From mda DrumSynth to DrumSynth Lab

What is mda DrumSynth?

mda DrumSynth is a drum sound synthesizer for Windows written by Paul Kellett (mda) between 1998 and 2000; the last version, 2.0, was released in 2000. Instead of playing back recorded samples, it builds every drum hit from scratch — tone oscillators, overtones, noise and a noise band, shaped by envelopes and finished with distortion and filtering. Sounds are saved as small .ds preset files and rendered to WAV.

It is a genuinely great program: powerful enough to design kicks, snares, hi-hats, claps and percussion of any character, yet far simpler than big modern synthesizers like Serum. You turn a few knobs and get exactly the drum sound you need. Its source code is available under the MIT License, which is what made DrumSynth Lab possible.

Why I made DrumSynth Lab

The first reason is simple: the original DrumSynth stopped being updated and no longer works properly on modern Windows computers. A program this good deserved to keep working, so I took the MIT-licensed synthesis engine and built a new application around it.

The second reason mattered to me even more — mobility. I wanted DrumSynth to work on phones, not only on a desktop PC. DrumSynth Lab started on Android, and with the release of the web version it now runs on iPhone and iPad too, right in the browser.

Your drum design is no longer tied to one computer. You can tweak presets on the road, then come home and finish them — and use them — in your DAW studio.

What changed in DrumSynth Lab

• Platforms: Android, modern Windows and a web version that works in any modern browser, including on iPhone and iPad.
• Same synthesis engine: General, Tone, Overtones, Noise, NoiseBand and Distortion modules work the way they did in the original — see the user guide.
• .ds compatibility: DrumSynth Lab imports and exports original .ds preset files, so classic DrumSynth presets keep working.
• Preset library: a built-in collection of ready-made drum presets.
• WAV export: render any sound to WAV and drop it into your DAW, sampler or drum machine — including GrooveMixer.

Can DrumSynth Lab open .ds files?

Yes. DrumSynth Lab reads and writes the original mda DrumSynth .ds format on every platform, including the web version. If you have an old collection of DrumSynth presets, you can open them on your phone or in the browser and render them to WAV.

Credits and license

DrumSynth Lab is partially based on code from mda DrumSynth, Copyright © 1998–2000 Paul Kellett, used under the MIT License. Thank you, Paul, for a wonderful instrument. See the full DrumSynth Lab license.