IK modelled drums - MODO Drums

[Guy Rowland]

Oooh, this is something actually new.

Groundbreaking real-time modal synthesis technology
10 iconic drum kits cover every style and genre of music
Adjust every element of the sound on the fly
Control the entire act of playing drums – kit, play style, sticks, room and FX
Integrated Grooves manager with over 1400 grooves in many different styles

Unlike traditional sample-based virtual instruments, MODO DRUM utilizes IK’s award-winning modal synthesis technology and an ultra-optimized sound engine to bring your drums to life.

Each drum’s acoustic behavior is determined by its physical parameters: dimensions, materials, skin, and more, as well by modeling the play style, the interaction of the drum head with the body, the sympathetic vibration of the drums with each other and the acoustic interaction with the room.

In short, MODO DRUM is creating sound in real time based on the ever-changing interactions between the player, drums, and room, mimicking the vibe of a real, live drummer. It’s never been easier to bring life to your drum tracks - and by extension your music overall.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/mododrum/

Price here is 359 Euros inc VAT.

Finding playing the audio demos very flaky, mostly it seems to not play, but I did get one lounge funk thing to play which IMO didn't sound especially good. Not sure if that was representative, or some specific choices for that genre. Also - no brushes, hands or rods in this version as far as I can tell.

[Guy Rowland]

Just to add - apparently owners of MODO Bass get a crossgrade price of $199, plus another $50 off on a promo added to the shopping cart, bringing it to $149.

[Piet De Ridder]

Very interesting.

I’m not exactly wild about the drumsounds in the audio demos either — they all played fine on my computer, Guy — but part of the reason for that may be the specific flavours of drumsound that the person who programmed these demo’s happens to prefer. Whatever the reason, there’s certainly not much overlap with the kind of drumsounds I like to hear.

Another aspect of the sound, and one where taste enters much less into the evaluation, is the sense you get of listening to a real drum kit in a room. And I’m afraid I don’t get much of that either. All the different components of these kits — kick, snare, toms, hi-hat, cymbals, … — sound rather disconnected, and there’s never a convincing suggestion of a single, coherent, ‘intra-resonating’ kit.

That being said, this is exactly the sort of software that I buy without thinking. Anything which gives the user the option to create his/her own sounds or be creative in other ways, coming up with stuff — within or without the boundaries of realism — that can be called uniquely his or her own, and I’m instantly sold. In this case, I’m not quite sold yet, but only because the product isn’t on sale yet.

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[Guy Rowland]

Demos playing fine here too now.

I think this will best suit pop / rock very close mic'd stuff processed to within an inch of its life, rather than feel-the-love-in-the-room. As such it seems to do a great job, and as you say Piet endless tweaking of every parameter. Looks very slick generally, but I'd like to see a proper walkthrough.

I'm so happy with SD3 it's not really that much of a pull, but (hate myself for typing) the intro crossgrade price is good).

[SirKen]

I was not too fond of the sound either. I am hoping that it is just a matter of over-processed presets.

Excited to see how they will develop this technology.

[Joe_D]

Given the 20gb library size (and a few IK details unearthed on the other forum), it looks like the cymbals are sampled. That makes sense in that cymbals are the most complex and diverse sound source in a drum kit (that’s why I have more than 40 real cymbals). So while it makes sense that they recorded them, that and the room integration challenge already mentioned are dampening my enthusiasm for this product. I already have lots of excellent drumkit VI’s, well recorded in good-sounding rooms.

[Guy Rowland]

I already have lots of excellent drumkit VI’s, well recorded in good-sounding rooms.

I think you've hit the crux of it here. I actually think the examples sound really good within the noisy genres. But the problem is - stuff like SD3 also sounds really good within those genres. While I applaud the innovation, it's not like the end product gives us whole new sonic worlds to explore. It's just a different way of achieving much the same thing, with a few plusses and a few minuses.

[Joe_D]

While I applaud the innovation, it's not like the end product gives us whole new sonic worlds to explore. It's just a different way of achieving much the same thing, with a few plusses and a few minuses.

I think so too. Until, that is, Piet gets his hands on it and blows us all away with the amazing and original things he manages to coax out of it!

[bigcat1969]

That's like saying that big old rusty hammer isn't worth much until Thor gets his hands on it! ;P

[Piet De Ridder]

New video from IK Multimedia:

[Guy Rowland]

It's a really impressive technical achievement, but by and large still feel its a solution looking for a problem.

[Piet De Ridder]

It's meanwhile been released. Unfortunately, it requires a CPU with AVX extensions and you don't find those in older computers, which is what I have.

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[Guy Rowland]

It's meanwhile been released. Unfortunately, it requires a CPU with AVX extensions and you don't find those in older computers, which is what I have.

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Oh I didn't realise that - perhaps we're seeing a new wave of products requiring AVX (NI's Massive X was another). Most people that are affected will be old Cheesgrater Mac users, as I know these aren't AVX compatible. Pretty much any CPU from the past 7-8 years I think should be ok.