Cherry Audio today introduced KR-55C, a drum machine virtual instrument, based on the classic Korg “Rhythm 55” KR-55A and KR-55B drum machines from the late 70s and early 80s.
They say that KR-55C blends the ‘vintage charm’ of the originals with contemporary flexibility and advanced sound design capabilities.
Here’s the official intro video:
Korg introduced the original KR-55 in 1979. The drum machine featured 48 preset rhythms, with intro and fill patterns and flexible, though limited, mixer controls. In 1982, Korg released the KR-55B, which featured a new design and doubled the onboard patterns.
The KR-55 was used by Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget, Soft Cell, and Jean-Michel Jarre and is notably featured in Joe Jackson’s hit song Steppin’ Out.
Here’s what they have to say about it:
“Cherry Audio’s KR-55C stays true to its analog predecessors by including all 240 original patterns, intros, and fills from the KR-55A and KR-55B models. Further, Cherry Audio has expanded the KR-55’s capabilities with 200 all-new rhythm and sound presets, including genre-specific instrument kits that showcase tailored sound design like never before. Whether you’re after the vintage vibes of the post-punk era or modern EDM textures, KR-55C has you covered.
Unlike sample-based instruments, KR-55C emulates the original tones through analog modeling. The instrument panel allows users to fine-tune each sound with settings for parametric EQ, tone, tuning, and decay. The mixer section provides per-instrument control over levels, panning, muting, soloing, and effects routing.
With its X0X-style programming interface, KR-55C makes creating and tweaking beats straightforward and intuitive, whether programming 16- or 24-step patterns in real time or using step mode. The song mode enables users to chain up to 99 patterns across 99 steps, making it easy to craft entire compositions directly within the plugin for later recall.
KR-55C also enhances production workflows with an effects panel that delivers studio-quality processing for each sound. With simple routing toggles, you can apply overdrive, flanger/chorus, delay, and reverb to individual drum elements. Additionally, a global compressor and limiter help ensure polished, professional results.
The plugin integrates seamlessly into your DAW, offering features like individual outputs for each drum sound, drag-and-drop MIDI export, and comprehensive automation capabilities for maximum flexibility in any project.”
Here’s an in-depth overview from synthesist Tim Shoebridge:
Pricing and Availability:
KR-55C is available now for $49, for both MacOS & Windows.
This is a big yawn for me.
Go to sleep Son and let the rest of us deal with this magnificent instrument
There are so many rhythm machines out there that are so much better.
Go ahead and knock your self out if this is what you like?
Me I love my SH-4D and my Korg Wavestate to do complex rhythm creation.
The 1980’s were over 40 years ago.
> There are so many rhythm machines out there that are so much better.
I can’t argue with this.
> Go ahead and knock your self out if this is what you like?
I can’t argue with this either!
> Me I love my SH-4D and my Korg Wavestate to do complex rhythm creation.
That’s awesome! But..
> There are so many rhythm machines out there that are so much better.
I can’t argue with this.
> Go ahead and knock your self out if this is what you like?
I can’t argue with this either!
> The 1980’s were over 40 years ago.
You bet! Nice one.
Does SH-4D and Korg Wavestate also cost 49 dollars ?
I am not trying to argue but you can get a great software version of the wavestate that is just as good and the hardware version. As far as a sequencer and drum sequencer it is damn great, and it sounds great and you can program both legacy style and modern style of sequencing. I don’t know what I would do without the Wavestate. For me and the music I like to create it couldn’t be any nicer. I probably will buy this KR-55C plugin to see what all the fuss is about?
I loved early 80’s music in the 80’s Back then I used the Roland TR-06, then in the 90’s I used the Roland MC-505 and 909. They were great at that time.
And that software your talking about also costs 49 dollars?
Good point.
On paper the KR-55c and the CR-78 might seem too straightforward to be compelling but something magical happens when you tweak the voices + effects and let em rip: The inherent machine thumbprint remains intact even when you push the voices hard and far out. They also sound very “alive” in an effortless way .. Cherry Audio is knocking it out of the park with these drum machines.
Really excited to see this. I have loved the CR-78. I will pick it up at the weekend when i have some time.
On first glance I see a bit of a trick missed. If the sounds are analgue modelled rather than sampled, I would have like more sound tweaking options. I am sure the existing controls give a lot of variation, I would like some more options to really take the sounds somewhere else. If this give us a more expensive instrument but a lot more power……That is a trade off I would be ok with.
Ideally Cherry really let their designers off the leash and give us a full hit modelling drum machine. There are some impressive original designs in their catalogue. I know they can do it!!
Hiya, I actually created all the KR-55C drum sounds. As you might know, with vintage analog drum machines, most of the synthesis is relatively crude – combinations of twin-T oscillators (i.e. pure sine waves for tones), filtered noise, DC clicks (for attack) and occasional massive distortion of said sound sources. The secret source is how you dial in and combine all this stuff, which is often way trickier than you might expect.
We try to offer a fairly large amount of latitude for editing, but given the aforementioned basic synthesis, if the parameters ranges are too great, it very quickly stops sounding like drums and turns into a bunch of swishy whooshes and laser noises. Obviously this wouldn’t matter much on a synth, but with a drum machine, you want to keep it sounding something like drums. FWIW, there’s almost zero “leash”/red tape at Cherry Audio, we pretty much do whatever the heck we want. 🙂 The only constraints are that we try to always make things fun and easy to use without too much manual diving, but we’re all on the same page there.
Hugely appreciate the reply and explanation. Yes the circuits were basic on the originals. I hadn’t thought of it that way in terms of modelling. My electronics are ok, my DSP goes as far as -Z.
Thank you for your work. It’s really appreciated and very inspiring. Cherry Audio instruments get a lot of use by me.
Don’t be afraid to make a drum synth/drum machine that does all the laser, thips and whooshes you can create…….