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Acoustic Drum app recommendations
Are there any good acoustic drum apps where you can tune the drums, adjust the level of snare vs rim etc?
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Sadly not, it's a big gap in the market. The best bet is to use samples from somewhere like Drumdrops and run them in Audiolayer or Sitala.
Thanks!
Gadget Gladstone? wish they were multiOut..
edit... Did this make it to Auv3?
That looks pretty good. Thanks!
That´s interesting! Could be AUv3 Gladstone driven by Lumbeat drummers?
I don’t have it. Doug said it is ‘fantastic’ in one of his videos… and it looks like it is also AU..
This !!!
Best options are on desktop. IK Multimedia MODO Drum being my main recommendation, other than the drum kits built in to Logic Pro (and GarageBand, which has fewer customization options).
It would be nice if IK Multimedia brought at least a slightly less capable version of MODO Drum to iPadOS.
Agreed 100% I haven't really dug into it but Korg Gladstone sounds like a potential next best thing to roll your own.
Really hoping that happens eventually. I don’t even use acoustic drums that often but it would be nice to have a really good option for them when needed. MODO being driven by Lumbeats would be ace. Unless MODO also has a dynamic sequencer? I’ve heard it but never personally used it.
Digistix isn't bad as a drum module. It has up to five layers per pad and can use velocity or round robin. It comes with some fairly decent acoustic kits, and you can roll your own from included samples or import your own. It has Multi-Out AUv3. Each sample can be tuned, looped, reversed, trimmed, faded in or out, etc.. In Digistix 1 you have to import samples in the standalone app. I'm not sure if that's the case with Digistix 2 or not.
Korg Gladstone doesn't let you import your own samples. You can only mix and match hits from the included kits.
AudioLayer is the most powerful. It doesn't have multi-out though in case processing hits differently is important to you. The built-in effects can help mitigate that, but I still prefer the option for multiple outputs.
DrumPerfect Pro deserves mention even though it's not AUv3 (except for preset loop playback). It's top-tier for realism though.
Maybe @eyalamir will bring Modalics’ awesome MINDst Drums to iOS 🙏
Gladstone has zero velocity layering vs Drum Perfect Pro. Gladstone’s effects can be set to velocity though .
Is this why Gladstone isn't really ideal for live work?
The hi-hats don't sound good live, you can't get a live feel from Gladstone through a PA when looping or whatever, I think this might be why.
No matter what you do, it sounds like the exact same sample just quieter/louder depending on how hard you hit - which isn't how drums work. It works for home recordings, where that might be what I want - a consistent kick/snare/hi hat or whatever all song, but at a pub, that's actually not what I'm after, I want to get more of a live feel to the drums and Gladstone doesn't work well for that.
I tried it and was surprised to see how awful it was at that job, considering how much I like it at home.
Storage is limited on iDevices so I would always want to pick only the drum kits that I need.
Most desktop products have many IAPs for adding specific drum kits, and that seems to be what most users want.
I've been happy sampling selected drums from desktop for use on iOS, and usually I don't go beyond 3 to 4 velocity layers but rather sample enough variations, including different kinds of snare hits for example.
It's not as much work as it sounds like, with tools like AudioLayer or Drambo it's literally not much more than hitting each drum via MIDI and sample it. No searching for loop points, no fine pitch adjustment necessary.
I've drawn a "sampling sequence" of notes in Ableton clips and use that repeatedly for different kits. It works well because I can adjust the velocity of note groups precisely to trigger the correct velocity-dependent sample in the drum library.
Don't forget to take round-robin samples into account while sampling, sometimes you want them, sometimes not.
Digistix 2 can import samples in AUv3 mode. It can also autosample from another source - Jamie Mallender has a real nice video showing it on YouTube.
Yes: DrumPerfect Pro
plus a wide range of controls making it one of the most flexible professional acoustic drum app on iOS.
About realism: ( listen ) https://soundcloud.com/user-45973677
Can you use DrumPerfect as just a drum sampler, using a external sequencer?. I know it probably defeats its purpose but I just don’t like the concept of having a separate auv3 player plugin.
100% agree.
For acoustic drums I’d say multiple velocity layers is a must.
Digistix2 is probably the best option if you look at features and ease of use, sadly I can’t stand the UI so I end up using something else. Usually Drambo, as it has multi outs and it’s extremely flexible. Big BUT is that it’s quite cumbersome to make different kits and it can get very complex.
There’s definitely a huge gap in this regard.
Choke groups can be a bit of a pain to set up in Drambo as well.
