I think the AS-1 is my favorite drum synth

The Lounge Other Gear
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Or should I say the Digitakt is my favorite drum machine? I guess you could say both.

By itself the Digitakt is a great piece of gear, and I would never part with it, but manipulating samples doesn’t scratch every itch. This sent me searching for a proper drum synth, and I spent a lot of time looking at the Machinedrum (which I used to own), Tempest, and Nord drum 2.

None of those options are particularly cheap, and listening to my old Machinedrum patterns reminded me it can sound a little cold at times. Adding a second Elektron sequencer to my setup also felt like a complication I didn’t need. When I finally found a “good deal” on one ($1,500) I wasn’t sure I even wanted it anymore.

Eventually I decided to lean in to my Typhon and AS-1 for percussion until I could buy a Nord. I ended up creating a ton of sounds and couldn’t be happier with the results. The DSI in particular makes some really modern stuff, which I just throw in to the Digitakt. More dynamic/evolving type patches I sequence. Curious to hear from other people who use their monos for drums, because it’s a solution I never really considered. I love doing things this way.

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I never had the idea to use my AS-1 as a drum synth, but I’ll try.

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This sounds really interesting - have you got any audio examples?

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I kind of just started doing this so I haven’t recorded anything yet, but I’ll try to tomorrow.

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Awesome - I have a rev 2 (slightly different oscillators to the p6 one in the as1) but I’d never really considered it for drum duties. I’d be really interested in hearing your sounds and also any experiences regarding programming the sounds.

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I’ve played the poly DSI stuff and I feel like the AS-1 has a little more punch. The UI is a bear since knobs are limited, but I’ve grown to like it in an odd way. You basically have to scroll through each parameter one by one to get around, which makes you thorough and methodical.

Making drums is what you would imagine. Almost low everything on the ADSR and liberal use of noise. Resonance on both the high and low pass filters, easy to tune oscillators, sub bass and effects like the delay, distortion and ring mod help too. You can do a lot with this thing.

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Great topic. I’m lucky enough to have a Nord G2 (engine) and access to a friend’s Nord Drum 3; and except for some CR 78 and 606 samples from Samples from Mars, they’re what I used for drums and perc - mostly in sample chains i OT. But there’s a more recent addition (or additions): 96 HP of eurorack, Lifeforms expanded current state - Eurorack Modular System from TomLJ on ModularGrid The doepfer A-110-4 is a sine core thru zero oscillator (I’m no eurorack specialist, but AFAIK sine core oscillators aren’t very common) and the roundness / fullness of the bass tones it can spit out are, IMHO, second to none. Having two envelopes to shape and mold kick and toms, with initial noise / click and whatnot is drum sound design heaven. I’ve listened to many demos of other eurorack thru -zero oscillators with many more features / functions (and considerably higher price tags), but most don’t seem to have the same weight and fullness when it comes to bass tones. Splitting the out put of the signal of the A-110-4, putting the parallel signal through a wavefolder, mix with the original and a short noise / click, I.m more than happy with what I got for bass kick, sub and tom drum synthesis (and much more). Sorry, no samples at hand to back up my enthusiastic claims right now.

The AS-1 is the one Sequential synth I’d be interested in if I were looking for another mono (I had a 6-Trak, don’t really miss it,). Bang for back, snappy envelopes, full sounding, features. But u know :wink:

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From your first post it sounds like you prefer the AS-1 over the Typhoon for drum synthesis. Did I understand you right?

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I adore the AS-1 for basslines so I guess one ought not be surprised it would make beefy drums when programmed thus.

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I would say yes, since the Typhon doesn’t have noise. Typhon can still make some great drum sounds though (most synths can). I’m just into my AS-1 at the moment.

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I think that this is the main reason I really like my old Uno Synth. It makes some really weird sounds if you throw quick patch changes at it.

I did that in this little video. Just to mess with it a little more, I was manually changing the patch and turning on the arp, as well. I’ve got a lot of weird samples doing this kind of nonsense.

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Sure, lack of noise is a drawback. Many synths can make cool drum / perc sounds, but when it comes to kicks, for example, snappy envelopes are essential, for many styles at least.

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Only ever used AS1 for drums when making a track just with the AS1 alone, and generally just used the preset drum sounds. Never really liked the snare sound, so also would love to hear some ofthe sounds you got out of it.