MODODRUM 1.5 - Comments?

BFD3 General Discussion
1

Comments re: sounds, GUI, crash-resistance, configurability, grooves, price ?

I just installed the product (full-featured product with one kit is free). The GUI is gorgeous and scalable, and it’s shown no inclination to crash. Installation and activation was straightforward. It sounds good, although I’ve only spent a few minutes checking out the product.

Pricing (USD): $0 1 kit, $150 for 5 kits, and $300 for 13 kits. Also, individual kits can be purchased à la carte.

I bought BFD3. In my experience over several months, BFD3: sounds very good, crashes at the drop of a hat, its GUI is virtually unusable on a 43" state-of-the-art monitor, customer support is abysmal, and product updates (or even bug-fix releases) appear to occur very infrequently at best (looking at the release history and forum posts).

I will leave BFD3 installed and check periodically to see if it and the company selling it shape up. However, if MODODRUM is as good as it seems at first glance, then it represents an immediate migration path.

2

I have MODO Bass and quite like it in many ways over Ample Bass. Haven’t tried the drums though. Just be aware of IK’s questionable business model. With sound content for all their sampled instruments, after 180 days you can no longer download it without paying an additional fee, so making backups of all the installers is crucial.

I believe they use a type of synthesis, rather than actual large, multi sampled libraries. Don’t quote me on that though.I like some of their stuff, Syntronic mostly, but their stuff is bloatware. When you install T-Racks, it installs every plugin, even if you don’t have a license for it. After every update, I have to go in and manually delete the plugins I don’t own. Takes up a lot of space.

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3

Yes, good points. I think the drums are physically modelled, but the cymbals are sampled.

Regarding that nasty download policy, fortunately I use Carbon Copy Cloner religiously.

I’m not interested in any other IK products (e.g., I use real basses and guitars), but hopefully MODODRUMS can become the workhorse for me, if BFD and its owner don’t improve.

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4

I’ve recently installed MODODRUM as an experiment and well: it’s ‘almost’ perfect …

In previous posts I’ve mentioned paradigm shifts and quantum leaps that have recently taken place in GUI design and workflow, and to me IK Multimedia has been a leader.

I used Amplitube 5 as an example, yes I know it’s a guitar product but it exemplifies how ground breaking production techniques (go watch a Youtube video on how they created the robotic system for capturing cabinet IR’s ) and thoughtful workflow design can redefine how music is made, and I think MODODRUM definitely meets ‘most’ of those criteria.

Obviously the MODODRUM resynthisis editor where you can change shell sizes and construction materials is a gamechanger let’s take that ball and run with it, and the mixing console is way closer to what I’ve been hoping for OK so it’s not perfect but it is on the right track, mapping, effects inserts and editing are way ahead of the game … BUT.

MODODRUM’s kick’s and snare’s are pretty clean and snappy (albeit a bit too processed for wide ranging application) but wow I particularly love the toms, I’d almost use it for the toms alone … although sadly I found the cyms are crap, just second rate, I thought they were lifted from an 808.

As most users will tell you BFD retains the lead in sheer sound quality, great drums and kits are an obvious must, world class rooms, the worlds best mics and pre’s and exceptional engineering, you just can’t beat that: BFD got that part right years ago and it’s the reason why it’s still held in such high regard … But you can most certainly improve on it.

Go watch that video I just mentioned ( AmpliTube 5 - Overview - YouTube ) and try to imagine how that level of reproducibility could be applied to recording drums in order to achieve consistency between expansion packs which is an area where BFD has long suffered, I really wish they had published a more stringent design brief for expansion developers, as we all know the ambient mics and articulations are all over the shop.

And as I’ve said on many occasions in the 21st century 16 bit just doesn’t cut it, if you insist on a compression algorithm make it amazing, maybe for heavy duty users you can have the option of raw samples? … and please police third party expansion production so that consistency is a law set in stone.

The game is afoot friends, for BFD4 to regain the mantle and keep it for the next decade it’s going to have to raise the bar significantly.

Sonically it can’t just be ‘really good’ it has to be breathtaking, transparent, crystal clear and when you close your eyes you’re magically right there in the room.

Mapping, mixing, resynthisis, sampling?, effects, DAW integration, stand alone programming, library management, online interaction, BFD4 will have to take all these to a level that will redefine how we use drum software for years to come.

Steinberg changed the world with it’s GUI (as well as ASIO and and vst plugin technology) it was the quantum shift that ushered in a new age of how musicians and engineers viewed and interacted with music and became the template for almost every DAW out there, but it didn’t do it in a vacuum, Steinberg ‘borrowed’ a little from here and a little from there and put the best ideas into one cohesive framework.

inMusic just bought the musical equivalent of the Ferrari motor company OK cool, but now there’s Tesla doing sub 2 second 0-60’s and Mercedes are building four wheeled spaceships, BFD4 will have to look like a four wheeled spaceship, go 0-60 in under 1 second and sound like Ringo Starr, Neal Peart, Dave Grohl and Tony Royster Jr are right there in your bedroom …

5

I’m looking for a BFD alternative, so it’s a shame this is IK.