DrumPerfect Pro is really superb for realistic sounds. I wish it was more convenient to use in this AUv3 age. I realize a lot of the realism is imparted by the sequencer, but I do wish that in addition to the AUv3 pattern player there was an AUv3 "sound module" that could be played from external midi. I think that would be a huge hit (no pun intended). Especially if it had multiple outputs.
I would pay for such a sound module AUv3 in a heartbeat.
@tahiche :Would you choose Digistix over drum perfect pro though? Why? (I’m thinking more in terms of velocity layering)…
@Gilbert would you consider creating an app that just has the samples from DrumPerfect Pro without any of the sequencing features? I would buy that in a heartbeat. You could even have IAPs for all the different kits.
The problem with iOS drum apps is that they all focus on the sequencing, and most of them are still IAA only.
What I want is a drum module with high-quality multi-velocity and round-robin samples and NO SEQUENCING. Just General MIDI mapping so that I can create my own drums in a DAW of my choosing with great-sounding realistic samples. Such an app does not exist on iOS as of yet.
As @richardyot , @wim and myself are saying, DrumPerfect needs its own auv3 player thingy and can’t be used just as a sound module, without the sequencer. I’ve always stayed away from it for this reason.
As for Digistix2, feature wise it’s excellent but I really don’t like the UI, layout, workflow… It makes me not enjoy the experience so I don’t use it. I wish it wasn’t the case because it’s, feature wise, the best option imo.
If you want multiple velocities and are not willing to go down the Drambo rabbit hole, I’d say try Digistix.
Lately I’ve been doing multi velocities in Logic using logic’s quick sampler, using slices that you play with notes, then a Mozaic script in front which maps velocity to these notes. It’s absurdly complex!. But once I have the setup (which takes a while), I find it comprehensive and stable.
We really need more options for custom-sample-library drums on iOS. I’ve tried a million different options and either they’re buggy or overly complex. Something like adding multi samples to Sitala or Koala would be perfect… Actually I also tried the velocity-to-note trick on Sitala but there aren’t enough pads.
@tahiche :As always a great explanation.Thanks for elaborating ..
@tahiche @richardyot . Thanks for your questions and suggestions. ( However it seems we are moving away from the original question posted.)
For a drum module with high-quality multi-velocity and round-robin samples and NO SEQUENCING:
is not Audio layer, mentioned above, what you are looking for?
However if you have DPP you may know that you can do it too. Just play its sounds from your DAW sequencer. Your sequencer may not be as flexible ( humanizing, groove templates, etc... ) as DPP's sequencer, but it works fine.
Have a look at what you can control with ccs. Control practically all commands.
So if DPP sequencer is not what you want, then bypass it, just use the kits/sounds via midi.
About the DPplayer. Maybe the name is too restrictive. Think about it as DPP being auv3.
It is DPP auv3 already, yet without the editing/import-export functions. Nothing less.
Multi out is there, and loading songs/patterns is a breeze as they appear nicely in the host presets. In Aum you can open the IAA app to edit/tweak your patterns/song/kit, save it, and load immediately the updated preset in the Auv3.
Now, let me ask a question: DPP has been conceived as a Pro app. Pro-fessional yes, but Pro-duction too.
So, are you really using its pro features, hard to find in other apps including the "Pro" ones?
Where do you find an app able to export all your patterns ( or a selection ) in one go, as midi or different audio formats?
Or audition midi files before import?
Drag and drop multiples samples ( new version ) from files app or the great Media Assistant?
And much more...
Midi commands filters (cc)
Advanced drum mapping
Audiolayer can do it, but you have to build the kits yourself. This is a lot of work. 😀
What I would love to see is an AUv3 drum module with the high-quality samples you have in DPP. Load the plugin, and program the drums on the timeline of the DAW. I don't need the sequencing, I just need the great samples.
@Gilbert I would just add that the notion of using DPP as a drum module in 2024 isn't really viable. I use Logic as my host and DPP is not compatible with Logic as a sound module, being IAA.
I bought DPP and many of the IAPs years ago, it's a great app with lots of options, and I am happy to have supported it as a customer, but it simply isn't compatible with modern workflows.
I would happily pay for a new app that worked seamlessly in Logic. An AUv3 drum module might be one way for that to happen.
No need ( to pay ) for a new app: you already have it.
1- Make an empty song with the kit of your choice ( name it after your kit ) in DPP.
2- It will appear as a preset in Logic after you load the auv3 ( DPplayer ). Load this preset.
3- Build your midi drum track. It will play the kit of the preset.
You can make as many empty song/presets as drum kits you wish to have.
OK I didn't this was possible with the Player AUv3, thanks!
I had no idea that the AUv3 would respond to incoming MIDI. I guess I wasn’t the only one.
This is great news.