Cherry Audio has announced the release of KR-55C, a drum machine plugin that brings together features from two lesser-known Korg drum machines, the "Rhythm 55" KR-55A, and its successor the KR-55B.
Released in 1979, the KR-55A was a preset rhythm drum machine equipped with a selection of 48 rhythms that ranged from standard pop and rock beats to more global styles; released a few years later, the KR-55B featured extra memory and twice the number of patterns.
The KR-55s found favour with artists working in the '80s across both synth-pop and post-punk: you can hear the KR-55A on Joe Jackson's 1982 hit Steppin' Out, along with a number of early Depeche Mode tracks.
Cherry Audio's take on the KR-55 uses analogue modelling to closely emulate the original machines' sounds, and features recreations of all rhythms from both models, adding up to a total of 240 factory patterns, fills and intros, with 200 additional patterns and kits designed by Cherry Audio.
KR-55C's UI features a step sequencer in place of the original's pattern selector, which can sequence 16- or 24-step patterns, that can be chained using the plugin's Song Mode or drag-and-dropped to your DAW timeline as MIDI clips.
All of KR-55C's sounds can be individually edited with EQ, tone, tune and decay settings for each, while the mixer panel lets you adjust level, pan, solo and mute settings for each sound. The plugin is equipped with a variety of effects that includes overdrive, echo, reverb, flanger and chorus, along with a global bus compressor and limiter.
Cherry Audio KR-55C is available now for macOS and Windows in AU/VST/VST3/AAX formats and is priced at $49.
Find out more on Cherry Audio's website.
