The Center for Haptic Audio Interaction Research have been busy – and they’ve made a snare model unlike any you’ve heard in software. CDM exclusive discount for you, and – table drumming. Really.
The new Mac/Windows/Linux VST3 is called EXC!TE SNARE DRUM Box, both in a free version, and a 19,90EUR “Pro” edition (that’s where the half-off CDM coupon comes in handy).
Building on their research into physical modeling, this is something special as far as sound. The way the instrument responds sonically to a hit or resonance, the tunings, the tension of the simulated snare itself all are remarkably like the real thing.
But by modeling this in software, and abstracting the excitation signal from the drum model itself, you can do things with this software model that you can’t do with an acoustic snare. You can side-chain an input to make it an excitation signal. You can feed in an external input. You can play a drum pad, but you can also use a piezo pickup and drum on your actual desk. You can try different beaters. You can shift the frequency of the resonance for different external inputs. You can even transform the snare rattle sound using a crunch parameter.
It’s that special sweet spot where the digital model becomes more malleable than the acoustic original – even as many exercises in software sound synthesis are the reverse. I mean, yes, you can hit a snare with different things and it will certainly rattle all the time, but this digital metasnare sure opens up some new sonic and compositional possibilities.
EXC!TE SNARE DRUM [free version]
For 50% off through August 15 exclusively for CDM readers, enter this code at checkout:
snarecdm
CHAIR has a ton of other good stuff at their site, too:
DIY Piezo Preamp instructions so you can build the rig you see in the video