Stretch That Note Drumm

STN are extremely proud to announce the launch of the DruMM series of Native Instruments Kontakt modules and the first in the series DruMM - Big Grease Kit is a FREE download when you subscribe to the network.

DruMM is a journey into warping quality drum sounds on the fly without the need to spend hours trying to find the right series of effects and dynamics. The DruMM experience has been made to make it both easy for you to explore the madness of this device but to also help in your creativity.

The real power of DruMM lies in the layering process.
The fact that modules can be stacked on top of each other and layered using the same midi channel in Kontakt makes the series both extremely versatile and fun! With this in mind the samples have been processed using phase cancellation, polarity inversion and M/S, all resulting in specific bands being removed to hollow out samples for clean and explosive layering.

DruMM Layering Modules Demo

Using the DruMM Module


Sign up here to get your first FREE DruMM module.

highly, highly recommended.

here's my full review:

I was genuinely impressed with these modules.

At their most basic level, they perform solidly as convenient library drumsamplers with amp/filter envelopes. You get knobs for "fat" and "crunch:" two tactful effects for shaping or crisping up a oneshot. The samples are varied and expressive - besides the bread and butter kick/snare/high hat, you'll find assorted percussive instruments to use in fills or as backing to your main drumline

Things truly start to get interesting when you begin layering. Load up two modules, set them to respond to the same midi channel, and bang some pads. The samples are structured so that they complement each other. This goes for every combination of modules I tried. Editing the individual layers is easy, despite Kontakt's dense GUI - Zukan's modules allow you to easily select the midi note/sample being triggered and edit away.

So far, so good - but where's the innovation? With all the alternatives out there - including just about any MPC model - why choose "Stretch That Note?"

Here's my reason: Zukan has introduced me to a new tactic in drum layering - playing with stereo phase inversion (width) in order to create space for additional layers. This allows for more precise, calculated layering and thicker drum sounds. In his video, Zukan describes his spacially-treated kicks as "filthy" - I would choose the terms "surgical" or "absolute." Regardless, it was new to me - but because of these modules' elegant implementation, I felt like I had this advanced technique down in no time whatsoever. To me, THIS is innovation, and this is what really places "Stretch That Note" in a category of its own.

Summary: the samples sound great, they're easy to tweak, and the spacial manipulation concept has given me a lot of new ideas for future projects. Well done.

Nym

my audio example can be heard here
http://www.stretchthatnote.com/products ... nt-wet-kit
(and currently in my signature - "Afterwords")

A huge big up to NYm, DJ Hellfire and Saint Joe for their amazing demos and their support and continual feedback.

Guys, I'm indebted.

Visit the site to hear their wonderful demos.

I have to agree, at first I wasn't expecting much more than some cleanly recorded drums. But I'm always down to give something a chance.

I think the dopest part is how they stack with each other. The drums really fit nicely together when layered.

at the risk of sounding like im hating, but that sounded like the type samples that have been spread all over the net for years, i thought it would show something genuinely new and creative, not just sounds you could easily layer and tweak out in most samplers

but i was kinda expecting some mind bending sounds really so maybe too high expectations, lol

Ibunshi, have you downloaded the free product module yet, maybe tried the specific controls, checked the M/S and phase cancelled processes, checked the layered sounds from module to module.........and all for $8?

Just checking so I can attach weight to your feedback.

nope.. i really just assumed that the youtube vids showed a more broad range of its abilities, so i just judged from what i saw and heard and didnt feel there was anything that i'd personally have any use of, it would just slow me down by the looks of it. But thats me, i'm sure it fits/works well with how others work.

Good luck finding kontakt modules like these floating around on the net lol

When I first heard them myself, I thought it was going to be "just another kit" also, but I tell you, if you've been layering your own drums for any amount of time then you'll appreciate the work that went into making every module stackable without any of the artifacts you usually have to tweak, filter, eq, and all other types of stuff to get rid of.

As with anything, some will like it, some will not...

