What Are AVL Drumkits and Where Are They Announced?

Updated

AVL Drumkits are drum sample libraries and LV2 plugins created by the operator of bandshed.net, developed in partnership with Robin of x42 Plugins. New kit releases are announced on the bandshed.net blog, alongside AV Linux release news. The most recent kit announcement visible on the site is the Blonde Bop release, which followed the earlier Red Zeppelin and Black Pearl libraries.

What AVL Drumkits actually are

The site describes AVL Drumkits as two things bundled together:

  • Drumkit libraries — sampled drum sets you load into a sampler or plugin host.
  • LV2 plugins — the plugin format used to play those kits inside a Linux audio host.

This matters if you are building a Linux-based recording setup: LV2 is the native plugin standard for most Linux DAWs and hosts, so a kit shipped as an LV2 plugin is usable without a separate commercial sampler. The site does not publish pricing, licensing terms, or download links for the kits on the pages summarized here, so check the individual blog post for those details before planning around them.

Who makes them and how they relate to the site

bandshed.net is the personal site of the AV Linux maintainer, described on the site as "AV Linux, Bandshed Records and much more!" That single identity ties together three strands of activity:

Strand What it covers
AV Linux (AVL) A Linux distribution aimed at audio and video work
Bandshed Records The operator's recording label/project
AVL Drumkits Drum sample libraries and LV2 plugins

The drumkits are therefore a side project of the same person who maintains AV Linux, not a separate commercial vendor. The site notes that the Blonde Bop kits arrived six years after the Red Zeppelin and Black Pearl releases, and that they were made with Robin of x42 Plugins — a name Linux audio users will recognize from the x42 plugin collection.

Where releases are announced

Announcements appear as blog posts on bandshed.net, interleaved with AV Linux ISO news. The blog index shows the drumkit post ("AVL Drumkits new Blonde Bop kits released!") sitting among entries about AV Linux and MX Moksha 25.2, 25.1, and 25, AV Linux Base 23.5, and older AVL-MXE ISO updates.

Practical implications:

  • To find a new kit release, scan the blog for posts tagged "Linux Audio" or "Linux Video" — the drumkit announcement carries both tags.
  • To find older kits, use the "Older posts" navigation at the bottom of the blog index, since the Red Zeppelin and Black Pearl announcements predate the current front page.
  • Expect mixed content: the blog is not drumkit-specific, so AV Linux release notes and kit news share the same feed.

How to decide whether to look further

Look into AVL Drumkits if you run a Linux audio setup and want LV2-native drum sounds from a maintainer already active in that ecosystem. Skip them if you need a vendor with published support terms or if you work outside LV2-compatible hosts — the site's blog summaries do not indicate other plugin formats.

Before downloading, open the specific Blonde Bop post rather than relying on the index excerpt: the index only confirms the release and the x42 collaboration, not file formats, kit contents, or how to install.