Rhythmic Robot has announced the release of Trixer, a Kontakt emulation of the Simmons Trixer, a drum-triggering module from the 80s (and early 90s) packed with authentic Simmons SDS sounds.
Drawing on the library of classic drum tones which had powered the hexagonal Simmons pads and “brains” from the preceding decade, the Trixer repackaged these into an audio-triggered mixer (hence “Trixer”…) In practical terms, it was an excellent way of getting THE Simmons Sound at a budget price.
Our recreation samples the original Trixer at 24-bit, with multiple round-robin samples to preserve its natural variation in sound. There are four kits to choose from: Rock1, Rock2, Jazz, and the mighty Electronic kit – instantly recalling 80s-era chart toppers from Phil Collins, Ultravox, Pink Floyd, Culture Club, Prince, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Talk Talk, Van Halen and more… basically, at some point everyone had some fun with a Simmons kit! Full control over kit-piece tuning, level and pan is presented nice and simply on the front panel, while a compliment of basic effects (saturation, distortion, bitcrushing and compression) allow you to sculpt the sound – a bit of compression gives you that instant “big 80s rock” sound. To round things off, we discovered a glitch in the hardware that allows a “rolled snare” sound to be triggered accidentally; of course, we sampled it and it’s now fully user-controllable.
Trixer is an ideal way to add the much-loved (?!) sound of the 80s to your tracks.
Trixer features
All four kits of the Simmons Trixer.
Simmons SDS sounds.
Rock1, Rock2, Jazz and Electronic kits.
Multiple round-robins capture all the nuance of the original.
Additional “rolled snare” sound.
Trixer is availableto purchase for £5.95 GBP. It requires Kontakt to run, and is compatible with Kontakt 4.2.3 and later (including all versions of Kontakt 5). It’s not compatible with Kontakt Player.
Puremagnetik has announced the release of Clap Box, an iOS emulation of the Simmons Clap Trap.
Now you can put the legendary Simmons Clap Trap right in your pocket or backpack! The Clap Trap was an iconic 1980s “Handclap Synthesizer” whose unique sound can be heard across much of early electronica.
Clap Box is a perfect emulation of the original that includes modern enhancements like full Core MIDI support, microphone triggering and BPM matching. Just clap your hands or stomp your feet in real-time to trigger it! Simple, fun and intuitive, Clap Box is a great way to drop some instant retro into your productions.
Puremagnetik brings the Simmons Clap Trap to your iPad & iPhone with Clap Box.
Clap Box features
Authentic emulation of the original Simmons Clap Trap made with real samples.
Audio Trigger via your device’s built in mic – just clap your hands in realtime to trigger!
Full MIDI support over WiFi, USB camera connection kit or a dedicated MIDI interface such as IK Multimedia’s iRig MIDI.
Hi resolution Retina Display graphics.
“Humanize” function creates random variations.
Quick “Tool Tip” pop ups from info button.
Clap Box for iPhone and iPad is available to purchase from the App Store for $1.99 USD.
Arturia has released Spark Vintage Drum Machines, a virtual drum software featuring the sounds of 30 legendary drum machines.
Intuitive and powerful, this software is much more than your typical sample player. By mixing high quality samples and virtual analog synthesis (based on TAE®), Spark Vintage Drum Machines manages to capture the unique soul of these instruments.
From the classic percussion sounds of the Roland CR-78 and Korg Mini Pops 7 to the heavy punch of the TR-series, all the top producers’ boutique models are available in one single easy-to-use interface.
Add to this the lightning-fast workflow, in-depth tweaking possibilities, and live features of Spark, and you get a true must have for any demanding beat maker.
Spark VDM features
30 legendary drum machines including: Roland TR-808, TR-707, TR-909, CR-78, Korg KPR-77, Mini Pops 7, LinnDrum, Yamaha RX5, Maestro Rhythm King MKII, Simmons SDS V,…
Easy workflow: one interface to learn, thirty drum machines to play.
Made for live performance: XY Pad, Beat Looper, Slicer, Real-time automation on all parameters.
14 high quality effects : Multiband Compressor, Reverb, Bit crusher, Multiband EQ, Chorus, Delay, Distortion, Phaser, Plate reverb, Destroyer, Flanger, Space pan, Limiter, Sub generator.
Spark’s Step Sequencer makes track creation a breeze.
Unparalleled sound quality based on virtual analog synthesis (TAE®) and high resolution sampling.
64 patterns pre-programmed for each drum machine.
Spark VDM for Windows and Mac is now available to purchase as a download for 99 USD/EUR. The boxed version is shipping March 20th, 2012, priced at $129 USD / 119 EUR.
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.
Puremagnetik has announced the released of MachineKits, a collection of classic drum machines for Ableton Live.
MachineKits brings together six classic drum machines, over 1900 high quality samples, and a huge selection of clips. MachineKits is a perfect add-on to Ableton’s drum machines, programmed by the same sound designers.
Kits include lifelike re-creations of a complete MFB modular percussion system, the Simmons SDS-1, and Ace Tone Rhythm Ace.
MachineKits features
An integrated add-on to Ableton’s drum machines, programmed by the same sound designers.
6 sophisticated kits.
Over 120 intricately programmed Live Clips.
Close to 1GB of over 1900 high quality Samples (24-bit 96khz).
Advanced Macro mappings for precision sound tweaking and performance.
MachineKits is now available through the Ableton and Puremagnetik web shops, priced at the introductory price of $29 USD / EUR 19 until 19 December, 2010 (regular price $39 USD / EUR 29).
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