Geist has a great step sequencer and 8 different engines, where every engine has his own set of pads/pattern. There are some good and not expensive extensions (eg. the Cinema expander). Included effects are good (the reverb is based on Breverb).
The easiest setup is to use only one engine and pads with a single drum sample which is triggered from a midi track. Different pads are routed to different outputs, so it's easier to handle the level or add additional effects
In Cubase there is a option to create a drum map based on the plug-in.. so the real pad names (if set) are displayed in the drum editor.
Bitwig shows also the pad names, so if the DAW is supporting this it's very easy to use.
Some artist presets are included (with examples) from big guys eg. from Armin van Buuren and there is of course a factory library which is very usable.
It's a very good drum sampler and I use it for all my productions and prefer it over Battery.
What can Geist do what I can't do...
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- KVRAF
- 5813 posts since 17 Aug, 2004 from Berlin, Germany
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- KVRAF
- 1584 posts since 15 Aug, 2001 from montreal, canada
@PD
Yes seems like it's pretty deep. Will dive into the manual for sure.
I'm getting a nasty crash though just loading a sample in slot 1 and tweaking the filter cutoff from pad/layer tab. I've tried with both 1.1.3.0 and 1.1.2.3. Crashes when I twist the cutoff to the left and then back to the right. Are you getting this by any chance?
Yes seems like it's pretty deep. Will dive into the manual for sure.
I'm getting a nasty crash though just loading a sample in slot 1 and tweaking the filter cutoff from pad/layer tab. I've tried with both 1.1.3.0 and 1.1.2.3. Crashes when I twist the cutoff to the left and then back to the right. Are you getting this by any chance?
Stuck in Aperture Laboratories for a 2nd time!
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- KVRian
- 833 posts since 29 Jul, 2006
No, I don't get that. Are you running it standalone or in a host? Try searching the FXP forum to see if it's a known problem.
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- KVRAF
- 1584 posts since 15 Aug, 2001 from montreal, canada
~Pd~ wrote:No, I don't get that. Are you running it standalone or in a host? Try searching the FXP forum to see if it's a known problem.
Both version stand alone and vst 32 bit. I sent a crash report on the forum. I'm gonna check if there's a similar bug report on the forum.
Stuck in Aperture Laboratories for a 2nd time!
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- KVRAF
- 4751 posts since 22 Nov, 2012
What can it do that you can't do manually? Nothing, but it does it a whole lot faster and in the moment. It allows you to play the beat instead of programming it. It's built to produce beats in the moment. I bought it, I use it, I luv it for making beats.
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- KVRAF
- 1584 posts since 15 Aug, 2001 from montreal, canada
Definitely does it faster for making quick beats. Anyway just tested version 1.1.1.8 and this one doesn't crash for me.
Stuck in Aperture Laboratories for a 2nd time!
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- KVRAF
- 1779 posts since 11 Jun, 2005 from Phoenix, Arizona
I don't disagree with this sentiment really. However, I did order it.pdxindy wrote:Personally, I am sorry to see it selling so cheap. It is excellent softwareUncleAge wrote:So much for resale value with this plugin. The price is the cost of transferring the license.
I owned Guru when they came out with Geist. At the time Guru still worked fine for me and I didn't want to pay the upgrade fee at the time. In addition, I have Live, and I can get by with just that if need be. However, using Guru is a pain nowadays because gui is so small on my 27" monitor, so much so that I don't use at all anymore.
Maybe the emptying of the shelves is a sign that something new is coming.
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- KVRAF
- 8414 posts since 4 Jul, 2012 from Alesia
Tricky buy it trust me you won't regret it. It makes beat-making so easy to do, and it has a very well thought workflow that is easy and very powerful at the same time. The CPU Usage is not bad, but it would be best that you test it out with the demo version before you buy.
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- Pick Me Pick me!
