Ujam have released Virtual Drummer NEON, available at the intro price of £42.00, increasing to £101.00 after the promotion. There’s also a loyalty deal.
In the realm of modern pop, dance, and nu disco, getting the drum track right is often the hardest piece of the puzzle. You need the organic soul, swing, and micro-timing of a live studio drummer, combined with the surgical punch, snap, and upfront polish of a modern dance drum machine. Artists like Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, and The Weeknd have mastered this hybrid sound, making it a staple of current chart-toppers.
Enter Virtual Drummer NEON by UJAM—a virtual session musician built specifically to deliver tight, punchy, and modern nu disco drum grooves without spending hours programming velocity curves or hunting for individual samples.
At the core of Virtual Drummer NEON is a blend of authentic 1970s disco heritage and 21st-century mixing wizardry. Legendary producer and engineer Bernhard “Böni” Hahn (who has worked with artists like Kim Wilde and Nena) tracked original vintage Ludwig and Rogers drum kits in a tight recording booth using era-specific Sennheiser MD 421 mics, Neve 1073 and 1081 preamps, and a classic Studer 962 console.
This dry, pristine recording forms the raw engine of NEON. Under the hood, UJAM pairs these organic recordings with a modern mixing console that lets you blend between acoustic realism and polished electronic punch using the custom Real/Glam slider. Turn it towards “Real” for an organic, dry studio kit, or push it toward “Glam” for a bigger, slappier, radio-ready dance sound.
Unlike static sample packs or rigid drum machines, NEON acts like an actual session drummer in your DAW:
- Trigger or Edit: You can lock into your track’s tempo and trigger full phrases (intros, verses, choruses, fills, and breakdowns) via MIDI keys, or drag and drop any phrase directly into your DAW as a MIDI clip for fine-tuned customization.
- Authentic Handclaps: Because handclaps are an essential element of modern disco and pop, NEON features live triple-claps recorded with stereo room and overhead mics, engineered to blend seamlessly over your snares.
- Mix Control: Choose from 6 macro mix presets to transform your drum bus instantly from tight and snappy to crushed and slammed.
Whether you’re crafting nu disco anthems, energetic dance-pop, synthwave, or funk-infused indie tracks, NEON provides instant vibe without keeping you stuck in technical guesswork.
Features include:
- 5 Acoustic Drum Kits: Meticulously recorded, dry, and tight vintage drum kits (including kicks, snares, hi-hats, toms, cymbals, overheads, and room mics).
- 690 Drum Grooves in 30 Styles: Built from human performances, covering a vast range of rhythmic energy levels and song sections.
- Real/Glam Control: A single macro slider to transition seamlessly between natural acoustic studio drums and heavily processed electronic punch.
- 6 Mixing Presets: Quick, high-impact processing profiles (Snap, Glossy, Slam, Boom, Crunch, etc.) designed by professional mix engineers.
- Dedicated Handclap Engine: Live-recorded group claps with independent stereo width and room controls.
- Drag-and-Drop MIDI: Easily move rhythmic phrases directly into your DAW timeline for custom note editing and arrangement.
- Flexible Audio Routing: Supports individual outputs for each drum sound so you can process kick, snare, or hats separately in your mixer.
- 100 Production Presets: Ready-to-go combinations of drum kits, styles, and mix settings to kickstart inspiration instantly.
NEO is available to PC and Mac users (VST2, VST3, AU and AAX).
For more information on NEON and to compare, click here:
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