Marla Real Grooves – Live-Played MIDI Drum Plugin (Not Programmed)

[Marla Audio]

Marla Real Grooves – Live-Played MIDI Drum Plugin (Not Programmed)

Hey everyone,

We’ve been working on a new plugin called Marla Real Grooves.

It’s a MIDI-based drum tool that delivers live-played grooves with real human timing and velocity — not programmed or grid-based patterns.

The goal was to bring a more natural and musical feel into DAW workflows.

Key features:
• Live-played MIDI grooves
• Natural timing & velocity (non-quantized feel)
• Drag & drop MIDI directly into your DAW
• AU & VST3 (macOS)

This is an early release and I’d really appreciate any feedback.

https://marlaaudio.com

Here’s a quick demo of how it works:
(video link)

[Marla Audio]

One thing We focused on is note mapping — you can easily adapt the grooves to different drum kits or even non-drum instruments.

It’s not locked to a fixed mapping, so it’s pretty flexible inside a DAW.

[Uncle E]

Installation went smoothly. This loaded for me as an audio inserts, not a MIDI FX, is that correct? The nice thing is this gets around the trouble many users have with MIDI FX, but it would still be nice to have a MIDI FX version that can preview using my own drums. Also, you might want to have it pass audio through it, so users don't get confused about why they're not hearing audio after dragging out the MIDI.

Fills, variations, and long patterns (or even complete songs) that already include fills and variations would be nice.

[Marla Audio]

Hi Uncle E— thanks again for taking the time to install it and leave feedback. Really appreciated.

**Audio FX vs MIDI FX**
Yes — it currently loads as an audio effect rather than a MIDI FX, and that’s intentional. The workflow is designed around previewing the live performance inside the plugin, then dragging the MIDI into the DAW to hear it with your own drum instrument. A dedicated MIDI FX version that previews directly through the user’s own drums is definitely an interesting direction, but it would require a bigger host/format-specific implementation and isn’t part of this first release.

**Audio / pass-through**
In the current build, the idea is that users can hear both: the reference preview inside the plugin and their own kit in the DAW after dragging the MIDI. We’ve confirmed that workflow in Logic and GarageBand (AU), as well as Reaper (VST3). So while browsing, the plugin is not intended to replace or silence the user’s own track playback.

**Fills, variations & longer patterns**
That’s a fair request. v1 is focused on 46 live-played 4-bar grooves in 4/4, but fills, variations, and longer song-style material are definitely part of the plan for v2 and future expansions.

Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback. If anything still feels off in another host, I’d be very happy to hear which DAW/version you tested.

You can also find the live release here: marlaaudio.com

[Marla Audio]

Hey — moved the proper release announcement to a new thread:

viewtopic.php?p=9243566#p9243566

This old beta post is kept for history only.