Hats

Name: Hats
Price: 46.1 USD
Author: AudioThing

by AudioThing · Drum Instrument · Hi-hat and cymbal synth

Not rated yet

Hats is a drum synth for hi-hats and cymbals, combining 808-style square-wave noise synthesis with a sample section of 55 samples.

It has ring mod, bit crusher, filter and reverb, plus parameter lock and LFO, for $49.

Best for: Drums, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Hip-Hop & Trap.

Keywords: drum machine, inspired by, metallic, beginner-friendly, simple, clean, drag-and-drop routing, randomize, sample-based, sound design.

What it does

Hats is AudioThing's instrument dedicated to hi-hats and cymbals. It layers a synthesized noise source, inspired by the TR-808's bank of square wave oscillators, with a sample source, so you can shape a hat rather than just pick one.

Noise engine: six square wave oscillators at different pitches and phases, TR-808 style, for a metallic character you can control.
Sample source: 55 samples from rare analog drum machines and acoustic hi-hats and cymbals; some were run through an Aphex Aural Exciter and recorded to a Revox B77 MkII tape machine.
Independent mix: the synthesized and sampled sources are mixed separately, so you can blend a clean 808-style tick with a real cymbal tail.
Effects chain: ring modulator, bit crusher, a filter with high-pass and band-pass stages (12 dB/oct, in series) and reverb, reorderable by drag and drop.
Modulation: an LFO (for example on ring mod depth) and parameter lock.
Variation: a randomizer for new starting points and 80 presets.

Version 1.5.2 (November 2023). The free demo outputs 3 seconds of silence every 45 seconds and can't save.

Source: AudioThing product page

When to use it

Hats is the pick when the hats and cymbals are the part you want to design, not browse. Compared with XO and Battery 4, it does one job: those handle whole kits from samples, while Hats builds hats from synthesis plus samples and runs them through ring mod, bit crushing and filtering. Nerve also mixes synthesis and samples, but as a full drum machine; Hats goes deeper on metallic noise for one voice. It is cheap enough to sit next to a main drum instrument.

Best for: electronic closed and open hats, metallic cymbals, crashes and noisy percussive FX.
Genres: electronic, techno, house, hip-hop and trap.
Look elsewhere if: you need a whole kit or acoustic drums; XO, Battery 4 or Superior Drummer 3 cover far more.
Tip: Computer Music noted that the Short and Long sounds sit on separate key ranges, so you can program closed and open hats from one instance.

What producers say

The one magazine review found it easy to use with a superb sound; the reservations were about modulation and price.

Computer Music (via MusicRadar, 2016) called it a powerful option for electronic hats, cymbals and FX, summing it up as "Easy to use. Flexible. Superb sound." It liked the sample layer, the reorderable effects and the randomness knob for pitch and volume variation.
Criticisms: the LFO can only target one parameter at a time, and the reviewer found the price a little high for a single-purpose instrument.

MusicRadar (Computer Music) review

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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