Native Instruments Pop Drums Operating Manual

USER’S GUIDE

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GmbH, hereinafter referred to as NATIVE INSTRUMENTS. All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Furthermore, the fact that you are reading this text means you are the owner of a legal version rather than an illegal, pirated copy. It is only through the loyalty and honesty of people like yourself that NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GmbH can continue to develop and create innovative audio software. On behalf of the entire company, thank you very much.

Users Guide written by Nicolas Sidi. Version: 1.0 (03/2008)

Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs, but in making this a better product.

Germany

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GmbH Schlesische Str. 28 D-10997 Berlin Germany info@native-instruments.de www.native-instruments.de

USA

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS North America, Inc. 5631 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028 USA sales@native-instruments.com www.native-instruments.com

MASSIVE was designed and developed entirely by Native Instruments GmbH. Solely the name Massive is a registered trademark of Massive Audio Inc, USA.

1 Welcome to POP DRUMS!

Thank you very much for purchasing POP DRUMS. On behalf of the entire NATIVE INSTRUMENTS team, we hope that this product will truly inspire you.

POP DRUMS adds two full acoustic drum kits, each of them with several additional versions, to your collection of instantly usable KoreSounds. They have been designed to integrate seamlessly into your KoreSound database, making them easily accessible. Also, like the KORE 2/KORE PLAYER factory content, all KORE SOUNDPACKS utilize the KORE 2’s/KORE PLAYER’s Integrated Engines: You only need KORE 2 or KORE PLAYER to make full use of their sonic capabilities. Furthermore, the sounds have been equipped with dedicated Control Page assign-

ments, putting the most important musical parameters right at your ngertips.

Individual Sound Variations have been created for each KoreSound of this product,

adding to the number of precongured sounds.

This manual will help you get started with your KORE SOUNDPACK. If you want to start immediately, proceed to the Installation and Activation section. Please read that chapter carefully and fully, as it explains all the steps required to integrate the KORE SOUNDPACK into KORE 2/KORE PLAYER. Following the Installation chapter is an explanation of how to use the KoreSounds within KORE 2/KORE PLAYER. If you are already familiar with KORE 2/KORE PLAYER, this will be straightforward, but it might be worth a look nonetheless. Finally, the last section of this manual adds some more details regarding the sounds that come with POP DRUMS.

POP DRUMS – 4

2 What is POP DRUMS?

POP DRUMS contains two great sounding acoustic drum kits, each of them with its own distinctive character. Both kits have been carefully recorded to give the playing dynamics of a real acoustic drum set, and they were edited in order to provide you with production-ready drums for your musical work. For each kit reduced versions for quick use are aivalable while several KoreSounds provide effects that are unique to the KORE product family. Furthermore, there are additional KoreSounds which

contain a selection of MIDI le grooves that are specically designed for pop

drums. Whe n loading a KoreSound from this collection, KORE 2/KORE PLAY ER automatically loads its integrated KONTAKT engine and adjusts the specic sound. This all happens automatically, with no additional adjustments necessary. After loading the sound, you are ready to tweak it. KONTAKT builds on its reputation as the industry standard for professional sampling. The outstanding audio engine and state-of-the-art modular architecture provide unlimited sonic potential for your music. Moreover, the Control Pages and S KoreSound, enable you to adjust each sound to suit your production needs or simply morph from one sound world to another. If you own those products, you can also open the two kits directly in BATTERY 3 and KONTAKT 3, as POP DRUMS acts as an additional KONTAKT/BATTERY Library. You will then have access to the huge selection of sound changing possibilities of these products, but not the features specic to KORE 2/KORE PL AYER like the

Control PageS and Sound VariationS.

ound VariationS

, preassigned for each

POP DRUMS – 5

3 Installation and Activation

The following section explains how to install and activate POP DRUMS. Although this process is straightforward, please take a minute to read these instructions, as doing so might prevent some common problems.

3.1 Installing POP DRUMS

After downloading the KORE SOUNDPACK, unzip the compressed archive you received from NATIVE INSTRUMENTS. It contains this documentation as a PDF

le, as well as an installer application. To install POP DRUMS, double-click the

installer application and follow the instructions on the screen. The installer appli-

cation automatically places the new KoreSound content les into the folders that

KORE 2/KORE PL AYER expects them to be in. In the course of the installation procedure, the installer application asks you to specify another folder for additional

les, like this manual.

3.2 Activating POP DRUMS

When installation is nished, start the SERVICE CENTER that was installed with KORE 2/KORE PLAYER. It will connect your computer to the Internet and activate your POP DRUMS installation. In order to activate your copy of POP DRUMS, you

Please install KORE 2 or

!

