FXpansion has announced the Tik Tik Tak Boom remix competition by Broombeck.
Remix Tik Tik Tak Boom, a tech house track by Broombeck, for a chance to win a copy of Geist, an Akai MPK Mini, a Novation Launchpad or a 1 year soundcloud Pro Account!
For full details and rules on the competition click here.
FXpansion has also announced Driven Machine Drums 1.5 for Geist & GURU.
Driven Machine Drums are offering a 25% discount on their new sound library Driven Machine Drums 1.5 for Geist and GURU. Offer ends February 28 2011.
Since I reviewed the original Driven Machine Drums release a little over a year ago, Nathaniel at Tonebuilder has worked hard to make this excellent drum machine & percussion sample library even better by adding tons of new sounds to it in version 1.5.
Some of the gear used for Driven Machine Drums 1.5 (click image for more)
New samples were created with a number of new sound sources, including various modular gear components: Euro Modular (Cwejman, Wiard, MOTM, MakeNoise+), Serge Modular, Acidlabs Miami, Roland TR-909, Jomox MBrane 11, Drumfire DF500, Simmons SDS-1000, MFB-503, Elektron Monomachine, Avedis E-27, TK-BC1, Valley People Dynamite, Schippman Ebbe und Flut, and all the tubes, pres, compressors and tape devices from the first DMD collection.
The new samples are categorized into the following folders:
Hand Percussion – good variety of percussion type sounds (54).
Hats and Cymbals – sharp (25) and soft (29) hihat and cymbal sounds, both open & closed.
Kicks – Dirty (14), Mid Punch (17), Sharp (23), and Soft kicks (29). Deep, raw, distorted, round, thumpy, punchy, etc. All there.
Other Percussion – Some “offbeats” sounds (20). These are shorter samples including snare, clap, clang type hits etc.
Unknown Electronic – FM Klanks (38), Inharmonic (39), Mod Blue (48), Mod Red (50). Great assortment of original sounds.
It is a shame most computer operating systems are still limited to having files in a single folder as quite a few samples fit in more than one sound category. Some kicks sound like toms, toms sound like snares, and there are snares that make good hihats… Anyway, I am quite happy with the way the DMD library is structured. Even with close to 4,500 audio files it is easy to navigate around and find the type of samples you are after.
I made a few short audio clips to demonstrate the sounds of Driven Machine Drums 1.5. The loops were done with the new samples only, using a tiny amount of reverb and compression.
The version 1.5 update to DMD also includes the complete Hi-Fi 909 and Hi-Fi Miami libraries. These are high quality sample sets of the Roland TR-909 and the TR-808 based Acidlabs Miami drum machine.
There are well over 800 samples in each library, including clean sounds as well as a variety of processed versions (compression, tube, EQ, etc).
Check the audio clips below for some more examples of the DMD 1.5 and Hi-Fi 909.
The new content – adding a total of close to 2,300 new sounds to the original DMD collection (all in 24bit/96kHz format), is included with all new copies of Driven Machine Drums and is available to previous DMD customers as a $27 USD upgrade.
I know some people were a bit disappointed with the upgrade not being free. Nathaniel explains:
I had two options, which was to release a DMD 2 for $77/$87, or reward the early adopters by releasing it as 1.5 instead of V2, and hope to make the investment of time/gear by selling new copies of DMD.
Upgrade pricing, special promo deals, bundle discounts, etc. There are always customers who will be upset with however you deal with the commercial side of things. Personally I think the upgrade price for DMD 1.5 is more than reasonable. The additional content is well worth it (Hi-Fi 909 actually sold separately for $23 USD).
So what do I think?
Product: Tonebuilder Driven Machine Drums Format: 24bit/44kHz and 96kHz samples Price: $77 USD (Guru/Wav/Aif) / $87 USD (Kontakt/EXS24/Wav/Aif) Like: high quality drum machine samples and unique synthetic percussion sounds, much variety and originality Don’t like: – Verdict: 10/10
Driven Machine Drums already was a superb sample library before the v1.5 update, so it should not surprise you that I am giving DMD 1.5 full marks.
The new content increases the library’s versatility by including more mainstream sounds (Hi-Fi 909 & Miami) as well the less conventional glitchy sounds from the modular synths. The quality is of the same high standard as the original release, but now even in 24bit/96kHz.
Comprising more than twice the amount of sounds of the original, Driven Machine Drums is quite the “no brainer” deal, superb value for money.
