FREE: Alexis D-Four ... 90s drum sounds

[ghettosynth]

I've used (processed) D4 samples in almost all of my recent songs. Ten pages later I still don't know if I'm f*cked or not.

You're not, relax. Nobody really cares because you used instrument sounds in the way that they were intended to be used. Although, this does present a somewhat interesting predicament. If you don't know the provenance of your samples, how can you know that they are what you think that they are?

Suppose you use a particular snare, you like it, it's called D4-Snare12 in your library and you downloaded it from the web and you think that it's a D4 sample. What if it turns out that, in fact, it's actually from someone else's sample library, Goldbaby for example, and you don't have a license to use the sample. If it's actually a d4 sample, there's probably no worry, even if you've obtained it from some source that's not legit, it doesn't really matter because Alesis isn't going to sue you for using one of their sounds as intended. But if it isn't really a D4 Snare, you might be using someone else's library without a license and they might be more concerned about it.

I'm not suggesting that's the case for you, I just think that it's something interesting to think about.

In truth, the likelihood that anyone is going to catch flack for using any drum machine samples in a track is really quite low.

[Shy]

I've always been led to believe that the 909 toms were samples. Thank you for correcting me on that.

It's immaterial anyway - they sound like shite.

On that we agree completely.

Ha!

It's not just me then!

Frankly, I am a bit perplexed by the whole 808/909 obsession. They weren't that good in their time, less so even now. But what do I know?!

Not much, but that's fine, I always read stuff like that from people who don't really appreciate excellent analog musical instruments (the TR-909 toms' design is amazing and hence so is the sound) and most likely don't even know what they're talking about (you call this shit) but yeah, it's just opinions .

Yes, the design of pretty much all of the Roland analogue drums is amazing. The kick is really really interesting and I've studied it quite a bit. That said, as much as I respect the design, I don't like the sound of the toms, and no, I don't really like them in the track that you linked.

To answer the question about the obsession though, there really is something to the 909 kick and the clap, rim, snare, complemented it well. Add to that the knobs per voice including the cymbals and it made a nice live techno drum machine.

I wish the toms were samples, I would have replaced the eproms in mine with useful samples, or simply clicks to add additional click outputs.

The 808 is, in many ways, more interesting than the 909. It also built a following largely for the kick. I think that the perfect analogue drum machine would combine elements from both and wouldn't have ANY tom sounds at all!

There's a big difference between "not really liking" and thinking they're "shit", that's just ridiculous, good luck finding better analog "tom" style synthesis. TR-808 is in many ways a joke compared to TR-909 (although it's also great and I quite like it), and thank goodness that the 909 toms are unique and aren't crappy samples like other old drum machines', thank goodness the unbelievably awesome kick is not like the super simple in comparison 808 kick. There's a reason it's the most used and built upon synth kick ever, today as well, and same with the snare.

[pc2000]

Thank you, Chokehold, for making this instrument and giving it for free.

+1 for making the Kontakt version of it. [like: go go go! ]

-1 for last 5-6 pages...

You know, what pisses me off is not the copyright infringement. Frankly, from a personal point of view, I could give a shit. What pisses me off is the encouragement of it. The reason that this pisses me off is because it gets in the way of having intelligent conversations about copyright itself. It sets the moderators pissed off flags and they simply clamp down on any conversation about copyright. Further, it attracts devs who also, quite reasonably, want to shut down the activity, but this impacts the quality of the conversation.

Where's Meffy when you need him?

I'm sure the guy that created this plugin is pissed off because his thread was HIGHJACKED with all this self righteous "Did you get permission" nonsense. Never fails that someone always wants to pull that card and for what?

Has it occurred to anyone that the Alesis D4 is now a 22yr old device? Anyone still driving a car that old here? People are talking about studio time that was booked ages ago and the associated cost. How many years is that pony ride supposed to be as if they haven't recouped that cost many times over. Was the studio time 300K or more!?

Remember when the recording and movie industry didn't want you to have VCR's,Consumer DAT recorders, mini disc, CD recorders, DVD recorders, because they wanted to prevent you from making quality copies of music or videos that were legally purchased? As if everyone would take to illegal bootlegging and sales. By arguing to have copy protection schemes put in place by manufacturers of these devices, they didn't want to allow you to backup a movie that may have been an expensive purchase. I'm sure anyone would want to have a backup in case of damage to the original or maybe kept the original in a safe place and abused the copy.

