This might be the most natural-sounding e-drum kit you've ever seen/heard ;-)

Hi,

if you're looking for a great sounding e-drum soundset, this might be interesting for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc-t9fDzG40

I created it together with my good friend Daniel - feedback, feature requests etc. highly appreciated...

Best,

Sam

Pretty sweet, but I kind of find myself agreeing with Gavin Harrison on the matter of electronic drums, they are trying too hard to be acoustic sets, what I really want is something unique and delivers the sounds that I can't get from an acoustic.

Drum sounds were good but he was playing real cymbals?

My advice would be to address the E cymbal issues.

Pat Mastelotto - Fan said:

Pretty sweet, but I kind of find myself agreeing with Gavin Harrison on the matter of electronic drums, they are trying too hard to be acoustic sets, what I really want is something unique and delivers the sounds that I can't get from an acoustic.

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Well, I understand your concern, but still, there are a lot of occasions where a natural drum sound is needed and there's just not enough time/money etc. to book a studio, mic up a drumkit, do hours of soundcheck etc. - And I think there is a lot of processed stuff on the market but I always missed a plug in which allows for a natural sounding performance, and that's what drumasonic does...

Even when recording acoustic drums I know how much work it is to find the right spot in the room to set up the kit (believe me, this makes a huge difference), get the phase correlation/bleed/tuning/room sound etc. right even before I start using any EQ or compressor on it - so for myself, it makes perfect sense to spend more than a week performing these tasks on the highest possible level ONCE, and have the resulting sound conserved in a soundset which gives me lots of mixing options later... I think, doing a drum sound check in less than 10 hours would be a compromise - if there isn't enough time, though, I prefer using drumasonic.

I know of a lot of professional drummers who couldn't tell the difference between drumasonic and an acoustic recording of a drumset - in addition to that, mixing drumasonic feels definitely like mixing a mic'd set and not like a plug-in, so I think there is a point in emulating acoustic drums, just because it works really well when done properly.

What I really like to do, is layering the sounds with "intentionally artificial sounding" samples, e.g. drumasonic rimclick + stylus rmx synthetic snaredrums or heavily distorted stuff like the sound of a dropped keyring sent through a virtual guitar amp and the like.

Sammy85,
congrats on your product! It seems top notch! I admit I'm 100% into natural sounding drums. You're giving quite valid points - even the best sounding acoustic kit needs some serious experience in mic position etc to get the according sound accross on (digital) tape.

I've bought SSD (Steven Slate Drums) but haven't really used it so far. Personally, those drum sounds would be what DRUMASONIC would have to compete with. I'll look into this further.

New Tricks said:

Drum sounds were good but he was playing real cymbals?

My advice would be to address the E cymbal issues.

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All the cymbals are from drumsonic. No overdubs or the like...

Best,

Sam

This is very impressive, based on what we can see and hear in the video. I'd be very interested to hear more.

One giant step closer to the death of the live drummer. Sounds like a great product that will eventually eliminate the need for acoustic drummers. Can't stop the wheels of progress I guess.

Sorry but I look at these products as the de-humanizing of music. Great work, great results, but the big picture sucks. My skills that I've honed my WHOLE LIFE aren't worth much anymore. Yea great product.

I'm sure you will make a ton of money.

harryconway said:

Nice tool. And like any tool, it certainly will have applications. Then again, it can never cover all applications.​

I'm not one of those guys who fears "being replaced by a machine" .... I just saw the Frank Zappa DVD ... Does Humor Belong In Music ... and there was Chad Wackerman playing a hybrid drum kit. Real kick and snare, real cymbals, electric toms. And this was 1984. The e-kit worked for Chad ... and it worked for Zappa ... and that was 27 years ago.​

Personally, I love drums. I have 5 acoustic kits ... plus a Yamaha e-kit, and a Roland kit, and a Roland SPD-S, and an old Tama Techstar 305, and two Korg Wavedrums, and two Mandala V1's. It's all good. No fear. I'm 55. And I really don't think any electric kit/or box, is gonna come after me. Not in my lifetime. And after I'm dead ... well, I'm not so worried about what happens after I die. Like, I'll be outta the game. Right? Should I worry about what's gonna happen in 50, 100, or 200 years from now? Hardly. I got stuff to worry about, today, tomorrow, and next week. OK, maybe not so much worry ... but stuff I need to deal with.​

What I find, is "Americans", by in large, are not a "progressive" lot. We romance the past. We're stuck "somewhere", whether it be 100, 50, or 25 years ago .... we're not "now". So, don't expect to take away our big cars, guns, and acoustic drums...anytime soon.​

Me, I'm to old to become a drum programmer. Just am. Now, if a guy wants a gig with Trent Reznor, he'd better now how to program. On the "other" hand, if you drum in a bluegrass band ... probably an acoustic kit is all you need to master. Apply for the job you can do ... let someone else do the gig you can't do.​

I say, "good luck with your machine" ... hope all the best for you. Hopefully, you'll be a millionaire, in two years.​

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Very well said Harry. Very well said.

larryace said:

One giant step closer to the death of the live drummer. Sounds like a great product that will eventually eliminate the need for acoustic drummers. Can't stop the wheels of progress I guess.

Sorry but I look at these products as the de-humanizing of music. Great work, great results, but the big picture sucks. My skills that I've honed my WHOLE LIFE aren't worth much anymore. Yea great product.

I'm sure you will make a ton of money.

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Thats what a lot of industry execs want.They can duplicate drums/guitars/keyboards now so all they need is vocals,and even that is being done with computers and will be perfected shortly.No more having to pay musicians,no more having to do more then one take.Compose some random crap on a computer,and create a cyber album ready to download in a day.No more performance fees paid to BMI,ASCAP ect..Its all what lawyers call work product.

