Sound Replacer???

[sethbrand]

Hey guys,

I am interested in buying the music production toolkit to upgrade my m-powered system. Anyways, I was wondering about the sound replacer plug in that comes with it. Can I load my own samples in and then use sound replacer to trigger them in with an acoustic set i have recorded, or does sound replacer have its own sound library to use and not allow users to add their own samples???

I do a lot of demo recordings for bands in my area to gain experience, and I go to their practice area a lot to record, so i really want a drum replacer software. I would rather have drumagog, but the production toolkit comes with other plugins that are sweet, especially multi track beat detective!!! Therefore I find it wiser to buy the toolkit and just use sound replacer since I can't afford both that and drumagog. What do you guys think?

[spkguitar]

I think you might be a little confused about how Sound Replacer works. Sound Replacer is an audiosuite plugin, not RTAS. It does not work in real time like Drumagog (which is definitely better suited for what it sounds like you are trying to do). It allows you to load your own samples into it, setting 3 different velocity layers with 3 different samples, and then process an entire wave file/track/region. The "triggering" is during processing, not real time, and it "replaces" (hence the name) the samples that are currently in the wave file/track/region you are processing.

It does not come with any sample libraries; you must provide your own.

[sethbrand]

so i cannot use sound replacer to "replace" a bad sounding acoustic set??? if im recording acoustic drums but want to replace the kick and snare, isn't that what sound replacer is for???

i would much rather have drumagog, but the music production toolkit comes with other plugins i would like to have...maybe i will just get drumagog anyways.

[spkguitar]

so i cannot use sound replacer to "replace" a bad sounding acoustic set???

Yes, you can; but you have to do it one track at a time and process the wav/region/track. You cannot replace in real time like you can with Drumagog.

if im recording acoustic drums but want to replace the kick and snare, isn't that what sound replacer is for???

Yes.

[Craig F]

that is what it is for, it's just that you can not do it on the fly, you have to stop, kick the musicians out of the studio, do a replace session, then get back to the flow

[sethbrand]

hmmm...well i think i may just get drumagog, and use the beat detective le work around for muli tracks...sounds good to me.

would you guys happen to know if i buy the drumagog pro version which has everything except bfd support, could i later upgrade to the platinum version for bfd??

thanks a lot guys,
seth

[John Wilkinson]

I'm sure I'll get the "it works for me responses" from several people, but Sound Replacer does not work accurately. Anyone who has used it knows this. When you duplicate the track you wish to replace (ex. Kick, Snare, etc), anywhere between 25-50% of the are not replaced correctly. They will be either slightly ahead or behind where they should be, thus resulting in those hits being out of phase.

I've not used Drumagog so I cannot comment on it's performance.

The best way to replace drum hits is to use the TAB TO TRANSIENT feature:
• Duplicate track to be replaced
• Mute the region that you just duplicated
• Import your sample into the session
• Copy the sample
• Tab to each and paste

j

[Herkimer]

Digidesign/Avid just reduced the price for Sound Replacer rental. You can rent it for 14 days for just $20. I suggest you spend the $20 and find out if it's for you. It could save you $499.

I'll be the first to offer "it works for me" with one caveat - when I replaced a drum track, I completely muted the original track and set the mix to 100%. That elimiated the potential for phase distortion.

I did have to process the track several times trial and error. I had to visually compare the replaced track with the authentic track to make sure no hits were missed. If I noted a missing hit, I just did Sound replacer again with a slightly lower threshold.

You should also take the time to learn how to use the dynamics slider.

I'd also like to add a caution for the "tab to transient" pasting method mentioned above. While it works just well, you must be very careful that the pasted sample doesn't mask the next transient. Sometimes you may find you have to work backwards through a track so that you stack samples properly. Don't forget crossfades and then consolidate the track and clear unused when finished to save CPU.

[lemix]

Hey Seth,
You should try Drumagog. It'll fit your purpose perfectly.
Free trial download (14 days) natively RTAS compatible (PC or MAC) and comes with a decent library of samples.
I've been an active user for a year now..easy and flexible.

good luck,
andrew

GO BLUES !