POLL: A-List Drums & Virtual Drummer

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Which of the following statements best describes your intentions?

Own A-List Drums, and will be upgrading to Virtual Drummer (or already have)
16
31%
Own A-List Drums, and am undecided on upgrading to Virtual Drummer
2
4%
Own A-List Drums, and will not be upgrading to Virtual Drummer
9
17%
Don't own A-List Drums, but will be buying Virtual Drummer
1
2%
Don't own A-List Drums, and am undecided on buying Virtual Drummer
6
12%
Not interested in buying Virtual Drummer
18
35%
 
Total votes: 52
Proboscis
Posts: 1004
Joined: 28 Aug 2019

11 Sep 2019

Since the announcement of uJam Virtual Drummer series, there has been plenty of active discussion. It would be interesting to get some figures on what people's intentions are to upgrade/purchase.

This poll applies to all, whether you have none, 1, 2 or the whole three (or are interested in them)

I am currently developing a few interactive Combinators focused on the A-List, and if I can achieve what I want to do, will be releasing a Refill at some point in late September. However I am considering whether to stick with it, shift my focus to the Virtual Drummer, or both.
Last edited by Proboscis on 11 Sep 2019, edited 1 time in total.

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way2cool
Posts: 61
Joined: 29 Aug 2019

11 Sep 2019

I want to play real drum

future-bit
Posts: 167
Joined: 07 May 2017

11 Sep 2019

Image
Last edited by future-bit on 07 Dec 2020, edited 1 time in total.

JunctionArsonist
Posts: 38
Joined: 23 Sep 2018

11 Sep 2019

Virtual drummer has a better interface (can audition clips and samples with the mouse) and has additional rhythm presets so it was enough for me to upgrade. I live in an expensive city so it's easy for me to rationalize spending 50 Canadian dollars

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reddust
Posts: 677
Joined: 07 May 2018

11 Sep 2019

Not interested in this, when I program drums I prefer to write my own rhythms completely from scratch and be as much flexible as I can when it comes to sounds, accentuation, velocity... that's why I use BFD3, Maschine, Umpf... and Reason's sequencer

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gullum
Posts: 1278
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: Faroe Islands
Contact:

11 Sep 2019

reddust wrote:
11 Sep 2019
Not interested in this, when I program drums I prefer to write my own rhythms completely from scratch and be as much flexible as I can when it comes to sounds, accentuation, velocity... that's why I use BFD3, Maschine, Umpf... and Reason's sequencer
Same here but Virtual drummer and A-list drummer can be play and program like normal drum kits. I already have all A-List so not really tempted even though there are more kits in the Virtual drummer

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ShelLuser
Posts: 358
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

11 Sep 2019

I upgraded and I'm very happy with both instruments (A-List & Virtual). Both have differences between them but I definitely prefer the virtual series because of their customization options, the 'feed-back interface' and obviously the sound of the instruments.

In fact... the upgrade also persuaded me to nab the beatmaker & bassist bundle and all in all I'm quite happy with the results.

Back on topic... My all time favorite instrument to go to for percussion is still Kong (I even prefer Kong over Live's drum racks) but at the same time the virtual drummer series can provide for a nice and quick background to use.
--- :reason:

Proboscis
Posts: 1004
Joined: 28 Aug 2019

11 Sep 2019

reddust wrote:
11 Sep 2019
Not interested in this, when I program drums I prefer to write my own rhythms completely from scratch and be as much flexible as I can when it comes to sounds, accentuation, velocity... that's why I use BFD3, Maschine, Umpf... and Reason's sequencer
The A-List/uJam certainly isn't for everybody, it really depends on the style of music that's being made, since they are what I would call 'organic' loops. Not suited for most electronic styles. What I compose is usually a hybrid of styles though, and 'real' sounding bass & drums is a part of that. Not being one for using loops, and definitely not one for the pre-made Player sequences, but I give myself a bit of grace with drums, since I simply cannot compose drum parts that sound even close to natural playing. That said, I do like to heavily customize the loops, slicing out sections of pre-made phrases and rearranging them to suit my needs.

Do you have a song that showcases your best DIY drums from scratch ? Would love to hear it, and what you can achieve.

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reddust
Posts: 677
Joined: 07 May 2018

12 Sep 2019

gullum wrote:
11 Sep 2019
Same here but Virtual drummer and A-list drummer can be play and program like normal drum kits. I already have all A-List so not really tempted even though there are more kits in the Virtual drummer
That's good to know, then they might be indeed interesting if I can use them as the samples I use from the machine expansions...
Last edited by reddust on 18 Sep 2019, edited 1 time in total.

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gullum
Posts: 1278
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: Faroe Islands
Contact:

13 Sep 2019

just decided to change my vote I will not be upgrading I don't use the patterns and therefore think I get enough out of the A-list bundle

Proboscis
Posts: 1004
Joined: 28 Aug 2019

14 Sep 2019

gullum wrote:
13 Sep 2019
just decided to change my vote I will not be upgrading I don't use the patterns and therefore think I get enough out of the A-list bundle
That's a fair call. The A-List is already a powerful series of plugins, as I am discovering since the uJam announcement. In the past week I've spent more time with them than in all the previous years combined, and have been working on a whole new way to use them. Although I'm sure I read of one thing that is very clever about the uJam versions that hasn't been discussed too much. For those that do use the patterns, individual kit pieces can be changed out for others. That is pretty cool.

For me, the gigantic and space-wasting UI is a bit of a turn off, so I'm in the camp of 'undecided on upgrading'.

Proboscis
Posts: 1004
Joined: 28 Aug 2019

14 Sep 2019

reddust wrote:
12 Sep 2019
I'm not sure if this is what you're asking me for, but this is one of the song I tried to get a "real"-like sound on the drums
Quality aside, that 'Redhead Girl' drum track is amazing ! I don't know where to start when trying to sequence my own drums to sound like a real drummer. I imagine velocity plays a large part, and perhaps also playing hits on pads without focusing too much on quantizing. It's the fact that when I try, it comes out sounding too perfectly timed, when in fact the whole appeal of a full band's sound is the imperfections

reddust wrote:
12 Sep 2019
And I've made more complicated things in the past, but that was death metal and I don't know how much appreciated that genre is here :lol:
Funny you should say that. In the uJam thread, I wrote :

" Are there many drum phrases in the extended bank that offer metal style loops ? I'm talking about fast double bass kick rolls and more extreme metal styles. "


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