Is Idrums A Good Software Program Options

[CHARLES TAYLOR]

I'M HAVING DIFFICULTY MAKIKNG DRUM PATTERNS AND ON IDRUMS AND SENDING THEM TO GARAGEBAND. HOW DO YOU MAKE A COMPLETE SONG WITH DIFFERENT DRUM BEATS FOR THE CHORUS AND MELODY?

[lepetitmartien]

Please, if you could STOP SHOUTING…

People don't like capitals on the net

[Alex Skolnick]

LOL!!
Anyway, i had idrums for a while and got rid of it after getting fed up. Im right now using a software called doggiebox. Its much much better and uses the same samples as that of garage band rock kit and jazz kits. So, the end result is good...and yes you can make a complete song with diff tempos, and time signatures, with doggie box. only the name is a bit funny..

The only shortcoming for me is the fact that the individual volumes of the respective samples arent adjustable. Well, there are separate files for loud hihat, low hihat etc, but thats not what i wanted. I wanted an arrangement like thatt in leafdrums.

Leafdrums is by far the best that i have ever worked with. Even now, i get best results by using leafdrums. You can search the net for the samples, and get the required wav files. I even recorded an actualdrum set in college, and got those samples as wav files and added them onto leafdrusm....Its awesome. But it doeesnt work with mac. So i use it with my virtual PC win XP to create entire wav tracks of my songs, and then import these into garage band and then record everything else.

[Kiowa11]

OK
Get over It!

[fictionmusic]

I love i-Drums. I use it a lot and admire it's programming flexability.
You can use it at different tempi and different meters easily as well as use any of your own samples (which I do a lot). I especially like the fact you can grab the pattern as a midi file and add it to the arrangement. I think that any-one who dismisses it out of hand probably hasn't taken the time to learn it thoroughly. For the price it really can't be beaten.

[Dave Bourke]

I, too, really like iDrum. It's one of my secret weapons. I've raved about it here in the past. If you're prepared to learn how to use it properly, its applications are infinite.

However, it is not for those with limited attention spans ;-)

Kind regards.

[Turner]

I, too, really like iDrum. It's one of my secret weapons. I've raved about it here in the past. If you're prepared to learn how to use it properly, its applications are infinite.

However, it is not for those with limited attention spans ;-)

Kind regards.

Hi Dave -

I've been looking at iDrum.. your post intrigues me.

How would one use it "properly" ?

thx
Andrew

[PaulSC]

I love i-Drums. I use it a lot and admire it's programming flexability.
You can use it at different tempi and different meters easily [snip]

Is it true that you can use iDrum with different meters? (This is Glaresoft's iDrum we're talking about, yes?)

I've checked out the demo and read several mgazine reviews, and I like it enough that I persuaded my significant other to get it for me for Christmas.

But ... my experience with the demo, like every review I've read, tells me that iDrum patterns can only be in 4/4, although you can set the resolution to 16ths (the default), 32nds, or 64ths. I would love to be wrong about this!

[chris5s]

iDrum 1.0x does indeed only do 4/4. Perhaps you should contact Glaresoft directly and check with them if the upcoming 1.1 version supports other patterns.
Cheers
Chris

Ce message a été modifié par chris5s - mer. 22 déc. 2004, 17:05.

[PaulSC]

Thanks for confirming, chris5s. I am hoping the 1.1 update adds this feature. However, I think I'll pass on writing to Glaresoft. From the iDrum FAQ:

When will iDrum support 'alternate' time signatures, 3/4, triplets?

When we start using them in our own music. Or, when we're not so busy answering e-mails that are answered by this FAQ. Or, when Art finally learns how to count 5/4.

But seriously, any question that starts with 'When will iDrum support...' can be answered by the following FAQ:

When will iDrum support <insert feature here>?

Maybe never! And even if we're planning to implement the feature you're asking about, we can't discuss it, so why waste time you could be using to make music to ask us questions that are going to get the boring company line (literally copy/pasted into any e-mail that asks about future features):

"Thanks for asking, but I can't discuss future plans or release dates for our products."

[fictionmusic]

I love i-Drums. I use it a lot and admire it's programming flexability.
You can use it at different tempi and different meters easily [snip]

Is it true that you can use iDrum with different meters? (This is Glaresoft's iDrum we're talking about, yes?)

I've checked out the demo and read several mgazine reviews, and I like it enough that I persuaded my significant other to get it for me for Christmas.

But ... my experience with the demo, like every review I've read, tells me that iDrum patterns can only be in 4/4, although you can set the resolution to 16ths (the default), 32nds, or 64ths. I would love to be wrong about this!

Well you are not really wrong, but not entirely right either. The drum machine has a midi file that is generated for each pattern and they can easily be edited to any meter. You are using the i-Drum as a voice generator at this point.
You can also program a pattern in i-Drum that can turn into an odd meter pretty easily. If I want something in 5/4 for example, I'll set the resolution I like and program a 1 bar pattern in i-Drum itself (I use 16ths like 8 ths at this point). Then I drag the midi file onto my sequencer and trim out the space at the end of the pattern. So instead of using the step sequencer to define the end of the bar (which you are correct in assuming only does 4/4) I do it in it's corresponding midi file. I have a whole lot of different midi files I have created in a folder within the i-Drum folder. I keep the whole i-drum folder in my task bar so I can grab and edit midi files (a la Stylus) all the time.

The fact that I can program a pattern, drag the midi file and then edit it, and create lots of personal kits as well, suits the way I work.

[PaulSC]

Hey, thanks for the tip. I'll have iDrum soon and will give this a try.

[Dave Bourke]

To answer Andrew Turner's post above, fictionmusic's post here is exactly the sort of thing I meant by "using iDrum properly" in my previous post. Very clever and very musical.

Bear in mind, too, that each voice in iDrum can be independently pitch-changed, bit-reduced, highpass/lowpass-filtered, and decay-enveloped. You can also create unusual choke group setting for cymbals and electronic percussion sounds.

Not forgetting how easy it is to create your own rhythmic instruments simply by dragging the samples you want to use into the interface.

For instance, I recorded my nieces and nephews playing in my mother's back garden, then chopped up the samples, dragged them into iDrum, and created some amazing child-tribal chant things. Plus, it's just so quick to work with.

The bottom line is that iDrum is limited only by your own musical imagination.

Kind regards.

[Turner]

Thanks David.

First, I'd love to hear that tribal-chant-thing!

I assume these customized drums work fine with GarageBand? There seems to be built-in functionality in GarageBand, but I'm not sure.

In other words, could I use GarageBand to drive / record iDrum filled with samples, of, say, me tapping on my desk and a coffee cup?

thx!
Andrew

[Dave Bourke]

Andrew, while I bought GarageBand and all the iApps when iLife '04 first came out, I no longer have GB installed on my machine. But since iDrum was initially largely targeted at and designed for the burgeoning GarageBand market, there is absolutely no reason this shouldn't work perfectly for you.

Kind regards.