Showing posts with label Percussion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Percussion. Show all posts

Friday, July 11, 2014

Reason Patch A Day Is Back... Well, For Today Anyway!

Since effectively shutting down Reason Patch A Day almost a year and a half ago, I've kept busy making a few new patches here and there, but for the most part it hasn't been the kind of daily effort I put in for over four years. I've been building a few sounds and effects for my own use, but today I got inspired and thought I would share the results of that inspiration with the few of you that still drop in to visit.

Started as an attempt to make an artificial sounding series of percussion hits, the Cricket series grew pretty quickly from "strange noises" into an entire kit of sounds, all created using Reason 4's Thor synth. We're spoiled for options in Reason these days, with a number of capable and powerful built-in tools for drums, as well as a number of new and different Rack Essentials. It's easy to forget how much fun "old" tools can be and I had a blast putting these together today.

I spent a lot of time working with the Mod Wheel on each of these patches, something I rarely do when I put together percussion patches. I am pretty happy with the added effort, however, so if the default sound of a patch doesn't fit your project, move the Mod Wheel up or down to fine-tune it a bit.

While experimenting with the Percussion 6 patch, I started getting sounds that made more sense as bass tones, than percussion elements so I went ahead and created a couple of bass patches that should fit well with the rest of the series.

The next logical step, given that I stepped away from straight percussion patches in this series, was to put together a couple of synth patches. Like the bass patches these were created from the Percussion 6 patch and really benefit from use of the Mod Wheel.

With over thirty patches there is a lot to work with here, but I do feel like the series is still missing a few vital pieces. For example, although there are six closed hi-hat sounds, I haven't provided any useful open hi-hat patches, to say nothing of the complete lack of any toms.. Also, there are the typical missing sounds like shakers, rim shots, and claps, which are a little tricky to build using Thor, but not impossible. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for an expansion of these sounds, but it's not that far-fetched either. If I come up with something else, you can be sure I will post it here.

Enjoy! And, if you use these to create something awesome, please be sure to let me know. I'd love to hear it!

Edit: I stupidly forgot to put any velocity programming into the Cricket series, so if you've already downloaded these, you might want to take the time to grab them all again and get the option for a little expression to your drums. Sorry about that! I'm a little out of practice!

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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Ghostly's microKORG Analog Drum Kit Refill and new Reason Blog

Longtime readers might remember Ghostly, who submitted a Combinator to Reason Patch A Day based on the old Omnichord, back at the beginning of 2010.

Since then, Ghostly has tackled a similar challenge to what I've been doing here at PAD with an Alesis Micron patch a day blog, and has recently started another patch project for a different hardware synth, the microKORG - Patch A Week blog. With what looks to be an unending amount of energy, Ghostly has even started a combinators & refills blog.

Ghostly recently wrote to let me know that he's had a bit of a crossover with his latest ventures, having created a Reason Refill using samples from his efforts on his microKORG site. He wrote:


The microKORG ADK comprises eight drum sounds sampled direct from the microKORG and mapped in Redrum. I used a Combinator patch from the Discovering Reason website as a basis for my ADK which basically allows almost endless sequencing possibilities through the ReDrum itself and three Matrix Sequencers.


You can find the new refill here, as well as a number of other Reason treats at Ghostly's Combinators & Refills blog. Well done, Ghostly! And, thanks for letting us know about what you've been up to!
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Friday, May 7, 2010

.476 Yamaha Digital Drums DD-5





I haven't been very shy about my love for 1980s era Yamaha drum machines. They're not the greatest machines available from the era, but they have an uncommon sound to them, different from the Roland sounds that have become the de facto electronic music standard, and fortunately for me, they're available for next to nothing on eBay. I've been able to pick up several of them, all for under $50, and have found quite a bit of inspiration in them despite their programming quirks.

I've been on the hunt for a Yamaha RX21 to compliment my RX11, RX15 and RX17 machines, so I occasionally check out eBay auctions to see if I can find one for a reasonable price. While looking, I'll sometimes stumble across other machines that pique my interest, which is how I ended up with the exceedingly strange RX120. Recently, while once again looking for a cheap RX21 or RX21L, I found an inexpensive Yamaha Digital Drums DD-5, in its original box no less, and decided to make it mine.

The reviews I've found usually describe the DD-5 as little more than a toy, so while its actually a pretty common drum machine on eBay, I've been hesitant to invest much money in one. I'm glad I finally gave in.

