Bucket Pops

Name: Bucket Pops
Author: Full Bucket Music

by Full Bucket Music · Drum Instrument · KORG Mini Pops-7 rhythm machine emulation

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Bucket Pops is a free emulation of the KORG Mini Pops-7 rhythm machine from 1966, with its 20 rhythms and 15 modelled, sample-free drum instruments.

It has tweakable instrument parameters, a rhythm sequencer, MIDI Learn and a resizable UI; it is free.

Best for: Drums, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Ambient & Cinematic, Lo-Fi.

Keywords: free, sequencer, hardware emulation, 60s, lo-fi, vintage, inspired by, resizable UI, retro, sound design, warm.

What it does

Bucket Pops recreates KORG's Mini Pops-7, the 1966 preset rhythm box. The developer sums it up as "That Oxygene and Equinoxe vibe!", a nod to Jean-Michel Jarre's use of the machine.

Rhythms: the 20 original patterns in two rows, ballroom and Latin styles such as Waltz, Rumba, Bossa Nova, Cha-Cha and Slow Rock; rhythms in the same row can be combined.
Sounds: 15 instruments synthesized in real time, not sampled: bass drum, two snares, bongos, conga, cowbell, claves, hihat, rimshot, two cymbals, tambourine, guiro and quijada.
Instrument editing: tune, attack and decay for every instrument, plus resonance, highpass, second-oscillator or pulse-density controls depending on the sound.
Sequencer: a 64-step grid per rhythm, double the original's 32, with triplet templates; edited patterns are saved as user rhythms and can be exported or imported as MIDI files.
Mixer and outputs: level and pan per instrument, with routing to 7 extra stereo output pairs.
MIDI and sync: each instrument can be triggered from its own MIDI note, tempo and start/stop can follow the host, and MIDI Learn covers all parameters.

The current version is 1.1.6 (12 Feb 2025). It is a free download with no price listed; the developer accepts donations. The UI resizes from 50% to 800%.

Source: Full Bucket Music product page

When to use it

Bucket Pops is the pick for authentic preset-rhythm-box grooves and Jarre-style electronic patterns, and it costs nothing. Compared with Battery 4 and XO, it is not a kit builder or sample browser: you get one machine's 15 synthesized sounds, though each one is tweakable and can go to its own output. Compared with Nerve, it has a fixed vintage sound set rather than modern, mix-ready drums, but its MIDI triggering and pattern export let you use it as a sound source in a DAW beat as well as a pattern player.

Best for: vintage preset rhythms, retro electronic grooves and lo-fi percussion beds.
Genres: electronic, ambient, lo-fi, synth-pop and soundtrack work.
Look elsewhere if: you need punchy, modern drums or your own samples; Battery 4 or XO are the better tools.
Tip: right-click rhythm buttons to combine patterns from the same row; the manual points to this for classic Oxygene rhythms.

What producers say

Bucket Pops gets warm feedback for its realistic synthesized sounds, with few reviews so far.

KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from 1 review, which called the sounds deceptively authentic.
Bedroom Producers Blog recommended it to fans of old-school drum machines but noted the sequencer page "can look quite busy".
Criticisms: one KVR user reported crashes in FL Studio 20, which the developer could not reproduce.

Where to buy

Full Bucket Music: Free

Tutorials and reviews

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