Not sure exactly what "mind bending" sounds you were expecting though.

my first impression was similar to Ibunshi's.
"good sounding oneshots packaged with some cool effects + the envelopes you'd expect, but nothing special." i also thought i felt slowed down compared to my usual "chop a break, layer it with samples from poise"

but then i started playing with the layers and spatial manipulation, and that's when i realized how these are special. i honestly dont know if i have a song in which my drums bang harder than the demo i did ("Afterwords").

one beneficial thing that a user could bring to the table with these modules is a way of rerouting midi notes, ie "midi note 60 => midi note 75" etc. this way you don't have to reorganize the samples in Kontakt (ugh. thank you Zukan for allowing us to stay out of Kontakt's ungodly microscopic and clicky gui). you can just reassign your pads and play it like you would lay out your normal kit. this is way better than hunting and pecking.

my personal solution for this is to use the JS effect IX keymap 2. since it's a Jesusonic effect, you'll need the JS => VST wrapper (which everyone ought to have anyway) to load the JS effect as a VST.

nym

Agreed

"mind bending" as in i expected sounds out of the ordinary atleast.. like i said, the source sounds themselves that i heard sounded like the type of drumhits that has been in circulation on the web for years, stuff that has been both available as free downloads and in commercial packs, torrents too i'd assume.. not unique enough to make me want them and the fact that a few of them sounded a bit more beefy after tweaking isnt enough to catch my attention, i can easily beef things up myself.. or the fact that it might make layering easier in some instances, like that it makes space for whatever it is you layer without frequency clashing.. its not enough.. i have more control doing it myself with filters here, that way i can control any frequencies that might clash and shape it as i please, quick and easy, i've never had to sit for hours to get what i want, minutes at most.. and the clashing itself is a distortion can be very useful when designing your sounds, i wouldnt want anything to come in and take that control away from me... so unless the results are drumhits that really sticks out from the vast mass of drumhits out there, then i myself have no use for it.

first thing that popped up in my head when i had a quick read of the descriptions and talk, was morhping abilities with all kinds of interesting tones and textures as a result, from sublte to extreme, that'd really take your hits into something that soundwise isnt generic.

but yeah, that was out of those two videos.. i'm sure there will be someone that really puts it to good use and push it to the limit with more impressive and creatively inspiring results, same as with many other tools out there.. demos tend to be a bit weak and not show much really.

however, there really is nothing i personally saw or heard that sells it to me.. i shouldnt have to buy it or download it and find out for myself, with that type of logic and attitude you'd see huge business fall apart quickly, not a good look and it is quite counter productive and arrogant to assume its potential customers to be automatically wrong because they question the usefulness of their product.. it is up to the salesman to step up to the challenge to catch my interest.. if the product itself doesnt hold up or cant achive that, then its really not my problem is it? its not up to me to make the product look interesting.

take this as constructive feedback, nothing else.

and the clashing itself is a distortion can be very useful when designing your sounds, i wouldnt want anything to come in and take that control away from me...

nothing takes control away from you. it's just another parameter that you can use, one that is sadly not found in any other drum hardware/software i've encountered.

i shouldnt have to buy it or download it and find out for myself,

? of course you should have to download something before knowing whether it actually suits your fancy. would you buy a car without giving it a test drive? and maybe i missed something, but when have potential customers been told that they are wrong?

not trying to start anything here or sidetrack from zukan's shine right now but it seems like you're coming in sideways

the whole idea of demos and presentations is for people NOT having to buy and risk regretting it afterwards.

what will you do to cath the interest of this busy buisnessman? ..telling him to buy it and see for himself is instant fail, saying his words or ideas have no wieght until he buys it is instant fail.. this guy will continue to do what he knows works and not take any risks until someone really manages to catch his eye with a product..

the logic of having to cluelessly and blindly buy things just to find out if something will be of use to you... if you cant see how silly that idea is then i dont really know how to type to make my point more clear (obviously it can be what you need to do if you are new and dont really know what you want or need).. but there's a reason we have things like demonstartins of a product.. if those fail to raise the interest of someone, the its just stupid not accepting that and either move on or try to do something about it.. my views may be in minority but that means nothing really.

and yes, it does take away control from me.. if it doesnt add anything that i cant do myself.. it adds over complication, adding extra steps towards a goal, stealing time from me

can i use any type of drums/sounds with this? could i load up my own sounds for example? it atleast seems like i would be stuck with whatever kits that already are there = taking away control from me locking me into a little box.. if you indeed could load up any sound of choice, then i could see a use for it, but then again, to me it would still be a lot of unneccessary moves just to get to the goal.. wouldnt fit with how i work myself, which again doesnt mean its useless to others.

