Synthesizer Gear Porn ;-)

[Rarebird]

Honestly that's kind of the value for me; I already have several excellent drum libraries with more "authentic" drums and while it can be tedious, I'm pretty comfortable with programming in those pesky beats and things. This was more about a synthy rhythm machine for me

I can understand. In the past I've worked with a Boss DR10 Doctor Rhythm. Would I like to do something like that again? Perhaps, but at this moment I can't tell myself it is worth spending money on it.

[Gizmotron]

I suppose with drummachines it's the same as with Mellotrons, or stringsynthesizers. Some people want something that sounds as close to the real thing as possible and for that samplers are invented and some want something that doesn't really sound like the real thing, but has a character of its self. The same goes for all kinds of electric pianos, like Wurlitzer, Fender Rhodes, of Yamaha.

I am sure you could tell I was purposefully being over-dramatic. Yes, I do feel that the early users made some errors in judgement about how best to use the CR-78 and other similar machines, but I DO like some tracks that use it more discreetly.

And actually, I am all in for synthy versions of “real” sounds. I adore Fender Rhodes, Wurlys, early “string Machines,” early synths with less-than-authentic emulations, etc. (I do find that the early “piano” synths like tony Banks’ used (Yamaha 80?) get a bit old quickly, but after all that is the piano we are talking about.)

And lastly, as a drummer, I am biased against drum machines because I am naturally swayed by playing the real thing all the time. The amount of expression that a real drummer on a real kit can do is far more subtle and effective to me.

But as a synth geek, I would probably eventually get a similar, early drum machine to cover all my bases.

And lastly, I want to be honest that corny sounding drum machines have actually been nice to me! I bought a Roland TR-707 back in the 80s (and yes, didn’t like it) but I held onto it until about two years ago when i sold it for $800. I also sold a TR-505 recently, so I am actually thankful for the darn things.

[Gizmotron]

Honestly that's kind of the value for me; I already have several excellent drum libraries with more "authentic" drums and while it can be tedious, I'm pretty comfortable with programming in those pesky beats and things. This was more about a synthy rhythm machine for me

I can see that. And as implied above, I do see that there is a time and a place for all hardware (and software).

[battema]

And lastly, as a drummer, I am biased against drum machines because I am naturally swayed by playing the real thing all the time. The amount of expression that a real drummer on a real kit can do is far more subtle and effective to me.

As a former drummer, I couldn't agree more! I spent more time on the drum tracks for that last thing of mine (the proggity prog thing) than any other instrument because I tried to get things as close to "human" as possible. In most cases that meant playing each drum separately (one track for just the kick, one for the snare, etc.). Then applying only the loosest quantizing to adjust the glaring screwups, and then listening to subgroups to make the looseness felt together (otherwise, several independently-quantized drums end up sounding less human, and just plain ol' terrible ). And still when I listen back I can hear "tells" in the tracks where it's obviously not a true drummer.

[battema]

I can see that. And as implied above, I do see that there is a time and a place for all hardware (and software).

NOT ACCEPTABLE TRY HARDER TO LOVE WHAT I LOVE

[Rarebird]

I'm not a drummer and mostly do music without drums. I've done some drumprogramming on occasions, mostly using drumpatterns from books or magazines.

[Plasmatopia]

I don't really have the patience to program drums, so what I've been doing recently is playing the drums myself and then editing my performance (MIDI) in the DAW later. It's interesting trying to find that balance of keeping the humanity in there while also only correcting the more egregious screwups and avoiding the temptation to move toward "perfection".

The challenge these days is finding the time to record more than basic jams and actually compose something. It seems to be a problem of knowing all the technology I am working with (getting good sounds), playing all the instruments myself (while being a master of none), and just plain having the uninterrupted time to put it all together. Except for the time aspect my excuses are starting to dwindle. I can get good sounds for drums, keys, guitar....but bass I find still somewhat elusive. That is perhaps made easier with the Minifreak now so that's where I'm likely to focus my bass efforts.

[Gizmotron]

Wow!

I love this thread. You all have so much awareness and experience.
Thank you!!

