I'm going to start a thread where we can point out sample collections which are for sale ( :( ) but which
are compatible with the 2box, and which seem to be of worthwhile quality. Ah, but also which do not involve
a midi setup. Things which can be loaded directly onto the brain with Louis's DsoundTool.
N.B. Now is not the time to buy of course with new sounds from 2box coming out
any time now!!!
There don't seem to be many packages out there which qualify, and that's why I think this thread would be useful
in the long run.... unless anybody knows where you can get a ton of good stuff for free! Wish I did.
Here's 3 for sale which I have come across:
http://www.naturaldrum.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=58
http://www.crashbang.co.nz/
http://impactsoundworks.com/products/percussion/groove-bias-vintage-drum-sounds
I'm not saying I recommend them, just that they are there. I will write up a brief review of the first 2 soon. Havn't tried the
Groove Bias.
If you know of any more please can you add them to the thread, and what you think if you've used them.
I've put this in the wrong section havn't I? Can it be moved to software.
Rock on
:drum3:
Only the Groove Bias are in *.wav format?
QuoteOnly the Groove Bias are in *.wav format?
NDK also are in wav..
from the website:
"The DVDs include installer applications to decompress the files to wav format"
NDK is about 20 GB, then we'd need to 'upgrade' to the 32 GB SD card as mentioned on another thread though.
Quote from: p929 on November 20, 2010, 10:51:39 PM
NDK is about 20 GB, then we'd need to 'upgrade' to the 32 GB SD card as mentioned on another thread though.
Only if you plan on copying every single sample from NDK into the 2Box, which I think most people won't need...
Either way there are 20 GB and 10 kits(counting cymbals as 1 kit), which roughly means 2 GB per kit, as we'd need to copy at least 2 kits (cymbals + another), it will use all 4 GB we have available now.
I'm not saying we should do it that way, however just now I realized that 4 GB, which at first glance seemed to be 'more than enough' actually are not.
Now what about the pearl E-pro, whose advertisement claims an 'huge' capacity of 128 MB?? ::)
128 mb is enough for those bad Alesis sounds.
Quote from: puttenvr on November 21, 2010, 08:22:47 AM
128 mb is enough for those bad Alesis sounds.
lol very true Putt! Seriously, the e-pro is a nice accoustic trigger set, but that alesis module is just awful. I think we should introduce a fine for members who even mention the damn thing ;)
Hopefully the following may be of interest. Since my module just gone kaput (flash card issue I suppose),
I have had time to put pen to paper.
THE NATURAL DRUM KIT
This is not a recommendation or a review. But since I'm using it I may as well share my thoughts.
Just a bit of extra info that you may or may not find helpful.
The 2box kit plays and sounds great straight from the... two boxes (plus 1). But you may have
a preference for a certain kind of sound and want to add to the sounds you have available. After all
that's one of the great things about the 'open box' format. I was especially looking for a cleaner, crisper
sounding hihat with less "sticking" in the sound. And toms with a richer, tighter but still resonant kind
of sound. More like my old deep, double-ended toms.
As far as I can make out the NDK has been available for free in the past, and it might still be worth
trying to hunt a free copy down. As it is, at the moment, it has apparently been bought up by some venture
capitalists, and you can pay to download it. It must be said, the download manager works very well.
I have a rubbish connection but I left it running one afternoon and by next morning most of the 6GB had
arrived. Decompressed the whole thing weighs in at about 20GB.
It is more or less one medium size kit which has been "extensively sampled". Different tunings. Sticks,
brushes, mallets, hands, etc. It even includes "air swipes". These are the sounds of sticks, mallets, etc,
moving through the air. In a word (or 2) - air drums! I find these are great late at night when you don't
want to disturb the neighbours! Depending on your expectations you might find it all a bit samey, or all very
useful in a subtle kind of way. There are lots of other (maybe useful) extra things as well -- brush hit on
snare but also swishing motion, press strokes with stick on snare...... you can get lots of details from
the website.
I think there are real possibilities for choosing between the sounds and fine tuning to get close to what
you really want. For instance I've loaded up a few variations on the 13 inch hihat - very tight when the
pedal is fully closed, bit more loose, etc etc. Overall, sound quality is very good and I think it has the
potential to make the 2box even more of a real musical instrument that it already is. The guy that did
the original project definitely knew what he was doing.
The samples are all 48KHz, 24 bit, WAV files. For any given bit of the kit there are probably more samples than
we need - left hand strikes, right hand strikes, inaudible, very loud, etc etc. To load them via the
DsoundTool you will need to convert them to 44.1KHz. I hadn't noticed this before I paid and at first I
thought - sh!t!!
