# “Fake breaks”: Using virtual instruments to make stuff that sounds like old sampled material



## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

Most of the threads here lean towards orchestral music and soundtrack scoring, but I’m wondering if there are other people here interested in using virtual instruments for making their own “fake breaks”?

I was thinking this thread could be a good place for people to discuss sample libraries and plugins they are using, post their music, discuss techniques, post examples of old tracks they are inspired by or trying to imitate, or just chat about the topic and share knowledge.

While I have no affiliation with the people that posted this (and I don’t even really know how I came across it!), the first track on this is a vibe I’m personally after at the moment.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

Great idea. I love breakbeats and old rare grooves. I would be interested to hear some mixing ideas and what plugins are used around here. So count me in!


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## Salorom (Sep 30, 2020)

My, this is one classy music library. This way of producing usually involves narrowing/going mono on a few elements, gentle wow-flutter tape, saturation, transient shaping, 10k roll offs, things like that.


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

This is definitely something I'm interested in. Been wanting to create my own breaks (beats, especially) to slice and chop in Renoise etc. Also demo'd Serato Sample, and had a great deal of fun 'crate-digging' my own compositions.

For the beats, I intend to put together small funk and 'cocktail'-style kits, in BFD3. However, I recently bought Multimono drums from Loopsdelacreme, which is so perfect for this kinda thing. Some deliberatlely-slack finger-drumming, resampled through some reverb, d16 Decimort2, VHS ensemble (Reaktor) and Trash2, with a dash of vinyl crackle, and I reckon I'll be getting pretty close to cooking up my own 'Amen, Brother'...maybe 

A fun thread idea, indeed!


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

Salorom said:


> This way of producing usually involves narrowing/going mono on a few elements



Thanks for the reply! Just curious what you tend to go mono on?


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Some deliberatlely-slack finger-drumming, resampled through some reverb, d16 Decimort2, VHS ensemble (Reaktor) and Trash2, with a dash of vinyl crackle, and I reckon I'll be getting pretty close to cooking up my own 'Amen, Brother'...maybe



I’m excited to hear what you cook up!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

That Winston Brothers track needs a 21st century update. I am looking to program a different type of retro drum loop: those ultra digital sounding My Bloody Valentine - Loveless era drumloops. 



Curve also made great use of the shoegaze style of breaks:



So I need harsh digital slightly bit-reduced Akai S1100 type plugins I reckon. Will experiment. I do plan to program in everything myself, down to the last ghostnotes and variations.


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I’m excited to hear what you cook up!



Likewise! I really enjoyed your dub stylings (Pretty sure that's you), so I imagine you'd take to this type of thing very well.


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## Kent (Sep 30, 2020)

https://goodhertz.co/vulf-comp/ you might enjoy this Boss SP-303-style compressor

A bit more about it:








Goodhertz Vulf Compressor - This Compressor Is AMAZING - Beat Lab


For those of you unfamiliar with Jack Stratton, Vulfpeck, and their signature style of modern jazz-funk then get to searching. Their band has been part of a movement over the last decade to make jazz cool again. Part of their unique sound comes from how they use broken-down and lo-fi to their...




beatlabacademy.com


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Likewise! I really enjoyed your dub stylings (Pretty sure that's you), so I imagine you'd take to this type of thing very well.



Cheers! Perhaps this track? It’s one I did on the Elektron Digitakt a while back. Anyway, yeah, I love dub! Thanks for checking my stuff out. 









STBB559 DimensionsTomorrow vs. Western Kingston (dub)


My entry for STBB559. A bit of dub. All done on the Elektron Digitakt.




soundcloud.app.goo.gl


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## Salorom (Sep 30, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Thanks for the reply! Just curious what you tend to go mono on?


Lots of interesting things on Alex Ball's channel, among which a few 'vintage' sounding orchestral tracks where he covers how he proceeded to recreate said sound. Check his 'My Computer is a 1950s Orchestra' series, for instance 









Alex Ball


Vintage synths, film score breakdowns, tutorials, DIY documentaries, music production and composition. Hopefully you enjoy something here. Thanks for stoppin...




www.youtube.com


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

Salorom said:


> Lots of interesting things on Alex Ball's channel, among which a few 'vintage' sounding orchestral tracks where he covers how he proceeded to recreate said sound. Check his 'My Computer is a 1950s Orchestra' series, for instance
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Oh man, yes! I secretly worship the guy. Haha. His stuff is incredible.