You won't eventually even need a live band either.Just singer or singing group,an a bunch of dancers,video/lighting.Can all the music,even the vocals,......why even chance a missed cue,or a forgotten lyric.

Its all about money and control of a product.Music will shortly become more product than art form.

I agree with Harry.Americans are the way we are and reluctant to change,and thats fine with me.There's plenty of music out there that was made years ago,thats waiting to be discovered for the first time.Better isn't always better because its new...its just different.

I'll keep my acoustic drums,my guns and my vinyl albums thank you,because its my choice to do so.

We can sit back and let it all happen,and say to ourselves it never will,but deep down inside...you know its going to happen.The technology is just about here.Think not?You cell phone has more computing power than the computer aboard Apollo 11,and you know where they went.Rant over

Steve B

tamadrm said:

Thats what a lot of industry execs want.They can duplicate drums/guitars/keyboards now so all they need is vocals,and even that is being done with computers and will be perfected shortly.No more having to pay musicians,no more having to do more then one take.Compose some random crap on a computer,and create a cyber album ready to download in a day.No more performance fees paid to BMI,ASCAP ect..Its all what lawyers call work product.

You won't eventually even need a live band either.Just singer or singing group,an a bunch of dancers,video/lighting.Can all the music,even the vocals,......why even chance a missed cue,or a forgotten lyric.

Its all about money and control of a product.Music will shortly become more product than art form.

I agree with Harry.Americans are the way we are and reluctant to change,and thats fine with me.There's plenty of music out there that was made years ago,thats waiting to be discovered for the first time.Better isn't always better because its new...its just different.

I'll keep my acoustic drums,my guns and my vinyl albums thank you,because its my choice to do so.

We can sit back and let it all happen,and say to ourselves it never will,but deep down inside...you know its going to happen.The technology is just about here.Think not?You cell phone has more computing power than the computer aboard Apollo 11,and you know where they went.Rant over

Steve B

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What's a vinyl album?

Canned sound, no matter how realistic, will never have the excitement factor for me. The big picture for music, as a form of human expression, is changing in a way that is removing everything that I like about it, the imperfections, the human element. I DON"T WANT PERFECKTION!

Give me a song like Louie, Louie any day over a pitch perfect, snapped to the grid rhythm track, formulatic song.

There's no sense of accomplishment when you can select a perfect sound from a drop down menu. I know this sounds close minded and anti technology, but IMO there are some things are better left alone and preserved.

It's like making a pill that will make you feel like you've had a nice turkey dinner without actually eating the dinner. But the pill is better because there's no prep, no clean up, you can't mess up the meal. It's foolproof. But what are you giving up? Only everything that actually matters. Pleasure. The tactile experience of eating the turkey, the aroma, the memories of past turkey dinners...the turkey sandwiches the next day...You can't quantify that stuff (yet)

You don't get something for nothing. You made a great product that is helping to eliminate everything human and personal about drum tracks. That's the trade off. Are you OK w/ that? I'm not.The future of music is bleak from where I'm sitting. All the cash you will make can't put humanness back into music. Are programmers going to squeeze out real musicians? I think so.

I wish you no luck at all, nothing personal against you, just your efforts.

I realize I sound backwards and I'm OK w/ that. I also realize that my mindset is stupid, you can't stop progress. But I stick by every word I said.

Well Sammy85 introduced us to a brand new and top notch product. I don't see much sense getting into melancholy/rant now.

If some of us love imperfections why spend years on e.g. refining a roll to make it sound as good as possible? That would be perfect, but who needs perfection...

That product is simply as good as it gets at the moment, with mankind/technology constantly striving for progress. Do you like using cars instead of walking or using donkey carts? If yes that's a clear sign for me you're preferring progress (with some side effects as pollution).

I think we're selecting the tools to get some jobs done the best possible way. So if you prefer some cymbals over others because for this gig or that studio session those cymbals are the better choice then this would be the way to go. Now imagine there's people who simply do want to go the easy way and have good drum sounds without bothering to find good drummers (e.g. due to such low reasons as lack of money), having experience with recording but also the gear to make it happen etc - yes, it's a short cut, but what's the problem? Tools like drum libraries can be assembled in a 'non-perfect' way - trying to simulate the imperfections of real drummers (although good drummers are playing at an unbelievable technical/musical/expressive level) so it doesn't have to be a dull and lifeless product in the end. Those who prefer music by Lady G... or the like don't care for real vs. virtual instruments anyway, using real drums (played by real/good drummers) would even be a waste IMO.

So if you care to choose the best tools you can have for certain jobs just accept the fact that some people might use drum libraries - the best they can get or afford - to work on their goals. I don't really see a problem here. A quote by Ted Turner (he got it from someone else): "Either lead, follow or get out of the way." For those who are reluctant to some new phenomenons, technical progress or whatever there really isn't too many choices. You won't be able to work against it. Accept it or ignore it but it will happen anyway.

It might not be too relevant, but I just thought of 'technological progress' as an artistic tool to create ideas which otherwise would have never happened. Think of Cher & the autotune effect (although first it was cool, then copied to death). Or that JoJo Mayer breakbeat style - isn't this an advanced version of what was born when the first drum machines came up? Often times those drum machines were _not_ used to reproduce real drums (the way a real drummer would choose what to play, and when to play it) but formed a whole new style. There's always different perspectives to everything.

larryace said:

One giant step closer to the death of the live drummer. .

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Somebody still has to hit the damn things.


Now if you are talking about programed sequences, yeah. When drumming is programed, it takes every bit of soul out of the music.