Mighty Drum Machine V1.1
What's new
Three kits, three vibes
- HipHop Starter Kit (bundled, auto-installs on first launch)
- BoomBap Starter Pack (included as `.mdmpack` — drag onto MDM to install)
- Trap Starter Pack (included as `.mdmpack` — drag onto MDM to install)
- 30 patterns across the three genres, kit-agnostic
Cole's note: I wanted to make sure you start out with some drums and patterns. Packs is going to be a great way for me to continue to offer genre expansions. HipHop, BoomBap, Trap to start but other genre starter packs are in the works as well as full on packs.
Expansion pack imports
- Full `.mdmpack` import workflow: drop any `.mdmpack` file onto the plugin, confirm, done
- Lays the groundwork for future expansion packs
Cole's note: I always hated the full install process of expansion packs. I wanted a simple drag and drop process here so that's what we built.
Per-pattern swing
- Swing now travels with the pattern. Load a BoomBap pattern and get BoomBap swing. Load a Trap pattern and get the right straight feel.
- Trap starter patterns ship at no-swing (50%).
- Your own patterns stay un-opinionated: if a pattern has no swing stamped, loading it leaves current swing untouched.
Cole's note: I was using MDM and switched from a BoomBap pattern to a Trap pattern. I switched the drums but man it sounded off. Turns out all that swing on a Trap patter ain't it. And that's when I relalized I needed to make the swing per pattern.
Change Row
- Remap any row to a different note without rebuilding the beat. Right-click a row to see the option.
Cole's note: I didn't do too many UX fixes but this is a quick one for us to get in.
MIDI double-play fix
- When your DAW routes MIDI into MDM, the plugin now visually suppresses its own sequencer so you don't hear doubled hits. The grid dims and a "Playing MIDI from DAW" pill appears. Full suppression lifts after a brief silence.
Cole's note: Ok this is the biggest fix up. When MDM is on and you already drag the MIDI the drums would play twice, once from MDM and another b/c of the MIDI in the DAW's timeline. I love having the MIDI on the timeline to give me the visual but you can't turn of MDM (you need it on to trigger the drum sounds). This was super annoying, so it was a high priority fix for me. Now, it's knows when MIDI is in the timeline and respects the MIDI. MDM will dim, but give you a message letting you know it is playing the MIDI and not the pattern in MDM.
Broader sound cycling
- Add a Samples Root folder in Settings and the plugin cycles through sounds from your whole library, not just the loaded kit,when you tap through samples on a pad.
Cole's note: I really wanted MDM to be a great tool to explore drum pattern ideas early on. In most DAW's it's cumbersome. I wanted to make it easy to cycle through kicks, snares, etc within the context of the beat. This is going to be core to the product. Set a root folder and you can cycle through pads using the arrow keys.
Polish
- About dialog with embedded icon
- Faster sample loading via a persistent background loader
- First-launch content copy for new users
- Various admin workflow improvements
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Platform
- macOS 12 (Monterey) or later (bumped from macOS 11)
- AU and VST3 formats, Mac native (Apple Silicon + Intel)
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Upgrade notes
Existing V1 customers: your current library is preserved. The HipHop Starter Kit auto-install won't re-run since your library already has content. To add the new BoomBap and Trap Starter Packs, drag the `.mdmpack` files from the "Starter Packs" folder onto Mighty Drum Machine.
If you want the renamed kits (HipHop Starter Kit, BoomBap Starter Kit) to show in your menus too, you can edit the `name` field in each kit's `kit.json` under `~/Library/Audio/Mighty Drum Machine/Kits/`, or just use the new packs alongside your existing content.
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Known limitations
- The standalone app is not shipping in V1.1. It'll come in a later release.
- Windows support is on the roadmap, not available yet.
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Support
Questions, bugs, feedback: hello@midimighty.com