Ocean Way Drums and I-Map

[Squids]

(taken from a post elsewhere but thought it'd be useful to read here on KVR)

Something I should have done a long time ago was make "drum groove only" demos of most of the kits and presets so you can really have a better idea of what it's got. No external processing and no additional instruments. Just naked drums out of the box. In fact, it would be cool to hear every drum product that way so you could compare apples with apples and hear all of the various timbral and character differences.

The other thing I am going to do at some point soon is show what the I-Map technique's advantages really are vs. other methods. I don't think a lot of people fully understand what difference that makes in what you can create having more articulations across the keyboard set up this particular way. It's for keyboard drumming/drum programming, drum replacement and/or sequence editing. It's not really an advantage for drum pad controllers (although it could be depending on how you map you controller to it... I can get some amazing things out of the Kat controllers with I-Map for example but for V-Drum there's the V-Drum maps which are as good as they can be at the moment but for me they are not as expressive as what I can do with the I-Map and the full dynamic range of a good weighted keyboard controller).

So, getting back to I-Map which is the main ingredient from SR in this product here's a few tips. First of all, we're going to be giving away a nice I-Map stereo kit for every sampler format very soon so you can play with this concept yourself no matter what sampler you use (we'll even stick it in BFD too... just no mic mixing for the free kit). When you have an I-Mapped drum kit and you're drum replacing with say Drum Agog and a midi pipe then you can move the note around after the fact and get different timbres that are deliberately on different keys instead of randomized. It requires a little more work but you get to pick specifically which timbres you want and where. You can do the same thing with a standard midi file as well and soon I am going to do a tutorial on exactly how one would do that to achieve a more lively sounding drum track.

When it comes to keyboard performance for drums though this is where the I-Map shines the most. First the elements of the groove fit right to both of your hands. 9 different hi hat articulations, 4 kick keys and 11 snare variations including left and right stick. Then the toms above go in order high to low from left to right so they pan naturally according to the position of the keyboard (which is nice). You get three positions of each tom (plus a mirror set of toms below as well also with three DIFFERENT left stick alternates). The left toms can either be used for ergonomic reasons because a tom is close by or it can be used to create more timbral variety alternating between the left set of toms and the right ones or it can also be used for nice fat DOUBLE tom fills.

Almost every time you wish you had another hit of something you go an octave up or an octave down from that note and there's another stick variation for you. So when you're on the edge of the ride and you wished there was another key with a ride edge to mix things up... just go an octave up and it's there. Same thing with the bell. Then one key up from that you can crash the ride. Then above that you can do swells (which you don't always get with a drum library) and soon you can have a variety of splash, trash, and chinas going all the way up the keyboard (a free update coming before the end of the year).

Basically, there are drums almost the full length of a 76-88 key keyboard to play. That's how I personally like it. Lay all of those hits out with some kind of scheme to be able to find them easily once you get used to it. Everything is right in front of you and you just dive in and play! The more you play LIVE often times (at least for me) the better "live feel" you'll have. But of course you can also program every part in one at a time and also create your alternates after the fact in sequence editing by just moving a few notes here and there to the alternate's key. It puts you in control of the timbral variation of the kit.

There's probably some midi tools or even a script mod that could randomize it more for you and that could be cool too but when you do that you sacrifice some deliberate control of the variation. I do like randomization as well but when you want consistency then randomization can be a drag. Also, to have full randomization AND it be I-Mapped you're looking at a pretty LARGE 10-15 gig+ sized kit potentially. However, a few tricks can be done with velocity randomization and yet still have the articulations across the keyboard so I might experiment with that as an option at some point. But, still, I'm for the deliberate control of articulations laid out across the whole keyboard for my tastes. Then... you gotta just practice. It's a musical instrument still.

Although in case you don't want to practice THAT much we are going to be releasing a ton of free I-Map midi files soon and with those I think you'll be able to see the advantages of separated ghost notes and left and right stick variations (especially in snare drag which is another thing you don't often see but to me makes a huge difference... imagine someone doing a drum roll with just one stick! Two sticks are better than one). With those kinds of things and a bit if insight as to what drum products from SR have that is different then you can make up your own mind what you like... and that's always better than just reading the opinions of the people who either make these various competing products or are connected with those companies in some way.

