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Addictive Drums 2 Sounds Like a Real Drummer, But How?

by Dan Gonzalez

Every once in a while there are some plugins that come along and completely change the way we do things. Sometimes it’s a different look on processing, or maybe a utility that increases workflow ten-fold. Drum plugins have become all the rage recently, and Addictive Drums 2 is at the forefront of this revolution. There are a few reasons why Addictive Drums 2 (now available in SONAR Professional and SONAR Platinum) sounds like a real drummer, so let’s check those out.

Extensive and sophisticated velocity scaling

Within Addictive Drums 2 there is a powerful Map Window that exposes some of the more sophisticated elements of the XLN’s engine. Here you can choose to do various things to customize the way you interact with Addictive Drums 2. But within this window there is a dedicated velocity curve stage for every single sample that XLN audio supplies.

Select one of your kitpieces from the neighboring section and you can use this menu to choose how you want to control the way Addictive Drums 2 individually treats every drum or cymbal hit’s velocity. You can even grab one of the existing velocity presets and adjust it to your liking.

Customized and pre-designed velocity curves

When you strike a note on your MIDI controller or play a MIDI Continue reading “Addictive Drums 2 Sounds Like a Real Drummer, But How?”

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Drum Maps for Addictive Drums 2 in SONAR

by Joey Adams

Drum Maps are a powerful tool for taking all the guesswork out of editing your MIDI drum tracks. By using Drum Maps, you are able to see exactly which MIDI Notes trigger which sounds in your VST drum kit.

The purpose of this particular Drum Map is to allow you to see the relationship between MIDI notes and drum kit pieces of Addictive Drums 2, a VST Instrument included with your SONAR Professional and SONAR Platinum software.

Here is what editing MIDI in Piano Roll view looks like without a Drum Map:

Here is the same exact MIDI data viewed with a Drum Map. Now you can see exactly which pieces of the drum kit are in use:

 

Step  1 – Download the files you’ll need

To get started you will want to download the Continue reading “Drum Maps for Addictive Drums 2 in SONAR”

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What's the deal with Addictive Drums 2 in the New SONAR?

by Dan Gonzalez

Addictive Drums 2 come to life in the brand new version of SONAR Platinum and SONAR Professional making for a massive introduction into the world of XLN Audio and all the awesome products that they develop.

 

As a SONAR X3 user, your standpoint may be “What’s the deal with Addictive Drums 2 and my upgrade?” Let’s see if we can clear that up in this article.

What comes with my purchase of SONAR Platinum?

SONAR comes in 3 flavors, and 2 of them come with Addictive Drums 2.

With SONAR Platinum you get the Addictive Drums 2 Producer Bundle. This comes with your choice of any 3 kits that are available for Addictive Drums 2.

You also get your pick of 3 MIDIpaks and 3 Kitpiece Paks from XLN Audio’s webshop. Just about every single genre of music is covered in the wide Continue reading “What's the deal with Addictive Drums 2 in the New SONAR?”

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Mix Recall Remembers Your Instrument Settings

by Dan Gonzalez

Mix Recall takes your mixing to another level by offering SONAR Artist, Professional, and Platinum users the ability to save different mix scenes of the same mix within a single project. Mix Recall saves track parameters, bus parameters, and even instrument presets. A great way to use this feature is to audition different drumkits using the included Addictive Drums 2.

 

Instruments these days are full of all kinds of choices, especially ones that are as expansive as Addictive Drums 2. When working on a track I like to take the same pattern and switch between the custom kits that I’ve made. Addictive Drums 2 and Addictive Drums 1 both let the user take pieces of all the different kits that it comes with to make your own. Mix Recall let’s you take this workflow a step further.

Original drum passage

Here we have a simple Indie Kit from Addictive Drums:

 

Saving the first mix scene

Go to the Mix Recall module in SONAR and click on Continue reading “Mix Recall Remembers Your Instrument Settings”

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SONAR Tips: How to Easily Sync Your DAW to Audio

Introduction

Have you ever recorded a song that isn’t set to any type of tempo? Or maybe you have just have to make a click track for your songs? Well SONAR can certainly help that in that department. One of the great things about SONAR is it’s flexibility across different types of workflows. In this particular situation there is a nifty tool hidden in one of the menus that helps get your tempos mapped out in your DAW. Think of it like syncing your DAW and your audio files.

Out of time? Put it in time.

Let’s a take a perfectly good song like the following sound example:

This is a great song, but it was tracked to an independent Continue reading “SONAR Tips: How to Easily Sync Your DAW to Audio”

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4 Tips for Songwriters Before Entering the Recording Studio

1. Eliminate uncertainties with a pre-production demo.

If there is a single doubt in your mind about a song on your record then it’s time to sit down and work out those uncertainties before you get into the studio. Idolizing a recording studio as a creative space is only productive when you’ve booked studio time for being creative. Get that demo sounding as close to the final product as possible so that every part and idea is thought out.

SONAR X3 is ideal for experimenting with those finishing touches. For example, TH2 is a great way to easily grab an amp tone for your bass or guitar. The advanced sound behind Overloud’s flagship product allows you to change amps, input your own impulse responses, and get as close to your final product as you can. The best part about it is that it’s a virtual amp, so you don’t have to commit to your final guitar sound until you’re in your mixing stage.

 

2. Learn the songs cold.

Studio preparation should involve regular and productive practice schedules. Try to learn the songs so that you can play them all the way through without stopping. Playing full takes will get you the best possible performances of your song and allow you to think more about the other players rather than yourself. Continue reading “4 Tips for Songwriters Before Entering the Recording Studio”

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AD2: Pitch Envelopes and much more than just drum samples

by Dan Gonzalez

Yes, that’s right. You may think that Addictive Drums is just a simple sample player but it’s actually an impressive tool for sound design. XLN Audio has the program set so that you can only use the sounds they publish. BUT, the engine that processes these sounds is so powerful that you can virtually get any sound you could ever need from the drums they supply.

Next time you are in Addictive Drums check out the Edit section within this program and brace yourself. There are tons Continue reading “AD2: Pitch Envelopes and much more than just drum samples”