however if i could be so bold to just assume that you are stuck with those kits, then i think the danger of this is that there will be a whole group of people wetting their pants over the program, just like what happened to paulstretch and many other programs and plugins.. with the result of the sound being rinsed and quickly age and just get super dull.. only chance of fighting that is if the tool in question allows for real and proper indepth exploration where there will be a handful of people that will go there and really make something that sticks out from the mass that rinses the tool simply for the ease of use and the instant gratification

"i wanna make hiphop beats, ok use this" - boom = thousands of clones suddenly comes to life

^^ big no no for me personally, but can be the best thing ever if you are breaking a formula that you want to stick to.. which is alright if thats what you have to do

but to me, just any random sample of choice and use of a program like cubase and the thousands of plugins out there gives you much more control, its like its already there, the very basics is all you need and then you can add whatever you want to the chain of process to take it anywhere you want.. wiith that in mind then this to me is just something holding your hand and locking you into a little box with a set of controls and then the result didnt stick out to me at all, so to me its just pointless.. but thats just personal taste so dont take any of this wrong

i'd say the same about mpc's just going on how some stuff i hear sound.. it could have been put together much quicker and easier in free programs like the old ReBirth.. lots of people buy stuff on hype alone

again, this is not negative feedback, other than you might think it is just because its of no use to me, but dont let any ego get in the way.. i am only saying this because what i say could possibly be used to advance this tool, which i am sure will happen anyway.. i dont know anything about programming software, but i'd love to see a drumtool that allows for morphing between sounds, where you can set up a bunch of your own personal kits and basically morph between them in realtime.. i know of tools that allows for real morphing, but have not heard of anything that would let me do this type of thing

Ibunshi wrote:the whole idea of demos and presentations is for people NOT having to buy and risk regretting it afterwards.

that's the whole idea of having a free kit for download I thought....

all good man

everyone will not like the same stuff

ohh, ok. you said "i shouldn't have to download it to find out for myself."

yeah we aren't talking about buying anything blind. we both agree that's stupid. but downloadable demos are downloadable demos, when they are available the customer has ample opportunity to evaluate software before purchasing

and yes, it does take away control from me.. if it doesnt add anything that i cant do myself.. it adds over complication, adding extra steps towards a goal, stealing time from me

i'd agree with this, if you were REPLACING your existing drum system. however, if a mechanic buys an extra set of screwdrivers to add to his toolkit, is he limited by the new tools? it's just an extra bit of kit, man, i don't get this limitation business. any time you learn/try a new vst or piece of hardware it's "stealing time." in this case, you don't see the benefit. that's cool. honestly, i was half expecting the same thing at first, which is the only reason why i'm so interested in this conversation.

i typically hate canned sounds due to the quick fatigue they can suffer and because of the "cheese factor."

with the STN spatial manipulation thing, while this is not that this is anything you absolutely can't do yourself - it's stuff you're probably NOT doing yourself. i certainly wasn't dropping a LR channel mixer on every output of my drum machine/software and playing with phase and width that way. it is doable, and something i may consider for the future for POISE outputs.

can i use any type of drums/sounds with this?

yes. this is kontakt we are talking about. though since i'm using this mostly to layer my breaks/provide some extra percussive stuff, i wouldn't be interested in loading other oneshots in, except maybe some of those goldbaby tape vintage kits. that could be fun. but i hate Kontakt's GUI so i would probably opt for something else.

i'd say the same about mpc's just going on how some stuff i hear sound.. it could have been put together much quicker and easier in free programs like the old ReBirth.. lots of people buy stuff on hype alone

yuuuuuuup haha. to quote Archer

Lana: How many are there?
Archer: About a gillion... A gillion gay little copy cats.
Lana: What?!?
Archer: I mean I didnt invent the turtleneck Lana, but I was the first to recognize its potential as a tactical garment. The tactical turtleneck Lana.

i'd love to see a drumtool that allows for morphing between sounds

same.