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Cheers! Perhaps this track? It’s one I did on the Elektron Digitakt a while back.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yup! That and 'Seven Alligator Seven' (Different style, of course) ; both of which I seem to have favourited, a few weeks ago. They both have such a great sound.

A while back, I did want to try my hand at dub, but never got around to it (too many backburners; not enough cooking). I was intending to go for something a little 'lighter' (Think 'International Observer'), but would love to know how to get a heavier sound.


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

Salorom said:


> Lots of interesting things on Alex Ball's channel, among which a few 'vintage' sounding orchestral tracks where he covers how he proceeded to recreate said sound. Check his 'My Computer is a 1950s Orchestra' series, for instance
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yup! Awesome stuff!


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> That Winston Brothers track needs a 21st century update. I am looking to program a different type of retro drum loop: those ultra digital sounding My Bloody Valentine - Loveless era drumloops.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




So, now I know what 'shoegaze' is 

I definitely recommend trying out d16's Decimort2 bit/sample reduction plugin, if you haven't already.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

el-bo said:


> So, now I know what 'shoegaze' is
> 
> I definitely recommend trying out d16's Decimort2 bit/sample reduction plugin, if you haven't already.


Thanks! I have not had the pleasure of working with it, will have a look! <3


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

el-bo said:


> A while back, I did want to try my hand at dub, but never got around to it (too many backburners; not enough cooking). I was intending to go for something a little 'lighter' (Think 'International Observer'), but would love to know how to get a heavier sound.



Nice! I dig that. For some reason this and your comment of getting a heavier sound reminded me of a track that Breakbeat Science put out back in the 1990s, that sampled RZA. I used to live around the corner from the Breakbeat Science shop in NYC back then. Brings back lots of good memories from old New York.


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Thanks! I have not had the pleasure of working with it, will have a look! <3



I feel like the plugin-pushing equivalent of Nick O'Teen. "Go on, try it. Just a few minutes won't hurt...Mwah-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!!!"


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

Great. I am instantly reminded of the great breaks of the late nineties dnb scene. I’ve always quite liked these two, especially the second one - that dubby subbass is so cool and the track really lifts off when those pounding breaks finally kick in... awesome (hot) stuff



My dnb highlight of the day:


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Nice! I dig that. For some reason this and your comment of getting a heavier sound reminded me of a track that Breakbeat Science put out back in the 1990s, that sampled RZA. I used to live around the corner from the Breakbeat Science shop in NYC back then. Brings back lots of good memories from old New York.




Haha! So they actually sampled RZA  Lots of different stuff going on in that track. Definitely wasn't expecting the D'n'B drop.

Was also messing around with some Jungle/D'n'B stuff, the other day, in Serato Sample (A plugin I'm surely gonna have to buy. So much fun to be had). When I get my computer back up 'n' running, I might even try a remix of a remix of this heavy beast:

WATCH YOUR BASS BINS!!!!!!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

As far as drum sounds go... I usually quite like Steve Jansen’s snare sound. 


(Oww man, that little section between 3:01 and 4:01 - Mick Karn just killing it on fretless)

This track has also seen some next level drum recording and mix engineering imho:


(bit from 2:52 onwards. God, it is so in your face, love it. Again with that nice basstone Karn usually gets).

So all good things come in threes. To segway back to breakbeat territory. Here’s Mick Karn’s fretless on a dnb flavoured piece:


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## el-bo (Sep 30, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> As far as drum sounds go... I usually quite like Steve Jansen’s snare sound.
> 
> 
> (Oww man, that little section between 3:01 and 4:01 - Mick Karn just killing it on fretless)
> ...




Some beautiful stuff, there.

That first snare, when exposed, had a bit too much 'ring' for my tastes. But it did scale back really nicely, in the mix. Couple of dabs of well-placed duct-tape and it would definitely make a great 'breaks' snare.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Some beautiful stuff, there.
> 
> That first snare, when exposed, had a bit too much 'ring' for my tastes. But it did scale back really nicely, in the mix. Couple of dabs of well-placed duct-tape and it would definitely make a great 'breaks' snare.


