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I found Mdrummer to be pretty convenient and its development shows a lot of promise.
Note: I haven't taken advantage of the jamming mode.
First the positives:
Concept is great. I like constructing my own beats and saving them for re-use later, but organizing midi and managing samples is not my bag. Mdrummer allows me to organize my beats and drum samples and acts as my sole application to create beats.
On top of that creating a drumtrack is fantastic. Using a preassigned note on the keyboard to trigger a beat, makes it easy to lay down the drum track. Each octave of the keyboard is responsible for a different type of beat. For each beat you can define how many bars it is going to be, so you have a lot of flexibility.
Gui is easy on the eyes, but it can sometimes be a lot to take in one glance.
Another favorite feature of mine is that you can apply included effects directly to each drum part (kick, snare, hat etc...). From what I read on KVR, people have been happy with the free fx plugins that MeldaProductions have output, and I certainly have no complaints.
Lot of tools aside from the effects, although I can't provide an comment on the synthesizer, since I haven't used it much. I rather mangle my drum sounds with the effects.
Good tools for loop/beat editor.
Once setup, it works as advertised.
Software hasn't crashed on me.
Areas in need of improvement (my opinion):
The online documentation is pretty helpful but there is still room for improvement. The video's provide a good overview, but the manual is pretty slim on details. The documentation issue is somewhat resolved by the effect that every button has help information by place the cursor over the button and pressing F1. It's helped me get through it, but as someone who just likes manuals and doesn't like contacting tech support, I can't let it pass. Manuals are important to me.
With all the complexity this software has to offer, some more structured tutorials would be useful to explain all the details. For instance, for the way I use the software, I had to disable some of the options that fall under additional settings under Quick Setup. The video all discussed that button briefly, but it was more trial and error to get the software to do. Not that I'm interested, but when experimenting with the jamming modes, or trying to figure out all the intro/break/chorus etc... buttons I was confused. I don't use it, but I sure would like to know how it all fits together.
Mdrummer file structure is not immediately clear. Through tech support I found out that you have to add your samples to Mdrummers Sample directory. It ould be convenient to be able to store your samples in a common directory so your other sample based vsti's could use the content.
Drum samples didn't sound as good as the samples you get in other similiar software, but if bothers you, it can be fixed that is easily by adding your own drum samples.
Facts of Life:
A powerful tool that requires the necessary time in to get to know the nuances and to derive maximum benefit out of it. But once you have the hang of it, your patience is rewarded.
MeldaProductions have been extremely courteous and genuinely seems happy to help out. Responses to questions have been quick.
I've tried jamstix demo and guru demo, and while they were all excellent products, this one suits the way I work.Read Review
Note: I haven't taken advantage of the jamming mode.
First the positives:
Concept is great. I like constructing my own beats and saving them for re-use later, but organizing midi and managing samples is not my bag. Mdrummer allows me to organize my beats and drum samples and acts as my sole application to create beats.
On top of that creating a drumtrack is fantastic. Using a preassigned note on the keyboard to trigger a beat, makes it easy to lay down the drum track. Each octave of the keyboard is responsible for a different type of beat. For each beat you can define how many bars it is going to be, so you have a lot of flexibility.
Gui is easy on the eyes, but it can sometimes be a lot to take in one glance.
Another favorite feature of mine is that you can apply included effects directly to each drum part (kick, snare, hat etc...). From what I read on KVR, people have been happy with the free fx plugins that MeldaProductions have output, and I certainly have no complaints.
Lot of tools aside from the effects, although I can't provide an comment on the synthesizer, since I haven't used it much. I rather mangle my drum sounds with the effects.
Good tools for loop/beat editor.
Once setup, it works as advertised.
Software hasn't crashed on me.
Areas in need of improvement (my opinion):
The online documentation is pretty helpful but there is still room for improvement. The video's provide a good overview, but the manual is pretty slim on details. The documentation issue is somewhat resolved by the effect that every button has help information by place the cursor over the button and pressing F1. It's helped me get through it, but as someone who just likes manuals and doesn't like contacting tech support, I can't let it pass. Manuals are important to me.
With all the complexity this software has to offer, some more structured tutorials would be useful to explain all the details. For instance, for the way I use the software, I had to disable some of the options that fall under additional settings under Quick Setup. The video all discussed that button briefly, but it was more trial and error to get the software to do. Not that I'm interested, but when experimenting with the jamming modes, or trying to figure out all the intro/break/chorus etc... buttons I was confused. I don't use it, but I sure would like to know how it all fits together.
Mdrummer file structure is not immediately clear. Through tech support I found out that you have to add your samples to Mdrummers Sample directory. It ould be convenient to be able to store your samples in a common directory so your other sample based vsti's could use the content.
Drum samples didn't sound as good as the samples you get in other similiar software, but if bothers you, it can be fixed that is easily by adding your own drum samples.
Facts of Life:
A powerful tool that requires the necessary time in to get to know the nuances and to derive maximum benefit out of it. But once you have the hang of it, your patience is rewarded.
MeldaProductions have been extremely courteous and genuinely seems happy to help out. Responses to questions have been quick.
I've tried jamstix demo and guru demo, and while they were all excellent products, this one suits the way I work.Read Review
