Submersible Music is shipping DrumCore 2.5 (Mac/Win; $249). This version of the drum software offers new MIDI features such as pad swapping, drag-and-drop sample assignment and kit editing, real-time editing, and MIDI standalone mode.

Pad swapping allows you to create customized hybrid drumkits. The pop-up menu on each drum pad lists all available DrumCore kits, letting you select any sound assigned to that pad from any of those drumkits. All sample layers, plus pitch, pan, and volume settings are automatically copied to your new kit.

The drag-and-drop sample assignment feature lets you drag and drop WAV and AIFF files into the Pad Editor, as well as reorder Velocity layers on a pad by dragging them into place.

In addition, DrumCore 2.5 offers real-time editing; a new Velocity audition strip for previewing Velocity assignments without any MIDI controllers or other software; MIDI standalone mode so you can play DrumCore live as a drum module; and new songwriting features such as Queue Mode, for hearing loops or fills back to back.

All registered DrumCore 2 and 2.5 users can access a collection of additional content from Submersible Music's online downloads section. There, you can get more MIDI fills, a GrooveSet by Latin percussionist Luis Conte, and more.

If you purchased DrumCore 2 or DrumCore 2 upgrades in 2007, upgrading to v. 2.5 is free. If your purchased either of them before 2007, upgrading from DrumCore 2 to 2.5 is $29.99, and $49.99 from DrumCore 1 or 1.5.