DW Soundworks plug-in: Quick audio review using Alternate Mode HybriKIT
As you might have heard, DW (recently acquired by Roland) launched new hybrid, convertible electronic drum kits with real acoustic shells and built-in triggers....and a cool wireless system. This new series is called DWe. To provide sounds for these kits, they also built a plug-in: DW Soundworks. The good news is that you can buy the plug-in without buying a whole kit, which are incredibly expensive.
So, I bought the plug-in. Here a few quick samples of only lightly tweaked preset patches.
0:07 Pure Maple Standard (My favorite of the natural/standard kits)
1:22 Maple Mahogany Studio
2:10 Gretsch USA Natural
3:21 Slingerland Warmer
4:27 Chops Wound Up (My favorite)
5:35 Crushed Air (Kind of fun)
6:27 Pure Almond Natural (Least favorite)
7:16 Gretsch USA Warmer
My first impressions? Well, it's v1.0 of this plug-in, and it's a little light and buggy in a few ways. But it's nice to have multiple, well-recorded DW kits, not to mention a Slingerland and Gretsch kit.
Pros:
-Multiple DW kits plus Slingerland and Gretsch kits, all expertly sampled
-Lots (!) of flexibility for tweaking each drum sound and the mix
-Many articulations for each instrument (for example, you have center, edge, rimshot, rim, cross stick, snares off, and many other options for each snare drum)
-Excellent dynamics and playability, very natural sounding (i.e., not electronic) to my ears
-Great info on how each drum was sampled
-Decent effects available within the plug-in
Cons:
-Cymbal selection is a little sparse (so far), but the basics are covered from Zildjian, Meinl, Instanbul, Sabian, and Paiste. But of course, you could load a different sampler for cymbal sounds.
-Some of the samples...uh, don't sound great straight out of the box. I've omitted a few that sound particularly bad. For example, the 50th Anniversary DW kit seems really smashed/distorted to me. I'm guessing this was on purpose, but for me, it doesn't sound good. Other kits are just kind of not great. BUT I'm guessing they were provided much rawer than kits in other libraries. This plug-in is built for tweaking, adding effects, and dialing in the right mix of ambiance. It's less a plug-it-in-and-go kind of thing. That's fine, though I'll probably just dial in one or two kits and that's it.
I would assume that this plug-in is going to have some more sounds added soon and hopefully some stability improvements. In the meantime, it's not expensive and some things sound pretty good.
Equipment
-DW Soundworks
-Logic Pro
-Alternate Mode HybriKIT
-Alternate Mode MIDI DITI
-Alternate Mode eKIC and eHAT triggers with DW pedals
-Element 88 and Duet 3 interfaces
-Fujifilm X100V camera
-Final Cut Pro
Пікірлер: 26
The kits sound so good! I enjoyed your Tom Sawyer-ish rhythm with the Crushed kit and the Alex Van Halen fill. (One Foot Out the Door) 👍
Great playing and really nice sounding kits. I have a DWe kit on order. I can't wait to get my hands on it!!
@schmargle
8 ай бұрын
Oo, cool!
Best demo so far. It actually sounds really good . Thanks
Not sure why DWs many videos don’t capture these kits as nicely as you do. Thanks for posting!
@schmargle
7 ай бұрын
That’s nice, thanks!
I like Force sensing resistors drumkat has always been great. Any latency is coming from the ad da round trip stage processing. I can see miniscule latency but less than any other systems.getting better. Speed is everything in digital. Save the world next level tech dev. Thank you scientists and engineers artists yay.
I have a put-together Roland set in my house. I was wondering if this software would work on it and HOW the mapping would work. I am assuming it would work on mine if it worked on your square pad? Great demo thank you sir. Any advice for me ? I have a Roland TD-11.
@schmargle
5 ай бұрын
Yes, you should be able to get it to work. There’s a MIDI out port on the TD-11, so you’d need a MIDI cable to connect to your computer. The DW software runs either as a plugin within digital audio software (like Logic Pro, Pro Tools, GarageBand, etc.) or as standalone software. You can change the MIDI note mapping within the DW software. If you want to make sure everything will work before you buy it, you could just hook the TD-11 up to your computer and see if you can trigger some other sounds in whatever digital audio software you have.
@KevinZ2269
5 ай бұрын
@@schmargle thanks man I would like to test my td-11 before ? But I don’t have a digital software yet. Should I take a chance ?
@schmargle
5 ай бұрын
@@KevinZ2269 That’s totally up to you. You could find some free software to at least test that the MIDI signal comes into your computer successfully. Or find some demo virtual instruments to try before buying anything.
