Another, less critical, error is that an extra `r` has appeared in the riddim name `Lively` 😮

Hey Matt, so far, this is sounding gorgeous!

Feature Requests:

I've set up a drum rack in Ableton Live for all my drum VSTis, and I'm now doing the same for Dread Drumz. I have multi-outputs set up for all sounds, couple things I would really like:

- when you change to a new drum sound bank, it resets all my output routing in the mixer. Maybe a 'lock' for these, so I can spin through drum kits while playing midi without all my routing getting reset each time.

- I echo what Django mentioned above about the numbering of output channels, currently quite confusing.

- I would like to be able to send the 'SENDS' to a streeo output channel, like you can with the percussion sounds, so I can mix these seperately. Preferably all three different sends can be routed to their own channel seperately.

Thanks again for the pre-release, having lots of fun with this today!

Quote from django pither on December 23, 2024, 11:44 am

In the spirit of balanced review and knowing that you still have work to do my only gripes right now are that default presets have a little too much reverb on.

Ah, I might have dialed the reverb levels a bit much. I struggled a bit with this because, as you I prefer having less reverb, but some want more of it... I think having drier kits is a better approach, as it's easier to dial just some thing up, instead of dialing everything down. Noted.
Also, there's still work to be done on the reverb, especially matching the levels of the different IRs.

There is one issue that is a bit of a headache and it’s probably oversight in the strenuous demands of development but the output numbering is a bit screwy. You’ve number outputs 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 etc. They should be 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 etc so that things tally in the DAW.

Indeed, that's an oversight. obviously the output numbers should be 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, etc...

Great product though. Super pleased I got in on pre-order as this competes with some of the best drum VSTs out there let alone reggae ones. Hands down the best reggae VSTi I have tried.

Thank you very much Django! Working this long on a project makes you lose your objectivity and, I for myself, tend to notice the flaws of my creations, instead of the good things 🙂

Quote from Carl Caulkett on December 23, 2024, 1:43 pm

Another, less critical, error is that an extra `r` has appeared in the riddim name `Lively` 😮

I think I need glasses 🤦😅

Quote from kevingham on December 23, 2024, 5:47 pm

Hey Matt, so far, this is sounding gorgeous!

Feature Requests:

I've set up a drum rack in Ableton Live for all my drum VSTis, and I'm now doing the same for Dread Drumz. I have multi-outputs set up for all sounds, couple things I would really like:

- when you change to a new drum sound bank, it resets all my output routing in the mixer. Maybe a 'lock' for these, so I can spin through drum kits while playing midi without all my routing getting reset each time.

I didn't think of that, it's a great idea. I was thinking just now of adding a 'global' lock button to activate/deactivate the function but actually, do you think of a use case where you wouldn't want this function to be always activated ?
I think I could just hardcode this behaviour into the plugin and avoid having yet another button int the interface...

- I would like to be able to send the 'SENDS' to a streeo output channel, like you can with the percussion sounds, so I can mix these seperately. Preferably all three different sends can be routed to their own channel seperately.

That crossed my mind, but why haven't I implemented it yet ? I don't know... > On my To-Do list 👍

THank you all for your early feedback! Keep posting, I'm writing everything down 🙂

Quote from Matt on December 23, 2024, 8:15 pm

There is one issue that is a bit of a headache and it’s probably oversight in the strenuous demands of development but the output numbering is a bit screwy. You’ve number outputs 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 etc. They should be 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 etc so that things tally in the DAW.

Indeed, that's an oversight. obviously the output numbers should be 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, etc...

Great product though. Super pleased I got in on pre-order as this competes with some of the best drum VSTs out there let alone reggae ones. Hands down the best reggae VSTi I have tried.

Thank you very much Django! Working this long on a project makes you lose your objectivity and, I for myself, tend to notice the flaws of my creations, instead of the good things 🙂

If I may make a suggestion here: the little 'M' under the mixer level meter isn't obvious as to what that means. If I see an 'M' on a mixer I expect it to mean 'Mute'. What you could do is change the channels as you have suggested (1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, etc), but channels 1-2 are then the Main Outs. This is pretty conventional. Then on the mixer view instead of the 'M' by default you would have '1-2' for each channel. I personally would see that and immediately know that refers to the output channels, and the drop down can then change the channels to 3-4, etc. I think this would make most sense and make the interface much easier to understand.

Quote from Matt on December 23, 2024, 8:25 pm

Quote from kevingham on December 23, 2024, 5:47 pm

Hey Matt, so far, this is sounding gorgeous!

Feature Requests:

I've set up a drum rack in Ableton Live for all my drum VSTis, and I'm now doing the same for Dread Drumz. I have multi-outputs set up for all sounds, couple things I would really like:

- when you change to a new drum sound bank, it resets all my output routing in the mixer. Maybe a 'lock' for these, so I can spin through drum kits while playing midi without all my routing getting reset each time.

I didn't think of that, it's a great idea. I was thinking just now of adding a 'global' lock button to activate/deactivate the function but actually, do you think of a use case where you wouldn't want this function to be always activated ?
I think I could just hardcode this behaviour into the plugin and avoid having yet another button int the interface...

