Hydrogen 0.97 RC 1

Hydrogen is a powerful, Open Source, virtual drum machine that works without any additional plugins and has a good selection of samples and patterns to play around with.

Hydrogen can be played via a PC keyboard, interfaced with an external Midi controller or it can be linked to sequencing software such as Sternberg’s Cubase.

Key Features include:

• Quick and responsive graphical interface based on QT 4.
• Sample-based stereo audio engine.
• Supports .WAV, .AU and .AIFF formats.
• Supports samples compressed in FLAC.
• Pattern-based sequencer.
• Multi layer support for instruments (up to 16 samples for each instrument).
• Advanced tab-tempo.
• Single and stacked pattern mode.
• Import/export drum-kits.
• Export tracks to .WAV, .aIFF,.MIDI, .FLAC or .OGG format.

The app is really simple to get to grips with. It has four main windows that comprise of a Song Editor, a Pattern Editor, a Sample Editor and the Mixer.

The Song Editors is where you get to organize the overall composition of your work. You can create new patterns in the Pattern Editor; either altering existing patterns or modifying generated ones. The Pattern Editor can be viewed through either a Drum view or a Piano view. From the Drum view Hydrogen is basically used as a drum machine, whilst in Piano view it is used as a general synthesizer.

Hydrogen’s sound editing interface lets you hack up and play around with various samples. It has three sections that consist of a sample visualization, a time modification area, without altering the frequency, and a third area for previewing your final work. The Mixer is based on a classic electronic mixer with a Fader, a Mute and a Solo button, etc. This is where you mix your samples and drum beats to create your work.

Overall, Hydrogen is an excellent virtual drum machine. It is not heavy on your system resources, it is relatively lightweight (for a music creation app), and the interface is easy to navigate and use. If you feel like you want to try out some beat editing, then Hydrogen is defiantly an app to check out.