# You Big Tease... - Site: Analog Industries - Author: Chris Randall - Date: 2009-09-16 - URL: https://analogindustries.com/2009/09/you-big-tease/ Gee, I wonder what this could possibly be. ## Comments (55) **vae** (2009-09-16): Well, it definitely doesn't look like a drum synth. **stevo83** (2009-09-16): Holy Moly. I want. Even though I can only see two envelopes and one control. God im a geek. **stretta** (2009-09-16): Looks like Awesome™ **javahut** (2009-09-16): Whatever you do, please don't start giving us those daily "tweet" teasers days/weeks before the actual release date that seem to be so popular (annoying) now. The web page "press release" teases that don't actually give any information about the product are also irritatingly common recently. Or maybe I'm just abnormally annoyable lately... maybe. ;-D Like this is teh suk... http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?langid=100&navid=585&itemid=39691&INTCMP=DD-BN-11R24 and this... http://www.ikmultimedia.com/teaser_200908.php and this... http://twitpic.com/photos/FluxPlugins **R.A.W.** (2009-09-16): Wow, the first AD VSTi.. I'm sold! **Taxist** (2009-09-16): The Kontakt instrument you talked about last week? **Chris Randall** (2009-09-16): @Taxist: this is most assuredly an Audio Damage product, not a Native Instruments one. @Javahut: You know me better than that. Come on. @R.A.W. + stevo83: Music to my ears. -CR **Raytrace** (2009-09-16): yes indeed that looks like a synth to me - great stuff - cant wait to check it out :). **noisegeek** (2009-09-16): Guess I'm buying a new drum synth soon. Looks really good. The knobs especially. Procedural? **CarlLofgren** (2009-09-16): I suddenly feel an irresistible urge to create gabber. **the_woof** (2009-09-16): MAMA **blinkman** (2009-09-16): Can't wait to see (hear) what you guys are doing with this -- what special AD techno you're filling it with, that will set it apart from other similar devices. I have high expectations, especially as I know you (Chris) to be a real connoisseur of the finer points of drumboxing. I'm really hoping you're able to bring the furry, gritty analog character and subtle randomness that's typically missing from too-perfect digital drum synths. Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it. c. **Mike** (2009-09-16): I don't doubt that this will be anything but full of techno. Can't wait to get my mittens on it. **MrBiggs** (2009-09-16): Funny. I just found $49 in some pants in the laundry and was wondering what to do with it... **tubber** (2009-09-16): wait... i thought it was established some time ago that this would never happen. misdirection or filthy lies? **studio nebula** (2009-09-16): I don't know what specifically about "this" never happening tubber is referring to, but in my recollection, when it comes to what AD might do, we've said "never" about very few things. Dropping audio software and pursuing careers as either male strippers or proctologists is very, very unlikely, however. --Adam **squidgee** (2009-09-16): You know, I was just looking for a good drum synth too... **Chris Randall** (2009-09-16): Adam, of course, speaks for himself. If I thought I could make a good living as a male stripper... -CR **krell** (2009-09-16): Now you really are teasing! And sold for me too of course... **fussylizard** (2009-09-16): Well at least you have your product name: "Lapdance" **fussylizard** (2009-09-16): Or maybe "Speedo" **stevo83** (2009-09-16): Mankini **studio nebula** (2009-09-16): Excellent suggestions, but this product is a rare example of us (or CR, to give credit where it's due) coming up with a name fairly early in the development cycle. No, I'm not telling. --Adam **MitchK1989** (2009-09-16): Me wants. **semtek** (2009-09-16): please call it the 'lapdance' - that's a great name for a synth. **brandon daniel** (2009-09-16): Screw the current name, it's totally Lapdance from here on out! **Chris Randall** (2009-09-16): I'm gonna go ahead and shut that down right about now. -CR **thesimulacre** (2009-09-16): So I am hoping this drumsynth succeeds where those in my \SYNTH\PERC\ folder have failed... 1) Is is so hard to agree that C1 is the kick and everything else mosies up the scale a half-step at a time? If it is, I know that you guys generally make it easy for us to assign triggers/keys ourselves. 