I have Amplitube 5 and their Leslie and think they’re great, but I hate the way you have to download everything just to update one plug-in and I refuse to buy any further into their eco-system.

Their authorisation system is a bit funky as well and the last thing I need after using the current BFD is another flakey authorisation system any further.

The search continues for a good alternative.

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6

I use modo drum alongside BFD3. I’ll say that while some parts of modo drum are really cool, some other parts have a way to go, and I don’t think it could stand alone as my only “realistic” drum sample library. Some things in it are just not there yet like the overhead and room IRs, and the kick drums are great except there’s just a little something barely synthetic (which I happen to like) to the modeled sound.

I also use superior, addictive, mixosaurus and ocean way (along with 2tb more of libraries and samples I’ve gotten over the past 25 years), and to this day nothing sounds more live than BFD. That’s why I’m still here.

As for BFD alternatives I think committing to one software is going to be very rough if you’re a hardcore dedicated BFD user, none can come close to giving you that much since the way BFD is sampled makes it was more flexible than something like Superior which is much more “produced” sounding with a homogenized sound.

BFD is a bit clunky for me to use right now so my alternative is just going into Kontakt (which I hate having to use) and loading up a full Mixosaurus session (best hihats and cymbals ever sampled by a long mile, nothing even today comes close) and layering the kick and snare with Roomsound drums or reinforcing them with Boss DR-660/Akai XR10 samples and it’s a monstrous sound.

I don’t know how popular the sentiment is but I still use samples released 10/15/20 years ago and they still sound great. BFDs XFL and Deluxe stand up to anything modern, so there’s nothing really wrong with looking backwards in time and picking something old. If you don’t mind Kontakt too much there’s nothing wrong with their Studio drummer or the Abbey Road stuff (80s drummer is particularly excellent to my tastes).

Modern samples/libraries (while awesome) are either gimmicky (IK) or a huge commitment (SD3). I have to be versed in and own all this stuff to be able to work with clients on active sessions for arrangement and mixing, but on my personal music rig I only have BFD and Kontakt installed for the above scenario.

**I should be clear that anything I am uncertain about in MODO is inaudible to me in a mix, but the way I mix and arrange I’m so hyperfocused and surgical at times that I can’t help but hear things I might not be supposed to.

7

I bought it when it was on sale (partly because of the lack of M1 support from BFD (TBA soon, hopefully)).

And I was not blown away… it doesn’t have the realism of BFD… and the settings are surprisingly limited (and basically non existent for toms and cymbals). You can’t go extreme for sound design and a lot of settings are highly gimmicky (stick end, edge shape…)

It sounds good, the “hit area” setting is somewhat effective… but it sounds pretty much as good as the stock logic drum kits (which sound really good, but not BFD or SD good)… maybe with a little extra flavor with the proper settings and maybe with a little extra randomness.

But yeah. It’s alright.

8

Everyone made some good points.

Software drums / cymbals perfection (or thereabouts) hasn’t happened yet.

BFD4 (if we’re alive and kicking to see it) should take the fully-scalable and simple yet effective GUI - and all other feasible positives - from MODODRUM 1.5 and provide the same quality, coupled with its better sound.

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If BFD does what it is supposed to do, it is far superior to MODO. That is not so much for its looks, but for its versatility and sounds. IK have done a fabulous job with Amplitube, which I use a lot, but MODO cannot possibly match it yet. They have a lot of work to do there. If Amplitube is what IK are eventually capable of, then they should have the skill to do this.

I find SD3 and BFD quitte comparable for what they can do, although they have different strong points.

As of now: in MODO, I cannot address the rims of the toms, most tom sounds are too much alike, and for the price, the number of different drums you can choose from is limited.

Also, I use a Roland TD27 drum module with zonal pads. Unfortunately, I cannot address all the areas I play. BFD3 allows me to do this, and so (largely) does SD3. I do miss bells and bows for the crash cymbals in both though. MODO (you could see this coming) doesn’t have this either.

BFD3 works on my M1 Monterey system, but any update I’ve downloaded so far has crashed and has had me go through authorization process bullshit again. The Licence manager only downloads with errors. I use 3.4,2 not 3.4.3.7., because the latter doesn’t work. Toontrack have done a much better job there, and it is STABLE,

BFD, please get the bugs out, and it will be a fantastic program again.

So, BFD4, if it works without any glitches, would be a great addition that I would be using a lot, with SD3 as my alternative go-to, although/because their sound is somewhat different. MODO looks promising, but is not yet good enough to be a true match.

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10

Sorry, I need to update that. BFD is now all of a sudden unable to validate my licenses from the server. They used to work about an hour ago. Could you please make sure this is fixed? I paid for them, I want them to work, like far too many others who have run into this problem.

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Sign in to you inMusic account via web browser, sign out and close.
Sign out of the LM and close.
Open LM and sign in
You’re prompted to open a browser window and sign back in to inMusic.
Close browser. Should be good.
If not, make sure you’re using LM 3.0.5.3. If not then download from Downloads and Documentation | BFD and install that again and follow the steps above if needed.