I hear you. I secrety like it, that ring.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 30, 2020)

I am planning to do two demo songs in order to test an alpha version of a new viola library next week. One of those two is definitely going to contain some absurdly detailed programmed breakbeat loop or other. I am planning to go all out on mix plugins, tape saturators, channel strips, glue compressors, the works haha.

One of you pointed me to some YT channel by a guy who was a genius creating really authentic sounding seventies breaks, programming them in with Addictive Drums and using all sorts of Waves Kramer Master Tape mayhem and other plugins. He was also wearing a rather cool retro pair of glasses. For the life of me, I can’t remember the chap’s name...

I will keep y’all posted. Thanks for the inspiration.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Sep 30, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I am planning to do two demo songs in order to test an alpha version of a new viola library next week. One of those two is definitely going to contain some absurdly detailed programmed breakbeat loop or other. I am planning to go all out on mix plugins, tape saturators, channel strips, glue compressors, the works haha.
> 
> One of you pointed me to some YT channel by a guy who was a genius creating really authentic sounding seventies breaks, programming them in with Addictive Drums and using all sorts of Waves Kramer Master Tape mayhem and other plugins. He was also wearing a rather cool retro pair of glasses. For the life of me, I can’t remember the chap’s name...
> 
> I will keep y’all posted. Thanks for the inspiration.



This is the series. All credit to him for the name of the thread as well.


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## Kent (Sep 30, 2020)

man, he's gotta check the 'keming' on his Cooper Black.


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## John Longley (Sep 30, 2020)

Listen to Venetian Snares until you find the secret.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

John Longley said:


> Listen to Venetian Snares until you find the secret.



Awesomeness!! Venetian freaking Snares mate. It’s been a while since I engaged in a conversation where that name got mentioned. 100 points.


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## John Longley (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Awesomeness!! Venetian freaking Snares mate. It’s been a while since I engaged in a conversation where that name got mentioned. 100 points.


Mr. Funk is a fine Canadian.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

John Longley said:


> Mr. Funk is a fine Canadian.


Canadian is a cool adjective that can be used in sentences such as: 

“Rush’ Signals album is a prime example of how cool an Oberheim OB-Xa can sound in a progressive setting”
“Yes it sounds totally Canadian”

“Whoa. That Deadmau5 “I Remember” track is such an anthem”
“Yes, extremely Canadian innit?”


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## John Longley (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Canadian is a cool adjective that can be used in sentences such as:
> 
> “Rush’ Signals album is a prime example of how cool an Oberheim OB-Xa can sound in a progressive setting”
> “Yes it sounds totally Canadian”
> ...


I'm not sure if you've been to Winnipeg, but it's secretly a great little music city. Everybody from the Guess Who in the 70s to progressive thrash punk gods Propaghandi to Snares... Cold AF in the winter though.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

John Longley said:


> I'm not sure if you've been to Winnipeg, but it's secretly a great little music city. Everybody from the Guess Who in the 70s to progressive thrash punk gods Propaghandi to Snares... Cold AF in the winter though.


I have visited the North American continent three times - all of which brought me to the Atlantic coast. NYC twice and Montreal once. The latter visit was my most recent one (january 2012). Great city. Cool people. And cold, although I suspect Winnipeg will be even colder. IIRC I used to have a Bill Nelson gig bootlegged on an old Maxell IIS cassette tape, recorded in Winnipeg. There are loads of Canadian musicians that I love and respect! And my only visit to the country was great.


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## John Longley (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I have visited the North American continent three times - all of which brought me to the Atlantic coast. NYC twice and Montreal once. The latter visit was my most recent one (january 2020). Great city. Cool people. And cold, although I suspect Winnipeg will be even colder. IIRC I used to have a Bill Nelson gig bootlegged on an old Maxell IIS cassette tape, recorded in Winnipeg. There are loads of Canadian musicians that I love and respect! And my only visit to the country was great.


Montreal is a great city. You did well to start there.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

John Longley said:


> Montreal is a great city. You did well to start there.


It had a European vibe almost. I also loved the food there. And the fact I could use my restricted knowledge of the French language. Great city. I hope to return to Canada some day.


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> This is the series. All credit to him for the name of the thread as well.




Fantastic stuff!! Barry really can fake the funk!!

