KVR Audio

sys2074 · Post by **sys2074** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 2:42 pm

Can anyone recommend me a good percussion synth that is capable of producing decent enough percussive sounds? I'm looking to create percussive drums that sound relatively like realistic percussions (e.g. bongo, tabla, etc.) but can still sound somewhat synthetic.

To get a better idea what sound I'm after give this track a listen: https://soundcloud.com/max-corbacho/max ... o-desolada

I'm not 100% sure if these are real percussions but it does sounds quite like realistic but processed drums. Generally what I'm after is percussion sound as used by Steve Roach, Max Corbacho, Robert Rich, etc. and I'm wondering whether there are any soft synths that fit the bill. I've tried AAS Chromaphone but its percussion sounds don't really cut it.

Halma · Post by **Halma** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:14 pm

If you are on PC and can live with 32bit: right now xoxos has a "September Back To School Sale!!!" where he is selling his Percussion Bundle which also contains Bong (classic drum synth) & Adze (percussion re-synthesizer with spectra/fft thingies). But you are after stuff like Modal and Radian(T) plus Star Cym 2 (badass Cymbal synthesizer). Highly recommended. And great presets so everything you need is already there.

Regards
Sebastian

Halma · Post by **Halma** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:07 pm

Quick demo I made the last 20 minutes. All percussion is xoxos Modal (stock presets) which goes into the CSR Hall Reverb. Pad is Cableguys Curve2 stock init starting sound patch which fades out so you can listen to the perc stuff only.

https://soundcloud.com/watch-them-kraut ... lynth-demo

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:22 pm

For ambient drums I suggest looking at the Korg Wavestation VST. There's presets where you just hold down one key and get a 90s-quality rendition of the first track you posted.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:26 pm

Halma wrote:Quick demo I made the last 20 minutes. All percussion is xoxos Modal (stock presets) which goes into the CSR Hall Reverb. Pad is Cableguys Curve2 stock init starting sound patch which fades out so you can listen to the perc stuff only.

https://soundcloud.com/watch-them-kraut ... lynth-demo

Wow, very nice! This is a better option if you want to design your own and for cheaper!

RunBeerRun · Post by **RunBeerRun** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:28 pm

Check out the other Xoxos modeling drum plugins, they can do a lot, also I don't think there's a single plugin in existence that can do ANY of this.

sys2074 · Post by **sys2074** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:33 pm

Halma wrote:If you are on PC and can live with 32bit: right now xoxos has a "September Back To School Sale!!!" where he is selling his Percussion Bundle which also contains Bong (classic drum synth) & Adze (percussion re-synthesizer with spectra/fft thingies). But you are after stuff like Modal and Radian(T) plus Star Cym 2 (badass Cymbal synthesizer). Highly recommended. And great presets so everything you need is already there.

Regards
Sebastian

Thanks, these sound quite good but I'm on Mac so a PC-only synth wont cut it for me.

PatchAdamz · Post by **PatchAdamz** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:35 pm

sys2074 wrote:Can anyone recommend me a good percussion synth that is capable of producing decent enough percussive sounds? I'm looking to create percussive drums that sound relatively like realistic percussions (e.g. bongo, tabla, etc.) but can still sound somewhat synthetic.

You might want to checkout Drumaxx from image-line.
You can get that, close but not a sample, quality you mentioned.

The stock sounds are ok but if you take the time you can get some cool sounding ethnic drums and percussion.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:46 pm

PC VST on Mac works with this supposedly:

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2012/ ... r-mac-daw/

valerian_777 · Post by **valerian_777** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:47 pm

sys2074 wrote:Thanks, these sound quite good but I'm on Mac so a PC-only synth wont cut it for me.

You MUST try out Axon from AudioDamage for ambient percussion. A few instances and there you go..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYLqSmOWgSE

himalaya · Post by **himalaya** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 5:05 pm

sys2074 wrote: I've tried AAS Chromaphone but its percussion sounds don't really cut it.

I'm surprised to read that. Chromaphone has one of the best 'membrane' modules around. It can do realistic bongo/conga sound with ease, but since you still want some synthetic elements there, it is easy to tweak the parameters and take it further.

To get a better idea what sound I'm after give this track a listen: https://soundcloud.com/max-corbacho/max ... o-desolada

I'm not 100% sure if these are real percussions but it does sounds quite like realistic but processed drums.

These sound like sequenced samples. Lots of reverb further creates an artificial soundscape.
Any half decent percussion sample library would give these sounds, although synths by Xoxos and AAS will give you a more original sound. U-he Zebra is also capable of some Physical Modeling percussion sounds, and its modular environment is perfect for in-depth editing.

Also, try mixing both, samples and Physical Modeling sounds. I found that this approach gives brilliant results, especially if you are not after a 100% authentic emulation, but something that's new and fresh.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 5:07 pm

Good point about layering them.

sys2074 · Post by **sys2074** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 5:38 pm

valerian_777 wrote:
sys2074 wrote:Thanks, these sound quite good but I'm on Mac so a PC-only synth wont cut it for me.
You MUST try out Axon from AudioDamage for ambient percussion. A few instances and there you go..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYLqSmOWgSE

Axon looks interesting, thanks for the tip! I might give it a try, although I'm not looking for an instrument that completely goes auto-pilot with the rhythm and patterns.

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 5:39 pm

Try out Fxpansion Tremor

sys2074 · Post by **sys2074** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 5:49 pm

himalaya wrote:
sys2074 wrote: I've tried AAS Chromaphone but its percussion sounds don't really cut it.
I'm surprised to read that. Chromaphone has one of the best 'membrane' modules around. It can do realistic bongo/conga sound with ease, but since you still want some synthetic elements there, it is easy to tweak the parameters and take it further.

To get a better idea what sound I'm after give this track a listen: https://soundcloud.com/max-corbacho/max ... o-desolada

I'm not 100% sure if these are real percussions but it does sounds quite like realistic but processed drums.
These sound like sequenced samples. Lots of reverb further creates an artificial soundscape.
Any half decent percussion sample library would give these sounds, although synths by Xoxos and AAS will give you a more original sound. U-he Zebra is also capable of some Physical Modeling percussion sounds, and its modular environment is perfect for in-depth editing.

Also, try mixing both, samples and Physical Modeling sounds. I found that this approach gives brilliant results, especially if you are not after a 100% authentic emulation, but something that's new and fresh.

Maybe I haven't spent enough time with Chromaphone yet so my opinion might be flawed. It's just that the bongo/conga patches miss that certain something ... this liquid kind of sound that the percussions in Corbacho's track have.

It's probably samples that he used. There are some really good percussion sample libs I've found but they are quite expensive and often only for NI Kontakt which I'm not a fan of.

Now thinking of getting a Wavedrum and do the percussion organically!

Percussion synths for Ambient music