ROLI Studio Drums
by ROLI · Drum Instrument · MPE drum instrument
Not rated yet
ROLI Studio Drums is an MPE drum instrument with 15 kits and 240 drum parts that you can mix and match.
It is sold with ROLI Studio Player as ROLI Studio, $99 for both plugins.
Best for: Drums. Genres: Pop, Electronic & EDM, Hip-Hop & Trap.
Keywords: MPE support, monophonic.
What it does
ROLI Studio Drums is the percussion half of ROLI Studio. ROLI calls it "the world's first MPE drum engine": each hit can respond to pressure, slide and glide on an MPE controller.
- Kits: 15 life-like percussion kits with 240 customizable drum parts.
- Parts browser: mix and match parts between kits to build your own, with playing tips for each part.
- Effects: the same 15 effects as ROLI Studio Player, such as filters, delays and distortion, with real-time modulation of effect settings.
- Expression: 5D Touch control from ROLI hardware such as Lightpad Blocks and the Seaboard, so pressure or movement can change a drum's sound as you play.
- Standard MIDI: it also plays from ordinary pads and keyboards, without the extra expression.
It is part of ROLI Studio.
When to use it
ROLI Studio Drums is about playing drums expressively from pads, not about deep kit editing or mixing. Compared with Battery 4 or XO it has far fewer sounds and editing tools, but it lets pressure and slide shape each hit, which neither offers out of the box. Compared with Addictive Drums 2 or EZdrummer 3 it has no multi-mic acoustic kits, groove library or mixer, so it is not a tool for realistic rock or pop drum tracks. It makes most sense if you already own a Lightpad Block, Seaboard or LUMI and want percussion that reacts to touch.
- Best for: finger drumming and expressive percussion parts on MPE pads.
- Genres: pop, electronic and hip-hop.
- Look elsewhere if: you need realistic acoustic kits for mixing (Addictive Drums 2 or EZdrummer 3) or a deep sample-based drum designer (Battery 4 or XO).
What producers say
Early user talk was curious but mixed: some liked MPE beat-making, others doubted it adds much over layering.
- Poly Expression forum (2019) one user saw MPE-style beatmaking as "a strength", and another liked ROLI's idea of custom software for expressive controllers.
- Criticisms: a user found the XY mappings on small pads "overwhelming"; another questioned whether MPE suits drums at all and worried about hardware lock-in.
- Wish list: one user suggested using initial strike position to humanise hits, as Keith McMillen's BopPad does.
Where to buy
- Plugin Boutique: $99 (Sold together with ROLI Studio Player as ROLI Studio)
Tutorials and reviews
- ROLI Studio Drums walkthrough: The world's first desktop MPE drums plugin
- Roli Studio Drums Sound Demo! Part 1
- Roli Studio Drums and Studio Player // Sound Collective
- WORLD'S FIRST MPE DRUMS PLUGIN TUTORIAL! ROLI BLOCKS STUDIO EDITION
- ROLI STUDIO and MPE DRUMS!
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