hits.
• MIDI jamming mode.
• MDrummerConfig can set number of output channels and routing to the physical device channels.
• Multithreading synchronization has been heavily improved and MDrummer now supports latency under 1ms and almost no lags on time-consuming operations like drumset loading.
• Rhythm partial loading - load verse, load chorus.
• Additional rhythm controls - verse 1, verse 2 and chorus.
• Note offset is now tempo-independent, which makes it an ideal way for flams.
• ASIO driver now uses separate threads and supports latency under 1ms.
• MDrummer can automatically vary cymbals - randomly switch between crashes, splashes and chinese, which is important for world-style breaks.
• Tom offset - you can using one tracker let mdrummer use higher/lower toms.
• Drumset load & replace loads a drumset, joins it and removes any original drums. Useful for choosing appropriate components.
• MCompressor has 3 knee modes.
• MLimiter has 7 soft limiting modes.
• Equalizer has now 6 bands with 7 possible modes for each band + visualisation.
• New plugins such as MAnalyzer.
• Drum multi-selection and multi-editing.
• Several speed and sound quality improvements.