uJAM Symphonic Elements PERRCS 1.3.1 on Mac

Film composers, trailer makers and anyone scoring to picture reach for PERRCS when they need big, ready-made percussion. It sits on a track the way a drummer would, but with patterns baked in.

Drop it on a track and play a chord

Main instrument track — you drop it on an audio or instrument track and play a chord; the plugin handles the rhythmic part.

Drum bus — route multiple PERRCS instances to one bus so you can glue the whole kit together with one compressor or EQ.

Arrangement tool — the intros, fills and hits are perfect for building tension before a drop or a scene change.

You get 74 rhythm styles, 320 presets, and sounds pulled from Hans Zimmer’s library: sticks, shakers, taiko drums, woodblocks, surdo drums, triangles and anvils. All of it runs on Apple Silicon or Intel Macs with macOS 12 or later.

Shows up in any standard AU or VST host

PERRCS behaves like any standard plugin, so it shows up in your DAW's instrument list after a quick scan. It works inside Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, Pro Tools, Studio One and others — basically anything that hosts AU or VST3 plugins. On a Mac, you can also load it into MainStage for live performance, where the Finisher multi-effect modes let you tweak sounds on the fly.

Because it's a single plugin that handles both rhythm and sound design, you can keep your session tidy. No need for separate MIDI tracks triggering individual percussion hits. Just play a chord and the pattern runs. If you want to split low and high percussion layers, PERRCS lets you adjust each with its own EQ and effects inside the plugin, so you don't need extra channel strips or sends.

Over 1,200 pattern variations from 74 styles

Each of the 74 rhythm styles comes with 17 phrases, which gives you over 1,200 pattern variations to cycle through. The intros and fills aren't buried in submenus — they're part of the same style selection, so you can audition them quickly as you build an arrangement.

The 29 ambient treatments are a separate layer from the Finisher effects. You can add space or texture without losing the core percussion sound. This is handy when you want a dry taiko hit to sit behind a scene but still cut through.

If you're working with Symphonic Elements DRUMS as well, both plugins share the same control logic. You can set up one MIDI track for DRUMS and another for PERRCS, then mix them together on a bus. The 74 Finisher modes give each plugin its own character, so you can keep the two percussion parts distinct in the mix.

Works offline after first activation

Does it need an internet connection after installation? No. Once you follow the installation and activation instructions and open the plugin twice the first time, it works offline. No constant phone-home checks.

Can I use it on a MacBook Air with an M2 chip? Yes. PERRCS supports both Apple Silicon and Intel 64-bit Macs, and macOS 12 or later covers every machine from 2021 onwards. The plugin runs natively, so no Rosetta translation needed.

Is it only for orchestral music? Not at all. The taiko, surdo and anvil sounds work well in electronic music, trailer hybrids and even rock. The rhythm styles include straight and swung feels, so you can match the groove to your track.

Do I need to install extra sample libraries? No. All the sounds from Hans Zimmer's vault are inside the plugin. It's one installer, one activation, and you're set.

• macOS 12 or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel 64-bit

Kit check at a glance