I'm sure some of these self-righteous folks have copied music CD's for family or friends that didn't purchase their own copy. Someone has circumvented copy protection of a legally purchased movie, even if it's smut in order to make a personal backup in case of damage! You think the entertainment industry wants you loaning a DVD or CD to family and friends? The answer is a big fat NO! They don't want you to have the technology in the first place. And for good measure... next time you're recording in your DAW- on your jack of all trades computer at home or on the go; think of the recording studios you've help to put out of business doing your own home recording. Dammit... you're taking their lively-hood!!!

[ghettosynth]

I've always been led to believe that the 909 toms were samples. Thank you for correcting me on that.

It's immaterial anyway - they sound like shite.

On that we agree completely.

Ha!

It's not just me then!

Frankly, I am a bit perplexed by the whole 808/909 obsession. They weren't that good in their time, less so even now. But what do I know?!

Not much, but that's fine, I always read stuff like that from people who don't really appreciate excellent analog musical instruments (the TR-909 toms' design is amazing and hence so is the sound) and most likely don't even know what they're talking about (you call this shit) but yeah, it's just opinions .

Yes, the design of pretty much all of the Roland analogue drums is amazing. The kick is really really interesting and I've studied it quite a bit. That said, as much as I respect the design, I don't like the sound of the toms, and no, I don't really like them in the track that you linked.

To answer the question about the obsession though, there really is something to the 909 kick and the clap, rim, snare, complemented it well. Add to that the knobs per voice including the cymbals and it made a nice live techno drum machine.

I wish the toms were samples, I would have replaced the eproms in mine with useful samples, or simply clicks to add additional click outputs.

The 808 is, in many ways, more interesting than the 909. It also built a following largely for the kick. I think that the perfect analogue drum machine would combine elements from both and wouldn't have ANY tom sounds at all!

There's a big difference between "not really liking" and thinking they're "shit",

I think that you're just reading too much into it. The problem with the 909 toms, despite being interesting analog synthesis, is that they're trying to be real toms, but fail, and, for toms, that matters quite a bit. I prefer bleeps or clicks that aren't trying to be real toms, or tom samples.

that's just ridiculous, good luck finding better analog "tom" style synthesis.

Which is something like analog saxaphone synthesis to me. I'm not sure that comparing a victor among bad models matters much. That said, I think at least the Tama TS series stuff is more useful and that's probably because it's more flexible and I can make the toms sound like something other than a bad analogue tom.

TR-808 is in many ways a joke compared to TR-909 (although it's also great and I quite like it)

Yes, some parts of it are very simple. That said, I like some of those simple things, like the cymbal synthesis.

, and thank goodness that the 909 toms are unique and aren't crappy samples like other old drum machines',

See, for me, I could just replace the samples and then the machine would be much more useful.

thank goodness the unbelievably awesome kick is not like the super simple in comparison 808 kick. There's a reason it's the most used and built upon synth kick ever, today as well, and same with the snare.

Of course, as I said, the kick is what makes the 909. I never said that I like the 808 kick, it has it's place, but it never was that interesting to me. It did help put the 808 on the map, however, and that's largely due to it's use in rap. I don't think that it's what makes the 808 interesting. If I could combine them I'd remove the toms and crash from the 909 and replace the crash with the 808 hats and the toms with the 808 percussion sounds.

[Shy]

I think that you're just reading too much into it. The problem with the 909 toms, despite being interesting analog synthesis, is that they're trying to be real toms, but fail, and, for toms, that matters quite a bit. I prefer bleeps or clicks that aren't trying to be real toms, or tom samples

Yes, we've been reading crap like that for years. Obviously no sound in those analog drum machines is really that close to a real drum, but you're perfectly happy with the kick for example. Why? Because it's freakin awesome. You don't start to talk about "oh how it doesn't even succeed in replacing a real kick", then why do that with the toms? I'll tell you why, because that's how you prefer to explain why you don't like them, instead of keeping it real and saying it's just not a sound that suits your taste. But you would never seriously call it "shit", because you know it isn't.

See, for me, I could just replace the samples and then the machine would be much more useful.

Yes, you're saying you prefer real tom drum samples instead of an analog synth version of it (which is as "abstract" as any other type of analog drum "replacement"), and still, I don't believe you think the 909 toms are "shit" at all, even though you initially said you agree with him completely. You don't. Well, that's my point. Anyway, no offense to anyone, really.

