Regret purchase of DrumComputer Small Review
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- KVRian
- 943 posts since 8 Feb, 2005
couldn't agree more. drumcomputer is very limited in what kicks are concerned. if you want a 909 style kick stay away from it. if want quirky electronic percussion, drumcomputer is a good choice.
Vintage Drum Machine Kits for the Roland TR8-S & MC-707 https://rhythmelectronics.bandcamp.com
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- KVRer
- 1 posts since 27 Feb, 2024
Haven't you mapped the DrumComputer sequencer to another VST with suitable samples like Battery or another Drum VST? That is why it's able to output MIDI. Just route this accordingly in your DAW.
This will solve your problem of being locked into the limited presets of DrumComputer itself. Hope that helps. The purpose of DrumComputer and the likes, are not for the presets, but for the sequencer and the cool tricks you can pull with it.
I've gone through dozens of these types of tools only to be frustrated by a lack of features - this one includes dragging the patterns (how ever many bars you specify) to the timeline. Believe me, this is a GOOD thing. Several other VSTs out there can't even do that and you are restricted to running the plugin just to play your drums.
The ease with which you can build cool random sets using "probability" is fine - several others do not features this.
I don't represent SugarBytes in any way, I've just run into walls prior to finding this beauty.
This will solve your problem of being locked into the limited presets of DrumComputer itself. Hope that helps. The purpose of DrumComputer and the likes, are not for the presets, but for the sequencer and the cool tricks you can pull with it.
I've gone through dozens of these types of tools only to be frustrated by a lack of features - this one includes dragging the patterns (how ever many bars you specify) to the timeline. Believe me, this is a GOOD thing. Several other VSTs out there can't even do that and you are restricted to running the plugin just to play your drums.
The ease with which you can build cool random sets using "probability" is fine - several others do not features this.
I don't represent SugarBytes in any way, I've just run into walls prior to finding this beauty.
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- KVRer
- 15 posts since 20 Apr, 2004
I know this is many years after: Drumcomputer CAN make good kicks, but it's not immediately apparent what the problem is. The problem is that Drumcomputer sounds are put into a saturator and limiter by default. You also have a resonator which accentuates mids and acts as a bandpass. To make a more "EDM style" kick, go into the kick patch and turn off all routes to filter. Go to global and turn off all saturation and limiting. Now the VST will obviously sound quieter, but you can tailor the analog generator to use the left-most wave (least harmonics) and change the pitch envelope to create a nice standard punch kick. Now you can turn on the resonator, lower the volume, pitch up and that will make a nice transient before the sub. You can also turn on the filter, change it to high pass instead of the default band-pass (no idea why all the defaults are the worst possible choice for EDM kicks!).
You can now add saturation to taste and limiting if needed. 909-type punch requires a sharp transient that the default settings in drumcomputer absolutely kills with limiter and saturation settings. In general, I find the drumcomputer Limiter "pumpy" and not optimal for low end control, so I'd recommend sending kick channel out to a normal compressor for a more punchy kick. You can save this as a template to make future sessions easier to start right.
Of course, you can avoid all this by using a drum VST that respects transients a bit more out of the gate, but there's magic in the sequencer and generators beyond what the presets demonstrate. I just wanted to explain the issue from a technical standpoint.
You can now add saturation to taste and limiting if needed. 909-type punch requires a sharp transient that the default settings in drumcomputer absolutely kills with limiter and saturation settings. In general, I find the drumcomputer Limiter "pumpy" and not optimal for low end control, so I'd recommend sending kick channel out to a normal compressor for a more punchy kick. You can save this as a template to make future sessions easier to start right.
Of course, you can avoid all this by using a drum VST that respects transients a bit more out of the gate, but there's magic in the sequencer and generators beyond what the presets demonstrate. I just wanted to explain the issue from a technical standpoint.
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- KVRist
- 296 posts since 8 Mar, 2003 from Boston, MA
I’d like to just bump this up as a shout out to Drum Computer. This for me has been by far, the fastest tool to lay percussive drum tracks. Granted I’m not going after chart-topping, super-well mixed, panned, sonically “perfect” songs. But for soundtracks that need a spicy, moving, polyrhythmic tracks, it’s just hard to go any faster. When I am super time constrained my other toptools I regularly reach for include: Maschine, Atlas, XLN XO, Drumazon 2, UVI Drum Designer. I also have a bunch of hardware drum machines including Elektron Analog Rytm MK2, Roland TR-8S, Syntakt. And while all of these have their strengths and fun factor, none come even close to the speed of Sugar Bytes Drum Computer. On days where my calendar is clear, and I want to design each sound, with meticulous precision may be my response would be different. But with sometimes minutes to get an original percussion track going, which sounds good in a mix, I can’t think of anything better yet. Well done Sugar Bytes!! It’s an older tool now, but as relevant as ever.
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- KVRer
- 4 posts since 13 Mar, 2022
The main problem is, all sounds go through heavy saturation and distortion.
No clean samples. Sigh...
There is no way to turn it globally off.
There are some killer patterns in there, but it is not listenable with the over applied fx.
Use the Midi FX Version? Mapping is problematic.
Use own samples? Why?
If these issues are resolved though, it would be my go to drum machine.
The GUI, patterns, auto remix, randomizer are just phenomenal...
No clean samples. Sigh...
There is no way to turn it globally off.
There are some killer patterns in there, but it is not listenable with the over applied fx.
Use the Midi FX Version? Mapping is problematic.
Use own samples? Why?
If these issues are resolved though, it would be my go to drum machine.
The GUI, patterns, auto remix, randomizer are just phenomenal...
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- KVRian
- 1339 posts since 27 Apr, 2007
"There is no way to turn it globally off."
You can dial the distortion to zero on the synth page, and dial the Warmth to zero on the kit page.
You can dial the distortion to zero on the synth page, and dial the Warmth to zero on the kit page.
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- KVRist
- 296 posts since 8 Mar, 2003 from Boston, MA
I know it’s only been a few months, but I continue to rely on the Drum Computer for pretty much every track. It’s probably one of my favorite plugins of all times.
There is really nothing missing I can think of. If there are any plans for a V2, Perhaps sequence lane for panning? And perhaps a genre-sensitive pattern generator. Just looking what the Sugar Bytes has done in Dialekt with random gen, maybe port the slicer in as another lane (or two) to integrate additional layers through loops. I can see layering breakbeats in. But do I really need that? Not really. Would be cool in a single plugin or tool.
There is really nothing missing I can think of. If there are any plans for a V2, Perhaps sequence lane for panning? And perhaps a genre-sensitive pattern generator. Just looking what the Sugar Bytes has done in Dialekt with random gen, maybe port the slicer in as another lane (or two) to integrate additional layers through loops. I can see layering breakbeats in. But do I really need that? Not really. Would be cool in a single plugin or tool.