[dropforge]

I thought this was how everyone reacted to electronic percussion.

wtf-sleestaklust.jpg

[Gizmotron]

As a former drummer, I couldn't agree more! I spent more time on the drum tracks for that last thing of mine (the proggity prog thing) than any other instrument because I tried to get things as close to "human" as possible. In most cases that meant playing each drum separately (one track for just the kick, one for the snare, etc.). Then applying only the loosest quantizing to adjust the glaring screwups, and then listening to subgroups to make the looseness felt together (otherwise, several independently-quantized drums end up sounding less human, and just plain ol' terrible ). And still when I listen back I can hear "tells" in the tracks where it's obviously not a true drummer.

Fascinating! I like that approach.
There are so many options available, aren’t there? From sitting behind a kit, a mic or two, and a simple recording device all the way to the fullest integration of human playing and machine power.

I love my Handsonic because it straddles a few worlds, and also has some built-in rhythms and such. Real human input (using sticks or hands) and all the Roland drum machine magic. So I guess I am most concerned about triggering, rather than programming patterns (but that is fun for me occasionally).

Full disclosure/funny story: years ago when I was recording an homage to my favorite Lisa Lynne track, I played most everything acoustically…the flutes, the recorders, the bass line, the guitar strums, and my sister on harp, I actually ignored all my percussion (I have a lot) and instead triggered all the subtle percussion (chimes, tabla, cymbal taps) on my Roland 3080. Seems ironic but it was just far easier to control all the dynamics and levels instead of dragging out mics and the toys.

[Rarebird]

Well, I once did a recording and programmed the drums played by my Kawai K1rII and a friend of mine, who played drums, said it sounded like a band was playing. Everything was programmed on my Commodore Amiga, using a program someone I knew created.

[Gizmotron]

Well, I once did a recording and programmed the drums played by my Kawai K1rII and a friend of mine, who played drums, said it sounded like a band was playing. Everything was programmed on my Commodore Amiga, using a program someone I knew created.

Very cool.

There are so many ways to make music. They are all perfectly capable of producing excellent music.

[Czyszy]

I already have several excellent drum libraries with more "authentic" drums

Excuse me if it's a bit of a tangent. What are your go-to acoustic drum libraries, everyone? I'm currently using a custom made one in Kontakt that's a mix of samples from various sources including Sampletank, EZDrummer 1, and Abbey Road 60s Drums, each heavily mixed and altered to sit together better in a single kit. That custom kit can be heard on my Ezekiel cover.

[Plasmatopia]

Excuse me if it's a bit of a tangent. What are your go-to acoustic drum libraries, everyone? I'm currently using a custom made one in Kontakt that's a mix of samples from various sources including Sampletank, EZDrummer 1, and Abbey Road 60s Drums, each heavily mixed and altered to sit together better in a single kit. That custom kit can be heard on my Ezekiel cover.

Nice! I like the drum sounds you came up with. I use Superior Drummer 3. I've mostly just used some presets that it came with.

[markwoll]

Too good to pass up, Jaunty Art on Mastodon

[Rarebird]

Too good to pass up, Jaunty Art on Mastodon

Talking about Theremins, I found this in a musicians magazine https://stylophone.com/theremin-pre-order/

[Czyszy]

Talking about Theremins, I found this in a musicians magazine https://stylophone.com/theremin-pre-order/

It's cool to see that pitch slider, which I'm assuming is a reference to the Ondes Martenot

[battema]

Too good to pass up, Jaunty Art on Mastodon

LOL love it

I've not owned or used an actual Theremin before (Moog or clone), although I've got various IR-type devices in the live rig plus a little IR interface for Eurorack. It's cool but for me personally it's never really been something to which I've been drawn.

[pstrawser]

Excuse me if it's a bit of a tangent. What are your go-to acoustic drum libraries, everyone? I'm currently using a custom made one in Kontakt that's a mix of samples from various sources including Sampletank, EZDrummer 1, and Abbey Road 60s Drums, each heavily mixed and altered to sit together better in a single kit. That custom kit can be heard on my Ezekiel cover.

Sounds fantastic!

I really like Superior Drummer (my version is about 10 years old though), and having one instance with my main kit and another with brushes and stuff to add some subtlety. And usually some shaker or something from Logic.

