Questions

A VST3 plugin and a standalone app for 64-bit Windows, one installer per kit (the bundle installs any or all 9). Inside each kit folder you also get plain FLAC samples, SFZ files, the credits and the licence texts. No AAX, no AU, no VST2.

Not yet. These are Windows only for now. [MAC ANSWER: pick (a) “Mac is planned, no date. Join the waitlist” or (b) “No Mac version planned”. Do not sell or pre-sell Mac.] Please don't buy a Windows kit hoping it will run on a Mac.

No. There's no licence key, no online check and no dongle in v1.0. Install it and play.

Yes. Commercial releases, streaming and sync are fine, with no royalties to us. You don't have to credit Left Hand Labs Music. The DrumGizmo kit authors ask that releases include the line “Drum samples provided by DrumGizmo.org”, and we'd appreciate you adding it. [LAWYER: is the DrumGizmo line a request or a requirement? EULA Q1]

One person, on up to [INSTALL LIMIT, draft says 3] of their own computers. You can't resell, share or re-upload the plugin, installers or kit folders. The EULA doesn't limit your rights to the open-licence samples themselves (CC BY 4.0 / CC0). Full text: [EULA URL]. [EULA is a draft: lawyer review before go-live]

Partly, and we say so up front. Every drum hit is a real recording from open drum libraries (CC BY 4.0 or CC0), recorded by real drummers and engineers and credited in the plugin and on the credits page. Some kits share source recordings. What you're paying for is the genre tuning, the layering and mapping, the big knob, the tools, and not having to do any of it yourself.

[REFUND POLICY: to decide; must match Polar’s terms. Draft: “If a kit doesn’t work for you, email hello@lefthandlabsmusic.com within [14] days of purchase and we’ll refund it. No hoops.”] A refund ends the licence for that kit.

The installers are code-signed, and Windows shows the verified publisher name from our code-signing certificate. Because the releases are new, Windows SmartScreen may still show "Windows protected your PC" until enough people have installed them. That's Windows saying it doesn't know the file yet, not that it found anything. Click More info, check that a verified publisher is listed, then click Run anyway. Only run installers you downloaded from lefthandlabsmusic.com or our store page. If Windows blocks it outright with no Run anyway button, see the next question.

That's most likely Smart App Control, a Windows 11 feature that blocks apps it doesn't trust. Signed installers like ours shouldn't normally hit it, so please tell us if you see it. Microsoft doesn't offer a way to allow one app through; the only option is turning Smart App Control off in Windows Security (App & browser control). Recent Windows updates let you turn it back on later without reinstalling Windows. If you'd rather not change that setting, email hello@lefthandlabsmusic.com before buying, or ask for a refund.

Email hello@lefthandlabsmusic.com. Include the kit name, your Windows version and your DAW. [RESPONSE TIME, e.g. “within 2 business days”]

Yes. No price and no trial timer. The cost is your email address. The emails include offers on the paid Left Hand Labs Music drum kits; ignore them or unsubscribe whenever you like.

No. Windows only for now: a standalone app and a VST3 plugin. There's no Mac version yet. If that changes, the email list hears first.

Backing Track Plus is built around MIDI files exported from Guitar Pro (.mid). It reads the bass track and the drum track (drums on MIDI channel 10, the General MIDI standard) and plays them; the guitar part is yours. Other MIDI files laid out the same way may work too. You bring the files. It ships with one original demo riff, no song library, so use files you have the right to use.

ASIO is a low-latency audio driver standard on Windows. Most audio interfaces ship an ASIO driver. The standalone app can use it, so your guitar and the backing line up without lag. If you run the VST3 version inside a DAW, the DAW handles the audio driver.

Yes. Tempo changes in the file are followed. The tempo slider scales the whole thing up or down from there.

The installers are code-signed, and Windows shows the verified publisher name from our code-signing certificate. Because the releases are new, Windows SmartScreen may still show "Windows protected your PC" until enough people have installed them. That's Windows saying it doesn't know the file yet, not that it found anything. Click More info, check that a verified publisher is listed, then click Run anyway. Only run installers you downloaded from lefthandlabsmusic.com or our store page. If Windows blocks it outright with no Run anyway button, see the next question.

That's most likely Smart App Control, a Windows 11 feature that blocks apps it doesn't trust. Signed installers like ours shouldn't normally hit it, so please tell us if you see it. Microsoft doesn't offer a way to allow one app through; the only option is turning Smart App Control off in Windows Security (App & browser control). Recent Windows updates let you turn it back on later without reinstalling Windows. If you'd rather not change that setting, email hello@lefthandlabsmusic.com.

The kits are built from open drum sample libraries released under Creative Commons licences. The bass tones are built from our own bass recordings. Full credits are on the About screen, in CREDITS.txt and on the credits page.