"Soft Synth" drums

[dave23]

Hello,

Look into Bitheadz Voodoo (see link below). This is a software drum machine that integrates well with all the other Bitdeadz stuff (DS-1, AS-1, Phrazer) and, like the B4 you like, is one of the programs specifically listed at the Digidesign site as being compatible with Direct Connect on the PT LE 5.1 system.

I've emailed Bitheadz a lot and they are great at answering email questions--don't hesitate to contact them. Also, I think Voodoo comes with a ton of drum sounds.

If you go with Voodoo or some other drum soft synth please post your set-up and how it works on your PT LE/Digi001. I'm sure I'm not the only one hesitant to buy soft synths for my system until I hear how they work on someone elses.

dave23

http://www.bitheadz.com

[nz]

Hi,

I have been using B4 and having great luck with it. This has turned me on to the coolness of "soft synths".

My question is if anyone knows of a software based drum application?

I know that there is LM-4, but isn't is for Cubase? I would love to run this on Digital Performer or PTLE.

I ask this as I want to do midi fixes on my Powerbook and don't want to carry a sound module on me.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Frank S]

Neal

I too have also been turned onto the soft synth concept, but I find that "we're not there yet".

I have Voodoo 1.2 and find it OK, but not great. I chose not to use it with directconnect, but as a standalone app. It does have reasonable included sounds, So-So efx processing and you can even create your own loops recorded as an AIFF file that you can import into PTLE without having to run MIDI, and DirectConnect - which I greatly prefer. You can also use it to import other drum loops from CD or file, and sequence them in the voodoo environment, which is great for playing and working out song ideas to.

My problems - the performance just isn't that great. I also have Unity DS1 and Koblo/Tokyo soft synths, and this stuff just eats up CPU cycles on my 400 mhz G4 with 320megRAM. Plus OMS gets real weird with multiple software apps running at once - often they seem to conflict or crash altogether. ( I can never get it to toggle between the DS-1 engine and Koblo easily or reproducibly.)My computer NEVER crashed pre soft synths, and now it is a frustratingly regular experience.

Then there's the low track counts, and even less plug ins instances on sessions with ONLY one midi track and one stereo aux return soft synth or sampler.

My solution, I still use a hardware drum machine, and rely on drum loops more than the soft drums solution. Someday we'll be there, not yet.

[graphite]

hey guys,
dynamo by native instruments (169.99) also has several drum machine applications. one where you can actually assign up to eight diffrent sounds from c3 to c4. dynamo, like b4, uses direct connect!! it works great on my computer. i only wish i had a faster processor.
rusty

[trackfive]

When the guy that does my drumming is nowhere to be found, I use the LM4 inside Cubase 5. There are a ton of great sounding kits inside it, especially the Bitbeats kits. I just export the whole drum track as a SDII file and import it into PTLE. Instant drum track!!! The LM4 uses actual recorded samples, so it doesn't sound as synthetic as other drum machine options.

[Blackpoint]

I have just recently gotten a set-up I really like. I use the Koblo Gamma 9000 as my drum machine. It is really flexible as it handles aiff or SDII files for drum sounds. The way I have found it the most flexible and easy to use is to begin with a drum loop I really like. One that I want to use as the basic drum beat for my song. I take the loop into Recycle and slice it up into it's individual hits and save all these individual drum hits and a corresponding midi file to a folder. I then load the entire folder into the keymap section of the Gamma 9000. In Protools I import the midi file Recycle created when the loop was sliced-up and set that midi track to control the Gamma 9000. Now I have the original drum loop reproduced through midi and the Gamma 9000 and have the flexibility to change the tempo without doing any time-stretching whatsoever. The final step to adding variety and personality to this basic beat is to load the individual sound files from the loop into the main slots of the Gamma and control them from my midi keyboard. With midi merge enabled, I can add any hits or drum fills to the original loop with the same sound-set to make it my own. So far this has been relatively stable. In general I totally prefer the Koblo stuff to Bitheadz.

[Blackpoint]

I have just recently gotten a set-up I really like. I use the Koblo Gamma 9000 as my drum machine. It is really flexible as it handles aiff or SDII files for drum sounds. The way I have found it the most flexible and easy to use is to begin with a drum loop I really like. One that I want to use as the basic drum beat for my song. I take the loop into Recycle and slice it up into it's individual hits and save all these individual drum hits and a corresponding midi file to a folder. I then load the entire folder into the keymap section of the Gamma 9000. In Protools I import the midi file Recycle created when the loop was sliced-up and set that midi track to control the Gamma 9000. Now I have the original drum loop reproduced through midi and the Gamma 9000 and have the flexibility to change the tempo without doing any time-stretching whatsoever. The final step to adding variety and personality to this basic beat is to load the individual sound files from the loop into the main slots of the Gamma and control them from my midi keyboard. With midi merge enabled, I can add any hits or drum fills to the original loop with the same sound-set to make it my own. So far this has been relatively stable. In general I totally prefer the Koblo stuff to Bitheadz.

[Jim S]

Blackpoint,

I'm confused. How do you use Koblo and Steinberg Recycle together? I thought Koblo on works on Mac and Recycle only on Windows PC. Do you have a Mac and a PC?

What are the specs (CPU, RAM, drive) of your setup? I'm getting a computer dedicated to Digi001 and 99% will go Mac and would like to get Koblo but don't want crashes, conflicts, etc.

(Oops. I checked and Steinberg Recyle is availale for Mac or PC.)

[This message has been edited by Jim S (edited February 20, 2001).]

[gigi]

I tried VSamp 3.0 demo from http://www.kagi.com/smaug/vsamp .
You have to find some good samples and create your own sound set (very simple) and it works. i'm going to buy it (25$ !!)
ciao
gigi

[robert johnstone]

I do beleive recycle is also available for mac.

The best way to see how a softsynth will work with your setup is to download the demo.