Pefect! Yes, hardcoded would work excactly how I would like, this is how I use the Reggae kit in EZDrummmer 3, the channel routings just stick when I change kits.

BTW after 1 hour of playing with Dread Drumz I cannot see me ever using EZDrummer again. I like EZD as a riddim sketch pad to get a nice backing going, but Dread Drumz does this, with MIDI and everything exactly how I need, and, oh my God, your drum sounds a LEAGUES better than EZD. Strictly roots!

Another quick suggestion while I'm here:

On each channel of the mixer, right at the top where you have the drop down menu to select a different sample for each percussion type, it would be really nice if there was also a little 'left' and 'right' arrow just there as well, so you could easily spin through all of the samples for that type and audition the sound you are looking for. Really useful when you're playing midi through the plugin and can just keep clicking until the right sounds hits you.

EDIT: Ahh, OK, just realised that I can spin through samples in the way I describe in the SAMPLER bar at the bottom instead. That works great. I would suggest then that picking the sample at the top of the mixer channel is redundant, and a bit distracting, since it's much better to do it in the SAMPLER window as you can do more with that functionality down there, though the SAMPLER doesn't indicate which preset you have selected, but it does at the top of the mixer, which would be good to visualise in the SAMPLER section.

Final thought for tonight:

If you ever felt like creating additional libraries for this plugin that could be integrated as addons, I definitnely would buy more kits. Again, what EZDrummer or Mono Drum are doing, but their kits are horrible and mostly useless for Reggae. If you could create even more kits to this standard I would buy all of them 🙂

aaaaannnnnndddddddddd... additional precussion, like Guiros, Djembe, etc, I would buy that instantly.

One thing at a time though, I'm getting over excited 😀

Well done again!

haha, sorry, one last one, this is a bug this time:

As you can see, on the Timbale channel, I changed the sample to a Clap. On the mixer it changes the channel name to 'Clap', but it still displays 'Timbale' in the SAMPLER section. If I click on to another channel at the top and then back again to the 'Clap' channel, the SAMLPER section is now correct and reads 'Clap'.

Cheers!

Quote from kevingham on December 23, 2024, 9:32 pm

haha, sorry, one last one, this is a bug this time:

As you can see, on the Timbale channel, I changed the sample to a Clap. On the mixer it changes the channel name to 'Clap', but it still displays 'Timbale' in the SAMPLER section. If I click on to another channel at the top and then back again to the 'Clap' channel, the SAMLPER section is now correct and reads 'Clap'.

Cheers!

Ah, good catch. Now that you mention it, yes I forgot this one...

Yes I chose the 'M' so it would stand for 'Master' or 'Main' but 1-2 will be more obvious for everyone indeed.

Quote from kevingham on December 23, 2024, 9:11 pm

Another quick suggestion while I'm here:

On each channel of the mixer, right at the top where you have the drop down menu to select a different sample for each percussion type, it would be really nice if there was also a little 'left' and 'right' arrow just there as well, so you could easily spin through all of the samples for that type and audition the sound you are looking for. Really useful when you're playing midi through the plugin and can just keep clicking until the right sounds hits you.

EDIT: Ahh, OK, just realised that I can spin through samples in the way I describe in the SAMPLER bar at the bottom instead. That works great. I would suggest then that picking the sample at the top of the mixer channel is redundant, and a bit distracting, since it's much better to do it in the SAMPLER window as you can do more with that functionality down there, though the SAMPLER doesn't indicate which preset you have selected, but it does at the top of the mixer, which would be good to visualise in the SAMPLER section.

Actually I began to implement the L/R arrows on each channel but I also realized it would be better to have it in the sampler section 👍

Even if it's nice to read the preset you're using, the 'problem' I noticed is that the moment you're making your own presets by changing the samples in the sampler, the preset name no longer matches the sound of the channel... I didn't know what to do with this so I let it as is for now...
Thinking of it, if you're designing your own presets, if you save them, the name changes so displaying it could work...

Quote from kevingham on December 23, 2024, 9:01 pm

BTW after 1 hour of playing with Dread Drumz I cannot see me ever using EZDrummer again. I like EZD as a riddim sketch pad to get a nice backing going, but Dread Drumz does this, with MIDI and everything exactly how I need, and, oh my God, your drum sounds a LEAGUES better than EZD. Strictly roots!

Wow, thank you! I'll print it in big letters and I'll put it on my wall 😂
EZD has a different approach and IMO, those 2 plugins dosn't serve the same purpose. But indeed, when it comes to finding a good reggae drums plugin, we have very few options...

I'll definetely make additional samples and MIDI packs. Different contents for different producers!
I thought about adding more percussions into Dread Drumz but I thought it could be better if it was, not necessarily a complete separated plugin, but at least a whole additional pack. It make more sense and would allow me to allocate more resources to it.

Thank you for your feedback so far, you just made my day ! (well... my night really 🙂 )