SPL DrumXchanger beta to debut at Musikmesse
| Posted in Music Technology
A beta version of SPL DrumXchanger is among the very first products to have been announced prior to the 2010 Musikmesse exhibition, which is taking place in Frankfurt in three weeks time. The plug-in is described by the developer as being able to replace drum sounds within multi-track sessions irrespective of level, working in real time to replace samples phase-accurately in the original signal.
Crucially, the plug-in heavily uses SPL’s famous Transient Designer technology, employing “two fully operational Transient Designer processors” to facilitate drum hit recognition rather than sound creation. This means that the plug-in can identify all drum hits in a recording accurately, including ghost-notes, regardless of their dynamic level.
The developer is referring to the use of the technology as its “ace under the sleeve”, and on paper the results do sound impressive. Samples can reportedly be mixed with the original sound, while the plug-in includes a ‘ducking’ function capable of reducing the level of the original drum hit without affecting the ambience surrounding it. Also included are high-pass and low-pass filters, delay controls, and the ability to pitch-shift all samples either one octave up or down in real time.
Alongside its core function, DrumXchanger will offer users what SPL describes as a “basic library” comprising 24-bit/96kHz samples. Created with SPL preamps and processors, the samples will include three drum kits with one snare, one bass drum and four toms each. Every sample has reportedly been built from “up to 80 sounds in 16 dynamic levels and five variations”. Users can also load their own WAV files into the plug-in, with MIDI capability also facilitated.
While only the beta version of the plug-in will be on display at Musikmesse, the trade show will see SPL announce the date of DrumXchanger’s full arrival.
Meanwhile, the Frankfurt exhibition will also see the public premiere of two more SPL products, the first of which is the M/S Master, an “analogue tool that can manage M/S signal separation and integrate external processors seamlessly”. According to the manufacturer, the M/S Master allows an adjustable separation of stereo left and right signals into middle and side signals, with the M/S separation and positioning plus the stereo image defined by the Balance and Level knobs. External processors can also be integrated with the processor via switchable inserts, meaning outboard can be more easily brought into the mix.
Finally, the RackPack 4 will debut in Germany alongside a new Dual Band De-Esser module. The four module rack system is described as “compact and portable” and is designed to slot into a 19″ rack. It’s launch follows the popularity of the company’s previous eight-slot version. The Dual Band De-Esser is based on SPL’s highly respected De-Esser of the 1990s, which exploited phase-cancellation rather than compression. The new module uses two-frequency bands rather than one to “increase the effectiveness of the processing without introducing any audible artefacts”.
About Barney Jameson
A contributor, editor and in some cases creator of more music and pro audio magazines than he cares to remember, Barney Jameson is a veteran of writing about gear, and a pretty keen singer songwriter to boot.
Having started his musical education reading old copies of the Melody Maker while riding the tube to University in the mid-nineties, Barney once sang in a band called Sugarstone, troubling record company chequebooks not quite enough to make it a career option. Instead, he achieved his goal of starting a music magazine of his own when he founded Playmusic in the early noughties. Later on, having exploited VIP access to as many festivals as possible, he wrote about the pro audio industry throughout Europe and the Middle East, travelling to far-flung destinations such as Dubai, Doha and Muscat (nice mountains).
As the latest addition to the DV247 team, Barney has big plans. But when he’s not plotting online domination of the musical instrument world, he keeps himself busy writing songs on a battered old acoustic guitar and playing them to audiences in his home town.
Tags: DrumXchanger, Sound Performance Lab, Transient Designer