I’ve said it before: I love drum machines. Hardware or software it makes no difference they all are great! Making some super noises that are heard all around the world from Uppsala, Sweden is Mike Janney and his company Audiorealism. I was a fan of their first two products the ABL (303 emulation) and ABL Pro (Roland sounding modular) so much so I endorsed the ABL. I was seriously pleased to hear Mike’s new project was a drum machine and it’s been out for a while so I thought I’d share a useful “tip”.
This is not really a tip as it’s in the manual but I think it’s important to remind people to feature dive into any software they own. This feature is implemented in a non-standard way so just by clicking around you may not figure it out. The ADM comes with some nice Roland TR-606/808/909 samples built into it but let’s add our own…
First, get a folder together of samples. I downloaded some free Oberheim DMX eprom sounds found at Electrongate.com. Next you need to put the folder here:
Macintosh -> Library -> Application Support -> Audiorealism -> ADM -> Samples
Open your DAW and ADM and click the on screen power button (top right of ADM) to bring a drop down menu up and select “Enable Sample Selection”. Now when you click the small blue led screens for each drum slot a menu will drop down and you can choose your new folder and individual drum sound!
But why go though all the trouble to bring your sounds into ADM when there probably are easier ways within your DAW to play drum hits? ADM’s internal sequencer allows for the strongest swing I have heard yet. You can also click and hold the Pattern button to access a menu that allows you to randomize patterns. Lastly, ADM has some wicked FX and filter mangling toys to further shape your beats.