- 9684 posts since 12 Mar, 2002 from a state of confusion
pdxindy wrote:Here is a quick video I made of some of the cool note creation tools in Geist
http://draigathar.org/stuff/geist-notes.mov
You can create patterns super fast (24 per engine) and just drag the pattern into a track, done.
Was there no sound in your video? It wasn't clear to me how you were changing the velocity and such by the video alone.. had to go to the manual to see that holding the ALT key and dragging up or down at the end of a series of notes will perform the fade in/out. Handy tip!
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- KVRAF
- 25397 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
(i was lazy to set up sound)VitaminD wrote:pdxindy wrote:Here is a quick video I made of some of the cool note creation tools in Geist
http://draigathar.org/stuff/geist-notes.mov
You can create patterns super fast (24 per engine) and just drag the pattern into a track, done.
Was there no sound in your video? It wasn't clear to me how you were changing the velocity and such by the video alone.. had to go to the manual to see that holding the ALT key and dragging up or down at the end of a series of notes will perform the fade in/out. Handy tip!
Yes, you can hold the alt key at the end to make a velocity fade in /out... and then right click to make a different pattern (while still holding the left click that drew the notes)
In just a couple minutes I can create multiple patterns (1-4 bars long) and drag each of them into a track as midi clips.
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- KVRAF
- 1637 posts since 21 Dec, 2012
Only 32 Bit or ?
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- KVRian
- 1021 posts since 3 Oct, 2011 from Christchurch, New Zealand
nope - 32 and 64MillerSam wrote:Only 32 Bit or ?
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- KVRist
- 217 posts since 4 Jan, 2013
I like Geist.
The retro record is super
The retro record is super
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- KVRAF
- 8414 posts since 4 Jul, 2012 from Alesia
Here is my long more in depth view on Geist. Might be worth a read to some! I just felt like writing it since it might help explain why I like it so much.
My first impressions
I thought that Fxpansion Geist would be hard to use at first because it has a lot of in-depth features in it that seemed confusing. However I didn't let the complexity throw me off since I can figure out how to use most things pretty quickly without reading the manual. Actually I was pretty much an Ableton live drum sampler nut that was pretty much convinced I did not need another drum sampler thingy so i was thinking i would probably test it and then trash it. Essentially i thought i was wasting my time by demoing it.
First time loading up the plugin *At least from what I recall*
So first thing I figured out was how to drop"n"drag my samples on the pads and then trigger them via the sequencer which is pretty much an expected standard now in drum sampler plugins! Next thing I figured out was how to increase and decrease the pattern step size and how to add swing in the built-in sequencer. So once i set up a few samples and created a few funky patterns, I then found each pattern I just created can be triggered via the Midi keyboard (Ex: C1-Pattern1, D1-Pattern2 etc) or from my DAW sequencer.
My Experience using Geist inside Ableton Live
Inside lives clip launcher I then started making a small 16 step loop with one long note in it like C1 and then doing the same in the next clip until i had a bunch of clips all set up with different looping notes on it. Now since I had about 8 different 16-step geist loops already arranged out in engine 1 i then started triggering ableton lives clip launcher and boom! When the first clip with the C1 loop would play back it would play my first loop in geist back and vice versa. So i thought this was pretty cool and then wondered how to get the other 7 engines inside geist to play along so i stopped my clips in live and then created an additional 7 Midi channels and called them "Engine2, Engine3 etc" and routed them to send midi to my first Midi Channel which had Geist on it. I then copied my first set of clips to the rest of the midi channels i created and then went into geist and start programming more beats and sounds etc. Once I was done with all that I could go back and start triggering all 8 engines via Lives clip launcher and it was about there that I realized how much drum sampling power that I had..
Now some might wonder why not stick with what Ableton has to offer? Yes live does have a built in sampler function for drums, but unless you buy the sampler addon (Which I don't own) you can't really get lots of the more advanced sampling functions in ableton. I have messed around with complex drum sequencing with automation via Lives drum sampler and found it was powerful and very fun but I also found that i could get similar and even more complex results ALOT faster via geist. Also the effects in geist are different than what i get with lives effects suite so i considered that added value.
