Drum VST in Gig Performer

Plugins
1

I am using Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 within Gig Performer.
I would like to hear from you, what Drum VST you use?

2

I have the ā€œStrike 2ā€ VST from Air Music Technology.
It sounds really good and it offers a whole lot of diffrent instruments, styles and variations (including fills, endings, etc.) to chose from and it is really well to use for playing live (triggering patterns), but i donā€™t really like it to use in my DAW (Cubase) - for this i prefer the ā€œbuilt inā€ Groove Agent.
BTW: Strike 2 is quite low-priced (as long as you donā€™t buy it from Air-Music directly :wink: ) and offers a real good value for the money - at least in my opinion.

3

I use a real drummeršŸ˜‰

2 Likes
4

PS - the drummer in my Pink Floyd tribute band uses V-Drums and heā€™s using Gig Performer with Superior Drummer, for whatever thatā€™s worth.

1 Like
5

Superior Drummer 3 sounds super
:hugs:

6

Addictive Drums and am about to try StevenSlateDrums.

7

Superior Drummer 3

8

Hello Schzrmass;

I am a long time user of Drum Machines on gigs. I perform mainly out of Dallas
TX, and the basic format or unit is ā€œDUOā€. I have access to world class bass players.
The drum machine works well for a certain ā€œ$niche$ā€ of gigs.

So I am a super longtime user of CuBase and Groove Agent. But I am in total agreement with you about STRIKE2. ( I own it too) IMO it is the most comprehensively musical and logical set up "Drum Machine " plug in out there.

Schzrmass; I would be insanelty interested to KNOW how you are triggering the intros, outros, and fills. Have you figured out a way to do it with foot pedals? Currently Iā€™m useing a KORG PR-55 w/ a 5 button footswitch which is by VOX ( owned by KORG) for intros, fills and variations. It is amazingly well thought out to say the least. ( Also I use the BOSS DR880) But I want to go to software and GA and Strike2, just a little unconfident to do it quickly.

I also am a GigPerformer user. Letā€™s strike up a conversation about thisā€¦
Thanks Schzrmass;
Ken Boome in Dallas TX

9

What about using Ableton Live together with Link enabled and snap in to 1bar.
Then you could send OSC or Midi Messages to select clips and or scenes and fire it.
I am using it for playing backing tracks, works perfect.

10

Currently driving Battery 4 in GP with my Kronos and/or Fantom X depending on the need.

11

Hi Ken,
in Strike 2, the patterns are simply triggered by Note-Events (each pattern has its own note number), also the ā€œstopā€ command is represented by a note.
I own a "M-Audio Code 61"Masterkeyboard and it has a pad field with 16 pads with which i trigger the patterns - at least some of them. The pads are configured to send the required note number on MIDI channel #16, so it wonā€™t collide with my keyboard playing on CH#1.
I only use two variations from each of the whole bunch of intros, fills, endings, etc, so that only 12 pads are occupied - this leaves me one pad for ā€œSTOPā€ and another one for tapping the tempo.
Having said this, i think any foot controller that is able to send MID notes can be used to trigger the patterns of Strike 2. Or, because we have in GP a powerful scripting language ā€œunder the hoodā€, you could also use a controller that sends out CC# and then real-time convert any CC# to the required note valueā€¦ but i would go for a Footswitch that sends notes directly. :wink:

Cheers!
Erik

12

Did somebody test Jamstix 4 ? It is supposed to be a rule-based AI drummer and it has a real-time jam mode for interactive playing. If I understand well, even if you load your own MIDI file, it can play it with some kind of personality depending on the selected AI drummer. I donā€™t know how realistic this kind of approach can beā€¦

13

I had an earlier version of JamStix when I was using Windows (so at least 10-15 years ago) and it was actually pretty good.

14

I use Strike 2 also, after an enthusiastic recommendation from Another user. I just love it. I trigger the variations from an iPad over a wireless network using an iPad app called OnSong. OnSong is my master midi controller. As I have over 300 songs (rack spaces) in GP, I donā€™t attempt to memorise lyrics or chords. So OnSong is my lyrics/chords/master midi controller all in one. I use a Bluetooth pedal to scroll OnSong, and write the required midi commands (intro, fill, variation, ending etc) into the chorus/verse headings. For instance, when the chorus heading comes up by scroll, a fill is sent, followed by a midi delay (to allow the fill all of its allotted time) then Strike 2 switches to the variation required for the chorus. Works very well for me a solo singer guitarist.

15

I use Jamstix 4 in GP on my MacBook Pro with Mojave 10.14.5 driven by an external clock on a Yamaha GENOS and Korg Kronos. I have all the others listed above by other users too. Basically tried them all from time to time. Strike 1 and 2 from Air were my original favorites along with ToonTracks Superior Drummer 3. That is until Jamstix 4 for MAC was released late last year.

I use Jam Mode all the time performing live, and it really surprised me with its non-static fills, and flexibility. I ended up purchasing all of the AI drummers and each one has its own unique personality. I believe itā€™s as close to a real drummer with an attitude as anyone can get. With the 3-D live view, you can watch the drums being played and tightly tune the performance to accentuate crashes, etc. But right out of the box, it works.

For the money, this product was the best so far. You can set it up to drive the drums from any other product too, so if you want, you can use Strike2 for the drums driven from the AI of Jamstix. Lastly, the support has been phenomenal.

My latest version is the newest Mac Beta, but no blowups!

Good luckā€¦

2 Likes
16

Hi @Stilli

Did you get round to testing Steven Slate Drums?

Iā€™d like to know before I purchase GP3, because it is not officially supported by SSD. For some reason, they only support DAWs. That does work for me, but with wildly varying latency and stability results. I can run it on the free (and not officially supported) DAW Tracktion much better than on Pro Tools, which is supported. Hence, Iā€™m interested to see if any of you have experience with SSD in Gig Performer.

17

I am using SSD 5 with Gig Performer and it is running.

18

You can download the free version of SSD5 and try with GP

19

I searched for a Bass and Drum support app that i can use on an iPad as my Mac is old and should only run GP with my keyboard VSTs.

I found iBassist from lumbeat and use it with their RockDrummer app. Lumbeat provides 10 different drum types (Rock- / Funk- / Jazz- ā€¦Drummer).

You can setup Cord Progression in iBassist and the related drumming in RockDrummer and link both together to get a nice Bass / Drum combo. You can also link them to GP and include the audio into your GP set-up.

I think it is also possible to trigger / change iBassist/Drummer when you change Rackspaces / variations in GP. Unfortunately my Midi skill is not yet good enough to do it. But it is on my mid term todo list.

i found iBassist via the ā€œsound test roomā€ on YT: iBassist Tutorial - How To Set Up & Use The Live Pads With Other Apps - iPad - YouTube

20

Thanks @pianopaul,

I have SSD5 with some additional libraries, so I have all the acoustic drum sounds I could possibly need. But playing those sounds live in a reliable way with low enough latency to play rolls without losing track of what youā€™re doing is the challenge. Iā€™d aim for 32 samples latency or less. Pretty sure that it poses a challenge for any host. What are the settings that work for you?

Thanks again,
Jan