Everyone has an opinion but only yours matters when you're the one shelling out the money for it. It's our responsibility to provide you with enough to make a smart decision for yourself and I do apologize for not doing these demonstations earlier. A LOT was spent on that video tutorial though which was the main focus. I wasn't involved much with the audio music demos. But, I will be heavily involved in the drums-only demos and free midi files etc. So, let's see. If you haven't caved in yet and picked up OWD yet my goal is only to make it as irresistable as possible for you.

[tibenmik]

As a SampleTank/Sonik Synth-er, I'd also be interested in a more in-depth tutorial/demonstration of I-Map drum technique (although your comments above are a great intro). I tend to choose I-Map over GM when it comes to hats as I favor the superior articulation of the former. I also remember you rocking an I-Mapped kit in an online promotional video some time ago and admiring the musicality and realism of your performance; a video lesson (for example) would be a great opportunity for you to share some advanced technique!

[Squids]

As a SampleTank/Sonik Synth-er, I'd also be interested in a more in-depth tutorial/demonstration of I-Map drum technique (although your comments above are a great intro). I tend to choose I-Map over GM when it comes to hats as I favor the superior articulation of the former. I also remember you rocking an I-Mapped kit in an online promotional video some time ago and admiring the musicality and realism of your performance; a video lesson (for example) would be a great opportunity for you to share some advanced technique!

There's a free video lesson here for now and more coming: www.oceanwaydrums.net/videos.php

[Kim Lajoie]

-Kim.

[hibidy]

squids, these are frakin' great!

[Squids]

squids, these are frakin' great!

Thanks. I was a little tired that day you can probably tell. But it's a good explanation of the I-Map (at least the one in Ocean Way which has extras.) Most of it can apply to Studiophonik Drums and of course the upcoming Studio ProFiles Drum Kits which, by the way, will work with a new Kontakt Player Plug-In we're announcing next week.

[hibidy]

btw, highly favorable reviews from "recording" and "electronic musician"

[Squids]

btw, highly favorable reviews from "recording" and "electronic musician"

Thanks. The on in Keyboard magazine was good too. It won the KeyBuy award. It really is worth the money even though relative to other products on the market it seems expensive or if you compare spec by spec. But, I just know what it took to make it at Allen Sides and Steven Miller's standards... probably the hardest thing we've ever done and definitely the most anal. But, the results are unique and impressive. The whole thing about Ocean Way Drums is this clear fidelity. Very pure sounding, crisp and punchy. I am not saying that is the ONLY kind of sound one ever needs. But, if you DO want that kind of sound it really does have to be that way from the source. You can just take other drums and EQ/Compress it and expect it just sound the same. It has to do with the room acoustics, mic selection, placement and gear/signal path (not to mention the ears of who is doing it) to get it to sound like this. Since a big part of this particular character has to do with Studio B itself (one reason why so many artists - such as the ones listed in the ad - Radiohead, Green Day, Paul McCartney etc. have used that studio to make their albums) then it just comes down to this. If you want the Ocean Way sound due to these elements involved (room, mics, console/gear and engineers recording AND mixing it for you but with more mixing control for you than anything else) then this is the only way to get it. Buy Ocean Way Drums.

Since a lot of times the fidelity of your whole song comes down to how the drums sound then in many ways a product like this can justify its investment for more than just thinking it will take care of the drum track ok. It could improve the sound of your production. Certain instruments (particularly ones that have high frequency content like acoustic guitars and drums) have so much to do with our perception of audio production. When you want something to sound crisp, full and punchy and it doesn't then that's where it makes a big difference. Although I am not saying one is always looking for that sound. I'd be the first to use distorted trash can kits and a ratty guitar as well. Depends on the song! But, I like the idea of having in my "tool kit" the things I'd need to get a very pure "open" sound on the drums. This both in terms of having Ocean Way Drums on hand and also having more choice gear in the studio to record live drums. In fact, if I am trying to get a live drum sound and it isn't reaching anywhere close to OWD's sound then either drum replacement or redoing the track with midi is possible (or trigger it from V-Drums with the drummer). Who knows? Depends on the song and production. But, I've already heard of several pro recording sessions where this is what they did and were thankful they had Ocean Way Drums to help improve the sound. I've also heard of people layering in Ocean Way Drums with real drums to so it gave it more punch and top end (but without EQ). There really are no rules if you just go by your ears.