The sounds? Well, like the RX machines I already own, the DD-5 has a pleasant lo-fi quality, but lacking in any low-end punch. Even the Bass Drum sample sounds a bit bright, but the Snare Drum and Hand Claps sounds are kind of fun. The RX machines seemed like they were designed to try to emulate a real drum kit, often being their most charming when they failed that goal, but the DD-5 is so prone to distortion and uses samples with such a short length that it lacks any of the analog warmth the RX machines seemed focused on achieving. Even its output jack is loud and filled with noise. Pile on even more distortion and you might have a halfway decent industrial kit.

What makes the DD-5 truly interesting, however, is not its sounds, but its capabilities. Unlike the RX120 which only had a puzzling MIDI-In, and the RX11, RX15 and RX17 machines that had both MIDI-In and MIDI-Out jacks, the DD-5 has a single MIDI-Out jack controlled by its four, velocity sensitive drum pads. You can probably see where I'm going with this. The velocity sensitivity is fairly weak, only 15 levels according to its users manual, but there is something surprisingly addictive about playing it within Reason and Record, bashing on its rubber pads with sticks and triggering whatever sounds you load into Redrum. I'll admit, I bought the DD-5 because it was a toy, something I planned to give to my son after I sampled its meager 12 sounds, but the more I played with it, the more its charms have started winning me over. With a little patience, you should be able to pick up a DD-5 for less than even a Korg NanoPad, half as much if you're careful, so if you're looking for an unconventional way to build rhythms in Reason, this Yamaha is an interesting option (assuming you already have a way to accept MIDI data into your computer setup).

Like all of the other Yamaha machines I own, thought I would share samples from it with all of you.



In the past, I've provided Combinator backdrops for my Yamaha machines, little jpegs built from photos I've taken, but I haven't had time to build a Yamaha DD-5 Combinator yet. When I get a little free time, I'm sure I'll whip something up, maybe with an instrument combinator to go with it.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009

.125 Yamaha RX120 Digital Rhythm Programmer





I just picked up another oddity from eBay this week, the Yamaha RX120 Digital Rhythm Programmer. Unlike a traditional drum machine, the RX120 doesn't actually allow you to write or setup up drum patterns using its built-in sounds. Instead, the Yamaha RX120 provides you with a number of preset drum patterns, grouped into songs/genres (Rock 1, Rock 2, Funk, Ballad, Slow Jazz, etc.), that you can then program into sequences to build a complete song. Each song/genre has 8 patterns, so you're able to line up Intros, Fills, and Pattern Variations, to program a rhythm track for a song. Think of the RX120 less as a drum machine and more as a dedicated (and closed) loop player and you'll get a better understanding of how it works.

The design on this gadget is very strange. It doesn't provide a Midi Out, so you can't use it to trigger other devices, but it does have a Midi In allowing you to trigger its built-in sounds from an external keyboard. It's many buttons are used to select the rhythm patterns and their 8 variations, not individual sounds, but it does have buttons to trigger Cowbell and Claps, so you can manually play along to a pattern using these two samples. I get the impression that the RX120 was dreamed up by someone who wanted to create a drum machine for people who didn't know anything about how to program rhythms, so rather than give you sounds to mold into a song, it provides you with preset pieces to build up a song. This impression is reinforced by the fact that the RX120 doesn't provide any panning controls. Each sample is stereo and is panned across the soundstage in a predefined way, essentially laying out a set drum kit.

Having said all of that, the RX120 does contain some intriguing sounds inside its strange, little box. It's list of "38 percussive instruments" doesn't have anything that stands out as particularly intriguing, except maybe it's Electric Toms, FM Percussion, and China instruments, but what it does provide under the usual descriptors (Bass Drum, Rim Shot, etc) are pleasant to the ear, and like the RX11, RX15 and RX17 machines I already own, have a different character than the tried and true Roland machines everyone seems to be sampling.

Download the full RX120 sample set and a Combinator backdrop below:

If you find yourself with an extra forty or fifty bucks in your pocket and are looking for something from an earlier generation to experiment with, I don't know if I would recommend the RX120, unless you'll be using outboard gear to overcome its lack of pattern editing. I think the RX11 and RX17 are incredible values, given their going prices on eBay, and the RX17 is quickly becoming my favorite little piece of gear (outside of my laptop). The RX120 isn't going to be replacing either of those machines for me, but it's still a lot of fun and I found myself really enjoying the samples as I was recording them. While not necessarily "natural" it does sound more like real drums than a lot of drum machines out there.