A little bit on Geists sequencer.
Now if you like you can bypass the sequencer and just use midi from your daw to trigger the engine sounds, which some might like to do. However you can go far beyond just using the loop triggers via your keyboard notes and just sequence the whole song inside geist using it's master arranger. Since each step length can be set to 1-128 steps or so you have enough to flesh out a entire song within geist easily. If you load up some of the demos that come with geist you can see how the artists have done just that!
Workflow, workflow, workflow
Ok so maybe your wondering what makes geist stand out if your DAW can do most of these functions? Well I think a big part of it is the workflow that you get in Geist. The workflow within the plugin is very logically thought out and it's quite effective and fast once you learn how to use it. I'll break down the gist of it for those who are not familiar already with it. You have your 8 engines which can be thought of as 8 individual drum machines each with its own 16 sampler engines and a dedicated sequencer complete with effects and a mixer. Then you have a master mixer on top of the 8 engines and the option to add effects to that as well, and I should add that the FX are very high quality but I wish there were more than what you get! So anyone who knows how to use a mixer should realize the potential here in the mixing alone, but that's not all.. *Sorry sounding like a salesperson, but im just more of a fan*
Audio I/O
You can route audio in and out of geist if you feel like processing your mixes or sounds through a plugin of your choices and it's fairly easy to setup. I can't remember how many channels it allows but there is definitely enough there for most people.
A bit on the effects and internal automation
The effects can be automated in the sequencer per instrument pad! So you can create these really amazing sounds by automating reverbs, bitcrushers, filters, delays and it's incredibly easy to do via the sequencer using the multi-tool function. You can also automate other functions of the individual sampler engine by changing the panning, semi-tones etc. Actually you can automate quite alot of stuff and it can get super complex fast! My only slight complaint with the sequencer system is that each step does not have a slope function (Step Slew) like Fxpansions Tremor sequencer does have.
External DAW Automation
Ok to bypass my wish for slope functions I decide I would use Abletons clip automation and new sloped automation curves in geist. So Geist has the function to let your DAW control a number of parameters in Geist which is excellent! It's also really quick to do and is as easy as using midi-learn. So as far as automating geist goes it's really easy to do and setup.
Built-In Sampler function and slicer
One thing you might be interested in with geist is its ability to sample itself or a vinyl collection. So you can build up a really wicked complex sequenced drum loop in it's sequencer and then record it as a loop and slice that via the internal slicer and assign it to another engine and toss effects on top of that ! If you have a shed-load of .REX loops or recycle you can easily load those in too!
CPU Usage
So with all this automation and analog-modelled effects going on you might be starting to think that the CPU might get strained.. well the truth is that Geist is incredibly CPU efficient which was surprising to me! Do you need more than one instance of geist in a project? Probably not because you get so much sampling power in one instance. However if you feel like it you could easily load 2-3 Geist plugins and max out each engine complete with effects *Which would be overkill IMO* and your computer would probably still be fine considering it was similar to a modern Intel i7.
Maschine vs Geist in 2014
Some might wonder if it's worth owning geist if they already own something like Maschine.
At this point Maschine is almost like a small DAW that offers a lot more and the workflow is different so it's almost unfair to compare the two. Back when Geist came out Maschine was still in it's infancy so there were some comparisons but now it's easy to say that Maschine easily trumps Geist in features, sample library size, effects, plugin integration, built-in Drum synth etc. However this does not mean that geist can't find a home in your plugin folder since geist has so much to offer as a very easy to use and capable sampler engine on its own. Owning both could prove useful if you took the time to learn them both.. and if you felt cheeky you could even run Geist inside Maschine.
Content that ships with Geist
Geist comes with a very capable set of samples and .REX loops that falls under about 3gb in size which helps get things going right away! It covers a lot of modern electronic musical ground and you'll find even melodic sounds and stabs.