What I've done is download Sound Forge Pro 10. You get a 30 day free trial. This has a very well designed
batch conversion feature so you can set it to convert handfuls of folders at 48Khz and get back renamed
44Khz files in similar folder structures. In the end I found this wasn't a real problem at all. SF10 seems
to have pretty much state of the art downsampling, dithering tools, etc etc, so I thought better to let SF
reduce the bit depth from 24 to 16 at the same time (rather than expect module to convert on the fly???).
I used Louis's DsoundTool to make up some tom files and some hihats. For me these offer a clear
improvement over the loaded sounds and happen to be more like what I was looking for. The toms in bop tuning
are reverberant and rich in overtones, plenty of bounce, but they don't hang around too long. Similar to the
maple drums from 2box but even more real. I also chose the same but with added buzz from
the snare! Lovely. The 13inch hihat sounds clean and smooth but with plenty of bite if that's what you want,
and it's been pretty much sampled to death.... from open to closed in 16 different amounts, and that's top and edge
with sticks, brushes, mallets, hands, etc etc.
Straight away these toms and hihat became the core around which I choose other kit options. I find myself
dialing in the NDK snares a lot as well. On the other hand I havn't had so much success with the ride and crash
cymbals yet. For one thing -- even tho I used the "max vol" option on the DsoundTool -- they still seem a lot
quieter than they should be. Also, I tend to tune my cymbals up - which you can't do if you make your own DSND
file (see the dsnd threads). When I've got time I'm going to use SF to shift the pitches up a few semitones before
I load them. I havn't even started to explore the splashes, kicks, etc.
All in all I have to say I do like it. It's not exactly cheap but you do get enough sounds to keep you
experimenting for a LONG time. I guess the bottom line is - if some of the sounds end up being your sounds of
choice, then it's well worth the cash and the trouble. I don't want to persuade you to try it yourself. Hopefully the
point of this thread is just to share experiences and info about what is available.
Quote from: Baby Samus on November 20, 2010, 11:52:46 PM
Only if you plan on copying every single sample from NDK into the 2Box, which I think most people won't need...
Exactly! Just dip into it and mix and match.... 8)
Quote from: puttenvr on November 20, 2010, 01:52:47 PM
Only the Groove Bias are in *.wav format?
They will all work but you do have to downsample the NDK to 44.1 first or the DsoundTool won't work. I think it's
correct to say that the module can play 48KHz files (once they're in there) so maybe with a later version of the editor....
Continuing this thread.
Another kit available
This is the Jet City sample pack from StudioCat. It looks well worth checking out.
49usd gets you 16GB of samples. The packs come with all the samples available as
individual WAV files. I checked with the cat and there are generally 25 velocity layers
for each bit, with also "several" slightly different hits for each of the 25 layers - so that
sounds like some good DSND files cd be made.
I'll be handing over my dollars sometime soon so I'll keep you posted.
:drum3:
and a couple of other updates.
1. I've now made some cymbals from the Natural Drum Kit, crashes and rides.
They sound great, very crisp, clean and musical -- in fact too much so, they don't
really have enough of an edge to cut through the mix - all but the initial strike tends
to get lost in the mix. To give you some idea - I'm now using the BOW of the 20inch
ride as a bell sound and it has a lovely full sounding and clean ring - for a bell!
2. Howling Dog - havn't really ended up making a lot of use of this. I like the toms -
they're vicious! and sound like you're attacking them with a steam powered sledge
hammer. But overall you don't get a lot for your hard earned it seems to me.
I need to add an update about the Studio Cat sample set that I said should be readily compatible
with a 2box kit.
I've bought it, downloaded it, and it turns out to be different from what I was expecting.
I havn't succeeded in getting any simple WAV files out from it yet. The files are compressed using
NI's format and you need to load them into a Kontakt player and then re-export them.
What comes out is supposed to be an 8 channel WAV but I havn't been able to play these.
If you are familiar with using midi, DAWs, etc etc you probably wouldn't have a problem but I'm
not, and I do.....
Anyway, this thread is supposed to be about packs that can easily be converted using the DSound tool.
I'll keep you posted, but as it stands at the moment I wouldn't get it unless you really know what
you're doing, and in that case you'll already be using SD or similar I guess :)
Hi Slappy,
You could try to use Reaper if you are using Windows, it has a 30 day free license and is otherwise cheap compared to some other tools. I have never used the Kontakt player but this is how it should work:
Try to locate the Kontakt player plugin from Reaper, and when you have done that you can create a new track "insert virtual instrument on new track".
