So, I decided to try and program some songs in the SR-16. I spent about 45 minutes done and didn't even get the verses done. On man, it felt so clunky. Chopping up MIDI in Reaper is such a breeze for me now that my old process seems justifiably archaic.

So, I'm just abandoning the hardware drum machine idea. I'd still love a "classic ROMpler" drum plug in, but just making "dry versions of playback tracks" is much easier. If I ever get to the point where I REALLY need separate tracks for FOH (it'll never happen), then I cross that bridge when I arrive.

benadrian wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:58 pm So, I decided to try and program some songs in the SR-16. I spent about 45 minutes done and didn't even get the verses done. On man, it felt so clunky. Chopping up MIDI in Reaper is such a breeze for me now that my old process seems justifiably archaic.

So, I'm just abandoning the hardware drum machine idea. I'd still love a "classic ROMpler" drum plug in, but just making "dry versions of playback tracks" is much easier. If I ever get to the point where I REALLY need separate tracks for FOH (it'll never happen), then I cross that bridge when I arrive.

This is where I've gotten to. Hardware is super fun to have and look at and touch, but just gabbing the mouse and doing it all in Reaper is so much more time efficient and in the end more fun. And SOOOOO much faster. I was having the conversation with a friend about it today and he was grilling me about the Arturia Synths while he was trying to to decide if he was going to spend $600 on a Roland string synth. My point of view was if I need that type of thing I can grab it, put it down and move on in less time than it takes him to remember why it always has a buzz. I just don't care about "real" anymore. The idea that the models are less than are a lie and always have been... for the most part.

cough
reason
cough

benadrian wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:58 pm If I ever get to the point where I REALLY need separate tracks for FOH (it'll never happen), then I cross that bridge when I arrive.

At least some (maybe most?) drum VSTs are able to have individual pieces of the kit routed to separate interface outputs, no?

Otherwise Reason certainly can. Or there's always DAW MIDI to hardware.

ErikG wrote:

benadrian wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:58 pm If I ever get to the point where I REALLY need separate tracks for FOH (it'll never happen), then I cross that bridge when I arrive.

At least some (maybe most?) drum VSTs are able to have individual pieces of the kit routed to separate interface outputs, no?

Otherwise Reason certainly can. Or there's always DAW MIDI to hardware.

mdc wrote: Sat Feb 03, 2024 7:36 am cough
reason
cough

Yeah, there's a way to multi-out most VST plug ins, But I don't need to worry for a while.

I used to use Reason a lot. I evne had my own drum sounds loaded in the drum machine unit. However, I'm just much faster in Reaper AND then I don't have to do something dumm like re-wire when recording tracks.

MDC, if you wanna learn 7-8 weird time signature, noiserock/prog songs on drums for Caterwaul, let me know

Send me some jamz m'man.

FWIW, reason now exists happily as a VST instrument that lives inside other DAWs. You don't have to rewire or jump between screens or anything anymore. The redrum 808-style drum sequencer is still as much a joy to use as you may remember, the synths are bonkers, the sampling is great. the rack still has cables that wiggle.

so, I can report that the Kurt Ballou Signature Series drums work really great with my band. they don't just sound great on recordings, they also work great in the practice room over the PA. I've split them into bassdrum, snare, overheads and room wave files. works really great.

as for the plugin, I'm using Reaper, and the grooves don't really sync with the DAW as they should do. also I'm under the impression that when the midi track is armed to record the plugin sometime causes crackles. love the drum sound though!!

So I broke out my old DM5. A little darker than the SR16 but it doesn't drop notes. Not sure why but it has more presence in the room vs Reason drums.

ErikG wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2024 8:23 pm So I broke out my old DM5. A little darker than the SR16 but it doesn't drop notes. Not sure why but it has more presence in the room vs Reason drums.

Ya know, I've had a similar weird experience w/ this myself. I have loved my Boss DR5 for a long, long time & while it's simpler than most other units of its time, it's not the easiest to program by more recent standards...but there's something strange that stock rompler sounds on it sound "bigger" somehow than the brand new MPC I purchased. Even the real basic apples-to-apples stuff like 808 hits are better in some way on the 30-year-old Boss than the stock samples from the MPC...the weirdest part is that this holds true even if I sample the DR-5 and import the hits into the MPC. Which ends up being a sample of the sample...

It's not a huge difference but when I noticed it immediately when I had the two side-by-side and trying to manually program the MPC with the songs that were on the DR-5. Best way I could describe it is like doing an A/B comparison w/ a Sonic Maximizer or something.

Real weird. I'm sure I'm causing this somehow, or maybe it's just simply the case that more care and fuss was taken back in the day, but I'm certain I'm not imagining it. It seems insane to me that sampled material from the 90s would sound better somehow.

bassdriver wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 12:46 pm so, I can report that the Kurt Ballou Signature Series drums work really great with my band. they don't just sound great on recordings, they also work great in the practice room over the PA. I've split them into bassdrum, snare, overheads and room wave files. works really great.

as for the plugin, I'm using Reaper, and the grooves don't really sync with the DAW as they should do. also I'm under the impression that when the midi track is armed to record the plugin sometime causes crackles. love the drum sound though!!

you ever sort that out? I'm looking for a new drum sound and haven't used Kontakt in Reaper, would love to avoid a convoluted plugin headache