00:00 Hello it's Adam here from Music Radar. Today I am looking at DrummerZone 2 from D16 Software.
00:06 So DrummerZone 2 is a long awaited update to the original DrummerZone which was one of the first and best Roland 909 simulators in software.
00:14 And that one came out a long time ago and this new update which is finally out adds in a lot of new features,
00:20 adds in a new look, adds in some new effects and things like that, a completely new way of synthesising each drum sound individually.
00:28 And it sounds really great and it's really fun to use. So if you're making any 999 heavy music, techno and things like that,
00:35 this is a really great option to have a look at.
00:37 Let's start with a little overview of some of the features. Here you've got the main page which you'll land on.
00:43 Let's start right at the top. So you've got scenes up here, so those load up patterns as well as all the effects and things like that
00:50 and all the tweaks on there so that's a good place to get some inspiration.
00:54 You'll see as you click on these stuff changes completely on there. Let's go back to the init for now.
01:00 And then you've got separate precepts just for the drum kits themselves and there's a load in here to start you off.
01:06 At the top of the plugin here you've got these controls for the 11 different sounds that are included in the 909 and in the DrummerZone 2.
01:13 So you've got the usual stuff that you'd get on the original hardware, attack and decay, tune and things like that.
01:19 And those go across the board there. You can get into more detail by clicking this button here.
01:24 This switches between 4 different views in the plugins.
01:27 So if you go into strips you can go really granular with it there. So you can choose which thing you want to focus on.
01:33 For example the bass drum, you've got the controls there and then you've got all these different EQs, compressions and routing stuff.
01:40 So you can really get in and fine tune each element of the 909.
01:45 In the middle here, this strip along the centre is your 2 effects buses which come with a load of different effects.
01:51 Really nicely tuned for 909 sounds. You've got a couple of different EQs, delays, reverbs, chorus, bit crusher
01:59 and then these separate dynamic ones and then a filter on the end.
02:03 And the all important distortion of course over here.
02:06 So we all love those classic 909 sounds but they do require a fair bit of processing, especially to fit into modern music
02:14 and that's all built into the Drumazon 2 here which is really nice.
02:17 The third view here is master. So this is your master effects section.
02:22 You've got a fully featured multiband compressor and a limiter.
02:26 So that's going to be definitely important for fitting that into your mix.
02:29 Obviously you can add in whatever plugins you want after the chain but it's really nice to have these built into the Drumazon
02:34 and they're specifically tailored for it as well which is great.
02:37 The fourth view is MIDI triggers. So you can set that up however you want across your keyboard
02:43 and then some trigger outs which you can send to various places.
02:47 So lots of detail, lots of control over pretty much any aspect you could want.
02:52 The final part of the plugin is this pattern sequencer built in down the bottom.
02:57 This is really fully featured. It comes with a load of presets for patterns.
03:01 So you've got presets for the scenes, presets for the drum kits and presets for patterns themselves.
03:06 Let's just load in one of those. Now you see that pops in down the bottom.
03:10 So you've got full control over everything here.
03:13 In draw mode you can add in notes wherever you like depending on the grid.
03:18 You've also got a tap mode so you can play things in live and that will record those straight into there.
03:23 And then a randomise button which is going to add a bit of chance and random to your beat as well which is nice.
03:29 You can choose different types of steps. So you've got a normal and then an accented step.
03:34 And you've got control over articulation like flam and things like that.
03:37 And then you can even fine tweak those down the bottom to set the velocity level for what a normal and an accent
03:42 and what a flam actually is and things like that.
03:45 So yeah, loads and loads of detail in there.
03:48 And you've got these nice chunky buttons over here to switch between patterns.
03:52 So it's really taking everything that was so great about Drumazon and just adding a load more things into it.
03:58 So the sounds themselves are fully synthesised now and then you've got all these extra details to play with.
04:03 What I'm going to do now is load up a couple of different presets, load up a couple of different scenes
04:08 and we'll have a listen to how it sounds which is all important obviously.
04:12 [Drums playing]
04:40 [Music playing]
04:55 [Music playing]
05:24 [Music playing]
05:27 [Music playing]
05:39 [Music playing]
05:45 [Music playing]
06:14 [Music playing]
06:27 [Music playing]
06:56 [Music playing]
07:18 Another feature I really like with this sequencer down the bottom is this little export button here.
07:22 So that allows you to drag out a MIDI file or a pattern and drop that straight in your DAW.
07:26 So it might be easier for you to work like that, you kind of build up your pattern in the sequencer here
07:30 and then drop it into your DAW and have that running as MIDI alongside it.
07:34 So yeah, I think Drumazon 2 is a really great plugin. It sounds absolutely fantastic, it sounds huge.
07:39 And there's just so much control over each individual tiny piece of the sound.
07:43 But it also does come with a load of good presets for every section so you can jump straight in there
07:48 and get some massive sound straight away.
07:50 It's out now on the D16 website. Currently as I recall this it's on sale for 89 Euros, normal price 119 Euros.
07:57 There is a demo available as well so give that a try.
08:00 It's definitely one of the nicest sounding and most feature rich 909 plugins out there if that's what you're looking for.
08:05 But there are obviously lots of other options around as well.
08:08 But yeah, check out the demo and I'll be back for some more videos soon.
08:12 [Drumazon 2 - The End]
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