CLA Drums drum processing plugin interface by Waves

CLA Drums: Drum Processing Plugin by Waves

CLA Drums is a drum processing plugin from Waves that applies separate effects to individual drum tracks, including tom, snare, kick, room, overhead and cymbal or hi-hat sounds. It is available in VST2, AU and AAX formats.

VST2AUAAXWindowsmacOS

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

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01Overview

CLA Drums is an effects plugin for processing drum sounds one track at a time. Each of its five drum-specific settings has its own tuning, so a kick, snare, tom, room mic or overhead can each receive treatment suited to its role in the mix. The developer describes the aim as getting a solid drum sound quickly, without needing to be an engineer. It combines EQ, compression, reverb and gating in one plugin.

Best for

Kick and snare processing
Drum bus ambience
Gated drum effects
Programmed drum mixing
Old-school drum sounds

Developer: Waves
Category: Drum FX
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

Processes tom, snare, kick, room, overhead and cymbal or hi-hat tracks
Five drum-specific effects, each with three modes
Treble and bass EQ for adding snap and depth or trimming harshness and mud
Selective compression that can punch some drums and leave others alone
Three reverb modes for ambience and space
Hard or soft gating for gated drum effects
Works with individual outputs from samplers and drum machines

03In depth

Drum-Specific Processing and Character

CLA Drums offers five effects with three modes, tuned for each of the five drum sounds it supports. The treble and bass EQ can add snap to a snare or depth to a kick, or trim harshness and mud where they build up.

Compression is applied selectively, so you can punch up some drums while leaving others untouched. Hard or soft gating is available for gated drum effects, and three reverb modes add ambience and space.

Waves also says the plugin is designed to bring old-school analog drum sounds into modern productions.

Workflow and Best Uses

CLA Drums works on individual drum tracks, so it suits producers who route kit pieces to separate channels. It also accepts individual outputs from samplers and drum machines, which makes it practical for programmed or sampled drum parts as well as recorded kits.

Typical uses include processing kick and snare channels in a mix, adding room or overhead ambience, and creating gated drum effects.

04Specs

Will it run?

Formats, systems and requirements as listed by Plugin Boutique. Missing details are left out, not guessed.

Developer	Waves
Type	Plugin
Category	Drum FX
Formats	VST2, AU, AAX
Operating systems	Windows, macOS

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What is CLA Drums used for?

CLA Drums is used to process individual drum tracks, including tom, snare, kick, room, overhead and cymbal or hi-hat sounds. It combines EQ, compression, reverb and gating for each drum type.

Which formats and operating systems does CLA Drums support?

CLA Drums is available in VST2, AU and AAX formats. It runs on Windows and macOS. Mac requires macOS Monterey 12 or later, and PC requires Windows 10 or later.