On that track you then can insert a media file. Insert a midi file that you have created using DSoundTool (menu Tools/Generate Midi file).
Then play the midi file and bounce it to a wave file. You may have to repeat this once for every zone (e.g. bell, bow, edge for cymbals, different open levels for hihat)
Finally you can convert the obtained wave filesto a dsnd file using DSoundTool, using menu option Dsnd/Generate .dsnd file.
The procedure should be quite similar with other DAWs.
I hope that gets you started... Good luck!
Hi Louis - thanks for that. I may have a go..... but the problem is it's all too much for my poor old
brain. I have downloaded Reaper (trial), but soon as I open it my head begins to spin!
We'll see..... :)
Another set of multivelocity samples in wav format - to buy :(
http://www.voxengo.com/group/drum-samples/#acd-hh14-sb-hh-r
It has the advantage that you can buy just an individual bit of a kit if you
prefer - eg nearly 1400 different Hi-hat samples for 15usd.
There are individual demo samples clearly laid out on the page, so it's easy to find
out if you like them.
Quote from: Slap the drummer on April 06, 2011, 07:27:53 PM
Another set of multivelocity samples in wav format - to buy :(
http://www.voxengo.com/group/drum-samples/#acd-hh14-sb-hh-r
It has the advantage that you can buy just an individual bit of a kit if you
prefer - eg nearly 1400 different Hi-hat samples for 15usd.
There are individual demo samples clearly laid out on the page, so it's easy to find
out if you like them.
Thanks for the tip. I just bought the HH and the Maple Snare, thought I'd start with that ... especially the HH ... Jerry
Big TWO THUMBS UP for your input Slap!!!
SCARY ....yup, I'm Sample Illiterate.... So the whole process was with fear and trembling. I bought NDK last night. Downloaded the trial of Sound Forge this morning ...... 1st off .... the amount of samples in the NDK pack is .... well ... let me put it this way .... I started the download of NDK last night about 11 or 12 midnite ... don't remember exactly. What I do know is I have a fairly fast Net connection ... so I thought nothin of it .... about 3 in the morning the download and installation was done ..... just a whole sh_tload of high quality wave files!!!
I've sent Slap plenty of questions .... but mostly it is just a question of going through the conversion and dsnd building process the first time ..... then it is a piece of cake .... after creating my first snare .... my second one only took a couple minutes .... OK, I'm gonna work on creating a bunch of new snares, HH's, toms and kicks ....
I've only built 2 14" snare so far, one mtl. one Rock ... but already I have forgotten about the $$$ investment .... not sorry a bit.
With Louis' Dsoundtool the whole process now is relatively painless .....
Plus One more fan for the NDK samples .... glad for the addition.....
And big thanks to Slap .... you da drummer MAN :animal: J
Wow amazing sounds there! Thanks for the heads up mate!
Seeing how the collaboration between 2box and BFD just went down the drain, it would be interesting if 2box could do some business with these smaller companies. I would gladly pay for the module to include already some extra hihat samples like this from voxengo. It's not that hard enough is it?
I could picture it like this:
1. User buys 2 box preloaded with the instruments we already know
2. 2box indicates somewhere in the manual or website, that they offer the capability to load more samples from NDK, Voxengo etc. for an extra price.
3. User buys this add-ons and receives a .dnsd which can load onto the module without having to go through the tedious process of converting and bouncing and whatnot
4. User is ecstatic and recommends the 2box to all his neighbours, cousins and girlfriends :animal:
What do you think 2box? is just business....
:animal: :patbat2box: :drum2: :drum3:
I'm dancin here .... oh yeah ..... 3rd time's a charm .... my first 2 HH sound building attempts were .... eh ..... OK ..... but I am starting to get the hang of this sucka now .... I just built a 292MB HH based on the 13" NDK stk HH .... Full open, Fully closed, 5 middle transitions plus foot splash and foot chick .... and it sounds marvelous ..... thanks Slap .... finally hearing what I was lookin for and getting a response I can predict on the HH transitions ..... lovin this .... been at it all day ... but time well spent .... Cool .... J ;D :rock:
Are we able to (anyhow) share in this joy by hearing (or using) those sounds ?
Quote from: puttenvr on May 01, 2011, 05:23:25 AM
Are we able to (anyhow) share in this joy by hearing (or using) those sounds ?