I’m too lazy to break out separate drum channels though. Just try to make them sound as non-fake and as musical as possible!

Do you guys usually assign the individual drum outputs to channels in your DAW? I tried it a few times with Kontakt and Sup Drummer and never got the hang of it.

[battema]

Sounds fantastic!

I really like Superior Drummer (my version is about 10 years old though), and having one instance with my main kit and another with brushes and stuff to add some subtlety. And usually some shaker or something from Logic.

I’m too lazy to break out separate drum channels though. Just try to make them sound as non-fake and as musical as possible!

Do you guys usually assign the individual drum outputs to channels in your DAW? I tried it a few times with Kontakt and Sup Drummer and never got the hang of it.

I do it from time to time, but mostly I go the other way around with a stereo output from the VST but a slew of MIDI input tracks (one per drum or the like). With my VST of choice (AD 1+2), there are some main bus type FX that I like to keep on the individual drums so rather than send them to separate outputs first, I simply render each one individually so I can pass them through those main FX in the plugin. It's a little wonky, but it works for me

[Czyszy]

Sounds fantastic!
Do you guys usually assign the individual drum outputs to channels in your DAW?

I hate mixing live drums so I never do that the "realistic" way, that is: separate overheads, close mics, rooms and so on. Instead I have all my mixdowns (pre-combined mic signals) of individual kit samples like the kick, snare, toms, hihat, crashes, ride and so on assigned to their own mixer channels. Simply put: I mix "kitpiece by kitpiece" instead of "mic by mic"

[Plasmatopia]

Do you guys usually assign the individual drum outputs to channels in your DAW? I tried it a few times with Kontakt and Sup Drummer and never got the hang of it.

I messed with that a couple of times years ago with Superior 2.0, but I think for 3.0 that functionality became exclusive to Cubase users? (I'm using Reaper.)

But SD 3.0 has a pretty capable mixer within the plugin itself, so I'm not sure how much value there is breaking out the separate tracks. Maybe if I was a professional I'd have a different perspective.

[Czyszy]

I think for 3.0 that functionality became exclusive to Cubase users? (I'm using Reaper.)

Exclusive to Cubase? You think Toontrack would shoot themselves in the foot? xD That would only happen if Steinberg-Yamaha bought the company off. But even then they would more likely just make Superior Drummer a Cubase-native plugin instead of crippling its functionality for non-Cubase users. xd



On the official Toontrack channel, you're only gonna find Pro Tools DAW if any.

Not a single official promo/demo/trailer with Cubase (at least from what I've managed to watch so far). xD Most of the promotional videos on the official channel use the stand-alone versions of their virtual instruments, which is a clever way for Toontrack to do as little free advertising of third-party DAWs as they can.

[Plasmatopia]

Exclusive to Cubase? You think Toontrack would shoot themselves in the foot? xD That would only happen if Steinberg-Yamaha bought the company off. But even then they would more likely just make Superior Drummer a Cubase-native plugin instead of crippling its functionality for non-Cubase users. xd



On the official Toontrack channel, you're only gonna find Pro Tools DAW if any.

Not a single official promo/demo/trailer with Cubase (at least from what I've managed to watch so far). xD Most of the promotional videos on the official channel use the stand-alone versions of their virtual instruments, which is a clever way for Toontrack to do as little free advertising of third-party DAWs as they can.

I'll have to see if I can find a screenshot to explain what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm confusing it with a different plugin or something.

[Progbear]

I do find that the early “piano” synths like tony Banks’ used (Yamaha 80?) get a bit old quickly, but after all that is the piano we are talking about.

If you're referring to the Yamaha CP70 that supplanted his RMI electronic piano, it was an actual piano with real strings and all, but with guitar-like transducers amplifying it. The result was a very "particular" sound. I'm sure that having real piano action and sound was a godsend for a lifelong piano player like Tony. The only other instruments that really offered a "weighted" piano action and full dynamics were electric pianos like the Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes, which didn't sound like "real" pianos and may not have been what you were looking for (I guess Tony didn't think that sound was to his personal taste). And not all electric pianos even had touch sensitivity (the suction-pad version of the Hohner Pianet, for example).