Final thoughts
So after playing with geist when i did own it and was getting familiar with most functions ( I still have so much to learn) I felt that geist offered me a lot and I could easily add this to my workflow even though I had Ableton live. Sure I could have stuck to using Ableton which is equally full featured but I found that Geist was something fresh and exciting and it kind of made drum machines fun again.
Wish List in case Fxpansion reads this
1 - I would like to see the Tremor poly-rythm engine added to the Geist sequencer engine and to the automation lanes. Wishful thinking but i would love to see this added to Geists successor.
2 - Some multi-band distortion added to the FX. I understand that there is Maul which you can get as a separate product but I would love to see this included in Geists mixing environment even if it was just the same distortion effects that already come in geist.
3 - Dedicated Saturation FX module with flavours from Maul that could be added to the master.
4 - a LIMITER with soft-clipping
My first impressions
I thought that Fxpansion Geist would be hard to use at first because it has a lot of in-depth features in it that seemed confusing. However I didn't let the complexity throw me off since I can figure out how to use most things pretty quickly without reading the manual. Actually I was pretty much an Ableton live drum sampler nut that was pretty much convinced I did not need another drum sampler thingy so i was thinking i would probably test it and then trash it. Essentially i thought i was wasting my time by demoing it.
First time loading up the plugin *At least from what I recall*
So first thing I figured out was how to drop"n"drag my samples on the pads and then trigger them via the sequencer which is pretty much an expected standard now in drum sampler plugins! Next thing I figured out was how to increase and decrease the pattern step size and how to add swing in the built-in sequencer. So once i set up a few samples and created a few funky patterns, I then found each pattern I just created can be triggered via the Midi keyboard (Ex: C1-Pattern1, D1-Pattern2 etc) or from my DAW sequencer.
My Experience using Geist inside Ableton Live
Inside lives clip launcher I then started making a small 16 step loop with one long note in it like C1 and then doing the same in the next clip until i had a bunch of clips all set up with different looping notes on it. Now since I had about 8 different 16-step geist loops already arranged out in engine 1 i then started triggering ableton lives clip launcher and boom! When the first clip with the C1 loop would play back it would play my first loop in geist back and vice versa. So i thought this was pretty cool and then wondered how to get the other 7 engines inside geist to play along so i stopped my clips in live and then created an additional 7 Midi channels and called them "Engine2, Engine3 etc" and routed them to send midi to my first Midi Channel which had Geist on it. I then copied my first set of clips to the rest of the midi channels i created and then went into geist and start programming more beats and sounds etc. Once I was done with all that I could go back and start triggering all 8 engines via Lives clip launcher and it was about there that I realized how much drum sampling power that I had..
Now some might wonder why not stick with what Ableton has to offer? Yes live does have a built in sampler function for drums, but unless you buy the sampler addon (Which I don't own) you can't really get lots of the more advanced sampling functions in ableton. I have messed around with complex drum sequencing with automation via Lives drum sampler and found it was powerful and very fun but I also found that i could get similar and even more complex results ALOT faster via geist. Also the effects in geist are different than what i get with lives effects suite so i considered that added value.
A little bit on Geists sequencer.
Now if you like you can bypass the sequencer and just use midi from your daw to trigger the engine sounds, which some might like to do. However you can go far beyond just using the loop triggers via your keyboard notes and just sequence the whole song inside geist using it's master arranger. Since each step length can be set to 1-128 steps or so you have enough to flesh out a entire song within geist easily. If you load up some of the demos that come with geist you can see how the artists have done just that!