Hey Put .... wazzzzup? I'm workin my fingers to the bone this weekend .... converting NDK files, then building some new instruments with dsoundtool ... but I'll put up a demo in the next week or so. I've come from the VH-12 type response of the TD-20X .... and frankly that is a pretty darn nice responding HH .... I can honestly say now though that the D5 HH can have marvelous playability with the right dsnd files.... IMO the biggest problem is the lack of samples/transitions in the stock HH .dsnd files ... after building a couple with 5 middle transitions and the max no of files for each zone allowed on the drumit 5 .... I'm smilin! I would say my HH is now equal to or better than the response of the VH-12 on the TD-20X ... and the sounds are ..... well ..... REAL!
As far as sharing dsnd's ..... I guess that is a good topic for discussion .... I could definitely see sharing files between members that own the particular sample pack used .... But that is kind of shakey ground with VST's cause I've already read that companies like BFD, and Superior wouldn't even want us doing that! So, I'll leave that topic for another thread ..... OK, got 1 HH I am totally pleased with so far..... a couple nice snares ..... time to play with a kick or 2 .... later, J
I think maybe I should have stressed something a bit more......
It really is very easy to turn a sample library like these into 2box sounds.
I can't really get my head round things like midi and VST and all the rest, but this
I picked up from scratch no probs. You just need some patience because it is a
chore.... but it's dead straightforward..... maybe Jerry will back me up on this :)
:patbat2box:
Just had a newsletter from Analogue Drums.....
two new kits from the makers of BIG MONO: kingpin and plastique, 40usd each
http://www.analoguedrums.com/products.php
Looks like they're now offering more substantial sampling than their earlier kits.
Quote from: Slap the drummer on May 02, 2011, 09:26:12 AM
I think maybe I should have stressed something a bit more......
It really is very easy to turn a sample library like these into 2box sounds.
I can't really get my head round things like midi and VST and all the rest, but this
I picked up from scratch no probs. You just need some patience because it is a
chore.... but it's dead straightforward..... maybe Jerry will back me up on this :)
:patbat2box:
Very Easy .... for instance: with NDK the waves have to be converted from 48KHZ to 44KHZ first, but with Sound Forge that is easy too and you can convert lots of folders at the same time. Most of the instruments you just take the entire folder of waves and turn them directly into dsnd's. I created 10 kicks in less than an hour, same thing with snares. The max number of samples for one zone is 99 .... so let's say a kick has less than that already .... just take the entire folder and make that into a dsnd in Dsoundtool. If the drum you are making has 105 files in the folder, just delete 6 of the files and do the same. I had little clue about the whole process before last weekend ... and now it is a piece of cake.
I was inquiring about VST libraries and usable WAV files on another forum ... one member mentioned a software tool ... Extreme Sample Converter: http://www.extranslator.com/index.php?page=exsc
Not sure if anyone has ever looked into that .... but I was told you could take a VST program and convert to WAV .... thought it was worth mentioning .... dunno....
Quote from: Jman on May 04, 2011, 04:54:22 AM
I was inquiring about VST libraries and usable WAV files on another forum ... one member mentioned a software tool ... Extreme Sample Converter: http://www.extranslator.com/index.php?page=exsc
Not sure if anyone has ever looked into that .... but I was told you could take a VST program and convert to WAV .... thought it was worth mentioning .... dunno....
I wish I understood these things. Can anybody clarify this?
Wd this mean we cd take something like the Abbey Road sets from Native Instruments and translate
them into wav files without too much complicated hassle? (Obviously we wd have to buy the Abbey
Road stuff first).
I love the look of those drum libraries.
Jet City Update
Going back a few posts, I bought this but didn't get what I was expecting.
Anyway, Jim from StudioCat has kindly made available stereo versions of the
8 channel files, and I've finally finished downloading them.
49usd gets you 17gig of high quality samples, so on paper it looks to be pretty
good value.
I'm starting a new thread under Software where I'll just jot down my random thoughts
as I go along.
Quote from: Slap the drummer on May 08, 2011, 11:24:10 PM
Jet City Update
Going back a few posts, I bought this but didn't get what I was expecting.
Anyway, Jim from StudioCat has kindly made available stereo versions of the
8 channel files, and I've finally finished downloading them.
49usd gets you 17gig of high quality samples, so on paper it looks to be pretty
good value.
I'm starting a new thread under Software where I'll just jot down my random thoughts
as I go along.
Definitely looking forward to your thoughts on this one ...
Also: The Analogue Drums ... especially the Plastique kit sounds really good to me... but I have my doubts whether there will be sufficient layers to get decent dsnds from it without doing a lot of extra work. ???