Did you miss the drum hits I shared from my other Yamaha machines? Check out the previous posts:
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Saturday, November 22, 2008

.44 Yamaha RX17 Digital Rhythm Programmer



Continuing with sharing drum sounds from the Yamaha drum machines I picked up on eBay, here are some drum hits from the RX17.

Both more modern and more latin, the RX17 seems to come from an entirely different generation of drum machines from the RX11 or RX15, being about half the size and sporting rubberized pads and buttons that give it a much more modern feel. It appears to be related to the RX21, but I haven't had a chance to use a RX21 yet.

Like the RX15, the RX17 has two audio outputs (left and right mono and headphones) and has Midi Out and Midi In. It contains 26 drum hits spread across 13 pads (2 sounds per pad). Like the RX11 and RX15, the RX17 also had limitations regarding which sounds could and could not be reproduced simultaneously. So, for an accurate RX17 kit, avoid using the Conga Muted and Conga Open sounds on the same beat. The same limitation is present for the Cuica High and Cuica Low hits, the Snare Drum and Rim Shot, and the Hi-hat sounds.

The following samples were taken from a RX17, serial number N201530.
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Friday, November 21, 2008

.43 Yamaha RX15 Digital Rhythm Programmer



A step down from the more advanced and versatile RX11, the RX15 only has 12 pads for triggering 15 hits, all of which are routed through two audio outputs (left and right mono and headphones). Like the RX11, the RX15 was an 8-bit machine that lacked velocity sensitivity, but had options for accent control, volume, and panning for each onboard sound.

The RX11 and RX15 shared more than a similar design; they also shared their sounds. For example, the RX15's Bass Drum is identical to the RX11's Medium Bass Drum 1. The RX15's Clap hit is identical to the RX11's Hand Claps 1 sample, and so on. If you're just after the sounds from these machines, rather than trying to recreate the machines themselves, you shouldn't need to download the RX15 files in addition to the RX11 files provided yesterday.

The hits included here were sampled from a Yamaha RX15 Digital Rhythm Programmer, Serial Number 14798. For an accurate RX15 experience, do not trigger the Rimshot and Snare Drum (either Medium or Hi Tune) samples on the same beat. Also, the HH Open and HH Closed (Closed or Pedal) samples cannot be used on the same beat.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008

.42 Yamaha RX11 Digital Rhythm Programmer



About eighteen months ago, I decided that as happy as I was using Reason and Logic to make music, what I really needed was hardware. It's a phase a lot of us go through, I think, where we end up getting stuck for some reason and a new piece of gear or untested software seems like the easy solution for getting out of whatever rut we find ourselves in.

A couple of unsuccessful eBay bids later, I eventually picked up three Yamaha drum machines, the RX15, its big brother the RX11, and the more latin focused RX17. Of course, the first thing I did with the new drum machines was sample their sounds and drop those samples into Reason... which kind of defeated the entire purpose of getting them, but let's be honest, logic doesn't have much sway when you're stuck in this senseless gear lust.

What do I think of the samples? Well, if you take a second to download the samples, you'll hear that they have a lo-fi quality that only seems to get better when you throw additional distortion on top of them. I think they're especially suited for trip-hop, a genre I love to experiment with, but have never actually finished a song in, because of that lo-fi quality. With a little care and processing, you should be able to find a home for them in just about any genre.

Having said all of that, I think their greatest quality is that they aren't a Roland TR-909 or TR-808. Don't get me wrong, there's a reason those machines are considered classics, but if you're looking for something fresh (or maybe a little stale, depending on your perspective) then these cheap Yamaha machines are a great substitute.

An 8-bit drum machine from the early 80s, the following kit was sampled from serial number 19374.

Its built-in 29 drum hits could be triggered using its 16 pads and routed through 12 individual audio outputs 12 audio outputs (either via its 10 mono instrument outs, left and right mono line outs that also double as mono instrument outs, or headphones). The trigger pads are not velocity sensitive, but each drum hit can be tweaked with individual settings for accent level, volume, and panning, to give the hits a little emphasis when needed.

The RX11 could not trigger the Rimshot and Snare Drum samples on the same beat, so for a faithful recreation you should avoid using them together. The same limitation was present on Tom3 and Tom4 pads, the Bass Drum pads (meaning none of the Bass Drum hits could be played simultaneously), and the HH pads. Despite this limitation, any and all of the sounds could be used in the same song.

Additional sounds can be added to the machine via a RAM memory cartridge, but I haven't had much luck finding any of them. If I do manage to track one down, expect to find those samples here.
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