2) None of my VSTi drum kits let you modulate anything but gain with velocity. Some don't even go that far. I hope you all have addressed this. In REDRUM's defense, they started to get the right idea. 3) "Casio VL-tone" could be a preset, couldn't it? 4) Hmm, white noise, sine... .... ..that's it? Maybe the sources don't make enough difference to have more than one or two, but I'm not the expert. **mike kiraly** (2009-09-16): Teh awesome I'm sure. **Chris Randall** (2009-09-16): In the interests of answering the youngster's questions, I might have to dump a bit more info than I had planned for those insightful enough to read between the lines. With that mea-culpa, here we go... 1. It's not hard to agree. You'll be able to assign the voices to whatever input (and output in the VST) notes you'd like. 2. (and 4.) Each voice is a unique synthesizer with a topology and control set appropriate to creating that voice. We've not started building the sequencer portion of things yet, having only just completed initial development on the voices, so I can't answer 2 with complete certainty, and this is why I haven't shown the whole UI yet, but suffice to say that, assuming we follow the current design to the letter, each and every parameter in the synth voices will have its own mod (offset) sequencer. 3. Not really, no. -CR **puffer** (2009-09-16): At this point: I'm curious to hear the "I'm with boobs" preset. **D' MacKinnon** (2009-09-16): Oooo. Okay I'm interested. **Taxist** (2009-09-16): Even though software drum synthesizers aren't my thing, I am really interested in seeing what you guys pull off here. That said, I don't think you have given a definite yes to the drum synthesizer question. I remember reading numerous times it was said that you guys wouldn't build a synthesizer because you wouldn't be able to come to agreement with what functions or sound it would have. Nice to see that has changed. You guys have a way of making seemingly esoteric musical techniques accessible. **Chris Randall** (2009-09-16): It is definitely a drum synthesizer. It is also, to stem the obvious next question, completely sample free. It doesn't load samples, shit samples, like samples, or want to have anything to do with them. It is a synthesizer. I'll put up some loops when we've got the synth part entirely done. It is designed for electronic music, of course, and won't be at all helpful with your next Rock Opera. But it is fairly capable, and the sequencer is a thing of beauty, and will be able to drive anything (in the VST, of course. AU instruments can't output MIDI. Or rather they can, but the two main AU hosts can't do anything with it, so we're not going to bother.) -CR **studio nebula** (2009-09-16): I believe I was being tongue-in-cheek when I said that we wouldn't be able to come to agreement viz a synthesizer. I was being serious, though, when I said that we wouldn't build a synthesizer until we came up with an idea that seemed interesting enough to pursue. Regardless of what I've said elsewhere, though, I will say now that CR and I have been talking about doing a drum-machine-like thing since, well, almost as long as we've been talking at all. You might say that we were just waiting for the right time or something. --Adam **Funkybot** (2009-09-16): I could never even imagine what an AD synth would have to be like to fit in with the product range. On the other hand, I find it odd that it's taken so long for you guys to do your own take on a drum machine. Needless to say, I've already decided that this will be next purchase. I'm psyched and fully expect you guys to hit this one out of the park. **beauty pill** (2009-09-17): I'm with Funkybot. Doesn't have quite the same ring as "boobs," but it's true nonetheless. - c **BirdFLU** (2009-09-17): Chris, I've got a Casio VL Tone if you need to borrow it for inspiration. It's stood the test of time you know. **theviirus** (2009-09-17): Percussion synthesizer ala Syncussion weirdness? Tracking oscillator w/ envelope follower and what not? Post apocalyptic wankerizer with extra anti-aliasing shit that interfaces with the monome for instant powerbook glitch fest cock? Or did you figure out a way of pitch-env'ing incoming audio for weird reverb or mod delay effects without a chorus or phaser? Ok...It is probably a vocoder that does not work right. **kkonkkrete** (2009-09-17): oooh. Looks like I'm gonna be poppin' my AD cherry. **boobs** (2009-09-17): audiomulch2 awaits... :) **inteliko** (2009-09-17): I've been longing for a vst drum synth like the waldorf attack with a seq, will it have randomise seq per part? **syikom** (2009-09-17): Sexy synthesizer me thinks **stepwriterun** (2009-09-17): Finally, something to pick up where Waldorf's Attack left off. **tubber** (2009-09-17): re: "never" - i suspect that was just a combination of misremembrance and dejected hyperbole on my part. i'm pretty sure i dont _need_ this in any way, shape, or form, but i'm also sure there's going to be some kind of AD magic involved that's going to make me _want_ it. badly. of course i'm going have to resent you for driving me further into the box. **Downpressor** (2009-09-17): I'm in. Thats is all. **thesimulacre** (2009-09-17): So from the amount of vowed purchasers so far I think it would be more profitable for you guys to just release a GUI that doesn't actually do anything. The money you don't spend now on development can go