#48

Hi all

What equipment can give me reasonable synthesised basic acoustic drum kit (i.e. kick, snare, hats, cymbals). None of these were really covered in the hardware physical modelling thread.

Auditioning samples when I’m playing with other people is really starting to annoy me. I’d like something that allows for expressive playing and also altering each sound without having to load (and audition) new drums sounds when what I’ve got already isn’t fitting.

I want something that sounds more or less like a real kit - circumstances are currently preventing me from using one. All I can really think of is the Nord Drum, but most videos demonstrate it an augmentation to an acoustic kit so don’t really play the basic kit sounds.

I’d consider getting a electric drum brain module as well (which I assume are all basically romplers) but I’m not sure if parameters are really that alterable on those. I feel they are much more expressive than samplers with drum sounds loaded, but I’d be facing another choice of 500 kits to pick from each time.

Any thoughts?

#49

The Nord can do basic kit sounds well. But editing them on the fly (i think that’s what you want) could be a bit challenging

#50

Not sure if you’re talking modular, but I wonder if something like Expert Sleepers General CV might fit the bill?

#51

Elektron Machinedrum has a physical modeling engine which is v. tweakable in real time.

1 Like
#52

20 characters of This!

1 Like
#53

Lots of how percussion feels, depends of the post processing. There are many good hardware compressors/processors available from Elektron, OTO, Bugbrand etc that can change the feel and presence of the drums in the mix. There is a new unit in Kickstarter called Spice that has a lot of promise. My latest discovery is Roland Torcido that can do some interesting things with percussions and is sold really cheap these days.

1 Like
#54

Yes and no. The envelopes seem key, to me. Distortion will flatten/compress,impart resonances, etc, and that can be fun, and musical. But the decay envelopes, if they aren’t great to begin with will respond less musically, I think.
I just spent almost a week with the Nord Drum 2 - learning, listening, cataloguing, and now finally some programming and the ability to fine tune the envelopes in conjunction with the various distortion options (its built in distortion and ‘ring mod’ sound great to my ears, the bit reducer, not so much) makes it a great instrument. I will be investing more time in it. I’m sure it will be worth it. More to follow.

3 Likes
#55

elektron-digitone-review-e1517586012522
elektron-digitone-review-e1517586012522.jpg1199×629 56.4 KB

Really enjoying this as a drum synth. The 4 operators go quite far with the additive synthesis and feedback control, as well as 2 filters that can be modulated. I wanted to emulate the Noise Engineering BIA glitchy beat thing and it does fairly well.

I just wish Elektron would standardise some of their features across devices, and implement the retrig functions and master compressor from the Digitakt!

1 Like
#56

Amen. I was working with both on last project…
That said, they are great little boxes. I just wish the term TRIG wasn’t at the core of all things Elektron.

#57

yes, I also feel that you can do a lot with good envelopes. Here is one short piece I did with Digitakt using only short sample of white noise from the ‘empty’ input buffer of the instrument. Everything here is shaped by the internal filter and envelopes https://soundcloud.com/t3hh/noise-study-20170716

#58

Yep. I really wish that I could sequence MIDI from my A4, it feels like an entirely arbitrary limitation.

#59

i would love to hear some of the stuff you’ve done. I’ve done a bit of exploration but haven’t gotten very far with this so far, unfortunately…

#60

Digitone sure is a nice synth but more importantly - this is such a lovely photo :smiley:

1 Like
#61

Just ordered this: https://wmdevices.com/products/crucible

So excited to start playing with it. If anyone is looking for cymbals, and into the eurorack-thing.

1 Like
#62

This made me remember I don’t spend enough time tweaking / creating cymbal sounds I should go back to that a little more.

#63

After being entirely sample-orientated regarding drums and percussion for 20+ years I’ve just purchased my first drum machine… and am massively excited about it! On its way to me as I type (I’ve seen the consignment receipts and have the tracking numbers!) is a Vermona DRM 1 Mk III.

I’m planning on using it with the Beatstep Pro I got last week. As it isn’t the Trigger edition I’ll be using MIDI (with the 3.5mm jack splitter tip that Nick Batt and Gaz Williams demonstrated on one of their Sonicstate videos) so that I can also trigger my MS-20 Mini and iOS synths (via an Alesis ioDock to cover the polyphony).

I was completely sold on Vermona thanks to the Retroverb Lancet I recently got to process the iOS synths and I’m quite possibly going to add more of their units to my setup.

3 Likes
#64

You won’t be disappointed, the DRM1 is an incredible piece of kit. I’ll never praise Vermona enough for their gear. My perfourmer MKII is probably the last piece of gear I’d ever sell, I’ve done so much with it.

1 Like
#65

Ah, that’s great to hear! I absolutely can’t wait for it to arrive! My first experience with Vermona was the Retroverb and I was a fan instantly. My attempts to record a quick test of it resulted in me losing a couple of hours in the blink of an eye!

#66

My DRM-1 arrived without a PSU and US instead of UK voltage. I have a refund and need to buy a replacement one before I succumb to Uli and his RD-8 (videos for which seem to plague me at every turn!)

1 Like
#67

i’m excited to hear how you like the drm-1. i’ve been drooling over those for awhile now. :grin:

this thing was released quietly a few weeks ago. can’t really find any reviews of it outside of initial impressions from the last superbooth. if anyone here has one, i’d love to hear how you like it! https://www.thedivisiondepartment.com/pages/01-iv

this diy drum synth from future sound systems is also really difficult to find reviews of: https://www.futuresoundsystems.co.uk/portland.html again, if someone has one, would love to hear how you’re gettin on with it. :ghost:

3 Likes