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Novation DRUMSTATION

19-Mar-2024

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Novation DRUMSTATION



Category:  Products / drum machines / modeling drum machines

Added: 06-Jan-99  |  Author: admin

New price: £ 449  |   S/H price: around 300-350


Novation DRUMSTATION

This unit is 1,000,000% on my Christmas list.....Analog modelling dance 909 & 808 drum unit, with realtime control of all parameters, and the type of creative possibilities only available from a non sample based unit.....Dro-o-o-o-o-o-l !!!!

The other thing is.....This unit really does sound authentic.....as near as you could possibly need to a real 909 or 808 sound.......So put the two together, and it makes for a totally unbeatable combination......Choicewise there is very little else to go for as an option to the Drumstation besides the Quasimdi 309 & this mysterious Jovox 09 thing, information for which I'm still searching !!!

So.....what do you get for your dosh ??.....Well it's a one unit rackmount synth, with stereo out, 6 seperate outs & a headphone socket, which is a very welcome addition that should be made compulsary for all synths & sound stuff. so in effect you have 8 seperate outs....plenty of scope for mixing the sound just right on the board, and all the other conotations such as adding distortion, compression etc from the mixer once the sounds are in isolation.

The Drumstation is 8 note poly, and has all the 909 & 808 stuff.....Most of the sounds are modelled whilst some of the additional percussion sounds are samples......so: Kik, Snare, Toms, Hatz, 808 cymbals & Congas are modelled, whilst the Rimshot, Clapz, Cowbell, 909 cymbals, Maracas & Claves are samples.......I think this is a very sensible approach, cos as you probably have noticed, most analog modelling units offer very limited polyphony (JP8000 etc)......So the sounds you need to tweak the most, and where the 'Analog' sound is most critical get this touch & synthesis, samples being fine for the lesser stuff....and I think I'm correct in saying that for example the cymbals on a real 909 are in fact samples.

The layout for the controls is also sensible, with all the 8 sounds having dedicated front panel control knobs....all offering a basic level & tuning.....then additional controls being available for certain drums.....so, Kik & Snare get an additional filter control with white noise control being added for the Snare to add more edge to the sound ('Snappy') & Hatz, Kik, Toms & Cymbals also get a dedicated Decay control....(critical for any High-Hatz sound when doing dance, as the decay time of the hatz makes or breaks the feel of a drum pattern)......The 909 kik also gets an Attack/Tone control knob to effect the amount of 'Thump' or shaped pulse the kik will produce.......This & the other adjusters really makes it possible to get anything from a mild House kik to a steaming hardcore smack !!!

Ok.....so Kik, Snare, Toms, Hatz & Cymbels all have a dedicated section.....you simply assign an 808 or 909 modelling sound to the kit you are constructing (you can mix kit sounds to for new kitz !!)........Then we have the Percussion or secondary sounds.....

Ok.....There's a section dedicated to Rimshot, Handclap & Cowbell....you simply select which sample you are playing with a 3 way selector switch, then utilise the controls to edit the choosen sound.

The Congas, Maracas & Claves get the same treatment with a sound selector switch, and for the Congas an additional 3 way switch to select Lo, Med or High Conga sound........The Tom Tom section also has a 3 way select for Lo, med or High Tom.....Simple & effective !!!

So what else ?......well the controls send out & recieve controller data, so no problemo for programming realtime changes during a track.......You get a DIN sync Out, to clock yer 606 or 303 or whatever !!........You get built in distortion which can be added to the exact amount you like & is stored along with the kit settings when you create & save a custom built kit !!.........er.........The unit recognises note-off for gate effects if needed.......Oh yeah....you can also use the unit for GM files from the front apnel 'GM Midi Set' button (you can assign sounds to build a custom kit recognising GM drum sounds).......There are 40 kit setups.....15 of those positions being user writable, and of course you can save the kits to your external sequencer with a dump.....which also means you can have the unit switch kits in the middle of a piece, which is great especially for live work or long extended ambient pieces.......Yup....all in all an awesome machine.....Oh yes....Joy of Joys !!....when you are setting up a kit, there's even a front panel 'Trigger' button to fire the sounds as you select & edit !!!.......so with the headphone socket plugged it's a snip to skin one up in bed and spend a few hours editing some juicy kits together of an evening....(heh heh !)

Well.......what can I say more.....as authentic as you can get 909 & 808 kitz......realtime control with dedicated knobs for awesome live control........realtime send & recieve of those controls for fine detail sequencing stuff.........all in a single AFFORDABLE unit.......hatz of to Novation yet again !!!....BUY ONE !!!!.....Hey....It even looks sexy !!.....And it really does sound the dogs nutz !!......stick one of these with a sampler & a few cheapo synths & your home & dry.......and when you consider the price of some analog modelling units, this is a bargain...........L8ers






Got one now, great unit, nice dynamic drums with tons of control - you can also set it up in a mode so you can address both kits from one drum map to mix 808/909













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User Comments

Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: kilo
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 07-Apr-99

i got one now, and it 100% rocks.. really.. this is superb with a right solid sequencer

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: steve
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://members.theglobe.com/rousseau6/music.html
Activity: part-timer
Date: 28-Apr-99

It rocks.. Great sounds.. Great value (mine cost £350 new from Turnkey). You can download a demo .mp3 from the Novation website.