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@Fender_Bender Thanks for the help, but that was my first to go recipe, I did all that before I wrote the message. Did not work, I’m sorry to say.

I have read too many problems on the forum about people re-installing it and getting stuck, so I didn’t want to do that for fear of losing it for a very much longer time.

That has shown to be good intuition, because now, all of a sudden, it works again, and I hadn’t done anything to repair it since I wrote the message last night.

I don’t think this is functioning without any glitches yet, the trouble appears to be quite persistent. judging from what I’ve been reading. I hope that it is a priority issue down there.

I’m glad I’ve got it working again, though. The program is just too good to stay down.

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13

Could just be inMusic’s shitty servers then. They were slow AF yesterday downloading an expansion.

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14

I’ve been playing around with MODO drums for a while (Disclaimer - BFD RULES and I still believe there is nothing that comes close) haha!

I really do like the ability in MODO Drums to customise kit pieces, being able to interchange the top and bottom skins, tweak the shells, change the snare tension and size, play area on the pieces, tweaking diameter of shells etc. I know BFD has separate kit pieces for playing style with brushes/beaters/wood/plastic/felt, I like that, but consolidating all of them into one kit piece and being able to then tweak the variables is pretty cool too. The different rooms in MODO is also pretty cool, is this something BFD would ever consider?

All fancy toys if you are into that kind of thing. I’ve never really thought of some of these elements as missing from BFD as you can actually do a lot of these things (Bar a few that I have mentioned). They’re there but could possibly do with a revamp or better looking interface for the actual tweaking etc.

One of the things I’ve always liked about BFD GUI is that it comes across as a very technical and professional looking GUI as opposed to a bells and whistles ‘toy’ looking’ interface, it’s really cool.
But looking into this on MODO drums and the ease of use is pretty cool. I still prefer BFD’s look and feel, it’s worth having a look at though and possibly doing something similar but the BFD way?

15

Just doesn’t sound realistic enough to my ears. I love big organic rooms and it sounds too digital and too much work to find any use from me.

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Well I ended up getting a good deal on the Max package from IK and ended up with a ton of content, including MODO Bass and Drums. Haven’t really experimented yet, but I’ve already deleted all my BFD expansions from my dedicated BFD SSD and it is now being used for Kontakt libraries as I’m really tired of inMusic’s BS. I was trying to be positive about this buy-out, but sadly some leopards never change their spots.

17

I have IKM max package too, for various reasons, definitely not drums, modo drums is like allthe other over processed drum software out there, it has some great features yes, but imho sounds lame compared to BFD3, yes a lot of people are upset with all this BFD/InMusic stuff going on, but deleting all my BFD content (I have invested thousands) is no t an option I would ever consider, it’s just too good, by saying that I am not trying to excuse or make all this crap going on look good or even condone any of it either.

I’d love to hear what you think of modo after you have messed around with it, it’s just too processed for my liking, like steven slate drums, every band/producer/home studio abuse all of them so much, their albums all sound like they were recorded in the same studio at the same time. There’s nothing unique about them, again this is just my opinion. BFD allows a complete break away from that, there’s no other drumming software that comes close.

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There’s not an amazing sound in the universe worth having to deal with inMusic anymore. They haven’t responded to a single email I’ve sent them, so I’m off to Trading Standards and ultimately court if that’s what it takes for this sh**y company to do something honourable.

I’d already decided the SSD was of more use to me for my Kontakt libraries, nothing to do with MODO Drums. I’m never using BFD again. I always hated that technical GUI you like. I’ll miss some kits, but this just seems like the slow death of BFD, might as well quit now. Really it died a long time ago with ROLI, this is just the life support machine barely doing its job.

MODO’s certainly good enough as a place-holder as I don’t even do drum-based music at the moment.

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I don’t think so. This forum/FB have gone very quiet in the past month or so, with not a lot of posts about users having technical issues with the software, or LM. This suggests that BFD3 has become stable for the vast majority of users. I still run into the occasional, inexplicable annoyance, but I can work for hours without a hitch.

I agree with deangersmith, that a few of the drum vsti’s out there like, SSD 5.5, MODO and EZ Drummer just sound too, cookie cutter and over processed and as a result, productions out there wind up sounding very similar.

SSD 5.5 still has a place in my workflow for layering samples with BFD3, but the latter is the clear choice for organic acoustic drums.

Definitely chime in with your thoughts on MODO after you’ve had some time with it and I hope it works out for you. Be sure and save all your IK sample content installers because they only stay in your account for a short time and then you have to pay. Just one of a few gripes I have with IK. At least inMusic hasn’t gone full-retard in that regard… yet.

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Oh, I have plenty of gripes about IK. Mainly their installer that installs everything even if you only own one product. Not so much an issue for me now I have Max, but still not ideal for many users. Offputting for potential new customers too.

I noticed the 180 days to download. Again not great, but it wouldn’t be an issue if the larger files didnt keep failing and some Java errors. Still for all their faults they’re better than inMusic (although that’s a pretty low bar tbh).

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