KOR E PL AYE R be fore

!

KOR E PL AYE R be fore

installing this KORE SOUNDPACK!

Otherwise, POP DRUMS will not

work properly.

Act iva ti o n of KO RE

!

SOUNDPACKS is option-

!

SOUNDPACKS is option-

al. However, it will give you access

to free updates.

POP DRUMS – 6

have to perform the following steps within the SERVICE CENTER:Log in: Enter your NATIVE INSTRUMENTS user account name and password on the initial page. This is the same account information you used in the NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Online Shop, where you bought your KORE SOUNDPACK, and for other NATIVE INSTRUMENTS product activations. Select products: The Service Center detects all products that have not yet been activated and lists them. You can activate multiple products at once — for example, KORE 2/KORE PLAYER and your KORE SOUNDPACK, or several KORE SOUNDPACKS.

Activate: After proceeding to the next page, the Service Center connects to the

1.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS server and activates your products. Download updates: When the server has confirmed the activation, the Service

2.

Center automatically displays the Update Manager with a list of all available updates for your installed products. Please make sure that you always use the latest version of your NATIVE INSTRUMENTS products to ensure proper func-

tioning. Downloading updates is optional. After activation is complete, you can always quit the Service Center. Now, you are ready to use POP DRUMS. Please start KORE 2/KORE PLAYER in the standalone mode. This will trigger the database update process automatically and integrate the new KoreSounds into KORE 2/KORE PLAYER’s database. The next chapter will explain how to use the new sounds in KORE 2/KORE PLAYER.

If your computer is not

!

connected to the Internet,

!

connected to the Internet,

please consult the separate Setup

Guide included in your KORE 2/

KORE PL AYER package. It ex-

plains the Of ine Activation pro -

cedure and contains detailed in-

for ma tio n ab out using the

SERVICE CENTER. This is also a

reference if you experience prob-

lems with the activation process.

As a fir st step (if your KORE

SOUNDPACK should not be listed

in the SERVICE CENTER, for in-

stance), please download the latest

version of the SERVICE CENTER

from the NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

website and install it on your of-

ine computer.

POP DRUMS – 7

4 How to use POP DRUMS

The following sections will give you a brief overview over some basic operations: you will learn how to search for sounds you have in mind and how to load and play KoreSounds. For details about these topics please read the KORE 2/KORE PLAYER manual.

4.1 Finding a KoreSound

All POP DRUMS KoreSounds are directly integrated into KORE 2's/KORE PLAYER's database. They will show up in the Browser’s Search Results List alongside all the

other sounds that match your specic search criteria — for example, a combination

of Attributes. To restrict your search results to your specic pack’s sounds, select the desired pack in the S List shows the entire content of this particular pack.

There is another way to restrict your search results to your specic pack’s sounds:

simply enter the KORE SOUNDPACK’s name into the Q Browser, or even just a part of the name — for example, “best pop drums”. The corresponding KoreSounds automatically appear in the Search Results List. If you don’t want to limit the results to this KORE SOUNDPACK but do want to have the display grouped by SOUNDPACKS, you can show the bank name within the Search Results List and sort the list according to this entry. To do so, right-click the Search Results List’s header row and activate the Bank entry in the upcoming context menu. This will show each KoreSound’s bank name in a new column of the Search Results List. Now click the B

to this specication. This will group the results.

oundPaCk

column of the Attributes List. The Search Results

uiCk SearCh Field

ank

column’s header to sort the list according

of the

KORE 2 us er s: if the

!

Soundpack column is not

!

Soundpack column is not

visible in the Attributes List, right-

click on the Attributes List header

and select the Soundpack entry in

the upcoming context menu.

POP DRUMS – 8

4.2 Loading the KoreSound

4.2.1 Loading the KoreSound in KORE PLAYER

After you have located your KoreSound, load it by double-clicking its Search Results List entry. Alternatively, drag it onto KORE PLAYER's Global Controller. Both actions

replace the currently loaded KoreSound — if it is the rst KoreSound you load after

start-up, it will replace an “empty” KoreSound. When the KoreSound is loaded, its C ontrol Page is mapped onto the Global Controller. This preassigned Control Page gives you access to the KoreSound’s most important parameters. The exact buttons and knobs assignments on the Control

Page are specic to each KoreSound, as well as the number of Control Pages.

With the Global Controller, you also have immediate control of the KoreSound’s

V

ariationS

. Please refer to the KORE PL AYER manual for details about Control Pages and Sound VariationS. If you use KORE PLAYER as a plug-in in a host environment, you can save the positions/states that you set on the eight knobs and eight buttons of the Control Page: saving the host’s project saves all settings of all incorporated plug-ins (among others, KORE PLAYER) and thus all changes you made to the loaded KoreSound.

