BDM (Broken Drum Machine)

Okay, this is the funnest plug I've had the pleasure of playing in a while. I've circuit-bent a few instruments in my time, so I really appreciate the "broken" aesthetic. This instrument is F-U-N!!! It's oozing with glitchy variances, ranging from mild to completely wrecked. It's basically a combination of PCM using a set of drum samples, and VCO (you can mix between the two for each pad. Right off the bat it's a cool "vintage" drum sound, and you can take it into realms of blissful insanity by adjusting the chaos upward or downward. You can swap out the samples with your own if you like, and the interface can easily be re-skinned. The excellent documentation has instructions for creating "modkits", which are combinations of skins and samples. It comes with a good assortment of presets and one additional modkit right out of the box. The variation you can get with the basic sample set is just SICK. The sound quality is great, as with all NUSofting products (well, as great as intentional malfunctions can sound which to my ears sounds wonderful). Another cool feature of this instrument is the ability to alter the pitch of drum pads using the keyboard. Rather than being melodic, the pitch change really affects the quality of broken-ness, lending an even finer palette to the array of glitchitude that can be achieved. This goes far beyond simply distorting, I don't know what they did in there but it sounds like transistors are frying and ICs are being eviscerated. The nicest part is that you'll never smell a whiff of smoke, followed by an abrupt and permanent silence (rest in peace my beloved Casio). BDM is pure glitcherosity and deconstructive buzzification, tons of fun, and a great value.Read Review