Note that only less than 250 of the 997 Driven Machine Drums copies available to purchase remain, so check it out and take the DMD 1.5 library for a spin with the 144 free samples included in the demo pack available from the Tonebuilder website.
Analog Processing: Thermionic Culture Vulture, Anamod ATS-1 w/ all cards, Neve 1073 Preamp, Atlas Pro Juggernaut Twin, A-Design EM-Gold, Source Plus Tube Amp w/ 1957 NOS French Mazda Tubes, Empirical Labs Distressor, Moog MF101, Mutronics Mutator, Dynacord VRS-23, Avedis E-27, TK-BC1, Valley People Dynamite, Schippman Ebbe und Flut.
Driven Machine Drums 1.5 is available to purchase at 25% off until 1 January, 2011.
24 Bit Wav/Aif, Guru Kits: $57 USD.
24 Bit Kontakt, EXS-24, Wav/Aif, Guru Kits: $65 USD.
Goldbaby Productions has announced the release of SP1200 Vol 2, the next installment of killer samples from the SP1200 and SP12.
The legendary grit and warmth of these samplers gives this sample pack a very distinctive character.
This time round I have fed these beasts: drum machines (TR707, 727, Linn LM2, DMX and more), vinyl, real drums, synths, perc and FX. Lots of variety and a few surprises await.
1542 x 24 bit samples… all dripping with the SP magic. Crunchy, warm, punchy, dirty…
Great for Hip Hop, Dub Step, Grime, Drum & Bass, Breaks… even House and Techno.
SP1200 Vol 2 is available to purchase for $29 USD (includes Battery 3, EXS24, Kontakt 3, Geist, Guru, Reason 5, and Wav formats).
Goldbaby has also released Xmas Gift 2010, a free sample pack featuring 105 samples (24bit wav) sampled through the SP1200.
Vinyl hits and drum machines all given some 12 bit drum sampler love! These samples are not in the SP1200 Vol 2.
The free Xmas Gift sample pack is available to download from the Goldbaby website.
FXpansion has announced the December Half Price Sale, a limited time offer for its expansion packs.
For the entire month of December all FXpansion download-only expansion packs are 50% off for registered owners of BFD2, BFD Eco, DCAM: Synth Squad, GURU & Geist!
December Half Price Sale expansions:
BFD2 & BFD Eco:
Jazz Maple
Heavy
Cocktail
JEX
Decatom
Oak Custom
Maple Custom Absolute
8 Bit Kit
Japanese Taiko Percussion & Grooves (BFD2 only)
Signature Snares Vol.1 & Vol.2
Sleishman Drums & Sleishman Snares
DCAM: Synth Squad:
Himalaya: Antiquity
Myagi: Ferocity (New!)
GURU & Geist:
City of Drums & Beats
To take advantage of these offers, log in to your fxpansion.com user account and visit the online shop.
FXpansion has also released version 2.2 of BFD, a virtual drum instrument for Windows and Mac.
It includes new features like choke groups, random kit generation and many workflow enhancements and bug-fixes. Please note that, on Mac, the update requires Mac OSX 10.5 (or higher) and at least an Intel CoreDuo processor. A new set of presets is also available for download.
FXpansion has announced the release of Geist, a next-generation sampling drum machine, designed to create evolved, custom beats and grooves, freeing you from the limits of pre-packaged loops and over-complicated DAWs.
Geist fuses creative sample-sculpting tools with fast pattern step-sequencing and arrangement. Browse through sounds with lightning speed, slice and assign loops to pads with a single click; sample, resample and build beats in a slick unified environment. Geist makes fiddly tasks with multiple apps a thing of the past.
Geist runs as a plug-in and as a standalone application, perfect for laptop beatmaking. Export creations as audio clips or load sessions back into the plug-in to resample, reslice, remix, rearrange and transform your beats even further. Geist is a complete, integrated rhythm production sandbox for the studio, the tour bus or the stage!
Exclusive sounds & presets from Armin van Buuren, D. Ramirez, Dom Kane, KJ Sawka, Goldbaby, Groove Criminals, Portion Control and more.
Geist is available to purchase as a download-only product, priced at £157 GBP / €189 EUR / $249 USD plus VAT where applicable. Registered FXpansion GURU customers can crossgrade for £79 GBP / €95 EUR / $125 USD plus VAT where applicable.
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