to a pre-order webpage. Muahaha! **Dubone** (2009-09-19): Is it just me or do you guys really base your business model on irony? **seancostello** (2009-09-19): That would be a bad business model, as irony was declared dead post 9/11. Of course, irony was declared dead by the same fucktards that proceeded to run roughshod over the US for the next 7 years. It turns out that irony was actually one of the most valuable commodities in the US during those years, for those of use not in the flyover states. **patchen** (2009-09-20): __I've followed this blog for a long while now, and while many of the AD effects have looked interesting, I've never felt the compulsion to actually purchase one, but this does indeed look promising... I've tried just about every drum synth vsti I have been able to lay my hands on and nothing has quite done it for me, preferring (it may seem oddly) to craft my kicks, hats and percussive noises using the sample+synthesis capabilities of Shortcircuit instead. Sadly, Shortcircuit is abandonware at this point so I have been looking for an alternative and this could provide part of my solution. __I still wish somebody had the insight to create a sampler that could manipulate percussive samples with AM and FM as adeptly as Shortciruit, (awesome for transforming almost anything into a unique hi-hat sample for example) ... One can dream.... At least with this product I know I can count on useful parameter ranges, and solid synth drum sounds, and hopefully a kick-ass CLAP section! --looking forward to it. **mitchell** (2009-09-21): You may not want to comment just yet, and I know it's hip to hate on Apple (don't get me goin'), but the $64,000 question for me is, how does it differ from Ultrabeat? UB certainly makes Attack look silly, and though its interface is a little loopy, it's a pretty capable and well-endowed m'er f'er. Will AD drum thingee be UB for the non-Logicker? **cubestar** (2009-09-21): My all time fave has to Microtonic: Some nice things to rip off: - Programmable pattern changes (via the little number pad) - Drum programming can be done via midi to selected part only, so you only have to assign your midi controllers once to control each voice individually. - Nice randomization or alteration of sounds and patterns all over the place. It would be nice if there was also the ability to record some sort of automation (ala motion sequencing or parameter locks). Of course - there is much more to Mtonic that makes it what it is, just as your drum synth will have its own unique philosophy. Thanks and good luck guys! :-D **Chris Randall** (2009-09-24): @mitchell: It'll differ from Ultrabeat mainly in that it'll work in DAWs that were invented this century. Plus you can, like, read the controls and stuff. Also, rather than having one general synthesis voice to cover all the bases, it has specific voices for each sound. Its palette isn't near as broad, but it is much more playable. @cubestar: microTonic's general voice is fine for tweaky little sounds, but it can't really make raging kicks and snares, and definitely can't do x0x stuff worth a shit. Ours won't be able to do the tweaky little sounds, but it can rage and x0x much better. The sequencer in ours is, I'm proud to say, far more sophisticated. We know a thing or two about sequencing and randomization, and we will apply that knowledge to this product. -CR **uvacom** (2009-09-24): That's funny, the first thing I thought when I saw this is "how well will it complement microtonic?". I completely agree that there's a lot of ground microtonic doesn't cover. But what I love about it is that even 5 years later the sound quality is great, and it has that rare quality to it where you just can't make it sound bad. It's like an SH-101 or a Juno 106 or an 1176. Some might see this as hyperbole, but I truly regard it as a modern classic. But it's clear that this isn't microtonic and isn't trying to be, and that's even better. There's already a microtonic. There isn't much I can say that would be influential, it's already clear that chris and adam have very strong ideas about what they want to do and I'm just excited to see what that may be. If I can say anything, it's that graphical envelopes are fantastic in theory, but many implementations fail because the handles are too small so they feel fidgety compared to a knob or a slider which can be grabbed easily with a mouse. Also it's really frustrating if for example, the initial attack level and the release rate "boxes" can partially overlap (hypothetically), and then it becomes nearly impossible to select the correct parameter. So I guess what I'm saying is, please make sure the graphical envelope controls aren't fidgety. :) **MitchK1989** (2009-10-03): I've been using logic exclusively, yet I've never "got on well" with ultrabeat at all, personally... Whereas this has me rather excited.