4.2.2 Loading the KoreSound in KORE 2

After you have located your KoreSound, load it by double-clicking its Search Results List entry. Alternatively, drag it onto the KORE 2's Global Controller. Both actions

replace the currently focused KoreSound — if it is the rst KoreSound you load after

start-up, it will replace an “empty” KoreSound. If you want to place the KoreSound

into a specic Channel Insert within the Edit Area (instead of loading the KoreSound

into the focused one), you can also drag it directly into the Sound Matrix.

POP DRUMS – 9

When loaded, the KoreSound will automatically be displayed so that its Control Pages are directly mapped onto the Global Controller. If you are using KORE 2. the mapping stored in the Control Pages are ref the KORE 2 Controller. Via its preassigned User Page, you have access to the KoreSound’s most important pa-

rameters. The exact buttons and knobs assignments on the User Page are specic

to each KoreSound. With the Global Controller, you also have immediate control of the KoreSound’s V details about Control Pages and Sound VariationS. If you have the full version of the Integrated Engine installed (in our case KONTAKT), you can also open the engine itself. Just click the P Global Controller, or double-click the Channel Insert within the Sound Matrix. This will give you full access to all parameters of the KoreSound, exceeding the options in KORE 2’s Control Pages. Note, however, that this will change the status of the KoreSound: When you open a KoreSound’s plug-in editor once, it will always require the plug-in’s full installation and license to be working. (Of course, this does not affect the saved copy of the KoreSound, only the loaded one, which you might

want to save later as a different le.) If you do not use the editor throughout your

editing process, instead using only the Control Pages and the S KoreSound will again be loadable without the full license available. After you have tweaked the KoreSound to your liking, you can save it to the User Sounds content by dragging it back onto the Search Results List — just the opposite of the loading process. Within the Save List, you can edit the KoreSound’s

name, enter your name as the KoreSound’s author and so on. When nished, click

the d

one Button

each project you are working on. Alternatively, the KoreSound and all changes you made are also saved when you store the Performance of KORE 2. However, the KoreSound is not automatically added to the Browser’s database. The same happens if you use KORE 2 as a plugin: Saving the host’s project saves all settings of all incorporated plug-ins (like KORE 2) and thus all changes you made to the loaded KoreSound.

ariationS

. Please refer to the KORE 2/KORE PLAYER manual for

lug-in editor iCon

to save the KoreSound to the database. It is now available for

within the

ound VariationS

, the

If the se terms are com-

%

pletely new to you, chap-

%

pletely new to you, chap-

ter 3.1 of the KORE 2 manual

provide general information, and

chapter 3.1.4 covers the Control

Page system and Sound VariationS.

POP DRUMS – 10

5 Content Description

The following paragraphs describe the POP DRUMS content. However, listening to the KoreSounds tells much more than mere words. These descriptions will give you a starting point, but you’ll probably learn most about this KORESOUND PACK by using it!

5.1 The Drums

POP DRUMS provides you with two great sounding acoustic drum kits, each with a unique sound appropriate for acoustic drum pop productions. The kits have been carefully recorded to give the playing dynamics of a real acoustic drum set, offering you fully edited production-ready drums for your music. Each drum uses between 2 and 4 groups, which implement the Round Robin and Random Cycling features of BATTERY and KONTAKT (e.g. 2 Round Robin groups for cymbals and toms, and 4 Random groups for kick and snare), as well as voice groups, mute groups, and other related drum kit settings, well known to KONTAKT and BATTERY users.

The following drums are available in each of the two main kits:

kick

►

snare with the following articulations: regular hit, rimshot, am, side stick,

►

ghost hit, roll hihat with the following ar ticulations: closed top, closed side (shank), foot

►

pedal, full open, mostly open, half open, slightly open

4 toms (high, medium, low, and oor)

►

2 crash cymbals (high & low) and muted crashes for each

►

The cycles “Round Robin”

!

and “Random” automati-

!

and “Random” automati-

call y switch betw een dif fere nt

sample s for re pe ated dr um

strokes, adding a mo re natural

feel to your playing.