Workflow, workflow, workflow
Ok so maybe your wondering what makes geist stand out if your DAW can do most of these functions? Well I think a big part of it is the workflow that you get in Geist. The workflow within the plugin is very logically thought out and it's quite effective and fast once you learn how to use it. I'll break down the gist of it for those who are not familiar already with it. You have your 8 engines which can be thought of as 8 individual drum machines each with its own 16 sampler engines and a dedicated sequencer complete with effects and a mixer. Then you have a master mixer on top of the 8 engines and the option to add effects to that as well, and I should add that the FX are very high quality but I wish there were more than what you get! So anyone who knows how to use a mixer should realize the potential here in the mixing alone, but that's not all.. *Sorry sounding like a salesperson, but im just more of a fan*
Audio I/O
You can route audio in and out of geist if you feel like processing your mixes or sounds through a plugin of your choices and it's fairly easy to setup. I can't remember how many channels it allows but there is definitely enough there for most people.
A bit on the effects and internal automation
The effects can be automated in the sequencer per instrument pad! So you can create these really amazing sounds by automating reverbs, bitcrushers, filters, delays and it's incredibly easy to do via the sequencer using the multi-tool function. You can also automate other functions of the individual sampler engine by changing the panning, semi-tones etc. Actually you can automate quite alot of stuff and it can get super complex fast! My only slight complaint with the sequencer system is that each step does not have a slope function (Step Slew) like Fxpansions Tremor sequencer does have.
External DAW Automation
Ok to bypass my wish for slope functions I decide I would use Abletons clip automation and new sloped automation curves in geist. So Geist has the function to let your DAW control a number of parameters in Geist which is excellent! It's also really quick to do and is as easy as using midi-learn. So as far as automating geist goes it's really easy to do and setup.
Built-In Sampler function and slicer
One thing you might be interested in with geist is its ability to sample itself or a vinyl collection. So you can build up a really wicked complex sequenced drum loop in it's sequencer and then record it as a loop and slice that via the internal slicer and assign it to another engine and toss effects on top of that ! If you have a shed-load of .REX loops or recycle you can easily load those in too!
CPU Usage
So with all this automation and analog-modelled effects going on you might be starting to think that the CPU might get strained.. well the truth is that Geist is incredibly CPU efficient which was surprising to me! Do you need more than one instance of geist in a project? Probably not because you get so much sampling power in one instance. However if you feel like it you could easily load 2-3 Geist plugins and max out each engine complete with effects *Which would be overkill IMO* and your computer would probably still be fine considering it was similar to a modern Intel i7.
Maschine vs Geist in 2014
Some might wonder if it's worth owning geist if they already own something like Maschine.
At this point Maschine is almost like a small DAW that offers a lot more and the workflow is different so it's almost unfair to compare the two. Back when Geist came out Maschine was still in it's infancy so there were some comparisons but now it's easy to say that Maschine easily trumps Geist in features, sample library size, effects, plugin integration, built-in Drum synth etc. However this does not mean that geist can't find a home in your plugin folder since geist has so much to offer as a very easy to use and capable sampler engine on its own. Owning both could prove useful if you took the time to learn them both.. and if you felt cheeky you could even run Geist inside Maschine.
Content that ships with Geist
Geist comes with a very capable set of samples and .REX loops that falls under about 3gb in size which helps get things going right away! It covers a lot of modern electronic musical ground and you'll find even melodic sounds and stabs.
Final thoughts
So after playing with geist when i did own it and was getting familiar with most functions ( I still have so much to learn) I felt that geist offered me a lot and I could easily add this to my workflow even though I had Ableton live. Sure I could have stuck to using Ableton which is equally full featured but I found that Geist was something fresh and exciting and it kind of made drum machines fun again.
Wish List in case Fxpansion reads this
1 - I would like to see the Tremor poly-rythm engine added to the Geist sequencer engine and to the automation lanes. Wishful thinking but i would love to see this added to Geists successor.
2 - Some multi-band distortion added to the FX. I understand that there is Maul which you can get as a separate product but I would love to see this included in Geists mixing environment even if it was just the same distortion effects that already come in geist.
3 - Dedicated Saturation FX module with flavours from Maul that could be added to the master.
4 - a LIMITER with soft-clipping