[ghettosynth]

I think that you're just reading too much into it. The problem with the 909 toms, despite being interesting analog synthesis, is that they're trying to be real toms, but fail, and, for toms, that matters quite a bit. I prefer bleeps or clicks that aren't trying to be real toms, or tom samples

Yes, we've been reading crap like that for years. Obviously no sound in those analog drum machines is really that close to a real drum, but you're perfectly happy with the kick for example. Why? Because it's freakin awesome. You don't start to talk about "oh how it doesn't even succeed in replacing a real kick", then why do that with the toms? I'll tell you why, because that's how you prefer to explain why you don't like them, instead of keeping it real and saying it's just not a sound that suits your taste. But you would never seriously call it "shit", because you know it isn't.

Yeah man, you're overreacting. I have called the 909 toms shit and that's really how I think that they sound. I don't like their sound, and although I've tried, I've never used them. In fact, I dislike them a lot because they take up three spots on my 909.

And no, the kick doesn't sound real either, but it doesn't matter as much. I don't think that the toms succeed as a good sounding synth whereas the kick does. I do think that the engineering is interesting and have often thought about modifying the 909 to make the tom "circuitry" more useful.

See, for me, I could just replace the samples and then the machine would be much more useful.

Yes, you're saying you prefer real tom drum samples instead of an analog synth version of it (which is as "abstract" as any other type of analog drum "replacement")

Well no, I'd replace them with clicks, pops, bleeps, or bloops, or whatever worked at the time. I don't much like sampled toms when they have a polyphony of one, that's how you get machine gun toms, but then, I'm not telling you anything that you don't know.

, and still, I don't believe you think the 909 toms are "shit" at all, even though you initially said you agree with him completely. You don't. Well, that's my point. Anyway, no offense to anyone, really.

No, I kinda do agree with him. I don't find them useful musically and it has been a sore spot for me with the 909 since I started using it live because space matters when you're playing live. I've tried using them as triggers for my TS-306 (freaking awesome clap BTW) but they just didn't work well.

[Acid Mitch]

Weren't the 808/909 (606?) toms used high-pitched as this classical disco-"laser"-effect?

No.

[Shy]

Eh, I only reserve that title to stuff that sounds plain bad, not just unfitting, but whatever . Wow, you reminded me that I seriously need to get at least some fairly adequately sampled TS-306. I'm a big criminal, you know, I like using well sampled round-robin samples of a drum synth almost as much or sometimes even more than the real drum machine . (ones I would even pay for to a third party -instead- of buying the hardware)

[Acid Mitch]

Just wondering why nobody has said anything when others have presented their sample libraries from old drum machines, synths etc.

Sometimes things do get said.
In this case the OP started talking about not wanting to be ripped off, which people found a bit weird since his samples were ripped off in the first place.

[Acid Mitch]

But most of the sample libraries out there also have TR-909 samples of hi-hat, crash, ride and cymbals -- so they must be all illegal?

How do you know some people didn't ask Rolands permission ?

Also, those sounds aren't just standard samples.
The actual waveform stored on the ROMS is nothing like what you hear.
They are heavily compressed and an analogue envelope,filters,etc restore the shape of the sound on playback. the point being, those sounds are more like a synth with digital waveforms than straight sample playback.

[ghettosynth]

bah!

[Acid Mitch]

bah!

Lol, I almost wrote something similar to what you edited but then decided the guy just wanted to rant or troll or something and wasn't worth it.

[ghettosynth]

Eh, I only reserve that title to stuff that sounds plain bad, not just unfitting, but whatever . Wow, you reminded me that I seriously need to get at least some fairly adequately sampled TS-306. I'm a big criminal, you know, I like using well sampled round-robin samples of a drum synth almost as much or sometimes even more than the real drum machine . (ones I would even pay for to a third party -instead- of buying the hardware)

The 306 is awesome, well part of it. I have been meaning to make do such a sample library but, you know, time and all that. Also, I think that as interesting the 306 is it's even more interesting with a few careful mods. I have two and have been in the process of modding one for some time. The 306 is Tom Tom Tom Tom Synth Clap, my non-stock 306 is Kick Kick Snare Rim Synth Clap. This borrows from the 305. Additionally, the kicks are semi modular and you can, in essence, link them giving you very interesting cross modulation possibilities.

I should finish this mod, these days they're dead easy to trigger with a multi out sound card.

[Shy]

Additionally, the kicks are semi modular and you can, in essence, link them giving you very interesting cross modulation possibilities

Yep, so let me know if you ever make that sample library. But yeah, doing that stuff is far from fun. Maybe I'll get the synth eventually, though I'm so tired of hardware piling up .

[olepro]

...what about Alexis D-four, where did he go ?