IconDrum

Name: IconDrum
Price: 79 USD
Author: GForce Software

by GForce Software · Drum Instrument · Linn-inspired drum machine

Not rated yet

A virtual drum machine inspired by the Linn drum machines of the early 1980s.

It has 12 tracks with up to three sounds each, a three-slot master FX chain, 70+ kits and 70+ MIDI files, for $79.99.

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

Keywords: 80s, drum machine, classic, hardware emulation, modern, hybrid, inspired by, preset-driven, sound design, vintage.

What it does

IconDrum is GForce's software drum machine built on the sound of the early-80s Linn machines (the LM-1 and LM-2). GForce calls it a bridge between those "iconic sounds of the early 80s" and modern beat-making, and notes it was made without Roger Linn's involvement.

Sounds: 100 sounds across 12 tracks, with up to three sounds per track (24 pads in all), offered as raw samples and as professionally processed kits.
Tracks: bass drum, snare, sidekick, hi-hat, toms, ride, crash, cabasa, tambourine, conga, cowbell and claps.
Per-track mixer: pan, solo, mute, pitch, decay, gain, a high-pass/low-pass filter, and sends to an analogue-style delay and a reverb.
Master FX: a three-slot chain where each slot can hold distortion, a multimode filter, compressor, EQ, bitcrusher, gate or phaser.
Kits and MIDI: over 70 preset kits (classic, modern and hybrid) and over 70 MIDI files, including recreations of classic grooves.
Playing and routing: velocity response, MIDI Learn for CC control, a GM map for pad controllers, and separate outputs (switched on in the setup menu).
No sequencer: there is no built-in pattern sequencer; you play it from your DAW, a controller or the included MIDI files.

The current version is 1.0. A 7-day trial is available, without the MIDI pack.

Source: GForce Software product page

When to use it

IconDrum is the pick when you want the Linn sound specifically and nothing else to get in the way: one set of classic samples, a simple mixer and a few effects. Compared with XO or Battery 4 it is far narrower, with no sample import, no sample export and no built-in sequencer, but it gets that one early-80s character right out of the box. Unlike Nerve, which has its own sequencer and sample engine, IconDrum relies on your DAW or the included MIDI files for patterns. It pairs naturally with GForce's own Oberheim DMX for the other half of the 80s drum-machine sound, and costs less than most general drum instruments.

Best for: 80s pop, funk and synth-pop beats, and Linn-style claps, toms and snares layered into modern drums.
Genres: pop, synthwave, funk, R&B and hip-hop.
Look elsewhere if: you want an officially licensed Linn product, an onboard sequencer (Nerve) or a general-purpose drum sampler (Battery 4 or XO).
Tip: push the per-track pitch control hard for the Prince-style pitched drum effects MusicRadar points to.

What producers say

Reviewers agree the sounds are authentic and the interface is easy; the missing sequencer is the one complaint everyone shares.

MusicRadar gave it 5 out of 5, calling it "the perfect environment for creating iconic drum sounds" and praising the kick's low end and the velocity-layered snares, while flagging the lack of an onboard sequencer.
Synth Anatomy found it solid and good-sounding, with a useful multi-FX section and multi-outs, but felt the missing sequencer makes it seem incomplete.
Criticisms: no sequencer, no global effects on/off switch, no way to export individual samples, and no official tie-in with Roger Linn.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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