# MODO DRUM



## mscp (Mar 15, 2021)

Is there any drummer in the house who uses MODO DRUM? What's your opinion?


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## Pier (Mar 17, 2021)

I'd like to know too.

I'm happy with Addictive Drums, but physical modeling sounds super interesting.


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## Trash Panda (Mar 17, 2021)

Not a drummer (guitar/bass player hobbyist), but I’ve been phasing out Addictive Drums in favor of MODO as I get more comfortable customizing kits. The near infinite round robins and crazy control over hi hats is a very fine cherry on top of a very fine cake.


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## Polkasound (Mar 17, 2021)

I'm kind of a meticulous control freak, and I'm a drummer, so MODO DRUM fits me well. I used it on my last single. My only complaints are:

- The sound it produces can sometimes be _too_ perfect for my taste. I wish, for example, that I could slightly detune a couple lugs for a less-refined sound.

- I can't run a whole kit (drums + cymbals) in one instance and mix them the way I want; I can't capture and balance the close-miked sound I need all the way around the kit, so I'll typically use a cymbal or two in a second instance, or I'll use cymbals from other sample libraries. In my opinion, MODO DRUM could have (and probably should have) been released as a modeled kick/snare/tom library without sampled cymbals.

- The interface could be more intuitive. It gets the job done, but it could be redesigned from the ground up for faster workflow.


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## Eckoes (Mar 17, 2021)

I found it frustrating and I never use it, but I know if I were a bit more patient it could be a great tool.

Option paralysis for me.


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## stixman (Mar 18, 2021)

I passed on it so far I am waiting for sale...very interested though.


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## chocobitz825 (Mar 18, 2021)

Love it


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## Tremendouz (Mar 18, 2021)

Not a drummer but to me it just didn't sound as realistic as something like SD3 or BFD3. But I loved the customization for shaping the snares, kicks and toms to my liking.


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## lychee (Mar 18, 2021)

I'm a big fan of physical modeling, and I'm a huge fan of Modo Bass that I own.
It is therefore logical that I lean on the case of Modo Drums, but I am strangely less a fan.
Yes it has some big advantages like customizing in detail the parameters of each item, but sometimes it seems like it's barely audible from some tests I've seen.
In addition, and as said above, the cymbals part is not modeled and has not received the same care.
Also maybe I'm hesitant to take Modo Drum because I have Reason Intro that includes Kong, which is also have modeled drum kits (except cymbals too).


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## lychee (Mar 18, 2021)

In my research on physical modeling in the field of percussion I discovered this, in case you are interested (apparently it would require a program called Pure Data from what I understood):


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## Polkasound (Mar 18, 2021)

Tremendouz said:


> Not a drummer but to me it just didn't sound as realistic as something like SD3 or BFD3. But I loved the customization for shaping the snares, kicks and toms to my liking.


In my opinion, that's a good summary of MODO DRUM. There's nothing about the sound of the drums that makes MODO any better than a good sample library. Its strength is in how the customization of that sound benefits a producer's workflow and adds a touch more dimension to the performance.

Imagine being able to take, for example, an NI Abbey Road drum library, shaving 2" depth off the kick shell, loosening the snare just a touch, using a MIDI CC to control where on the tom heads the drummer strikes, insisting he use nylon-tipped sticks, and then adding infinite round robins. For people like me who are meticulous about crafting the sound down to that detail (and have felt the frustration of making sacrifices when using sample libraries) MODO DRUM is a godsend.

But a lot of VI users out there simply don't need customization at this level of detail, because I'd argue that no casual music listener listening to a mixed song is going to hear a difference in quality between a MODO DRUM track and an SD3 drum track. For all intents and purposes, to the average VI user, MODO DRUM is not going to be much more than a collection of 10 kits. Nonetheless, these are 10 fantastic-sounding kits that would complement anyone's arsenal of sample libraries.


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## Tremendouz (Mar 18, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> infinite round robins


Yet it still manages to sound more machine gunny compared to Superior Drummer 3 when doing snare rolls in my experience. The tech is cool and I love how it doesn't take a hundred gigabytes on my disk but the sound just isn't quite there yet imo


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## Polkasound (Mar 18, 2021)

Tremendouz said:


> Yet it still manages to sound more machine gunny compared to Superior Drummer 3 when doing snare rolls in my experience.


I don't own SD3, but MODO can sound a bit machine-gunny if a few basic things aren't done.

Some sample libraries automatically alternate between left and right hand strikes, and/or sample left and right strikes in slightly different strike zones, which makes the library sound good out of the box. With MODO, it is not only absolutely critical that you alternate hands when rolling, but I believe both strike zones are defaulted to the very center of the drum. Give them a little separation, for example put the left stick in the center and the right slightly off-center.


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## Tremendouz (Mar 18, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> I don't own SD3, but MODO can sound a bit machine-gunny if a few basic things aren't done.
> 
> Some sample libraries automatically alternate between left and right hand strikes, and/or sample left and right strikes in slightly different strike zones, which makes the library sound good out of the box. With MODO, it is not only absolutely critical that you alternate hands when rolling, but I believe both strike zones are defaulted to the very center of the drum. Give them a little separation, for example put the left stick in the center and the right slightly off-center.


Oh yeah, I always used to maximize the size of both zones and put them into different spots, it helps it quite a bit


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## chocobitz825 (Mar 18, 2021)

lychee said:


> I'm a big fan of physical modeling, and I'm a huge fan of Modo Bass that I own.
> It is therefore logical that I lean on the case of Modo Drums, but I am strangely less a fan.
> Yes it has some big advantages like customizing in detail the parameters of each item, but sometimes it seems like it's barely audible from some tests I've seen.
> In addition, and as said above, the cymbals part is not modeled and has not received the same care.
> Also maybe I'm hesitant to take Modo Drum because I have Reason Intro that includes Kong, which is also have modeled drum kits (except cymbals too).



I highly recommend checking out wavesfactory suspended cymbals. They give an equal amount of control that fits modo drum so well. Between the included cymbals you can pick the kind of hit and control the tail much better than any library I’ve found so far.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Mar 19, 2021)

I’m in the camp that hasn’t fallen in love with it. I much prefer AD2 (and others). It is probably highly capable in other people’s hands but I haven’t been able to dial in the sounds I like. I just sort of gave up on it.
Ironically, I did like the cymbals, but those are samples.

I’m also probably the only person not totally in love with Modo Bass (although I do like it more than Modo Drum). The B-3x organ is really good though, IMO.


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## Tremendouz (Mar 19, 2021)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I’m also probably the only person not totally in love with Modo Bass


Not the only one. It's very good for everything else *except* repeating the same note which introduces an unholy amount of what sounds like fret buzz or something. So, that really limits the styles that I can use it for. When I need something for rock or metal I'll go with scarbee rickenbacker, ample sound basses, Eurobass 2, Shreddage Bass 2 etc.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Mar 19, 2021)

Tremendouz said:


> When I need something for rock or metal I'll go with scarbee rickenbacker, ample sound basses, Eurobass 2, Shreddage Bass 2 etc.


I love Scarbee Rick for Jamaican dub and hip hop stuff. There is a Fender bass (P-Bass?) in Swing by Project Sam that I like as well.


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