Will watch the other parts later, but I’m definitely more excited about giving it a go 

Edited: Thought better about what I wanted to convey.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Fantastic stuff!! Barry sounds like a trainspotter, but Fuck can he fake the funk!!
> 
> Will watch the other parts later, but I’m definitely more excited about giving it a go



You’ll love the rest of the series! Too bad we can’t get him on here. Check his other videos as well. They are a lot of fun.

I’m looking forward to hearing other people’s stuff for inspiration. I’m hoping to dive in a bit myself this weekend. I’m still deciding how I want to approach what I am going after, so it’s going to take a bit of planning.


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## Mornats (Oct 1, 2020)

This is worth looking into as a plugin https://www.pluginboutique.com/prod...16-XLN-Audio-RC-20-Retro-Color-Vintage-Effect

I think I grabbed it on a silly sale for around £20-30.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

I am having lots of fun with this kit at the moment:



Plugins I have in use, are:
- Waves NLS
- IKM Saturator X
- Waves Kramer Master Tape
- compressor still TBD


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

Mornats said:


> This is worth looking into as a plugin https://www.pluginboutique.com/prod...16-XLN-Audio-RC-20-Retro-Color-Vintage-Effect
> 
> I think I grabbed it on a silly sale for around £20-30.


I have recently looked at that one. Seems cool. Wasn’t it you @DimensionsTomorrow who mentioned it? In the 70s TV Tune thread?


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Oct 1, 2020)

Mornats said:


> This is worth looking into as a plugin https://www.pluginboutique.com/prod...16-XLN-Audio-RC-20-Retro-Color-Vintage-Effect
> 
> I think I grabbed it on a silly sale for around £20-30.



That’s one of my favorites. I use it on almost every tune.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I have recently looked at that one. Seems cool. Wasn’t it you @DimensionsTomorrow who mentioned it? In the 70s TV Tune thread?



Yep. It was in the thread on tape plugins.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> That’s one of my favorites. I use it on almost every tune.


I knew it was you.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I am having lots of fun with this kit at the moment:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Those drums sound good!


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

Mornats said:


> This is worth looking into as a plugin https://www.pluginboutique.com/prod...16-XLN-Audio-RC-20-Retro-Color-Vintage-Effect
> 
> I think I grabbed it on a silly sale for around £20-30.



It’s seems to be the plugin du jour for the current crop of Hip-Hop and Trap artists.

I’ve yet to be convinced to buy it because as convenient as it would be to have all the functionality of these fx in the same place, I prefer the flexibility I get from mixing-and-matching different, specialised plugs.

However, an insane flash-sale price might have me tempted


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I am having lots of fun with this kit at the moment:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Does this player have a multi-out version? The drums sound lovely, albeit a little ‘polite’ Independent processing, on the way in, would really help.


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

And I know I mentioned it earlier, but I’ll restate my recommendation for the LDLC Multi Mono drums. Very simple, and not too flexible. But it does come with a really great selection of production-ready kits:


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> It’s seems to be the plugin du jour for the current crop of Hip-Hop and Trap artists.
> 
> I’ve yet to be convinced to buy it because as convenient as it would be to have all the functionality of these fx in the same place, I prefer the flexibility I get from mixing-and-matching different, specialised plugs.
> 
> However, an insane flash-sale price might have me tempted



Definitely. If you’ve ever watched any of the Kenny Beats stuff on YouTube he uses that and Wavesfactory Cassette on nearly everything.

I have a lot of different soundshaping plugins, but RC-20 is one I always come back to (or layer with other stuff). For me, it’s kind of indispensable.

That said, I’m keen to try Decimort (Barry Beats loves that one too) and the Volf compressor that has been mentioned here.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Does this player have a multi-out version? The drums sound lovely, albeit a little ‘polite’ Independent processing, on the way in, would really help.


@DSmolken help me out here, way too technical question


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> And I know I mentioned it earlier, but I’ll restate my recommendation for the LDLC Multi Mono drums. Very simple, and not too flexible. But it does come with a really great selection of production-ready kits:



Yes, I had already put these on my watch list!


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Those drums sound good!


He also has a $9 little kit that I have also purchased. More of a brushed type thing I believe... need to look at it more deeply still. Very cool stuff.


