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Something stirring at XLN Audio (at last...)


Skyline_UK

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For a long time I was hoping for more options in AD2's Session Percussion but now am looking forward to the release of SD3 Orchestral Percussion SDX. I still like and will use AD2 here and there (I especially like the Fairfax - Gretsch Light kit) but not so sure I would go for AD3 at this point. They have a lot of ground to make up to match SD3. 

19 minutes ago, cclarry said:

HOLY CRAP!!!  Just saw the price for this...

Yeah that's close to the SD3 upgrade cost. 😯

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21 hours ago, abacab said:

It looks like XLN is throwing in the towel for drum kits.

Not really, Bandlab is smart.  They are giving the youngsters the ability to create all types of beats using Cakewalk by BandLab,  This XO gives them the ability to create Trap beats, EDM beats, an many other types of beats which are really hard to do in BandLab manually.  Several other DAWS give them them a quick beat making application  to get their creative minds thinking, so why not a BandLab.

I think the price is too high for it, however, I think this will really draw the younger generation to Cakewalk by BandLab.   ... I'm not mad at them.

  • You can send each track to a track in BandLab using the "M" button under the Playback column in the EDIT view.
  • Each sample can be manipulated
  • Adjust the sound for the stereo filed
  • Choose grove settings for each sample
  • Export the wave or MIDI file to a track
  • Play a groove or your chosen samples and record the tracks into BandLab for all 8 selected samples.

Use the loaded samples or add your own samples and search by sample type.

Not bad at all.  I dare you to play around with it, you may enjoy it.

Edited by jesse g
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I watched part of the video and like Jesse, I think it has a unique way of making up some beats. Which could inspire someone to create, which is the idea. 

 

However, I'm not one of those people. 

 

If it intergrates well with CbB, that's another big plus. 

 

AFA AD3, we may be SOL.

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'Quickness' is not necessarily the midwife of creativity, rather it's a function of the age we live in.  If only the great painters could have knocked up masterpieces in minutes rather than months or even years, think of all the extra wonders we would now have.  😵 😉

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I admit that I am confused by the linkage of XLN to CbB above (they are separate entities), since it really boils down to "A 3rd party drum VSTi is required to achieve this in CbB." That is very true. But there are also other VSTis already that can do similar (if not more), so I am trying to find the "Revolutionary" in this.

Regardless of DAW, drums tend to boil down to:

  1. Generating (not all have this), modifying, and saving kits.
  2. Generating (not all have this either), modifying, and saving grooves/patterns by type (intro, verse, chorus, fills, outros, etc.).
  3. Layering, slicing, sound manipulations. (backend sound engine).
  4. Firing off kits/patterns appropriately for the song being composed.

I have been using MDrummer for a while now, and the "Large"(or the paid-for version) would be $125 when it rolls around in the Eternal Madness Sale cycle. The one feature of that that I immediately enjoyed was the ability to import drums samples from anywhere (so long as they are not in proprietary formats). Even without that, it will randomly generate and build kits (iteratively) based on genre (or mix and match). The other cool thing they do is open up "Studio" kits each year for users to submit samples, and the last batch put out was rather hefty (14.3 GB IIRC). As with a few of Melda's VSTis, they are so deep that if you go beyond the "easy screen" you will need to invest some time to use it properly.

The "problem" with 8000+ drum samples is this... a user wants to be able to sit down (from scratch) and create a usable kit/patterns in the shortest amount of time so that they can keep moving with a composition.

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22 minutes ago, mettelus said:

a user wants to be able to sit down (from scratch) and create a usable kit/patterns in the shortest amount of time so that they can keep moving with a composition.

 

Hit the nail on the head right there.

 

I came close several times to getting the large MDrummer. I knew I would have to devote a lot of time with it though. And I have gotten to a point now where I don't want to learn something else to be able to write a song. I've done enough of that. So much so that my song writing has taken a nose dive to the bottom of the pit. So I made a decision to get back to why I got into this in the first place, writing songs.

After making that decision, I had to make my GAS go away. It's mostly gone now, but still creeps in every now and then. It helps to look. A lot. Just don't put it in the cart!! : )

 

And I still look at MDrummer!

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Yeah, I have pretty much jumped off the GAS bandwagon since it takes more time than it is worth more often than not.

One thing with MDrummer Large that is a royal PITA that I didn't figure out till I came across it in a video is that MDrummer will randomly select the following beat... turns out there is a buried option (on by default) setting for "Random loops." I shut it off via the "Rhythm Editor" tab->Settings Pane (upper right)... there is an "Additional" button... you can disable "Random loops" at the top of the pop up window... just why that is enabled by default and buried so deeply in the settings is beyond me, but you will want to disable "Random Loops" first thing if you want to keep your sanity learning MDrummer... "random" and "composition" rarely mate well.

I haven't done any tutorials in years, but MDrummer could use some love on a concise "Pathway to production." Although there quite a few videos out there, you would need to spend too much time (IMO) to grasp it enough to use it properly if you wanted to create/play songs with it. Even owning it, I turned my back on it for months until one day I decided to actually learn it, but even then the "Random loops" tripped me up (I got a lot of choice cuss words out that afternoon 🙂).

Edited by mettelus
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I have to say it looks pretty awesome and innovative.  Yeah the price is a little high but that's typical with plugins. . . they always set the plugin price high for early adopters and then drop it during sales.  I most likely will pick up a copy, assuming it comes with a lot of samples as well (since I don't have my own samples).

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47 minutes ago, Lee D said:

  I most likely will pick up a copy, assuming it comes with a lot of samples as well (since I don't have my own samples).

Factory Samples & Presets  

Get a flying start to your beat making with XO’s inspiring presets and  8000+ hand-picked factory samples. No matter the music style or  amount of sounds in your current sample collection, XO has you  covered. 

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17 hours ago, Grem said:

Have you used it Jesse? I thought that for those that makes beat, this would help them out. 

I downloaded the trial version because I was curious about how it worked.
It's a fast way of making beats using the multitude of samples included in XO,  and by adding your own samples as well. 
You can then assigning the 8 tracks in the program to eight tracks in CbB. 
The samples are arranged by color and you can choose them by scrolling around the colorful sample field and listening to them quickly.
While in  XO, you can modify the sample to the sound you want for your beat.

Overall, it's not a bad program and  I like it , but I wouldn't pay the price XLN is asking.

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1 hour ago, jesse g said:

Overall, it's not a bad program and  I like it , but I wouldn't pay the price XLN is asking.

 

It does look like it would be fun to just goof around with.

I agree on the price. And XLN is not known for 'slashing' their prices either. So I may not ever get it.

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