MOTUnation.com

hi i need a new groove /drum machine type plug,any recommendations or known issues w/ DP4.61 ??i have been checking these out...i need something easy ,quick,intuitive to lay down foundations that i will play over and probably replace w/ VDRUM ,but i am sure i will want to mix things up as well......,so i want something i can tap in a groove like a beat box and move on, i don't want to step sequence... having the ability to do more complex things w/ Guru and RMX looks cool to me but i want something that can be used in a simple way as well......i am ruling out idrum because of no odd time sigs.....any idea's ???

Definitely RMX!

Go for a demo anything you may be curious about, but RMX , for me,
is simply amazing !!!!

RMX is a wondeful piece of software. Easy and intuitive. I've had good luck working in Slice mode with odd time sigs. You can rearrange the slices to work with different sigs but takes some experimentation. RMX's drag-and-drop MIDI file feature is second to none and integrates very well with DP. The loops that come with RMX lean heavily toward hip-hop styles but they have other libraries available. Also, all of Spectrasonics loops are very hyped in the low end, but that's tweak-able. If you have any REX files you can convert them to SAGE format easily with their converter utility. I use Recycle a lot as well to create REX's from audio sample loops.

There's also Reason which is a whole lot of bang for the buck. You get the Rex player and Redrum (a pattern-based drum machine) and a whole lot more. You can Rewire into DP which works great for me. Reason is just plain fun to play with. You can rearrange slices there too for odd time sigs, again by experimentation. I personally don't think Reason's audio engine sounds as good as RMX though.

Live is not a good choice at all for odd time sigs. If only...

I also occasionally use Intakt which I don't find to be nearly as intuitive and would not recommend.

Numerology is a lot of fun but more experimental IMO and you need some type of sample player or sound source to work with it (MIDI or plug-in), but it will do things none of the others will - more than I could explain in this post. If you're experimental or into glitch, etc I'd at least take a look at Numerology as part of your toolbox. Using Numerology with Apple Plug-in samples would be a way of getting some beats going on the cheap. There's a demo available. The next version will have Rewire sync but I run alongside DP without too much hassle - although Rewire will be much simpler.

HTH
Phil

with RMX can you tap in your own beats? or are you just using their own files?

kgdrum wrote:with RMX can you tap in your own beats? or are you just using their own files?

RMX has a couple different ways of working.

1) Pick a loop you like, drag the MIDI phrase from the RMX plugin to your sequencer track in DP. This way the beat is always in sync with DP.

2) You can put RMX into Kit Mode and build your own kit from a huge library of single shots. The different shots map to General MIDI specifications so you can play them on your keyboard (M-Audio Trigger Finger is even better!). This is more in line with how people use Native Instruments Battery.

I highly recommend going >here< and clicking on the VIDEO OVERVIEW link.

Guru works well with DP - It based around step sequencing but makes it as quick and intuative as ever imaginable. But I will often use it simply as a sampler and just load the pads up with individual sounds or kits to be triggered by a DP MIDI track rather than on board step seq. This way I can vdrum or keyboard in 'real' drum parts rather than step seq then.
(Obviously usual software latency limitations exist for playing guru live with vdrums).

I like to combine real drum performance recorded via vdrum in DP MIDI track with step sequenced parts in guru's own sequencer and with 8 'engines' per instance of Guru you can easily do this.

The ability to load/change kits or individual samples on the fly is while the sequence is playing is awsome, as is the instant auditioning direct from the browser.

Guru uses the 16 sample pads per engine approach (pads can be layered) so for quick tap-in-ability you could hook it up an mpc style MIDI pad (like trigger finger etc)

My two cents...

Lately, I've been generating drum-machine-style beats and loops using Reason and Limelite (part of NI Electronic Instrument). Works really well for me.

That said, you can create all sorts of great beats using RMX, Battery or Guru. All are easy to use. Test drive them, then pick the one that best suits your budget, work style and ears.

I would say, though, that, if you have the cash, Reason would be the way to go because you'll get so many great tools in a single, stable app (e.g., drum machine, loop player, various synths, sampler, effects, etc.).

i appreciate the feedback,the question i have,can you tap in a 4 bar loop into Guru's or RMX's sequencer as it's playing like i might do w/ a beat box?? i can't relate to step sequencing,i want to be able to tap in a Quick idea without any time wasted in looping and editing a phrase... initially i want something that can be instantaneous,with the ability to do more after a foundation is built - thanks KG

kgdrum wrote:i appreciate the feedback,the question i have,can you tap in a 4 bar loop into Guru's or RMX's sequencer as it's playing like i might do w/ a beat box?? i can't relate to step sequencing,i want to be able to tap in a Quick idea without any time wasted in looping and editing a phrase... initially i want something that can be instantaneous,with the ability to do more after a foundation is built - thanks KG

If you're asking if you can tap out a beat in real-time to a click track, then yeah. Any of the choices provided will let you do that. They all follow conventional drum machine motifs.

the only issue with RMX is its only 4/4. No 6/8 or any other compound meter

RMX is the one. You can just tap out your beat and change time sigs in your sequencer program.

wonder wrote:the only issue with RMX is its only 4/4. No 6/8 or any other compound meter

That's not true (although the supplied loops are in 4/4). I do 7/4, 17/8 etc all the time. You have to set the time sig in DP and use drag-and-drop slice mode in RMX and then edit the slices to be musical against the new time sig. It takes a little experimentation but isn't difficult. I often do this in Reason as well using it's sequencer, but DP/RMX is more flexible in this regard. Done this with Intakt once or twice as well.

You can also do odd time sigs using single hit menus in RMX (i.e just using it as a sound source kinda like Battery with single drum hits) and tapping in odd time beats on a MIDI device into DP.

OR you can use RMX as above (as a drum module with single hits across the keyboard) and play existing odd-time MIDI files. I have quite a few odd-time MIDI files that came with a pkg called DrumTrax.

Phil

philbrown wrote:That's not true (although the supplied loops are in 4/4). I do 7/4, 17/8 etc all the time. You have to set the time sig in DP and use drag-and-drop slice mode in RMX and then edit the slices to be musical against the new time sig. It takes a little experimentation but isn't difficult. I often do this in Reason as well using it's sequencer, but DP/RMX is more flexible in this regard. Done this with Intakt once or twice as well.

You can also do odd time sigs using single hit menus in RMX (i.e just using it as a sound source kinda like Battery with single drum hits) and tapping in odd time beats on a MIDI device into DP.

OR you can use RMX as above (as a drum module with single hits across the keyboard) and play existing odd-time MIDI files. I have quite a few odd-time MIDI files that came with a pkg called DrumTrax.

Phil

Agreed. I do stuff like that all the time... plus some of the expansion packs have odd time signatures.

RMX is a VERY powerful piece of software, i would recommend it to anyone looking into adding loops.