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## DimensionsTomorrow (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> And I know I mentioned it earlier, but I’ll restate my recommendation for the LDLC Multi Mono drums. Very simple, and not too flexible. But it does come with a really great selection of production-ready kits:




I don’t have that one, but I have Double Cream Drums and Manhattan Drums. Both are excellent as well. I really like his stuff.

I might try to do short test tracks with both, just to hear how they sound in the mix as I haven’t had a chance to make anything with them yet. Maybe that will be the music project for this weekend while I plan out the bigger project in my head a bit more.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when things are too open-ended I tend to have trouble focusing, that’s why I used to love participating in a weekly beat battle. When I was forced to limit myself to some specific material or rules, the tracks would just come together and the time constraints meant that I couldn’t spend forever fussing with it (or worse deleting it or never finishing it). In the end, the stuff may not be perfect, but I could chalk it up to that’s what I was able to do in half a day on a Sunday. Sorry, I’m rambling. :D


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Does this player have a multi-out version? The drums sound lovely, albeit a little ‘polite’ Independent processing, on the way in, would really help.


There ARE individual instruments, so you can load up an instance of the kick, snare, toms and cymbals as individual “player” in a single track.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> I don’t know about the rest of you, but when things are too open-ended I tend to have trouble focusing, that’s why I used to love participating in a weekly beat battle. When I was forced to limit myself to some specific material or rules, the tracks would just come together and the time constraints meant that I couldn’t spend forever fussing with it (or worse deleting it or never finishing it). In the end, the stuff may not be perfect, but I could chalk it up to that’s what I was able to do in half a day on a Sunday. Sorry, I’m rambling. :D


This works every time. If you like Southpark at all (hell, even if you don’t) I highly recommend the documentary Six Days To Air. It deals with the same principle and has been a compelling watch for me. I think it is on Youtube.


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

It is:


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## doctoremmet (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> He also has a $9 little kit that I have also purchased. More of a brushed type thing I believe... need to look at it more deeply still. Very cool stuff.


Oooh! Those $9 Swirly Drums are out of this world lovely stuff. Definitely going to craft some breaks with these.


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## DSmolken (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Does this player have a multi-out version? The drums sound lovely, albeit a little ‘polite’ Independent processing, on the way in, would really help.


Nope, stereo out only - I made patches that let you load just kick, or just snare, or just toms, for mixing.


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

DSmolken said:


> Nope, stereo out only - I made patches that let you load just kick, or just snare, or just toms, for mixing.



Thanks! It's not a bad way of working, unless there are things like seperate overhead channels to consider.

How is the CPU hit for the SFZ player?


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Oooh! Those $9 Swirly Drums are out of this world lovely stuff. Definitely going to craft some breaks with these.




Sounds great! Awesome value :D


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> This works every time. If you like Southpark at all (hell, even if you don’t) I highly recommend the documentary Six Days To Air. It deals with the same principle and has been a compelling watch for me. I think it is on Youtube.



Also, If you like BT (hell, even if you don't)  I recommend listening to mylarmelodies' interview with BT. It contains so many gems, with regard to workflow practices and disciplines that allow him (BT) to manage to keep focus, despite being surrounded by more options than most of us are likely to ever encounter. Brutal cuts/edits, commtting-to-audio etc. are just some ideas that remove the temptation/ability to keep tweaking.



His studio tour:


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## el-bo (Oct 1, 2020)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> Definitely. If you’ve ever watched any of the Kenny Beats stuff on YouTube he uses that and Wavesfactory Cassette on nearly everything.
> 
> I have a lot of different soundshaping plugins, but RC-20 is one I always come back to (or layer with other stuff). For me, it’s kind of indispensable.
> 
> That said, I’m keen to try Decimort (Barry Beats loves that one too) and the Volf compressor that has been mentioned here.



Will check out Kenny Beats. 'Cassette' is another one I passed on. While not aiming a the same medium, the VHS Reaktor ensemble (Free from the user-library) has everything I currently need to get all 'Boards' about it 

Not saying the alternatives I reach for are better, per se. Just that limited funds have me trying my best to use things I already have, as opposed to similar (but certainly more convenient) plugs like 'Cassette' and RC-20.

As for Volf: Seem to remember trying the demo, some years back. The thing SPANKS!!, but it's out of my current price-range.

And yeah! Definitely check out Decimort 

Edited: For written nonsense


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## DSmolken (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Thanks! It's not a bad way of working, unless there are things like seperate overhead channels to consider.
> 
> How is the CPU hit for the SFZ player?


