What are you guys using to make drum loops/beats ITB?

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curtiswyant
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What are you guys using to make drum loops/beats ITB?

Post by curtiswyant » Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:31 am

I have Reason but wondering what other softsynth drum machines you guys like...?

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Re: What are you guys using to make drum loops/beats ITB?

Post by joel hamilton » Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:36 am

curtiswyant wrote:I have Reason but wondering what other softsynth drum machines you guys like...?
Reason works really well, as does simply editing loops in protools these days with elastic audio... you can do Ableton LIVE -esque- things with elastic audio just dragging in any loop and stretching it to the measure.
Protools with reason works REALLY well, especially if you record reason out through something in the analog domain and back into protools and edit the "feel" with elastic audio.
Also: moved to COMPUTER WORLD.

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Post by the badger » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:15 am

reason is good for gritty stuff - tight timing - redrum is nice to program

ableton is equally tight. cleaner sound bit plasticy. but good if you like that kind of thing. impulse drum machine is wicked.

both examples are sample based.

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Post by curtiswyant » Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:39 pm

Cool, looks like I'm on the right track. Maybe I need to spend more time messing around with Reason

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Post by trevord » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:52 pm

here is a vote for fruityloops - fl studio
The grandfather of them all
Takes a while to learn the intricate stuff - but FL is a generation ahead of the others in terms of what you can do with loops.
I dont use the others because FL does everything (no bias here :))
but can the others vary the swing of your own "groove pattern" where the amount is calculated from a formula with the song position and overall volume as inputs.
Just an example of the kind of flexibility and "humanizing" variation you can get with FL.
Highly recommended.

NOTE: I said a generation ahead - most of these tools add the popular stuff every revision so reason may have this soon

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Post by Jay Reynolds » Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:57 pm

I love Reason 4 for the MPC60 swing templates. That puts it in a class almost by itself (considering that the 60 is already in said class).
Though its not a stand-alone application, I love Stylus RMX. There's a lot going on in there.
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Post by DJ_LBP » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:23 pm

I have been trying lately to use the Ultrabeat instrument in Logic, as well as rewiring from Live into Logic. I use the "Slice to New MIDI track" function in Live a lot with different controllers, it is great fun. It does a pretty good job of cutting a beat loop up and laying it out on a pad-type layout, I use a Tenori-on as controller a lot of times.
Why not?

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Post by Dan Phelps » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:25 pm

Ableton live here. I really enjoy using that program.

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Post by Dakota » Sat Feb 21, 2009 12:24 am

1st choice: FL Studio. Fast, easy, fun, deep if you want to dig in. Can be subtle or over the top, easy to dial in. PC only, wah. 2nd but great: Ableton Live, Reason.

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Post by discobrown » Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:39 am

I've been jamming with GURU. It has swing templates that really make it stand out from the other grid editors. Give the demo a try
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Post by calaverasgrandes » Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:57 pm

Sonar 8.3 with a variety of drum machines, both physical ones like Alesis HR16b and Synsonics drums and VSTs like the tre awesome Waldorf Attack. I could write whole songs with just the Attack VST.
I used to use Acid a lot before Sonar got looping. Though sonar's looping is hard to configure so that its not awful sounding. The default setting is not as nice at extreme stretching as Acid and PT.
I also used to use Reason a lot but just kind of lost interest in it. Seems to sound too commercial and bland to me no matter what I do.
I used to really like frooty loops (the old one before Fl studio) if for no other reason than the neat kick drum effect that would put it outside of the freakin speakers! But that one also kind of had a techno vibe to all of the sounds that I had a hard time getting around.
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Post by Dakota » Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:51 pm

Yeah, FL / fruity's stock sounds are heavy on the electro vibe. In recommending it, I don't advocate using the included sample packs much. I bring in other sample sets or make my own samples. I love the fun workflow for whatever is piled into it as source sounds.

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Post by trevord » Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:59 pm

Have to agree about the samples FL comes with - originally targeted for dance/techno - now has its sights set on hip hop/rap (FPC :) ) but with the right sample set it will do anything.

Plus it will mangle a sample with the fewest clicks of any of them
(Try duplicating "pogo" on any other system :) )

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Post by Slider » Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:09 pm

I almost always use Stylus RMX.
I have a huge library of loops, drum hits and textures, and they end up being used on almost every record I do.
RMX (Rex) files are also easy to edit and stretch. They automatically conform to project tempo and you can edit the hits within a loop in seconds.
Really cool.

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Post by Mike Colucci » Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:46 am

If we're talking specifically about drum machines (as opposed to apps like Battery, BFD, or DrumCore--all of which are great IMO), then i have to add my vote to:

1. Live 7 (Impulse, and especially the new DrumRacks component)
2. Reason 4--get to know the ReGroove device...serious creative joy

In addition to these I'll plug one that hasn't been mentioned. A company called NuEdge Development has a drum machine app called muTonic. I can't remember how I heard about it, but I downloaded the demo and had so much fun I ended up buying it. It's decidedly techno-leaning, but we are talking about drum machines here after all. The good points: way, way easy to use; very intuitive; easy to warp and mangle. I would give it a 10/10 for workflow and creativity. More of a learning dash than a learning curve.

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