POP DRUMS – 11

ride cymbal top, bell, and edge

►

splash cymbal

►

china crash

►

2 cowbells

►

2 tambourines

►

2 shakers

►

woodblock

►

claps

►

The mapping of these kits is as follows:

C1 (MIDI note #32) – Kick Drum C#1 – Snare Drum D1 – Side Stick D#1 – Snare Flam E1 – Snare Rimshot F1 – Floor Tom F#1 – Closed Hihat G1 – Low Tom G#1 – Pedal Hihat A1 – Mid Tom A#1 – Open Hihat* B1 – High Tom C2 – Snare Roll** C#2 – High Crash Cymbal D2 – Snare Ghost D#2 – Ride Cymbal E2 – China Crash Cymbal F2 – Ride Bell

F#2 – Hard Tambourine G2 – Splash Cymbal G#2 – Low Cowbell A2 – Low Crash A#2 – Low Shaker B2 – Ride Edge C3 – Closed Side Hihat C#3 – Slightly Open Hihat D3 – Half Open Hihat D#3 – Mostly Open Hihat E3 – Claps F3 – High Cowbell F#3 – Woodblock G3 – Soft Tambourine G#3 – High Shaker A3 – High Crash Mute A#3 – Low Crash Mute

POP DRUMS – 12

* The Foot Pedal (CC 4) controls which open hihat samples are played on A#1. At a value of 0 (the default value) the full open hihat samples are used, and as the value increases the hihat samples are more closed. ** The Modwheel (CC 1) controls the volume of the release sample for the snare roll on C2. At a value of 0 (the default value) the release stroke is at full volume, and at 127 the release stroke is off.

POP DRUMS – 13

5.2 The Kits

POP DRUMS includes a total of 20 KoreSounds, all containing a fully usable kit. Each of them is equipped with effects especially designed for pop production, both

mastering effects (like reverb & compression) and special effects (like lters). There

are two main full acoustic pop drum kits, two small versions of these kits, special effect kits, and four full groove player kits, all of which are described below:

The “full” kits contain all of the sounds listed above and have all of the velocity

1.

layers and cells available. These are the two kits that you will probably use in most musical situations. The KoreSounds of these kits also have dedicated pages for mastering effects (EQ, compression, and reverb) and individual drum group tweaks (tuning, panning, volume, saturation, EQ, and attack). The “small” kits are smaller versions which use fewer velocity layers (i.e. load

2.

fewer samples) and don’t use all of the cells. You can use a small version as a test kit: You have something in mind and want record it before you forget it? Load one of these smaller drum kits and experiment with it – you will always be able to replace it later with the full velocity-loaded kit. The “special” kits are the small versions of the kits processed in the sense that

3.

they can be used for specific kinds of production. For example, there are kits with KORE effect filters to equalize the kits in order to create a unique sonic sound, others that specialize in different reverbs and compression, and still other special effects like flanger and saturation. The “player” kits are the full versions of the kits which include a selection of

4.

MIDI grooves contained within KORE MIDI players for a certain song type. Each player kit contains 64 MIDI grooves, with 8 grooves contained in each player. There are 16 verses, 16 choruses, 16 fills, 8 intros, and 8 codas in each kit. The KORE controller buttons change between these players, and the eight sound variations change to the different versions of the verses, choruses, etc. So just press Play and have fun!

The MIDI les contained

!

in these players are also

!

in these players are also

available for use in a sequencer,

located in t he “…\KoreSoun d

Packs\Pop Drums Sample s\Pop

Drums MIDI Files\” folder.

POP DRUMS – 14

5.3 The Control Pages

Each KoreSound comes with a set of preassigned Control Pages that are loaded into KORE 2/KORE PLAYER’s Global Controller as soon as you load the KoreSound. These Control Pages allow you to tweak the drum kit’s most important parameters in an intuitive and exible way. KORE 2 users can remote control the Global Controller via the KORE 2 Controller hardware (see KORE 2 manual for more details). The set of Control Pages depends on each KoreSound. Feel free to navigate through the available Control Pages to get used to their controls. You will notice some similarities between the KoreSounds, though:

For each KoreSound, a main Control Page deals with the effects applied to the

1.

kit (such as reverb, filters, etc.). The full acoustic drum kit KoreSounds include separate Control Pages for each

2.

drum type (one page to change the kick sound, one for the snares, etc.). The MIDI player kits have a dedicated Control Page for triggering the MIDI

3.

grooves.

POP DRUMS – 15

6 Credits

Original sound design by: Paul Maurer KoreSound Pack design: Tobias Menguser Sample Producer and Engineer: Simone Coen (http://www.chocolateaudio.com)

Drummer: Italo Graziana

Assistant Engineers and Editing: Gabriele Ghel & Giuliano Guarino

Production Assistants and Editing: Francesco Palmisano & Alfredo Ruberto Studio: SoundSistemi, Santhià, Italia MIDI Groove Programming: Aimo Nyland

POP DRUMS – 16