DrumCore
DrumCore is software by Sonoma Wire Works that lets songwriters and composers create drum tracks using audio loops and/or MIDI beats, fills and variations by world-class drummers across a multitude of styles. It also includes a virtual drum instrument loaded with the drummer's drumkit sounds. It has won Best Drum Software awards from the magazines Electronic Musician and Remix. DrumCore has been used by TV composers for creating music for the Survivor series as well as the drums for a recent Debbie Harry album.
Features
- Database/librarian functions
DrumCore can serve as a librarian for audio files (in WAV, AIFF, SDII, REX2 and ACID format) and MIDI data. It supports metadata, allowing one to search for beats by drummer, musical style, feel (like 1/8 notes, triplets, shuffles, etc.), tempo and time signature (4/4/, 3/4, 7/8, etc.). Users can also type in their own comments and search in that information.
- Famous drummer content
DrumCore includes content by well-known drummers, including: Jeff Anthony (Sheryl Crow), John Bishop (Ernie Watts), Terry Bozzio (Missing Persons), Tony Braunagel (Bonnie Raitt), Luis Conte (Sergio Mendes), Ned Douglas (Dave Stewart), Sly Dunbar (Bob Marley), Michael Shrieve (Santana), Ben Smith (Heart), Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver), DJ Syze-up (UltraNaté), Alan White (Yes, John Lennon), Lonnie Wilson (Brooks & Dunn), Zoro (Lenny Kravitz) and John Tempesta (Helmet, Testament, Rob Zombie).
- Audio and MIDI GrooveSets for songwriting
A drummer plays the equivalent of a song with a basic groove, variations and fills. Then they often (but not always) play the song at multiple tempos that they feel that groove works at. In this way you get the same basic groove at multiple tempos and the performance sounds more realistic than simply using one performance and time stretching it to speed it up or slow it down. The content is offered as MIDI as well as stereo audio loops and the drummer's drumkit is sampled/recorded for use in DrumCore's virtual MIDI instrument. Songwriters can use these GrooveSets for writing, as they offer enough content to work on a song, which usually requires related beats and transitions to support a verse/chorus type of structure.
- MIDI drum instrument
The DrumCore MIDI drum instrument contains the drum and percussion sounds used by the drummer. This is for primarily for playing the drummers' MIDI grooves but can also be used for creating new beats using the drummers' sounds and a MIDI program that works with VST, RTAS and AU plug-ins.
- Gabrielizer
This feature will edit the selected audio or MIDI file to create a new beat. The editing is based on certain rules derived from the way drummers change beats around.
- Integration with other audio applications
DrumCore easily integrates with popular plug-in hosts on Mac and Windows computers. Audio can be exported as WAV, AIFF or REX2, and MIDI grooves can be exported as standard MIDI files, simply by dragging and dropping them to a track.
- DrummerPack expansion packs
Numerous expansion packs, known as DrummerPacks, are available on DrumCore.com. Third-party expansion packs are also available from companies like pureMix, Drums-On-Demand, and Sonic Reality.
References
- DrumCore.com
- DrumCore product webpage
- Sound on Sound review
- Electronic Musician review
- Sonoma Wire Works Acquires DrumCore, KitCore and Famous Drummer Content on PRNewswire
- "The Beat Goes On For Another Paul Allen Accidental Business" by Wall Street Journal Blog