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: low
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.io.com/~low/
Activity: part-timer
Date: 28-Apr-99

[V2] excellent drum machine - only negative is lack of filters/lfo/etc. and limited polyphony - closest 909/808 clone to date

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: bourian boubbov
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 11-May-99

hi there,
well the drumstation is a hardfuckin´beast and fuckin´in my oppinion is cooooooool!
BUT:
it also does some shit:
sometimes, when i play a groove in a logic song it just cuts the BD or the CP´s which are together on 2nd and 4th time in a four-on-the-floor beat. For those of you who know logic, when i move a note in the matrix editor it often distorts itself and there´s nothin´i can do to get the normal sound again except to shut the whole system down and boot it again and this is nasty shit!
So, is there anybody out there with the same problems and an idea how to get this fixed.
By the way i talked to Phill Macdonald from Novation and he said, that this should be the power supply...


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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: Joakim Ström
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://members.xoom.com/zekeadeke/index.html
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 07-Jun-99

It sounds really nice, but....
If your sound breaks up then you must probably upgrade your powersupply to a PSU-4 from Novation.
I have encountered these problems my self and i am going to buy a PSU-4 from Novation.

Have a nice day/night. //Flamm

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: Chris Newkirk
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 17-Oct-99

I have both a Drumstation and an original 808... and the Drumstation is spot on... almost. I find the 808 has a tiny bit more 'hair' on the sounds, though that may be that my 808 is ser# 597 (rev 1). I use the Drumstation almost exclusively now, but I do find it faster and easier to create funky loops on the 808.
If someone would just come up with a software interface (or hardware... hello Novation!?!) that mimics the 808/909 sequencers, life would be fabulous!

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: Jasper
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.yahoo.com
Activity: Professional
Date: 15-Nov-99

bla

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: Jay
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.fruityloops.com
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 23-Nov-99

Damn you guys. Its getting more and more diffacult looking for the gear companys to get creative with there gear cause no one wants to buy something that doesent copy a 909/808. WE WANT VARIATION!!! If i realy needed 909 sounds that bad then i'd just 1: Either buy one, or 2: Find the sampled 909 kit on the net wich I have seen in various places and then get myself fruityloops for the pc (try fruityloops.com) for easy and great 909 type sequencing. Otherwisw FUCK YOU for ruining the variation for the rest of us (stupid dance fuckers that like to make a whole cd with a never changeing 4/4 beat that just gets stupid and irratating after 2 minnutes) Thats why ravers are so stupid, they support these "artists" who make money from fucken sampling A overused jungle loop and like rubb there ass on a keyboard. Or just use there little rebirth.... errg see i went to the guitar center today and was looking at the drum boxes but i saw nothing but like 6 boxes that were all clones of eachother....tiss tiss tiss a reaL pitty.

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: B,ster
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 10-Jan-00

just here to say i bought a new drumstation end of december 1999 for £330 from digital village (i live in u.k)

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: Stephen Peacock
Email: Email supplied but hidden
none
Activity: part-timer
Date: 24-Mar-00

Anyone compared this with the Jomox Airbase or Xbase ?? I'm looking for decent drum sounds with good MIDI control and a bit more variation than just 808/909 sounds (nice though they are :-))

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: jaskim
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity:
Date: 15-Aug-00

yes it is great although i got one of the faulty power supplies... novation sent a new one within a week, no charge, although a UK power supply, which i had to buy this ugly 3 piece adaptor...but it works again. polyphony is a little limited, my unit starts squeaking if i get too complicated but shouldn't be a problem for most users on computer sequencers. I agreee that a dedicated sequencer from novation would be totally bad-ass...
I paid $550 / $600 with tax in new york.

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Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: ceri probuuut
Email: Email supplied but hidden
www.strangelands.com
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 09-Oct-01

this website is paaahetic you cant just browse it you have to search for the exact thing you want

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Last added comment

Product:  Novation - DRUMSTATION
Name: oh
Email: Email supplied but hidden
me
Activity:
Date: 10-Oct-01

well you obviously aint too bright then are you, cos you missed the read-out by 'product type' for each section - you can view 'ALL products' to browse by each class: (synth, drums, s/w, soundcard, or sampler) - and you can view by class 'type' - that is sub-types of class... 'synth:dco-synth', or 'synth:analog-mono'


So browsing as you see, is possible... a new brain, sadly, is not.

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