Gustavo Bravetti has put together a free, exclusive FM8 drum kit in Ableton Live for CDM readers. More on the kit, FM8, and how to make the most of it, plus our download, at the Kore@CDM NI minisite:

Free Exclusive Download: FM8 Drum Kit for Ableton Live from Gustavo Bravetti

Here’s what the kit sounds like, using the demo clips included with the package (naturally, you’ll want to make your own patterns):

fm8kit.mp3

I love that it’s a synth kit rather than a sampled kit, as you can do things like this — just a quick demo I whipped up, same clips, modified only using synth and effects parameters in FM8, to "mess up" Gustavo’s pristine kit:

fm8kit_2.mp3

A quick survey revealed quite a few Live users I know who use both Operator and FM7 or FM8 from Native Instruments, proof positive that you can never have too much synthesis or too much FM. I know I regularly swap between the two, plus Image-Line’s Sytrus.

The kit is calling out for a Koresound and a full Live Drum Rack, so I’ll see what I can do. But I really do enjoy fabricating drum kits with synths. Whether I do it terribly well or not, I always feel closer to the resulting sounds. (Previously, Gustavo made bass drums and snares with Operator in video tutorials, though I prefer the FM8 sounds he’s done, personally!)