Note: This is the second part of my review on Nomad Factory Drum Tools. I had to split it due to the number of embedded media it contains. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Here's the link to part 1.

THE TEST - PART 2

The hi-hat and and ride cymbals were miked and those two mikes were processed moderately. here are the unprocessed tracks:




And now the processed tracks:




The overhead is a mono track recorded with an M-Audio Nova. I meant to tame its harshness a bit without losing its polish. In general, I tried no to process the overhead much since the close-up mics were already over processed to compensate for their flaws. Here are the unprocessed and processed tracks:




Finally the drum bus. The unprocessed bus as is offers a lot of improvement over the original tracks without and Drum Tools in them. However, the Drum Tools on the drum bus provides glue to the whole kit and allows to further tweak its balance to your liking. The processed drum sounds quieter than the unprocessed one because I didn't want to run the signal too hot, maintaining the VU meter around the 0 mark. Here are the unprocessed and processed drum bus:




CONCLUSIONS

My mix of this drum recording is not at all ready to go yet. I gave Nomad Factory Drum Tools a quick test run and in a few minutes i was able to change the character of the drums. I really thought they were beyond salvation. Of course, I wouldn't use them for any production. They were discarded indeed, but this test reveals the power under the hood of the last brainchild of Bernie Torelli. Pure Genius. At first I was puzzled by the lack of factory presets, but this piece of software is so easy to use and enjoyable, that processing drums may no longer be the burden it usually means. Even if you are a preset lover, rest assured that no matter what you tweak you'll not ruin your mix. The changes may appear subtle at first, but the end result is the sum of those little changes. You may not like the drum mix I did (I might not like it in a few hours), and I'm still getting to grips with this plug-in. Imagine it in use with neatly recorded drums. I guess we are all in for a treat.


Peace.

 

Last edited: Mar 15, 2016

Totally Dry



Finished Article

 

Thanks for this. I totally forgot to A/B them side by side.

 

@mercurysoto

A question: have you tested it using the related eq buttons (kick1, kick2 etc) or the bypass one only?

 

Actually, each instrument group is like a big preset. I tried auditioning different buttons with the same source, and indeed each setting has a totally different pre-configured sound. At that point you might feel it is like a one-button-does-it-all kind of plug-in, but it's not the case. Each parameter within the plugin is modular and can be switched on and off as needed. It's a very intuitive way to work. It's similar in concept to Manic Compressor, where you have the same settings but vary different compressor topologies. It also reminds of me of the Waves CLA series. Each setting has a "type" of sound to be changed with one click. You can experiment and find what you like instantly. It's easy to hear more than see the plugin at work. In other words, it is a blend of pre-configured settings and add-on parameters that let you tweak stuff till you satisfy your needs.