Welcome to Developer Spotlight 2 – the next entry in our new series shining a light on the talented developers on the Pulse Store. Each feature highlights a specific developer and includes an exclusive sale on select products.
In Developer Spotlight 2 we’re shining the light on Majetone, run by James Yates, who create unique Kontakt instruments and plugins inspired by years of drumhead making, recording, and sonic experimentation.
We’ll be taking a closer look at his most recent release, Dream Kit: Zenith, to find out more about how this plugin was created. As a treat, you can save up to 75% on Majetone Kontakt instruments as well as 40% on Dream Kit: Zenith until 17th September 2025!
Some plugins are born from necessity. Others from experimentation. But every once in a while, an instrument emerges from a long-held obsession—and that’s exactly the story behind Dream Kit: Zenith.
The project began almost a decade ago, when James was refinishing an early ’80s Gretsch kit. Fascinated by the resonant “shell tones” of the drums, he wondered: What if an acoustic drum kit could be chromatically tuned like a marimba—or even a synthesizer?
The first attempts were raw. A bass drum was tuned to mimic an 808, close-mic’d to capture the pitch while the room mics muddied the effect. The breakthrough came with an unconventional solution: record the tuned drums as usual, then re-amp them back into the room. The result? Acoustically real, yet strangely otherworldly.
From that experiment, a new mission took shape. Over four years of development, every part of a drum kit—shells, heads, toms, snares, cymbals, lugs, tuning rods, even floor tom legs—was sampled, tuned, and repurposed.
The result is staggering:
The vision wasn’t to make another “realistic” drum library. Instead, Dream Kit: Zenith blurs the line between drums and synthesizers. It offers rhythmic, harmonic, melodic, bass, and FX capabilities—all drawn from the DNA of a drum kit.
Inspiration also came from an encounter with experimental artist Tim Hecker, who once described his work as exploring the “Physicality of Sound.” That concept runs through Zenith’s core. Small percussive noises, once re-amped, become vast and immersive. Familiar elements take on entirely new identities.
At its heart, Dream Kit: Zenith is designed like a three-oscillator analog synth—two waveforms plus a sub. Its interface recalls classic hardware, with a clear, tactile layout that makes sense whether you’re diving deep into design or just loading a preset and playing.
The sheer scope of the project is hard to overstate. Over 6 terabytes of recordings—more than a million audio files—were distilled into 42,000 carefully curated samples. The re-amping sessions alone produced 17.5 hours of playback.
The end result: a 16.7GB download (expanding to ~21.7GB) packed with sonic possibilities.
More than just another plugin, Dream Kit: Zenith feels like a manifesto. It’s a bold attempt to rethink the drum kit—not as an end in itself, but as raw material for something new, something dreamlike.
That wraps up Developer Spotlight 2 with Majetone —a one-man-band who’s passion for percussion, sound design and recording techniques have culminated into something quite remarkable.
Available now at Pulse Audio Store, Dream Kit: Zenith is a must-have for producers, composers, and sound designers who want to explore the boundaries between acoustic reality and synthesized imagination.
Don’t forget, you can currently save up to 75% on all Majetone products — an opportunity to transform your sound palette through their expertly crafted designs.
Offers end 17th September 2025
