Synsonics-V: a free Mattel Synsonics drum pad for your DAW

Here is a weird little gem for tonight. Synsonics-V is a free emulation of the Mattel Synsonics, a cheap analog drum pad from 1981 that was pitched as a low cost alternative to the big Simmons and MPC boxes of the day. It only had a handful of sounds, but people still used it as a real instrument, and legend says Kraftwerk messed with one, though nobody can say how or on which record.

The plugin gives you the goods: two toms, a snare, and a cymbal you can run open or closed. The free version leaves out the metronome click, but everything in it is editable and automatable, which is more than you could say for the original hardware, where none of the sounds could be tweaked at all. The background noise that made the real thing so hard to record is part of the charm here too. It is gritty, punchy, and a bit toy-like in the best way, perfect for industrial beats, weird percussion layers, or just messing around until something cool falls out.

Get it

Download it free here: https://plugins4free.com/plugin/3163/

Install it

Windows: grab the Win 64 VST download, unzip it, and drop the plugin file into your VST folder. Rescan plugins in your DAW and you are good to go.

Mac: grab the Mac OSX AU download, install the component, and rescan plugins in your DAW.

There is no Linux version listed, so Windows and Mac only on this one.

Hear it in action

If you like your drum machines a little strange and a little scrappy, this one is worth the three minutes it takes to install. No ROMs, no dongles, no catch, just a free slice of 1981 drum weirdness.