@KevinZ2269
5 ай бұрын
@@schmargle Thank you sir ! 👍
Hi Greg, Have you experienced any issues with not only playing this plugin, but also with the download process? I also use Alternate Mode products , including their DITI. You seem to be triggering the software quite well. However, I have seen some other reviews which were NOT played in real time; the people who published their videos had multiple complaints. They were not demoing the software; nor, with the DITI. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
@schmargle
Ай бұрын
Yeah, the download process for the plug-in was a bit of a pain, if I remember correctly (though it's been a while!). I think I couldn't figure out how to actually find it in the Roland Cloud Manager. And when I did, I think it took multiple tries to actually download it and install it successfully. There have been a few other bugs as well. For example, it always forces my DAWs (Logic Pro and Digital Performer) to rescan all the plug-ins when I launch the DAW. Also, sometimes it crashes, like when I'm replacing a sound in one spot or another on the virtual kit. I don't recall any problems playing it using the DITI. ...Though the DITI had a steep learning curve as well. But most of my issues about the DITI revolved around setting and training the hi hat. I don't think I've had any issues with any plug-ins in particular. What kinds of problems are you having? I can see if I can re-create it.
@mattf.3124
Ай бұрын
@@schmargle Thanks for the reply & info. I was about to buy it to use with my Alternate Mode products, but I read a few other people here stating they had considerable issues. But , they were not playing it in real time; nor with a DITI. I have considerable experience with the DITI and that's why I reached out to you. One more question: being that it's been 7 months since you published this, did you buy the initial SoundWorks r1.0 ? I read somewhere that they have issued at least one update; I'm wondering if your DAW system conflicts and crashes were potentially related to the very first release...??... Have you had positive response with the Tech Support team at Roland/DW? I appreciate your feedback - I 'm trying to avoid the time and expense regarding difficulties with a new VST as well as being a non-refundable purchase. Thanks again....
@schmargle
Ай бұрын
@@mattf.3124 I did buy the initial version, v1.0, but I've since updated twice. And actually, it looks like there's another new update available, v1.0.3, so I'm currently downloading and updating. The crashes I had were not when I've been playing, only when I was trying to replace a sample in one of the kits, I think. I tried to replicate the crash just now and couldn't, so maybe that's been fixed...or maybe I just haven't remembered exactly what caused it. Not sure. And yes, the support team at Roland was very helpful when I contacted them after v1. The only real issue that remains is that my DAW always rescans all the plug-ins. I had hoped they would somehow figure out a way to fix whatever is causing that, but they don't seem to have unless this new version somehow cures that. It's also possible that I need to completely uninstall and reinstall again-I think I tried that early on but haven't in a while. I also think the Roland app where you download the plug-in is a bit wonky. Sometimes downloading gets stuck on "queued" and never quite downloads. But you don't have to interact with it often. So, the short answer is: it's not yet perfect, or at least it wasn't through v1.0.2. But I still enjoy it. None of the issues I've experienced have stopped me from using it or playing it in real time (which is how I pretty much always use it).
@mattf.3124
Ай бұрын
@@schmargle Thanks for your quick replies and helpful information; greatly appreciated.
Nice drumming! I was wondering what the difference is between the new neopren drumming surface of the drumkat (hybrikit), vs the old rubber pads? wwhich do you prefer?
@schmargle
8 ай бұрын
I had been using the drumKAT, with the older surface, for like 25 years, and it was fine. But I’m really enjoying the new surface of the HybriKIT. It’s basically a little softer. Kind of like playing on a thick computer mouse pad. Highly recommended.
dw should pay you for this video
@schmargle
7 ай бұрын
Ha! They’re actually churning out a lot of cool videos for this product.
@DycayBeats
7 ай бұрын
Do you know how to play cymbal chokes? I use it in DAW btw@@schmargle
@schmargle
7 ай бұрын
@@DycayBeatsThere are probably a few ways to do that. I don't see any choke samples or articulations in this plug-in. So one option would be to set up a different MIDI note to stop the sound of a cymbal within your DAW, kind of like how you want an open hi hat sound to stop when you hit a closed hi hat sound. Though honestly, I'm not sure how you'd set that up in the DAW. I do that with other samplers by setting up note groups (like within the Sampler in Logic and Native Instruments Battery), but I'm not sure how to do that outside of a plug-in. The other option is to use a MIDI controller to do that choking. The Alternate Mode controllers, like the HybriKIT/MIDI DITI I'm using here or a MalletKAT, have a dampening mode. With that mode engaged, you hit a pad but then touch it again to dampen the note. It was introduced in the MalletKAT to simulate note dampening on a vibraphone, but it seems to be part of the MIDI DITI functionality too. Sorry I don't know more-I rarely do any cymbal choking in my playing.
@DycayBeats
7 ай бұрын
Ok thanks for taking your time to explain couple of ways to choke cymbals! Maybe we can only do that by automation or what ever@@schmargle
Where can you buy the plugin? Thanks
@schmargle
7 ай бұрын
It’s available through the Roland Cloud Manager app, which you have to download: www.roland.com/global/products/rc_roland_cloud_manager/