CPU is very low, even if running multiple instances. If you want overheads separate, well, yeah, then you can do multiple instances of the full kit with different mics on in each instance, so it gets annoying, but doable. But I recorded the whole thing with four mics in my living room, so there aren't like multiple sets of overheads or room mics or any of that.

Is the Rattly & Raw Martin France Drums kit not available anymore? That's where I got a lot of the ideas about shortening drums with envelopes and allowing pitching samples up by more than an octave, I remember that had some breaks presets.


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## CATDAD (Oct 1, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Will check out Kenny Beats. 'Cassette' is another one I passed on. While not aiming a the same medium, the VHS ensemble (Free from the user-library) has everything I currently need to get all 'Boards' about it
> 
> Not saying the alternatives I reach for are better, per se. Just that limited funds have me seeking novel things, as opposed to similar (but certainly more convenient) plugs like 'Cassette' and RC-20.



For me RC-20 was definitely a workflow thing. I had all the tools it has already, but having one plug that gives less control with the chain has been beneficial, because it makes the track its on feel more like an older recording to /me/. Almost like I'm using an old sampler or re-recording a bootleg cassette. I can just slap it on, dial it in, and move on and mix it later. What I was looking for was a single plug that felt like I was plainly passing audio tracks through a single old-ass machine and I got it.

If you already have a go-to that does that for you and your funds are limited, you'd probably be better spending elsewhere!


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## el-bo (Oct 3, 2020)

DSmolken said:


> CPU is very low, even if running multiple instances. If you want overheads separate, well, yeah, then you can do multiple instances of the full kit with different mics on in each instance, so it gets annoying, but doable. But I recorded the whole thing with four mics in my living room, so there aren't like multiple sets of overheads or room mics or any of that.



Actually, I suppose I'm somewhat contradicting myself. Ultimately, I do want the simplicity and sound cohesion that comes from a minimal mic set-up, so not sure why I'm enquiring about the possibility of processing single elements  

I actually have BFD for when I want to get that kind of detail. But I find it pretty overwhelming, especially for this kind of aesthetic. That's why I ended up buying the MultiMono library. It's the diametric opposite i.e, just plug 'n' play.

Will eventually probably end up trying to emulate this kind of simplified style in BFD, as I'll be able to tap into a huge variety of source material. But for the moment, these smaller libraries will have to do. Will be sure to buy at least one of yours, at some point



DSmolken said:


> Is the Rattly & Raw Martin France Drums kit not available anymore? That's where I got a lot of the ideas about shortening drums with envelopes and allowing pitching samples up by more than an octave, I remember that had some breaks presets.



Had never heard of that library, but it is still available









Martin France Drums Legacy — Rattly and Raw


Go to Checkout Here! To purchase additional products, add at checkout. Licensed to Native Instruments, making it compatible with the free Kontakt Player. Beautiful acoustic drum kits & cymbals. Wrapped in an elegant interface and powered by an advanced voice handling script, Martin F




www.rattlyandraw.com


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## el-bo (Oct 3, 2020)

CATDAD said:


> For me RC-20 was definitely a workflow thing. I had all the tools it has already, but having one plug that gives less control with the chain has been beneficial, because it makes the track its on feel more like an older recording to /me/. Almost like I'm using an old sampler or re-recording a bootleg cassette. I can just slap it on, dial it in, and move on and mix it later. What I was looking for was a single plug that felt like I was plainly passing audio tracks through a single old-ass machine and I got it.
> 
> If you already have a go-to that does that for you and your funds are limited, you'd probably be better spending elsewhere!



Don't get me wrong, I do understand the benefits of the one-window, channel-strip workflow, even if just from a reduced clutter perspective. And it can get a bit unwieldly when having to switch between multiple windows. However, when it comes to processing like this, I'm more likely to only be using it on a few tracks. I'm also likely to keep it on a seperate track, passing audio through it, and resampling it.

I do also appreciate the idea that the one-box approach might give more of an impression of a real hardware unit, and how that might give a sense of being more cohesive, but in reality I don't see the actual results as being any different. This is even more the case when this type of processing imparts such a glueing effect e.g slamming to-tape, such that all these disparate processing plugins make up one very (in)distinct whole


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