Roland’s Zenbeats 3.0 mobile music creation app adds a new drum sampler and more

Roland has updated its Zenbeats music creation app to version 3.0, adding a new drum sampler and tones from the TR-808 and TR-909 in the process.

ZR1 is a pad-based sampler - sounds can be recorded or imported and placed directly onto the pads, and there are advanced editing features, too. There’s also a step sequencer with accents, per-step automation and more.

Zenbeats’ UI is said to have been improved, too, with a new browser promising to make it easy to find, tag and filter sounds. You can add more sounds via the Zenbeats Store, which also contains loops and other creative tools.

You can try Zenbeats for free, while a ‘Platform unlock’, which gives you all features, instruments and effects for your favourite platform (Android, iOS, Mac or Windows) costs from $15. The Max Unlock option, which gives you all features, instruments effects and store packs across all platforms, costs $150.

The Max Unlock option is also available on all paid Roland Cloud membership tiers, which cost from $3/month or $30/year.

Find out more on the Roland website.