Druma

Name: Druma
Author: Acustica Audio

by Acustica Audio · Channel Strip · Drum bus processor

Not rated yet

Druma is a drum bus processor from Acustica Audio that captures mixing engineer Salvatore Addeo's analog drum chain behind one MIX knob.

It has four modes and a side-chain high-pass filter; the price was not shown on the product page.

Best for: Drums, Drum Bus. Genres: Pop, R&B & Soul, Hip-Hop & Trap, Jazz, Acoustic & Classical.

Keywords: drums, bus processing, drum bus, mixing, sidechain input, single knob, built-in mix knob, punchy, British console, analog-sounding, beginner-friendly, CPU-light, glue, hybrid topology, minimal controls.

What it does

Druma is a one-knob drum processor made by Acustica Audio with the Italian portal Improve your Mix and multi-platinum mixing engineer Salvatore Addeo. It packs his usual drum chain, built over 25 years of work, into one plugin meant to give drums a "solid, punchy sound".

MIX knob: one control drives a combined chain of EQ, compression, saturation and further processing, so you dial in amount rather than individual settings.
Four modes: four modes, which work like presets, change the chain to suit different styles; the developer does not name them on the product page.
Side-chain filter: an adjustable side-chain high-pass from 50 to 300 Hz, added in update A012 (A003 for the trial).
British console sound: the analog tone is drawn from "a prestigious studio" with a British console; the studio is not named.
Light on CPU: the developer stresses a low computer load, so it can sit on single drums as well as the full bus.
Acoustic drums: aimed at acoustic drum tracks in pop, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, trap and urban styles.

Druma is an Acqua plugin, and Acustica offers a 30-day trial of its plugins.

Source: Acustica Audio product page

When to use it

Druma takes the opposite approach to full channel strips such as Scheps Omni Channel and Neutron 5, which have many separate controls, and console strips such as Native Channel Strip 2 and bx_console SSL 4000 E, which you set up yourself: it is a fixed drum chain from one engineer, run by one knob and four modes. That makes it fast, but you can't adjust the EQ, compressor or saturation stages on their own. It belongs with other signature one-knob tools, and suits someone who wants a finished drum sound quickly more than someone who wants to build their own. The later side-chain filter gives a little extra control over how the low end drives it.

Best for: quick punch and glue on acoustic drum buses and single drum tracks with few decisions.
Genres: pop, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, trap and urban, as the developer suggests.
Look elsewhere if: you want separate control over each EQ band and compressor setting; a full channel strip such as Scheps Omni Channel or bx_console SSL 4000 E suits that better.

Where to buy

Acustica Audio: see store

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

Eddie Kramer Drum Channel by Waves · Signature drum processor · $34.99
CLA Drums by Waves · Signature drum processor · $32.93
MDrumStrip by MeldaProduction · Acoustic drum mixing strip · $150
Solid Mix Series by Native Instruments · Console-style EQ & dynamics · $49
NFuse by Kiive Audio · Dual-path hybrid bus processor · $99
Virtual Mix Rack by Slate Digital · Modular channel rack · $99

All channel strips & consoles