What started as a broken bargain-bin drum machine turned into one of the most unique instruments we’ve ever sampled. Meet Damaged Drums — a vintage analog Kontakt drum machine reimagined with a twist: the power to decide just how clean, crunchy, or downright wrecked your beats should sound.
It all began with a battered Whippany drum machine rescued from a car-boot sale. Its cracked snare and crusty hi-hats inspired the idea: what if you could control the degree of “damage” and dial in tones anywhere from clean and punchy to total transistor meltdown? That’s exactly what Damaged Drums delivers.
Features & Sound Design
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Four kit pieces: kick, snare, hats, and cymbals — each with classic controls (decay, snap, tone)
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Damage knobs: progressively morph each drum from clean vintage to unpredictable grit
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Mixer section: EQ, pan, and individual level controls for each kit piece
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Built-in FX:
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Convolved spring reverbs (Ekdahl Moisturizer, Sansui hi-fi reverb)
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Classic Lexicon PCM70 digital reverb
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User-adjustable hiss & vinyl crackle for a sampled-from-wax vibe
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Four output speakers: from fat amp stacks to tiny lo-fi boxes (including a broken 3" speaker for ultimate crunch)
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Stereo-Rama: widens the field for modern productions
Automating the Damage controls in your DAW opens up entirely new creative options: fade drums not by volume, but by time-warped character. Drop a beat not by muting, but by sending it through a busted radio speaker for a bar. The results are dramatic, unpredictable, and endlessly inspiring.
Whether you’re after lo-fi breaks, retro machine vibes, or left-field sound design, Damaged Drums – Rhythmic Robot gives you the tools to mangle, morph, and reinvent your beats.
Requirements:
All Rhythmic Robot Kontakt instruments require the full version of Native Instruments Kontakt v4.2.3 or higher (including Kontakt 5). Kontakt Player is not supported — instruments will load but time out after 15 minutes.
No drum machines were harmed in the making of this product.