DigiDesign Announces Strike Drum Plug-In For ProTools
Digidesign has announced Strike, a new RTAS instrument plug-in that makes it easy to create, control, and produce professional drum performances in Pro Tools. One part intelligent virtual drummer, one part professional drum module, Strike features a wide range of high-definition drum kits and style choices, and allows for unprecedented control over the virtual drummer’s performance.
With Strike, getting the groove you want is as simple as choosing one of the high-definition kits and telling the “virtual” drummer how to play: Adjust the playing intensity, complexity, timing, groove, dynamics, and much more—all in real time. Use the automation features in Pro Tools to perfect all of your moves and get the perfect drum performance. Connect your MIDI controller to tweak your performance on the fly using knobs, sliders, drum pads, or anything else that sends MIDI data. And for the ultimate in control, use a Digidesign control surface—such as Command|8 or Control|24—or tap into the power of an ICON integrated console.
Strike’s proprietary realtime performance engine eliminates the mechanized artifacts of typical sample-playback devices to deliver human results with unparalleled realism. Increase the playing intensity and you’ll get a smooth dynamic response in the drum tone instead of audible velocity switches. Change up the feel or complexity and get instant, natural-sounding results. With Strike, you can produce professional drum tracks simply not possible using conventional sampling technology.
Strike comes loaded with 15 high-resolution drum kits, each containing up to 12 instruments with up to 300 individual samples per instrument for an incredible range of detail. Whether you compose soundtracks, pop tunes, or just need a drummer to jam along with on your guitar, Strike delivers totally human results with over 1,500 editable preset patterns in popular music styles. Strike also lets you create your own custom patterns with the onboard Style Editor, or by functioning as a drum module in Pro Tools software.
To help you get the perfect drum sound, Strike includes a built-in mixing console for full control over every aspect of the kit. Change virtual microphone settings, such as room ambience and leakage, then take advantage of dedicated 3-band EQ and two insert effects per channel. Strike’s onboard effects range from dynamics and limiting to reverb and delay, plus specialized tools like bit crusher and filter. The onboard mixer lets you easily adjust the overall level and panning for each drum and route individual sounds to separate mixer channels in Pro Tools software.
Features:
• Easily produce professional, highly realistic drum performances right within Pro Tools software
• Full, real-time control of the virtual drummer’s performance, including intensity, complexity, timing, groove, dynamics, and much more
• Groundbreaking realtime performance engine allows for gradually adjusting the dynamics of a drum performance without the typical machine gun effect or audible velocity layer switching
• Choose from 5 high-definition drum kits, each featuring up to 12 instruments per kit and up to 300 samples per instrument
• Includes over 20 GB of 24-bit audio stored in just 5 GB of space via proprietary lossless compression
• Over 1,500 editable preset drum patterns/performances covering dozens of musical styles and song section structures
• Intelligently mapped drum patterns and sounds allow for fast, interactive real-time arrangement and composition of drum parts
• Doubles as a powerful MIDI drum module for use with your own drum patterns and sequences
• Built-in virtual mixing console for full control over drum kit sound, including room ambience, microphone levels/leakage, EQ, dynamics, and more
• Dedicated EQ and 2 insert effects processors per channel including compressor, limiter, tube saturation, distortion, bit crusher, filter, ring modulator, delay, reverb, phaser, chorus and more
• Support for multi-channel plug-in output for discrete routing and mixing of each drum kit component independently in the Pro Tools mixer
• MIDI Learn functionality allows for easily mapping plug-in parameters to MIDI instruments for hands-on control
• Full support for Pro Tools automation and control via Digidesign control surfaces and ICON integrated consoles
• Highly optimized RTAS instrument for Pro Tools HD 7, Pro Tools LE 7, and Pro Tools M-Powered 7 software
System Requirements:
• Digidesign-qualified Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE or Pro Tools M-Powered system running Pro Tools 7.0 or higher software
• 768 MB of RAM (1 GB or better recommended)
• DVD-ROM drive for installation
• iLok USB Smart Key (a free iLok.com account is required for retrieving and managing iLok licenses)
Strike is expected to ship around August 2, 2006. More information on Digidesign Strike Drum Plug-In
